Costa Rica and Panama

I knew Jenda was travelling in Costa Rica but I what I didn’t know is that I was supposed to meet up with her. OOPS!  After receiving a slightly distressed email wondering where I was we agreed to meet in Monteverde.  

I crossed the border into Costa Rica from San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua and arrived in Liberia around dinner time on March 18th. I only stayed the night in Liberia and the next day I entered Monteverde Park. I spent the afternoon hiking the trails and then I caught up to Jenda later that day and 3 days after hearing from her. After a couple days of hiking and searching; I still didn’t see a quetzal! The park was like what I had remembered before, but the town of St. Helen has certainly turned it up a notch. There were international class restaurants everywhere and even paved streets!

From St Helen we left together and drove to the active Volcan Arenal. The volcano was socked in so we could only hear the occasional eruptions but not see any fire or brimstone. The trip was everything a drive through the rain forest is supposed to be… gorgeous, fresh, rainy, and interrupted by a mudslide that closed the highway to San Jose.

Camping in Costa Rica seems to be geared for tents as every place I go to advertising 'camping' seems to leave me in the parking lot. This was no different at Areanal and La Virgen where we went whitewater rafting on the Rio Torro. Designed for tenters, the official camp was on an island where you would need to pack you gear into. Instead, We camped in the motel parking lot. It sounds worse than it was. The blessing was that it had a nice sheltered area that I could set up the kitchen and keep out of the torrential downpours that came most of the day and into the evening. From the motel parking lot, the other camp was down an embankment, across a small creek (2 meters wide and 1 meter deep) and up the bank of the river we went rafting in. Another time I may have found myself a private little spot to camp by the riverside. After settling in for the night the motel owners thought it was important to wake me and show me a very unsettling sight... With the rain, the small creek had swelled into a mad, brown, boiling, dangerous river. The once small creek had grown to be at least 200 meters wide and about 2 meters below flooding into the motel. It was a deadly realization, but apparently quite a normal occurrence. I could only imagine what the rest of the river looked like. There is no doubt that if I had been camped anywhere near that river my van would be in the Caribbean Sea by now. Camping on the island would have been horrific (but above the high water mark as it turns out). It was a dramatic lesson learned the easy way.

Prior to the rain it was mostly class III rapids down the Rio Torro. The rafting outfitters were a lot of fun and the scenery through the jungle was quite impressive. It rained almost the entire time but it wasn’t cold until the very end. It has put the bug in me to try the class IV and V rapids I have been reading about.

The first attempt into Tortugero Park on the Caribbean side was a wash out due to the rain. The weather was supposed to be better on the Pacific Coast so a change of plans got us turned around and stuck in traffic due to a mud slide. After another detour we finally made it to the very dry heat of Jaco beach by the end of a long day. Everything I did in Jaco was illegal in Canada and most of the world so I can’t write about it. Oh ya; I did take some surf lessons. I got up my first time and many times… you should have seen me. I made it look easy!!!

Avoiding the heat, sea kayaking at Playa Samara, and chilling in the pool at Playa Coco rounded up the Costa Rican Pacific Coast beach experience and Jenda’s vacation before I returned to Tortugero via San Jose.

The weather held out for me this time and I took the boat up the river to Tortugero Park. I found a room for $15 and some really good jerk chicken but other than that the town was no screaming hell. I think there are some really exclusive ‘eco lodges’ hidden away in the jungle but I didn’t see any. I organized a canoe trip into the lagoons for the next morning but because the guide couldn’t come up with other clients he decided not to go. Fortunately there was another couple going in a motorized boat that had some spare room and I hoped in with them. We cruised around for about 3 hours and saw all kinds of birds, monkeys, plants, and reptiles. I left that same afternoon to get to the ‘party town’ of Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast…

What a nightmare! It was Santa Semana and there wasn’t a room anywhere. The only street in town was gridlocked even though the entire grid is only 10 blocks long and 2 wide. Again, I ended up camping in a hotel parking lot. It wasn’t bad actually as it was quite secluded and had a lot of trees and bushes to pee behind. I would leave with the van during the day and set up on the beach with my books, binoculars, beach blanket, BBQ, bananas, beers, buds, and bun ban botion and return in the evening to my barking lot. Yeah, a dog kennel! The dogs got quite when I turned the lights off. The following Monday the town absolutely cleared out and I treated myself to a very nice $35 room with a real shower and a flush toilet. It was heavenly!

