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Published: December 25th 2017
Geo: 10.4594, -84.0039
We have now completed the circle, starting from San Jose in January, down through Costa Rica to Panama, back up and through CR again and then into Nicaragua before finally returning to CR.
As we only had a few weeks left after Nicaragua we decided to visit the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula, then the volcanic Arenal area and before finishing off in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui.
On the Nicoya Peninsula Samara is a small town on a pretty beach and a pleasant place to spend a week. Tico Adventure Lodge, where we stayed has a small pool to cool off in and a television in Reception where we managed to see a couple of the Italian Tennis championship matches, including the Final. However, like many of the small Costa Rican towns, people from the US and Canada dominate being both residents and owners of most of the businesses. The result is that prices are higher and local character disappears.
One day we took a bus to Estrada, along the coast and then walked back to Carillo, birdwatching en route. It was a lovely walk and we saw plenty of birds by the river. We find now that it is becoming
more difficult to find birds that we haven't seen previously but we still enjoy seeing anything that honours us with it's presence! Carillo beach is beautiful, much nicer to our minds than Samara, and unspoilt. However when we told people where we had been the general response was, "Why? There is nothing there" - Exactly!
One thing we really enjoyed in Samara was having a long lunch at the bar on the beach by the surfing school, where we watched people receive training in how to surf and then go out into the waves to put it into practice. Jim and I know just what to do now (mind you, our knees would not let us), but it was fun watching and assessing who was going to get the hang of it quickly and who wouldn't. We were really impressed with the standard of the training provided and the number of learners who were happily surfing after 2 hours. The beach is ideal for learners as it is shallow but has big enough surf.
From Samara we moved on to El Castillo, near Arenal. We chose the location because the hotel looked reasonable for the price (this is a more expensive area)
and it's position meant that it was in a small hamlet away from the main town of La Fortuna but with superb views of Lago de Arenal and the Volcano. It is a few years now since it was possible to see the lava glow at night but it is still an interesting sight. The hotel turned out to be excellent with good walking, stunning views, good food and an infinity pool and hot jacuzzi. What more could anyone want?
It is surrounded by rainforest which climbs up the hills and becomes cloud forest, cooler and often misty. As the rainy season is underway we had a few heavy showers. Late one afternoon we sat in the jacuzzi watching dramatic cloud formations build up over the lake and hills, very dark and threatening, but interspersed with rays of sun breaking through gaps in the clouds highlighting areas with bright silver beams, producing one of the most stunning views I have ever seen. Of course as we were in water we did not have the camera.
Another day we went to the Sky Tram, a kind of gondola lift which transports passengers high up the hillside. Within the same facility are ziplines
and hanging bridges. We booked to go on the Tram and walk across the hanging bridges without realising the walk was actually a 4 hour guided walk. We negotiated with the guide that we would go part of the way and then return on our own, partly so we did not have to climb the very steep slope and partly to give us time alone to birdwatch. We find that the groups on these walks never stop talking which is not good for bird or wildlife spotting. It was a good compromise as we walked 3 hours, picked up lots of information from our guide and managed to see 2 new birds on our own.
On the way up the hill Miguel, the guide, picked up two stones and started hitting them together twice to make a clicking noise, waited a few seconds and repeated the 'clicks'. He was trying to attract the White Collared Manakin but as people were noisy they didn't come. When we returned through the same area on our own we tried the stone strategy. It was hilarious! Three or four Manakins turned up in response to the sound and had us in stitches. They think their
territory is being invaded by another bird so they jump up and down from the ground at a furious pace, bouncing all over the place. We realised then why Miguel had nicknamed them the 'popcorn' birds as they 'popped' up in the same way and at the same speed as popcorn. It kept us happily entertained for 20 minutes or so.
We had been a little wary about the Sky Tram as we tend to avoid 'touristy' things but we did enjoy it as all the staff working there seemed to love it too. It was hard to spot the staff from visitors (apart from the give away uniforms!) because everyone seemed to have fun, and those working on the zip wires (they had to accompany visitors down the zips) were obviously in seventh heaven! The (very young) staff all introduce themselves and chat away in a very welcoming manner. One young man said that if we were interested in seeing birds he knew the best place, his home town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui with birder Alex Martinez. We told him that was our next stop so he asked us to pass on his good wishes to Alex and his
family. We have found this throughout Panama and Costa Rica, that everyone connected with birds or wildlife protection knows everyone else.
