It poured all the way to Cano Negro this morning, which was about an hour and a half drive.... we took a bit longer to get there because at about the half way mark the driver got a message to say that there was a late booking and they are screaming up behind us trying to catch up in a taxi! So everything slowed down quite a bit. And then, on a tiny little road, around an almost blind corner, next to a pineapple field and right there in the middle of the road, we stopped. And so did a taxi in front and behind us. 6 happy people bounced out of the fire hydrant red taxis with huge smiles on thier faces and came aboard the now almost full bus. It was a happy crowd and those that could not understand the others, at least made the effort and sign language seemed to be the most used language of the day, right next to English.
We drove past papaya orchids, rice paddies, pineapple plantations, just to mention a few. Most of the places here do not have those aweful bars all around their houses like in the cities, but its sooo poor! I know that in reality one really does not need to survive, but geez - some of these places are almost beyond bare. Even the houses that are painted bright colors have seen better days, anything concrete has a definite mildew look to it and after the rain everything is muddy as there is not such thing as a sidewalk of paved parking area, its all just mud and puddles made from slightly red ground. Many people ride bicycles here which creates quite a headache on the narrow roads and there are many places marked where people have been killed on these narrow roads.
The first sighting of the day was when I spotted two huge iguana high up in a tree along the side of the road...One particularly keen lady, forever now known as Iguana Lady, bounced up and down as if she had seen a full blooded lion! Oh she was sooooo excited! It was very catchy, but the guide just laughed and said that its ok, we were about to see about 200 iguanas in the trees in a few minutes. And we did. They lay over each other, higgeldy piggeldy in the tree tops, of which we had a magnificient view from yet another single lane, old, no safety barrier bridge. We just scooted up a bit closer to the edge whent the traffic wanted to cross over. The iguanas were huuuuge and they look so prehistoric and so...... well, they WATCH one in a very eery way, hardly moving at all. They are insect eaters, but I think that if one of those animals came at me with that gleam in its eye - well, I would move faster. I know it. They are known locally as "tree chickens" and are often eaten by the locals.....and when it was announced that we would be having chicken for lunch - well, there was this very strange gulping silence, until Leonardo the guide, cleared it up - ordinary chicken. Phew!
And on we went to another place where we had time to use the bathrooms and where we were going to have lunch after the river trip. There were some really lovely little teak ornaments and goodies and I meant to buy something, but time got away and I did not get around to it. Ah well... another time. A little while later we boarded the boat - it was a pontoon boat that seats about 60 people. We were only14 on this trip. Lovely. This town is the last town before finding Nicaragua - see, I can spell it now, and there are a good few boats and canoes there with the Nicaragua flag flying. When I say boats, I mean mostly long motorized canoes and some pontoon boats, all filled with people wearing very colorful clothing waiting to head into the country next door. There is a small resturant there and someone was cooking the most delicious smelling something or other and we all wished we would be eating there instead. When we boarded the boat, we first had to walk down a few steps... and these were huge, both wide and deep. Again, no handholds, no 'be careful signs and then came that huge gap between the last step and the boat. Interesting, but we all made it safely enough. And then off we went.
Pretty soon we started seeing wildlife really close up..... we saw both types of sloth within 10 minutes and one gave us quite a show, moving around and eating the bark of the tree it was hanging in. Then it climbed high into a tree that had not leaves at all and gave a really good photo op. Wonderful. We saw a good variety of birds, many cayman, jumping garfish, basilisk and more of those Jesus lizards. And then we heard the howler monkies.. those things can put the fear of whatever you are fearful of, deep in your soul! They sound like a huge troop of enormous lumbering creatures, seriously ticked off and after you! Its a very impressive sound. We found some howler monkies that were willing to come really close to the boat and I got some intersting photos. Tiny kingfishers were everywhere, some blue, some with red breasts and some just black and white. The rain had stopped and I sat on the front of the boat, absolutely enjoying the open fresh air and listening to the silence around us all. It was just wonderful. There was one particularly huge Kapok tree that just dared me to take more photos of it. I obliged.
And then we came to the turnaround time... always the saddest part of the day. And back we went to the boat dock... and on past it for about 10 minutes to the Nicaraguan border. There is just a signboard and about 5 sticks stuck in the ground, to show the border. Apparently there is no problem for them to come across into Costa Rica to this little town, but the Nicaraguans need to have a work permit to work here and we did pass through a checkpoint where there was one serious looking, unsmiling, uniformed offical looking man with a gun - but its easy to see that any person wanting in could literally just walk a quarter of a mile away and get in through the trees.
It was a fascinating day - I always love being out on the river. I was using my long lens again today and finally thought o put the one I normally use onto Franks camera - what a lovely difference! I almost had to fight to get it back from him! :) He is starting to have fun with the camera and its lovely to see him getting excited about a photo well taken. We got back to the hotel around 3.30pm and I headed off to talk to the local tourist assistant man, Victor, in the lobby. I booked a hotel for us at Monteverde, up in the Cloud Forest, as well as our jeep-boat-jeep ride to get across the Arenal lake to the Monteverde area. One can take a bus, public transport, get a guide or private transport around on the road - but this way sounds like much more fun to us both. We will also be taking a wander across some more hanging bridges and are told that the cloud forest is much different from the forests here in the Arenal area.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner again in the hotel. The dining room, bar or upstairs computer area or hang out place, has no windows. There is a roof and huge open spaces where windows would be...... but its open. A very pregnant cat wanders through the lounge, stopping at some tables and telling stories with her gentle meeows to the people she picks - we were very honored to be one of the lucky ones she told a story to on two nights. She really enjoyed the head scratch. The bullfrogs sit just outside doing what bullfrogs do best - bellow and sit there like huge slobs. Birds duck and dive up near the roof, but we never saw any inside. It's lovely to have the breeze blowing through the building - quite different and very nice.
And then off to the hot springs we went for our last swim here. We hung out in a different little pool for a good while. It seems that some of them are warmer than others and we went a good few pools up the path where we could sit under the little waterfall that came from the pool above. Very nice, very relaxing and just awesome to lay there under the stars and just be quiet and feel our muscles relax and sleep approaching at high rev's. Walking back down that path, one has to watch for the bullfrogs - I shudder to think what it must feel like to step on one of them..... eeeeww!
Now we are all packed up and ready to head out of here at around 8.30am to new things to see. Today we have been in Costa Rica for a week already and in some ways it feels like ages. We are settling in to the sounds, smells and the general 'beat' of the country. The unprocessed foods and the fruit are just wonderful and whenever we have the chance, I load up on the papaya.... thats my best by far.
So - till Monteverde on Wednesday.........
love, light and laughter.
an extra dose to U3 ( I have been asked what this "U3" is.. they are our three amazing kids who are holidng the fort back home and seeing what they can be doing one day when they are old like us :)
Annie
No comments:
Post a Comment