Adventures in Southern Costa Rica – part 2
Our trip to Drake Bay and Corcovado began with a car ride further down the coast, into the Osa peninsula and to the river town of Sierpe. We had initially planned to spend a couple of nights in Sierpe and tour the surrounding mangrove swamps. This area is known for bird life and crocodiles, both of which can best be seen by boat. Our plans changed when we got to town. Our hotel room was underwhelming to say the least (Kevin and Sophie half-jokingly referred to it as the prison cell) and the town itself was a collection of buildings centered around a soccer field with one main restaurant that also served as departure point for boats heading to Drake. After strolling around town for at most an hour, we were done and the knowledge that there were likely to be even greater chances to see wildlife in Drake than here, gave us the push we needed. After a quick check to see what was available for accommodations, we decided to move up our departure up by one day, even though it would mean having to stay in a different hotel for the first night… This decision would end up having some positive repercussions for us … but more on that later.
That evening in Sierpe, while enjoying dinner at the only restaurant in town, we got up close and personal with a couple of the famed crocs that also called Sierpe home. The picture below doesn’t have the scale to properly appreciate it, but suffice to say that just the head on this crocodile was as big as Kevin’s torso… and the fact that the rest of the animal remained submerged under the dock made it hard to reliably estimate its entire length, but it was goose-bump-inducing to be only a few feet from it.
The next day began hot and humid and while waiting for our water-taxi we were forced to hang out in the same restaurant again, trying to find comfort under one of the ceiling fans and the lack of any more croc sightings. But then the adventure began and we loaded into a boat with a 400 horse power motor on the back and began our journey down the Rio Sierpe headed for the open ocean. The river started out rather narrow, in places narrower than our Assiniboine back in the ‘peg. As the journey continued, there was a noticeable widening and after about 35 minutes of high speed boating we found ourselves suddenly approaching the point at which the river emptied into the ocean and the relatively calm waters very quickly became jaw-clenchingly rough as the fresh and salt water converged.
Having spent a week in the island-dotted Bocas del Torro region of Panama several years ago, we were no strangers to boating on open ocean. But it had been years since we’d had that feeling of being in a (suddenly dinky little) boat that was methodically making its way up and down through swells that would give and take away your ability to look out over the vast expanse of the ocean depending upon whether you were at the top of the wave or in the bottom of the swell. Thankfully, the rough patch at the mouth of the river was short lived and after a few minutes of ‘turbulence’, we were back to skimming relatively calm and wonderfully clear waters as we headed south down the coastline towards our home for the next week. Kevin was sure that he saw a small pod of dolphins welcoming us as we turned into the actual Drake Bay, but without photographic evidence, he mostly got skeptical looks from Sophia and Bo.
Landing at Drake can be fun if you’re ready for it. After pausing a hundred yards off the coast to collect everyone’s fare, the captain heads for the beach and at the last moment turns around and backs in a few yards from the beach, then yells “Pura Vida” and motions for you to get off. If you’re lucky, the waves aren’t too high and your able to jump out the back into knee-deep water and quickly make it onto the beach before a wave crashes. It is a little unsettling to do this while carrying a (non-waterproof) 60-pound backpack with everything you own, in it. As it turned out, two water taxi’s were disembarking at almost the same time, so the little beach comically had 30+ people scrambling with their gear up to dry land and then trying to figure out where to go from there.
Thankfully, when you get on the boat in Sierpe you're asked which hotel you’re staying at and someone radios ahead to ensure that each hotel is prepared to pick up their own guests on arrival. And so it was with us. Soon we had checked in to the lovely Hotel Margarita, Drake Bay and were hungrily eyeing the pool that promised to wash away the salt spray and sweat that had been accumulating since early that day. So much better than the ‘prison cell’ we’d left behind…
We spent the day getting acquainted with our new home town; replenishing our fruit and booze supply and enjoying the jazz that played in the background of our open air lobby and the lovely pool below.
