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Published: April 12th 2006
Iguanas
Iguanas are everywhere.Well, we had been here for close to 4 months all told and yet to see a monkey in the wild. It was about time, so we planned a trip to points south, ending in the wilds of the Osa Peninsula.
We drove down through San Isidro de el General. I had chipped a tooth right before we left and a friend´s brother is a dentist there, so we stopped there and he took me right in and ended up filing the tooth down--in 10 minutes I was in and out and we drove down to Dominical and ended up staying the nite there. On the way down, we came upon a bridge that was out and there was a whole line of trucks stopped because they couldn´t get through. Apparently this happens all the time in Costa Rica, the truckers just wait patiently until the bridge is repaired and continue on. People in the towns know that their supplies will arrive whenever... There was a policeman there on a motorcycle and he motioned us to follow him. He led us down a backroad and we had to cross a narrow bridge that was barely still hanging. We made it across
Dominical
Beach at Dominical and continued alone on this backroad which followed the river and eventually ended up in Dominical. Sometimes, you just have to follow your instincts and hope for the best when finding your way here. Anyhow, Dominical is a cool town, but not much going on if you´re not a surfer. Next morning we drove down to Puerto Jimenez. It took total about 7 1-2 hours to do the whole way down. The roads once you got into the Osa were horrible. You can only go about 30 miles an hour because of all the potholes in the paved road and the last 22 miles is gravel. On the way, we stopped and had a coffee in the middle of nowhere at a souvenir shop run by a lady named Nancy. She made us the best cafe con leche that I´ve had since I´ve been in Costa Rica. As soon as she found out Davide was Italian, she said, ¨The Italians like their coffee strong!¨And she proceeded to make a coffee that tasted like it was made in a bar in Italy!
The Osa Peninsula is supposed to be the last frontier--deep in the wilderness. It didn´t seem as isolated as
The Osa
First images of the Osa Peninsula I expected. There were houses all along the way down. It is a small little outpost town, the ¨port¨is just a bay with a few boats (most of them about 16 feet) sitting in the water. There are a couple of small docks. The town is made up of a few roads and driving in you feel like you have ended up in the middle of a scene from a ¨Mad Max¨film. Since it is the end of the dry season, there was dust everywhere!! I felt like I was covered from head to toe the whole time we were there--you just couldn´t stay clean. You´re breathing in dust.
Despite the condition of the town, continuing down to the tip of the peninsula, we saw some of the most awesome beaches we have seen since being here. The color of the water is crystal blue and the sand is white.
On the way back home, we went home along the coast and stopped in Manuel Antonio for the nite. We hadn´t been to the park on our last trip, so we visited there this time. Now I see what all the hype is about. It is absolutely stunning. The beaches
Souvenir shop
Nancy standing by her shop where we stopped for coffee and to pick up a few souvenirs. are beautiful and the wildlife is incredible. Within a few minutes of entering the park, you will see all kinds of animals and birds. We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, iguanas, raccoons, ocelots and other rodent-like animals that I´m not sure what they´re called.
It was a really exciting trip and it has given us the fever to want to get out and explore some more. This week is the ¨semana santa¨. The Costa Ricas celebrate the whole week before Easter and just about everyone is on vacation--they all go to the beaches. So we are going to wait at least a week and we want to explore the Caribbean coast.
So until next time...Pura Vida.
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