Corcovado – “The Motherload”
The obvious hi-light of the trek was the reward of the Corcovado National Park after the gruelling middle days of the trek…YOU MUST GO HERE! We entered in Los Patos (from Rincon; walked via La Palma and then did about 26 river crossings before arriving at these crazy makeshift ‘steps’ made out of very slippery red clay…yep, took a spill or two). From here it was off to La Sirena – with spider monkeys swinging in the trees; howlers monkeys provinding a Jurassic park soundtrack; makaws flying about. Now here was the most amazing part of the trip – truly would make this day, Day 17 my “Groundhog Day” – although we had amazing scenery to this point it was never quite exclusively COSTA RICAN. Until the walk from La Sirena to La Leona…literally walking on the beach into the rising sun, tide was out so it made for some easier beach walking (sand is kind of dense and gravel-like, but still nice). Lining the coast was amazing jungle and there were large rocks on the beach and lining the shore…a stunning sea-salt mist hanging in the air…and the paths in the jungle were right along the beach so you were always with the sight and sound of the crashing waves. Easily, easily could have spent 10 hours do the walk, stopping for wine/beer and lunch…we did it in 4.5 hours (machines by this point really). As soon as we got to La Leona it was into the beach for a swim and some thrashing from the waves…SOOOO AMAZING! The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming, laying on the beach…even an exfoliation/spa session to boot!
Some of the guys went to nearby Carate as they were desperate for food (ah, rations were not quite up to speed for young male metabolisms…some heavy collar-and hip bone sticking out action manifested…and pigeon-chests…one guy literally used his pen-knife to cut open a jar of peanut butter to get EVERY LAST BIT). In Carate, they were able to engage with some locals and tourists and even met a man who had just come down from the hills to exchange gold he had panned…they were quite impressed. Being a bit of a tourist place, most food items were double the price but this didn’t stop the hungry crew from going absolutely nuts on snickers and oreos.
From La Leona, it was our last day of trekking – 30 kms to the final beach stop in Punta Carbonara. Although originally nervous, this proved to be an absolute piece of cake (some silent suffering and physical misery creeping out into the end on my part)…and Punta Carbonara is such a chilled, almost Bohemian-like place…an amazing bar & restaurant – but can’t remember the name :(. The group promptly began ordering chocolate milkshakes and fresh fruit smoothies. The staff was fantastic, directing us to a camping spot right on the beach – and, along with some other locals, defended our right to camp on this public property when some lodge operators wanted us to move. Our last day started with watching the sunrise; the group cooked Nick a birthday brownie cake with nutella and condensed milk icing on trangers (basic camping cookware…so quite an amazing feat!), began to wind down with an local organic farmer’s market & the beginnings of a fiesta @ the bar, and finished with a big pasta meal complete with fresh fruit salad – yum.
I am definitely heading back to this area when I am done of the expedition – Peurto Jiminez, Drake, La Palma, and San Isidro are all on the list…plus, this area deserves a few proper drinking days ;-p
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berta_dawson
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