As we weren’t due to arrive until the following day, we were in a bit of a holding pattern before we could check into our hotel for the week so we took the advice of one of the hotel employees and struck out on an path along the ocean towards a nearby beach taking in the gorgeous sights that Drake Bay offered, including the sight of one of the largest yachts that we’d ever seen (it actually had a helicopter parked on it). While no one could tell us who this boat belonged to we were informed that another yacht in the bay belonged to Bruce Willis. And so it was with our time in this gorgeous place where we were often left trying to reconcile the sporadic evidence of ultra-wealth with the otherwise untouched nature and a relatively rustic town that only got hooked up to the electricity grid about ten years ago and that still didn’t have a bank or an ATM.
That night, we found ourselves eating at a local restaurant and our good fortune continued. Kevin’s journal entry below outlines what happened:
We were having dinner here in Drake Bay and a family sat down at the next table with an adorable 15 month old toddler named Indiana who took an immediate shine to Sophia and was all over her in an instant. It didn’t take us long to strike up a conversation with the lovely parents. Turns out we were talking to a local guide who does specialty hikes deep into Corcovado park on much more remote trails (Top Trails Corcovado).
We chatted away over dinner while Sophia amused Indiana and we are going to pull the trigger in one of his jungle treks later this week - a full-day 20 km hike through primary rainforest in one of the most remote and pristine rainforests left in the Americas. We got back to the hotel and while searching Top Trails on trip advisor our eyes popped out. Looks like we lucked out with the ‘super-man’ of guides. Don’t want to jinx this but we feel blessed already and our time here has barely begun.
The next day saw us move to our jungle lodge, located a couple of km outside of ‘town’. Finca Maresia was a lovely place, run by a family that were incredibly welcoming. Also welcoming were their two dogs and two kittens, who were an immediate hit with Sophia.
The main lodge boasts a large open air veranda, dotted with hammocks, couches and comfy chairs that caught hints of a breeze on even the hottest of days and offered wonderful views of the jungle all around us.
Our cabin was about 200 meters away nestled into the surrounding jungle and included a semi open air shower that gave one the feeling of showering up in the trees. But it was the manager-family of Jonny, Gretel and their son Simon that made this place such an enjoyable place to stay. Whether it was Gretel’s lovely homemade breakfasts, watching the Scarlet Macaws circle the grounds, chatting philosophy into the night with University student Simon; or simply hanging out with the cats, Finca Maresia was a relaxing home base for us over the course of the week.
Jonny had a great attention to detail and a desire to help us with whatever we needed - ferrying us into town when we needed groceries or wanted to go for dinner and helping arrange the tours and experiences we were able to enjoy that week. The first of those tours was a snorkeling trip to the marine reserve around Isla de Caño. The day began before sunrise as we had to be ready to leave for the boat at 6:30 a.m. The trip to the island took about 30 minutes across open ocean. Along the way, we were fortunate to come across some huge sea turtles feasting on a school of baby jelly fish. The initial delight at seeing these ancient looking creatures quickly turned a bit sour for Sophia, who immediately started to worry about whether the jelly fish were also going to be around the island where we were headed.
The snorkeling was broken into two sessions and by the time we had gotten to the second site, Sophia’s trepidations had subsided. This was perfect timing as that area was filled with huge schools of fish, pretty coral, sea turtles, (harmless) white tipped sharks and even a couple of (small) stingrays. Perhaps the most exciting experience for Kevin, was a close encounter with one of several sea turtles whose curiosity got the better of him and, as Kevin watched in increasing delight, approached from far off. After having had fun free-diving and chasing a few turtles around in the past half hour, Kevin thought it best to simply float on the surface and see how close this guy would come. He was amazed to find that this turtle seemed intent on having a truly close-up look… so close that Kevin decided to make fists with his hands to lessen the chances of having one of his fingers mistaken for food. There they were having a blinking contest, literally nose to nose, with Kevin nearly forgetting to breath, out of a sense of awe, before the turtle decided he’d had enough and, with two great flaps of his flippers, off he went. To Kevin’s great chagrin, he had pressed the wrong button on the go pro, and instead of taking a video of this wondrous encounter, he had to settle for simply a single picture of his new friend.
The ride back from the island also had its moment of wonder when Bo thought she saw the fins of two dolphins swimming just off the side of our boat. After getting the captain’s attention, we stopped long enough to see that the ‘dolphin fins’ were actually the upturned fin tips of a giant manta ray that had been relaxing just under the surface of the ocean. These tips were nearly two meters apart, which meant that that this particular manta ray was a full grown adult and a rare sight! Our trip ended with a stop off at nearby San Josecito beach before returning for lunch at a local restaurant where we were able to compare experiences with our new friends from Chile and Switzerland, who had been with us on this tour. All in all, it was a great first tour/experience and in some ways, a sign of things to come.