As I found out later when talking to a local taxi driver, the Sky Tram complex is the pride and joy of the community. It was built to a very high standard by a local family, using a specialist company from Austria, and it provides not only enough employment for the village but also for people from other areas, and puts money back into the village for the school, college and medical facilities etc. It is not intrusive in the landscape and it makes the rainforest accessible to all. Definitely a win-win project.
Our final stop, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, a little further to the west of Costa Rica and nearer to the Caribbean coast. A much wetter area but good for birds and wildlife. Our accommodation, Posada AndreaCristina is a family business (Paul and Sheila, I think you went on a guided walk with Alex Martinez, the owner when you stayed at Selva Lodge?) just outside the area of La Selva Biological Station, which is privately run by a consortium of Universities.
Kevin, Alex's son, took us out birding early
Alex and his bread oven
Best bread in Central America!one morning and we saw about 20 new birds and then a Tamandua, or Anteater, up a tree. Kevin is an amazing guide, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, one of the best ever!
The next day we took a guided walk in La Selva. It might have proved a disappointment as we had been expecting to be a group of three (Matthias, a young man from Denmark who was also staying at AndreaCristina came with us) but in fact they put us together with a group of six from the US comprising grandparents, parents and two young children about 3 and 5 years old. We really didn't think it was appropriate to take such young children as the temperature is in the 30s with 98 or 99%!h(MISSING)umidity and the kids grumbled, whined and sulked their way around, making a lot of noise only outdone by the adults telling them why they had to be quiet and behave nicely! However, that all became irrelevant when we spotted a pair of Great Green Macaws in flight
twice and then saw one perched on a tree. There are only about 200 left in the wild as they have been hunted almost to extinction and Red-eyed frog eggs
Deposited above the water so the emerging tadpoles fall in, unfortunately most get eaten first! a young bird can be sold (illegally of couse) for about £2,000. A great temptation. That was the first time the guide had seen one perched in over 2 years, and the first seen flying in over 2 months. I had asked him to find one for me at the start of the walk and he had said it was not possible. He could not believe how lucky we were.
The next day we visited Kirimbina Biological Reserve where research into tropical flora and fauna is carried out as well as demonstrating how indigenous people made chocolate. We were shown the whole process from finding pods on trees (which are ready to pick all through the year, rather than ripening at one season), drying them, heating, grinding into a paste and then tempering them until they can be made into a bitter drink. That was where the indigenous peoples stopped. The drink was only for the elite in their society. However, the chocolate 'expert' at Tirimbina goes on to make small pieces of chocolate. Delicious, if slightly gritty without the help of modern machinery!
Another day Kevin arranged for us to float down the River Puerto Viejo into the Sarapiqui. It was
wonderfully peaceful, no engine, just being carried by the water, and oars for steering when necessary. We saw a pair of Great Green Macaws fly over again, lots of other birds, caimans, turtles and then an otter! When we returned to AndreaCristina Alex told us he was going up to his 'project', a small rehabilitation centre in the hills behind the town, as someone had asked him to rescue a porcupine.
The poor thing had been eating too much fruit on a farm adjacent to the forest and the farmer had lost patience and was going to kill it. Alex removed it , and asked if we wanted to go and see his project and take the porcupine. He already has one porcupine there which had been attacked by a dog but had now made a good recovery. Alex was hoping that he could release the 2 porcupines together so they would have company.
He put them in a cage together and after a few snarls from the existing resident they seemed to settle but as they are largely nocturnal they were just resting. The lady who looks after the project called the next morning to say when they woke up
properly they had a fierce fight so she had to separate them, and Alex will release the new one immediately as he is healthy but needed a new area away from fruit farms.
So now we are packing and preparing for our journey tomorrow. We need to reach San Jose airport by lunch time. It is hopefully a 2 ½ hour journey if the road is not washed out by rain, but Alex has arranged for Kevin to take us and leave very early so we can birdwatch on the way!
We have loved our time in Central America, the birds and wildlife have been amazing and the people friendly and helpful. Costa Rica has the most developed tourist infrastructure, Panama a diverse country with wilderness as well as the skyscrapers of Panama City, but Nicaragua is the most untouched, with the friendliest and most welcoming people, although visiting is not always as easy or as comfortable as the other 2 countries because the facilities and utilities are as yet under-developed. Something I found strange: Bananas are grown everywhere, in plantations and wild. However the bananas in Nicaragua which look exactly the same as those in Costa Rica and Panama have one
difference. The flesh inside tastes the same as any other pineapple but the flesh is pure white!
After a week in Nottingham with Anna we are returning to Lanzarote for 4 months before starting a tour of Southern Africa in October. So probably no more blogs until then unless we come across something exciting in the Canaries! Hope you will join us in the autumn.
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Pauline
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Lovely view