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We were in the mood for a little adventure, so we decided to descend upon the least developed area of Costa Rica, the Oso Peninsula. Just before we left Panama we learned of a place called Bolita on the Oso Peninsula near Puerto Jimenez. This magical paradise requires a stunning, steep hike up from a nearby town to Bolita during which you traverse a small river a couple of times. The hike is not too tough, but with a heavy pack on it was a bit trying. Essentially, Bolita is a cabin in the middle of the jungle with about 15 acres of hiking trails, a couple of waterfalls, gas stove burners, and toilets with running water. It shares a border with Corcovado National Park, which we had been planning on visiting. However, we found Bolita to be a noteworthy alternative to going into Corcovado. It takes a bit of time to get to either Bolita or Corcovado, and the majority of locals in Puerto Jimenez don’t know where Bolita is still. Instead of paying $8 park entrance and another $10 a night to camp at a ranger station, we paid $6 to stay at Bolita with full kitchen privileges,
foam mattresses, mosquito nets, and running water. It rained the entire time we were there, with the exception of about 5 hours when we first arrived, but even so there was a magical beauty to this spot. There ended up being 8 of us headed out there at the same time, which according to the owners was extremely unusual; however, it was quite fortunate for all of us that we had a large crew.
We weren’t sure how long we would stay as we hiked up the arduous trail, but assumed we would stay at least a couple of nights. Then the rain set in. As the rain pounded on the tin roof of our cabin we made the executive decision to head out the following day, and wondered how the downpour was affecting the river we had initially crossed to enter into this magical wonderland. We woke the following morning a 6 am to go for a sunrise hike, but through the enchanting fog we saw a mere glimmer of sunlight before it started sprinkling again. James (one of our crew of 8) decided to head down to check out the possibility of crossing the river. To all
of our dismay, he came back to report that the Rio Tigre (Tiger River), which had only been slightly passed our ankles the previous day, was true its namesake and had turned into a raging river up to his waist that seemed a force to be reckoned with. As the rain continued, we all grew anxious to find a way back to town without being swept away by the river. Pinned to the wall, there was a hiking map of the area that showed an access road back to town with much of the road cut off the edge of the map. We thought about it quite logically, and realized that where there is a road there is a way. We had high hopes that this way may just include a bridge over the violently flowing river. After hiking for a couple of hours through pasture lands, calf deep mud, cow pies, and intermittent rain, we finally saw the welcoming site of town. Sadly, it was on the other side of that dreadful river, and there was no bridge. 😞 We all adamantly refused to complete the hike we had just endured, and decided to brave the river. We threw
Purple House
Home away from home. We stayed here four seperate times during our trip. out a rope to the growing population of locals on the other side of the river who were watching the event with curiosity, and one by one we made the treacherous journey. There were a few cut up legs, one person being completely swept away (but caught quickly - phew), and thankfully a sturdy local man who carried a couple of our packs (including Jill's) across for us. We all survived to tell the tale of our river fording experience, but it is not one we ever wish to repeat.
From there we spent a couple of days in the reign of the surfers in Domincal, which is a very touristy, Americanized, surfers haven where an electrical transformer box exploded every day. No, we didn't just lose power in a normal "The lights will be back on shortly sort of way". Then it was off to Manuel Antonio for our last couple days of the journey.
We had initially avoided Manuel Antonio due to lack of time, and reports of how touristy it is. We were both glad that we undertook the voyage to get there. Although the town had more gringos walking down the street than locals;
the park and the beach are remarkable reasons why so many are drawn here. Our first night there we stayed in a room upstairs from a restaurant right on the beach. They only have one room they occasionally rent out, and it was a bargain. Why not go for it, right? Well, we did stay there for one night. It had somewhat of a funky smell, but we didn’t mind that so much. We could just open the windows and air it out. Oops, those were cemented shut—really there was no glass, just cement blocks where windows once opened to the take in the fresh air of Manuel Antonio. Ok, well, hmmmm…. I guess we’ll just keep the ac on high to try to clear up whatever funkiness is going on. So, we left for dinner and an evening stroll. When we returned and turned on the lights, we saw, to our chagrin, HUGE cockroaches hurrying into darkness of our bathroom. There must have been a dozen of them, and we were only able to quickly kill about half. So, we slept with all of the lights on that night to keep the critters in hiding. Early the next morning,
we found a bright and cheery hotel (Del Mar) with a killer (free) layout for breakfast. The hotel is normally $60-$80 a night, but we happened upon a $30 special due to it being low season. Yippahh!! To our enjoyment, as we arrived there was a tree full of about 30 little monkeys dancing the morning away as they jumped from one limb to another just outside the balcony of our new dwelling for the night. It was quite a sight to see.
Fortunately for the animals, and sadly for us, Manuel Antonio National Park is closed on Mondays. We had a bus leaving at noon for San Jose, and we were determined to see the park. After requesting a wake up call from the front desk, we settled in to our comfy surroundings for the night, preparing to be up at 6 am the next morning. Well, the wake up call never came, but opportunely we managed to wake ourselves up at 6:30 with hardly enough time to get to the park at 7 for its opening. We decided for our final National Park trek in Costa Rica that we should finally get a guide, and were happy
we did. We saw lots of sloths, a crocodile, sloths, a caymen, lizards, sloths, monkeys, morphos butterflies, rainbow grasshoppers, and of course sloths. We were psyched, as we had been sloth seeking on our own during the entire trip, and had yet to see anything but a patch of hair in a tree.
Although we didn’t plan to leave Costa Rica during this two month voyage, we ended up spending 6 weeks of our journey in Panama, to our pleasure. Overall, we found Panama a bit less touristy and built up than Costa Rica, and less expensive as well. We also found that because the locals are not as accustomed to rude, self-important, American tourists, they tend to be a lot friendlier (even the people who aren't trying to sell you anything). We realize that not all American tourists can be described this way, but from talking locals, that seemed to be their perspective. Imagine that? The people in Costa Rica weren't unfriendly for the most part, but there seemed to be a diffinitive lack of desire to have to 'deal' with more tourists in many areas. I can imagine I would feel the same way if I felt
Rio Tigre
We survived. the over-development of the land had infringed on my birthright of the beautiful rainforests, and had taken away my ability to buy land for my family.
Well folks, thanks for tuning in to the final program of Adam & Jill in Central America. We hope someday that we'll be able to return to this paradise, but only time will tell. We’re heading back to good ol’ San Diego, and we may be coming to a town near you very soon. We’ll keep you posted of anything noteworthy.
Wishing you all safe travels and happiness in all of your endeavors.
Adam and Jill
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