Costa Rica Road Trip 2

December 3, 2010 - The Misadventures of David

Still alive!

Went out for a simple food drop last night near fieldbase, passed some small slips on the road where we needed to move some big rocks. Nothing major, some minor concerns about if it would get worse, but we needed to get there so we did. Next morning on the way out a giant tree and come crashing down, blocking the road entirely. I reversed the car back down the hill after getting all we could carry out and walked back up to meet the rest. Since we couldn’t pass and we had an infected-footed-trekker with us we made a plan and got ourselves back to fieldbase, bending some rules and getting a grilling for it. Sorted a plan and I headed back up with another driver and we transferred the rest of the gear across the tree/blockage and headed back here, after I reversed the car down the hill again. Speaking to a lady down the bottom, I was told that they expected it to be cleared in 3 hours. Not sure I believe that, but we have a contact in the area who will let us know. I’m not convinced, and quite frankly, can’t be arsed to go back again if I need to.

Lessons learnt:

• Reversing down ~2km of road, twice in one day, gives me a sore neck
• Trees are big, and break in half when they fall quite far
• Costa Rica is very pretty, but the pretty bits by definition are prone to landslides
• You can move big rocks with a stick and 4 men

December 6, 2010 - Talamanca

Coroma is an indigenous reserve in the South East corner of Costa Rica - the river we drove along before catching the boat actually forms the border with Panama. The map below shows where we were headed. Coroma is on the bottom left corner - the top right is the Caribbean and everything south of the grey line is Panama. On a side note, at the top of the map is Cahuita - this is where I will spend my last 3 days in Costa Rica - lazing on the beach.

We drove down the 36 to Bribri before heading inland along the river/border as far as Suretka where we parked up and transferred to our boat/dugou canoe with an outboard.

The ride up was beautiful - the river is very complicated and as you are travelling along suddenly another part of the river joins in and you get some turbulence and the little boat struggles its way along - great fun.

Once at Coroma we said hi and helped out a bit at the worksite - part a school Raleigh is helping to construct.

December 7, 2010 - Talamanca

As we has arrived on the Friday afternoon, our full day there was Saturday which meant making chocolate and sports activities.

After a hard days work/play the best spot is the river. By far the best spot - really lovely and refreshing.

December 8, 2010 - Talamanca

After a great day we headed off this morning at 8am - another beautiful ride on the river

…and a brief stop at the giant sloth museum/sanctuary thing…

December 12, 2010

Well into the swing of things, but still gun shy about wet mud on roads. I remember an enveloping feeling of sadness building because I realised that this was not real life and that the real world existed and I had to try and make it work again. It’s hard to pin down, the photos all feel a bit emptier, somehow.

December 13, 2010 - This is the end (just about) + Rincon

This will most likely be my last big expedition/roadtrip blog post - from here on I’m going to be glued to my desk with much to do then I’m off to the Caribbean to laze on the beach for three days. I’m sure I will have more to say between now and then, but for now, thanks for reading and I hope it was entertaining for you!

So…

We arrived at Rincon Lodge on Wednesday evening - a rather nice spot, especially if you’ve just been trekking for weeks. We met up with Zulu 3 at about 5:30, said our hellos, set up camp, did dinner and got to bed for a sleep in (5am wake up! luxury!).

Rincon is an active volcano in the North West (Guanacaste) region of Costa Rica, topping out at roughly 1800m above sea level. For reference, Rincon Lodge is at about 600m, so we had 1200m to climb.

We started on our way just after 6, reaching the ranger’s station just before 7am. After a bit of faffing (40 minutes worth…) we were once again on our way, this time through a pleasant jungle walk, climbing about 800m before reaching the ridge line to the summit.

The weather up top was… windy. I was glad to have my poncho to break the icy wind because without it I suspect I would not have been able to continue. The views from the top were initially disappointing… in that there weren’t any. But then the wind would blow some more and expose a beautiful vista.

The terrain become less and less vegetated as the wind become stronger and stronger.

We had to pass a narrow ridge - normally no problem, but with the wind blowing at a constant gale, with gusts enough to knock you off your feet…

Once we climbed some more we reached a flat area. At that point we split roughly in half - a brave few decided to climb the last 200m (vertical, 700m horizontal). I didn’t take any photos on the way up because of the driving moisture in the air, but it was spectacular - unlike anything I can describe or could ever hope to see again. At one point I found myself about 20m up from everyone else and I sat, crouching behind a rock, looking back down the hill watching the other 9 clinging to the rocks in the driving wind and cloud. Just epic.

But we finally reached the top! My camera braved the elements for a couple of victory photos.

After topping out we made our way back down to a sheltered side of the mountain for our lunch rations which were, as always, eaten gladly. Further down we were greeted by some even better views of the mountain and surrounds. Back in the safety of the forest we warmed up slowly - I didn’t realise how numb my hands and arms were until I tried to fiddle with my camera and was completely powerless to do anything.

We were back at camp by 4pm, a good effort considering what we had achieved, and the fact that I was actually horribly ill.

It was a hard, long day, and I really didn’t feel up to it, but I’m beyond glad that I did. I know I said Cassita was one of the best moments of my life, but this topped it, easily.

That night was incredibly windy at the camp site - the tent would just about fold flat every time there was a big gust (every 30 seconds or so) and the wind was slowly folding the corners of the tent in on itself, meaning that it got smaller and smaller throughout the night and I had a face-ful of tent every time the wind blew at all (every 1.5 seconds). Not a great nights sleep, especially after the porch tent pole snapped and half the tent (the non sleeping half, fortunately) collapsed.

The next morning the hardy trekkers left at 4:45am. We swanned about for a few hours - packed up our battered and broken tents and loaded up the car.

We then headed to Playa Junquillal on the coast where Zulu 3 will finish their trek - it’s a beautiful beach. We made our own breakfast - scrambled eggs on the trangier. A hard job, but somebody has to do it.

We headed South after that that, to Camaronal. We stopped at the place where I’d previously seen all the parrots and toucans (which you would remember if you’ve been paying attention!)

We arrived at Camaronal later on that afternoon and settled in for the night. The next morning was Saturday - their day off from working on the path and miradors up on the hill at the end of the beach. They decided to head to the next beach north - Playa Carillo (Ca-ree-yo) for a day of R&R

It was a 7km walk. Keeping in mind that I was ill and rather tired, this seemed an unnecessary thing to do, but I went along anyway.

We (The PMs and fieldbase) headed back via a cafe for some snacks - a (very disappointing) Pinya con leche (“pineapple and milk”) and some semi sweet potato fries (which were lovely). Got back at about 4 - decided to take my boots off and take the river like a man. Only hurt a little. The sunset was lovely that night, but the sand-flies were not.

A great nights sleep followed.

Onto this morning - we decided to head out around 5:30 to see the miradors and to be up the top for some nice views and light (and miss the heat). I was completely knackered - no energy in my legs at all and it was by far the longest beach in the world (ignoring the amount of dodging waves that was needed) - no doubt in my mind. By now it was pretty hot - the slog back took a thousand years and aged me greatly, but I got there in the end, where I waited ages for a delicious rice pudding for breakfast and then we were on our way!

The drive back was uneventful, though I did have a delicious ice cream and coke for lunch.

It was a bit sad thinking how I would never see these places again, drive on these roads - my last real road trip. But at the same time really exciting that I will be home soon, and just thinking about all I have seen, done and achieved was quite gratifying. It really has been amazing.

Looking forward to seeing everyone, but for now - to Cahuita!