From there I moved down the coast near Cahuita where I camped on the beach and did day trips into Puerto Limon to investigate shipping the van to Colombia. I got lucky and found myself an unemployed Aduana official that bustled me around making contacts. From here I returned to San Jose to meet with the shipper and go over the details that I couldn’t figure out because of my poor Spanish. I also found storage so that I could lighten the load in South America… After all the work I did I found that for about $1400.00 I can get the van to Columbia and I estimate another $1400.00 will get it back. It was about this time when I got an email from a sympathetic blogger suggesting I need a free week at a Caribbean resort on my way to Colombia. I think I can fit that in too! I’ll let you know how that goes later… So where was I??? Oh ya…

I left San Jose with my head spinning, trying to figure out how to best use the little time I have left. I drove on to Corrcovado in Southern Costa Rica and found a gorgeous spot under a huge tree overlooking the bay. I asked the farmer if I could set up in his field, we exchanged some small talk, I made a quick dinner, and watched the sun set… Boo hoo, another gorgeous sunset alone… I am getting used to it! Any blog readers feeling sorry for me? Somehow I doubt it, but if so… maybe Turkey or the Mediterranean somewhere!! ‘Sign me up’ I say!

Anyhow… the next day I drove into Drake Bay. There were some pretty sketchy bridges to cross and quite a few creeks I had to foerd. I thought about the rains and reminded myself what could be. I set up camp, got poured on, and then watched a guy steal my cooler in the middle of the night. I even yelled at him… I wasn’t sure what it was at first and then I realized what was happening. I gave him a ‘WTF’ and got my pants on. He still took off with the cooler! I quickly realized I wasn’t going to chase this guy through the jungle for an empty cooler… Asshole! I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my van unattended in this spot anymore so I cancelled my hiking plans and left the next day. Too bad,  I think the trails would have been awesome.

 

Leaving there I crossed the border into Panama on April 12th.  I made it to the Panama Canal… YAHOO! A Major Milestone… according to the original plan it is half of the way. I see why they call Panama City the Miami of Panama… not that I have ever been to Miami! The ocean front high-rises quickly give way to the rougher city hidden behind. The historical part of the city reminded me of Havana Cuba. The canal was cool. I watched some ships go through at the Miraflores locks and then went to the museum. The city was interesting, the highways were decent, and the landscape was mostly pasture with patches of remaining jungle. It was quite pretty. I got lost driving in that @%^&%^$% city and nearly into an accident… pissed me off! It would have been my fault, but not a sign anywhere!!! I would have blamed it on the system, clashed my teeth, and threw dust on myself. They would know I was seriously upset.

From the canal I drove to the Caribbean coast by Bocas Del Torros and back into Costa Rica at Puerto Viejo again.  I rolled into town, found my favorite place with a shower and toilet and laid up for the night.  The next morning I stocked up on food and beverages and headed out for the isolated beaches for a few days of camping and relaxing.  With the entire beach to myself I practiced my TKD naked, and my Spanish lessons... naked, I sun tanned naked, and I slept naked.  The odd thing was, I showered with my gaunch on.  I have a photo but decided not to post it!  Once the groceries, and more importantly the water ran out, I returned to San jose to gear down and prepare for travelling South... That's were I am now...

So, I have decided...  I will arrive in Colombia with only the things I can carry...  I have a Spanish course booked in Cartagena and I hope I have closed a deal on a nice apartment.