Happy Boxing Day..........Back on Line!

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Geo: 10.914, -84.7964

Catch up Blog as no Internet for 4 days due to line down!

Tenorio Volcanic National Park Thursday 22nd Dec 1500h


Ouch! Yikes!..... I'm being bitten..........I stumble on through the jungle for a few stinging yards before daring to look down.........my tender English lily-white legs and indeed arms are a succulent and easy target for a herd of killer jungle gnats! I turn into a human pin cushion as they feast gleefully on the inside of my arms and calves.......little droplets of blood appear within seconds as I madly squish the little black critters........will I survive this tropical trauma?

I "squeak" to Cathy that I have been attacked........and immediately "about turn" and head back about 200m up the marshy jungle path and past the sloth perched high in a palm tree (the reason for our intrepid adventure). We thankfully reach the safety of our hotel villa and fumbling through my sponge bag I swig down an antihistamine tablet..........by this time, I was covered in small blistering welts and beginning to worry about survival. Cathy on the other hand showed scant concern and fished out her Kindle to read.......at the same time indifferently tossing a "roll on" DEET stick in my general direction. I continued to hop about and scratch madly!

The combined cocktail of the antihistamine tablet and a decent swing of the dodgy Scotch seemed so far to have staved off the worst effects!

It's 1640 and we are "resting up" after an really great travelling day that will remain in my memory for many years to come. We set off at 0830 from the Cloud Forest Lodge after having bade farewell to the superb staff. It was a memorable stay and we were sorry to leave. The sun by this time was beginning to ascend in the bright blue assure morning sky as we bobbled along the potholed tracks towards our first target destination of Tirulan some 30km north west. We pass through lush green arable rolling hills interspersed with cattle and sturdy but well appointed little cottage like Costa Rican dwellings.

The Costa Ricans are clearly a well organised and hard working people who exude warmth and friendship as well as a healthy respect for their beautiful environment.
By 1130 we approach the outskirts of Las Canas and park up Pedro for a well earned pit stop. The town centre is set up on a grid system focusing on a central gardened square and church. We plod about and admire the nativity scene in the church and smile to the flip flop clad locals . Where are the old buildings in Costa Rica.....? This question has been vexing me for the last few days.....then I read in the guide book about the abundance of earthquakes.......

After another visit to a Maxi Peli supermarket to stock up of vitals we are well on our way to our abode for the next 4 nights.....The Tenorio Lodge set high in the lush foothills of two active Volcanoes........yet another excellent establishment run by a charming French family originally from near Paris. I would guess it comprises about 12 very well appointed villa style cottages in lush gardens all facing the mist shrouded Volcanos of Montezuma (4,947 ft) and Tenorio (6,286 ft) each elusively and mysteriously shrouded in cloud...........

TIME CHECK: 064O. Via 10 Tenorio Lodge. The birds are very active and in the distant jungle I can make out "monkey like" calls.......it has been a painfully itchy night to be frank and I am now well populated with painful small red bumps! Cathy remains unconcerned and annoyingly unsympathetic. I shower in DEET and swig down another antihistamine tablet.

THE INTERNET IS DOWN! For the last 24 hours the Internet has been down as evidenced by a dangling bundle of brightly coloured wires hanging from a telegraph pole on a hairpin bend near to our hotel........in some respects a relief but it is amazing how dependant one becomes on being able to use email etc.......

FELLOW GUEST REPORT: It appears that the we are the only BRITS (+ of course the infamous NZer) amongst a majority of French clientele .........in my experience, never the most cheerful of folk as they sit poker faced and outwardly indifferent to the beautiful surroundings.........they also score very low on the "smile ometer" rating for empathy. As useful gadget to gauge the use-friendliness of the surrounding carbon based bipedal life form........

CHRISTMAS EVE. 0615 HOURS. I have a distinct feeling Noah and his entire tribe left the Holy Lands and emigrated here sometime shortly after he traded in the "ARK" and decided settle in sunnier climes......sadly, his reputation and rain making skills followed him and we have been slightly held back by inclement weather for the last 24 hours. We seem to be in some sort of "Monsoon Microclimate". Just when you think it is brightening up it pours down. We are sitting watching the deluge from the thankfully dry and well appointed Villa deciding whether to borrow the jigsaw puzzles from reception!

DRAFT PLAN: Possibly retrace our steps in PEDRO back to the remote and somewhat JURASSIC PARK like Tenorio National Volcanic Park and go trekking in search of a waterfall and other jungly activities.......OR sit watching the deluge from our luxurious garden lodge eating Walkers Crisps and scoffing Queza Cheese slices purchased from the local tractor spares shop downtown. Not sure which way it's going to go........

