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Nicole Marie Costa Rica |
Drake Bay
Arrival
It took 45 minutes to fly over the mountains from San Jose to Drake Bay. It would have taken 10 hours on the ground.
A single engine plane holding a Canadian businessman with property in Puerto Jimenez, 2 young ladies going to a yoga seminar at the Delfin-Amor Resort, and me... I held my breath as we landed on a thin stretch of dirt wedged inbetween the rainforest and the Pacific. A Range-rover-taxi picked me up for the drive to my eco-lodge. To get to the "port" we had to ford a 3ft river and wind around the mountains...a few rollercoaster kilometers later, we arrived at the beach.
I travelled by boat for 20 minutes along the coast. The captain pointed out the fancy resorts hidden in the hills and the shacks wherein the ancients live among the palms. He manuevered between the rocks to land on the sandy shore seen here...where he told me to leave my bag and follow him.
Marenco Eco-lodge
He walked with me up a steep hill to meet the "concierge" who named all the trees and called to each bird in its own tongue. He told me not to walk under the water apple tree. And as we passed, a cascade of half-eaten fruits were hurled down from the tree by the gang of Squirrel monkeys above. 15 minutes later, as we approached the top of the incline, a young Tico met us with cold glasses of tropical fruit juice. We sat in the restaurant overlooking the ocean as he showed me a map of trails through the reserve and told me the history of the lodge.
After lunch I retired to my cabina to unpack. No electricity, only candles, mosquito nets over the beds, and rocking chairs on the front porch...
La vista
At night the waves crashing into the rocks lulled me to sleep while in the mornings a steady stream of Squirrel, Howler, and Capuchin monkeys in single file, swung from tree to tree along what I refer to as "La hora prisa de los monos" - (Monkey rush hour) The Howler monkeys, while rather small, have incredibly strong lungs...many a time while walking alone in the jungle, my heart lept into my throat when the sudden roars erupted all around me. You can hear them from a good 2 miles away!
Asea
If you look closely you can see a few of the lodge huts near the top of the tree line. I took this foto while en route to the Corcovado National Forest.
Corcovado
A Dutch couple, a Swiss girl and myself, were led through the rainforest by a very knowledgeable Tico. The flora and fauna here is amazing. The trail took us up hills and down ravines, on and off of the beach...
...and past several waterfalls. We stopped here for a cool dip and a pulsing massage. These particular cascades were 100 meters from the base of another huge thundering fall.
Of the many animals encountered here, my favorite, bar none, was this large clan of Coati. Somewhere between a raccoon and an opossom, they dig for land crabs with such intensity that I was able to kneel 2 feet away to take pictures of the 6 little babies without so much as a curious glance. 10 minutes later, when a random branch fell through the trees, the sound startled the entire family who then immediately bolted up the nearest tree and paused 3 feet off the ground to peer at us for the first time.
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