The next day we were set to go on the first of two jungle treks. This one, called the ‘Tapir Trail’ was unique in that it was a combination of both a day and a night hike in one. It began in the mid-afternoon with our introduction to Gustavo, our guide. It didn’t take us long to recognize his skills and abilities and experience as a jungle guide. Before we had even spent one hour together we had heard him making so many different bird and animal calls, that we’d lost count. It wasn’t long before we heard him having ‘conversations’ with a variety of birds and monkeys who often came out of hiding to check us out and investigate who that weird accent belonged to. Gustavo was both an expert jungle tracker and guide, and a wonderful teacher who was very giving of his knowledge and opinions on a wide variety of subjects.
What set this tour apart from most is that it allows participants to explore and see a variety of animals that are most active during the day and then an entirely different set of nocturnal animals as we continue to hike through the forest at night. We celebrated the mid-way point with a pit stop at a lovely little waterfall allowing us to cool off after some arduous hiking on some steep trails and prepare ourselves for the transition to the night hike, as we watched the daylight slowly turn to darkness.
For the next two and a half hours, using flashlights for light and rubber boots for protection from snake bites, we hiked along the river and came across an amazing variety of mostly frog, insect and spider life, including squirm inducing tarantulas and a close call with a Brazilian Wandering spider, which Sophia dutifully informed the group was the most poisonous spider in the Americas, taking the words out of a bemused Gustavo’s mouth. While we did not see any snakes on our trek that night (to Bo’s immense relief and Kevin and Sophia’s disappointment), the sheer variety of flora and fauna combined with Gustavo’s careful teaching and explanations, made the time go by quickly. Gustavo gave us a two-plus hour long session of “jungle show and tell”… with wonderful introductions to everything from bioluminescent Click Beetles to River Lobsters to the tiny and translucent Glass Frogs, we were given a masterclass in jungle flora and fauna.
The most panic-inducing moment may very well have been when Gustavo had us gather around him along the shores of a creek and turn off all our flashlights while he talked to us about the jungle’s night predators. You could not see your hand in front of your face as the surrounding canopy prevented us from being able to use any of the stars for light. Kevin was quickly reminded of the cave exploration he had done while travelling in Borneo many years ago and the similarities to the thick, oppressive blackness that envelopes you in a jungle at night.
As we neared the end of our tour, Gustavo pointed to some large paw prints in the trail telling us these looked like fresh Tapir prints so we should proceed quietly. While no Tapir was spotted, Sophia, having no clue what a Tapir was, spent the remainder of the hike in silent terror thinking we were being stalked by a large, savage jungle beast (note: Tapirs aren't dangerous as you'll see shortly). We ended our tour by visiting a local family’s house and enjoying a dinner that had been prepared while we had been hiking. Even the drive home was a chance for Gustavo to show us more when he suddenly stopped driving and got out to pick up some kind of leaf, just before we would have run over it. He brought it to the side of the van and showed us that this ‘leaf’ was actually a bizarrely well camouflaged walking leaf bug.
The excitement wasn’t over and when we returned to the Maresia, we saw Johnny looking serious and carrying a long clawed-stick that we recognized as one of those litter grabbers. He knew Bo well enough not to even ask, but did invite Sophia and Kevin along to show us the snake that had been found in a bush just outside one of the jungle cabins (not ours). He explained to us that this was a ‘good’ snake because it often ate the poisonous ones… but still cautioned us to keep our distance as it’s bite could still do some serious harm. Sophia was enthralled.
Knowing she wouldn't enjoy a full-day jungle trek, the next day we left Sophia with the Maresia kittens and joined a handful of other intrepid souls to hike in a very remote area of the nearby Corcovado National Park.