Downtown is the real Costa Rica........Bijagua is surrounded by a steamy jungly reaching high into the surrounding volcanic hills and offers the tourist an abundance of motorbike repair shops, a mangled jeep, a small bakery, a butchers shack (where whole carcasses are delivered single handedly from a van at the front) and one minimart selling tractor spare parts, cheese slices and thousand of tins of sardines stacked high down a complete aisle! It is full of character and friendly wellington boot clad locals who stomp about purposefully eating surprisingly good enchiladas. Strangely enough there, is no petrol station and we have to drive some 25km to Upala (due North) to top up PEDRO for the Christmas Holiday Season.

PEDRO has been put through his places in the last day or so as we ventured deep into to the rainforest over rough rocky tracks and clanking yellow painted iron bridges that spanned swampy creeks. At one point, we decide to head back to civilisation as the track deteriorated into a steep rock escarpment and I had visions of being grounded and having a really difficult discussion with the rental company!

INTERNET: Still down!...............however my BITES are slightly but only slightly improving.......shorts are sadly no longer wearable as my legs look like I have contracted the Black Death crossed with small pox..........we have two more nights here before setting off on Boxing Day to The Cano Negro Park close to The Nicaraguan border.

CHRISTMAS EVE: 1610hrs. Wow what a day! At breakfast, we were advised by our hostess Christine (a high cheekboned lady who could easily in her youth have been the "Maggie" referred to in the famous Rod Stewart song)..........to drive some 100km west to the Palo Verdi National a Park and hopefully to more clement weather. We head back along Highway 6 toward Canes and within 20 minutes the sun is shining once again. Finally, we hook our Ipad up to Pedro's sound system and cheerfully sing along to Amy Winehouse and Creedence Clearwater Revival!..........

The Paulo National Park is very remote and we head into it's interior with slight nervous trepidation. At a rather smart yet under utilised rangers guard post we hand over a few dollars to a green army fatigued clad ranger and sign our names into the registration book. We are then cheerfully waived off down a 10km dirt track and into the park itself . All very reminiscent of the scene in Jurassic Park where the guests of David Attenborough marvel at the amazing flora and forna before breaking down and being "noshed" by the rogue T.Rex.......

Suddenly and without warning, I hear cracking noises out of my drivers window........we stop the engine and look left.........a troop of white white faced Capuchin Monkeys can be seen leaping about in the trees..........they stop momentarily to study us with beady black eyes before carrying on with their daily routine of breaking branches and chewing on leaves. The track winds on and on through dense bush before transforming into lush tropical forest. Noises can be hear all around us. We pull over, park up and venture on foot down through to a swampy lizard infested track. This in turn joins a sturdy timber pontoon jutting out across a vast open water lagoon from which we can see a huge variety of bird life and lizards.

The sun bakes down.........we are surrounded by rushes, reeds, more huge dog sized lizards, brightly coloured dragonflies and a plethora of wading birds...........all busy and unperturbed by our presence. On the horizon, we make out high volcanic mountain ranges stretching as far as the eye can see.........,,an amazing setting.

Pressing on for another 2km through dense wooded jungle and swampy lagoons on either side we pass a working horse ranch complete with Gaucho style Cowboys lazing around on wooden verandahs. Eventually, we reach the end of the dusty track some 10km from the guard post. To the left of us is a small abandoned metal jetty which descends at a drunken angle to the brown water below. In front, a defunct concrete check point sits squat and immovable with iron bars for windows.............a metal sign cheerfully announces in flaking black paint (in English) that there are "no boat tours today"..............we climb out of Pedro make our way gingerly down to the slightly listing pontoon and eagerly peer out across the vast water freshwater bijou to the vast swamy mangroves some 500m or so in the distance.

Then we spot it............something on the shore opposite............something like a vast green tractor tyre basking in the midday sun...........that is no tractor tyre I nervously hiss to Cathy!........Through our binoculars we can clearly make out the huge spiky scales of some vast reptile........"surely not".........Cathy squeaks nervously as she reaches for the guide book.............it's.....it's a freshwater American Crocodile! It must have been some 25ft in length.................we watch with reverential awe give the agreed on signal and climb back into the safe confines of Pedro............for where there is one three must be others............

CHRISTMAS DAY:
A late get up 0615: a glance down at my legs give me some comfort that things are improving but still a "long trouser day" awaits for the fear of upsetting the local children.....

We tuck into a hearty breakfast of slightly spicy pork filet encased in mashed plantain served on a banana leaf and contemplate what to do. Costa Rican Santa strangely enough arrives on Boxing Day so as we are still locked in our "monsoon bubble" and Petrol Stations will be open we again head for the sunny lowlands but this time to visit the National Volcanic Park of Santa Maria
At around 10:30 we park up PEDRO in Liberia and purchase a packet of rather tasty looking sliced Baloney which will go rather nicely with our Queza Cheese Slices from the other day (only 4 left).
We decided to ditch the pizza slices left over from Monday as whilst being in the fridge might just be past their sell by date. Soon we are bobbling along an unmake up in a lava field raid that climbs gently out of Liberia into the distant Volcanic hills.

A totally different Christmas day................

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Comments

[katie.jenks28]

It sounds amazing! I'm sure there is a sloth orphanage in Costa Rica xx