Just before starting our hike, Carlos, our guide, gathered us around for an interesting chat - part pep talk, part philosophy of life talk and part review of the safety rules we had to follow as we entered a jungle that was home to some of the most rare and dangerous animals that Costa Rica had to offer. While he shared plenty of good safety rules (including the old standard: “resist the urge to grab onto any vines or trees to steady yourself for fear of snakes or poisonous ants”), there was also a sense of fatalism in Carlos’ words that left an impression on Kevin and Bo. He talked about the most important reasons we’ve been put on this Earth, among which are to use our precious time to collect memories and to learn and share our knowledge with others. But it was his final words that rang in Bo and Kevin’s ears, after having finished his training on what to do if we did indeed come across a puma or jaguar or were attacked by a herd of wild boars: “We’re all going to die sometime… so if today is your day, make it a great one." And with that, we headed off on our hike.
The day was equal parts adrenaline mixed with fear and anticipation that together kept us going as we hiked nearly 20 clicks through some of the densest jungle we’d ever seen, parts of it in near silence. This was not just a proverbial ‘walk in the park’… it was grueling. And Bo in particular was pushed to the limits of her endurance but lived to tell of it with a sense of well-deserved accomplishment. Kevin was eager to learn as much from Carlos as he could and took every opportunity to chat while trying to keep up with him.
Carlos had a most interesting life story that included being a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces with a specialty in tracking and jungle combat. After discharge from the Army, he returned to Costa Rica and looked to further his formal education as a biologist and expert in jungle life. As part of his degree, he was put in charge of a special program studying jaguars - the most elusive and feared animal in the Costa Rican jungle. He spent the better part of two years tracking the ‘king of the jungle’ in a job that combined his previous Ranger training and jungle experience in a way that few in the world could emulate. Kevin had talked with several other guides in the past month in Costa Rica and to a person, everyone talked about how rare it was to even get a fleeting glimpse of one of these animals (most people had never even seen one), even though they spent lots of time in the jungle. One story Kevin remembers hearing, told of how one particular guide, when asked about the most incredible thing he’d ever seen said, without hesitation, that he was most excited to have been able to have seen a jaguar. More pertinently to the current situation: he also said that even though it was through a telescope and the big cat was over 300 yards away, this was also the most scared for his life he’d ever been. It was this story that was tumbling through Kevin’s mind as he realized that he was hiking with someone who had spent two years actually tracking these animals on purpose and had had countless encounters over that time. (Carlos shared with Kevin the secret of how to track jaguars… it will cost anyone who’s interested, at least one rum and coke).
Upon reflection, Bo and Kevin believe that Carlos may in fact be a sadist. He certainly seemed to revel in everyone’s gasping for breath as we climbed up and down several small mountains / river valleys that day. He had a particular twinkle in this eyes when we came to one boulder-strewn jungle stream that might have contained either river snakes or crocodiles (or both) and then hopped effortlessly from rock to rock across, getting to the other side before turning around and telling us that anyone who falls in has to buy the beers at the end of the day (we bought him one anyways).
Another moment in the hike that perfectly seemed to encapsulate his sense of adventure and devilish attitude was when we were climbing up one side of a river valley and suddenly came to a spot along the side of the canyon where a mudslide had caused a tree to come down, wiping out our path forward. After surveying the situation, he determined that, given the narrow ledge and steep slope we were on, it was safer to try to continue to climb up the canyon side as opposed to turning back. So up we went… straight through the jungle foliage mixed with the roots of trees that had been exposed by the landslide. Before he started the ascent, he turned to us and gave what, to us, was a maddeningly dichotomous set of instructions: “take your time, but watch out for snakes…”. As we literally scrambled almost straight up the valley side, rule number one about not grabbing any vines or trees went completely out the window. In order to even begin to crawl up and around the land slide, we were forced to grab on to whatever vines and roots we could possibly find to prevent ourselves from sliding downwards towards the river below. Kevin had to laugh at how quickly certain safety rules went out the window under these circumstances and did his best to look out at where he could find the next safe root that could hold his weight as he scrambled up through the mud and leaves. It was like a scene out of Romancing the Stone…(to be clear, Kevin was playing the part of Michael Douglas, NOT Danny DeVito).
Apart from those moments of strenuous exertion mixed with fear, our time in the jungle was filled with wonder and excitement and as our route started to take us back towards civilization, we found ourselves hiking along a deserted beach where we came across an actual Tapir (of the non-savage variety) lumbering along the beach. Carlos was impressed with our good fortune (the Tapir is incredibly rare to see like we did) and told us that we were almost finished the worst of the hike… “we just have to climb up and over that mountain over there…the truck will be waiting on the other side” and pointed to a steep looking mountain several hundred meters in elevation, covered in thick vegetation. Bo actually thought he was joking... for a minute.
The last part of the hike took us through the grounds of an ultra-exclusive jungle lodge called Casa Corcovado, reportedly where the A-list celebrities and ultra-wealthy come for a quasi-jungle experience but with butler service. That week, the cast of a Spanish TV-series had booked the entire lodge for Semana Santa (Easter week). It was hilarious to see the looks on the faces of these people sitting at their while-table-cloth tables set up along the beach as 6 haggard and soaked-to-the-bone-in-sweat, hikers appeared out of the jungle, walked by and disappeared back into the forest a few minutes later. (Later, we tried to find out the rates to stay there but they didn’t even put a price on their website. According to Carlos, who has worked there, it was $20K per night but we weren't sure if that was per person or couple - because, you know, 20K per person per night… that would be ridiculous). All this aside, it did lend credence to one story we had read during our web research about Carlos being held in such high regard as a guide that he was sought out by all sorts of famous people for tours. Carlos was a humble man, but he did let slip that we had done a MUCH more impressive hike today than Meryl Streep, George Clooney or Sting had ever done.
Sophia looked a little concerned, upon our return, when she saw the wild looks in our eyes and the muddy and sweaty clothes that had to be pried off of us. Even the semi-open air shower in our cabin had to have a shower by the time we were finished in it. Needless to say, we slept well that night. Our sense of elation at having survived this ordeal with the vocal admiration of Carlos still ringing in our ears, wore down Kevin’s famous thriftiness and we decided to spend our last night in town, going out to an Italian restaurant named KalaLuna. There, we had a chance to debrief our adventure-filled week, looking out over the bay spread out before us, while listening to the waves crash ashore meters away. Kevin was more than a little disturbed to find Bo and Sophia’s topic of conversation quickly turn from our amazing experiences with nature in the past few days, to a detailed pro and con analysis of which of the yachts moored out in the bay, would be the best size for our family.
At dawn on the next day, after enjoying one more of Gretel’s yummy breakfasts, we had to say goodbye to the lovely family of Jonny and Gretel and Simon. Kevin had watched more than a few people leave the Maresia over the course of the 5 nights we stayed there and marvelled at how the family was able to be so energetic and warm to everyone who came through… it was something that made him a bit sad as he reflected on the lives of people who were so intimately connected with the tourist industry… thinking about the revolving door of people who come into and out of their lives, he questioned how often they actually managed to create a connection with any of their guests that was reflective of the warmth they so tirelessly conveyed at all times. A bit of an answer seemed to come as it was time for us to say our final goodbyes on the beach after being dropped off for the 7:30 water taxi. It was impossible for Kevin to keep a dry eye when he heard Jonny ask something that he hadn’t heard him say to any of the other guests: “Can I give you a hug goodbye?”.
Farewell Jonny! We look forward to our next meeting….
The boat ride from Drake back to Sierpe left us with one final brush with nature. Our sharp-eyed captain, pulled over to the side of the river and cut the engine, making me wonder for a split second if we were about to be robbed en masse. Instead, we quickly saw some commotion in the trees and realized that he’d given us a chance to look at a troop of monkeys play around at the water’s edge. Initially, we thought that this was just another troop of capuchins or maybe some howlers, which were becoming very familiar to us by this point in our journey… but we quickly realized that these were different: they were squirrel monkeys, little guys who seem to emulate Evil Knievel as they jump and fly through the air from branch to branch with abandon. After a few minutes it started to look like the trees were spitting out monkeys. For us, this sighting marked having seen all four types of monkeys that call Costa Rica home (the other being spider monkeys with Carlos). It was also a perfect way to encapsulate our time in Drake Bay, with it’s many wonders and rare sightings.
Our time in Drake Bay was filled with adventure but was incredibly draining. We will certainly miss the interesting and incredibly kind people that made this week what it was. We were also very much looking forward to heading back to the Uvita area for some R & R, knowing the beautiful place that we had booked there for the next month. More on that in our next posting… take care everyone!
