A Broad Abroad

I suppose the Piedras Blancas crossing is not as bad as it sounded. I took a “direct bus” from san jose. This time I got an assigned seat! It was a darn comfortable bus. Nothing fancy – no air-conditioning, etc, but the seat backs hadn’t collapsed, meaning that each seat had the proper amount of leg room. Of all the shortcomings on buses here, that is the most annoying problem I’ve encountered. But I have faith I will come across worse ☺.

The 7am bus from san jose to the frontera was full so I took the 7:45. the trip takes all of 5 hours by the time you get off the bus and get your pack so by the time I cleared immigration it was almost 2:30. Lonely planet says if you pay (ie. tip) someone to lead you thru this border crossing process it’s a waist of money (there are a plethora of people there to “help”), but I think I got my $2 worth out of my friend. I was trying to get to ometepe, an island in the middle of lake Nicaragua, on the last ferry. I had misread the ferry times and thought this was at 3:30 so I was going to splurge for the taxi from the border to san Jorge, the town from which the ferry departs.

Even splurging for the taxi I was cutting it close. The “assistant” I had not agreed to “tip” yet proceeded to wave me to the front of the line and somehow get me processed. The girl standing in front of me in the first line I was in was still standing at least an hour from the front of the line when I zipped away to get the next meaningless, stamped slip of paper that inevitably costs a buck. So by the time I was all finished I paid him what I thought it was worth. Does this make up for the fact that the taxi driver he set me up with overcharged me (part of which I’m sure he got a cut)? i dunno. I did start to get a little uncomfortable when the driver “admired” my watch then asked for it as a gift. For a friend, you know? I explained it was necessary for my travels and that was that. whew!

After I left Corcovado I spent one more night in Puerto Jimenez so I could catch the 5am bus to san jose. Yuck – up at 4am for a 10 hour bus trip. After confusion at the bus-stop, we all boarded and grabbed a seat wherever we could, lots of gringos. This was called a “direct bus” so I thought it would be like an express bus with limited stops. Fantasy! As we stopped along the way locals got on, with reserved seats, and bumped most of the gringos, including me, into the aisle to stand. I ended up standing for about 5 hours of the 10 hour trip and I was exhausted after my early rise. Whew, but I got there.

I wasn’t thrilled about coming to san jose, but I wanted to buy new binoculars, do laundry and generally take care of business before moving into Nicaragua. My last experience in san jose was driving thru it on a previous trip and it was not a good one. This time my experience has been vastly different.

From the bus station I called several hotels and found a room at Kap’s Place. This place is awesome. Great rooms, common areas, kitchen and prices. I highly recommend it! I also have really enjoyed san jose (on foot!). I found all the items I was looking for in the central downtown pedestrian shopping zone. I enjoyed wandering in the central Mercado and decided to stay another day.

Now I’m planning my trajectory into Nicaragua. I really wanted to cross from los chiles, CR up the river to san carlos, Nicaragua. It’s supposed to be a beautiful trip but once one gets to san carlos, it’s not easy to get anywhere else. I would have to take a 9 hour, bumpy ferry ride to isla ometepe and arrive there at around midnight so I may just opt for the easier trip to the crowded border crossing at penas blancas where it’s a short trip to Revas and a short ferry to ometepe. Not the road less traveled but after looking at a calendar last night I realized that if I want to have a month for Guatemala, which I do, and a month for Chiapas and the Yucatan, which I do, then I only have a little over one month for both Nicaragua and Honduras! Yikes! With the plethora of “must sees” I’ve come across in Nica, I fear Honduras will get the shaft, but we’ll see. I’ll figure it out as I go.

La Leona Corcovado, Costa Rica, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

Beautiful jungle tumbles down to the beach. I saw coatis, ant-eaters, scarlet macaws, spider monkeys and lots of other wildlife. it’s beautiful and pristine. i didn’t make it to Sirena ranger station, which reportedly has the highest density of wildlife.

visit my flickr central american slideshow to see more wildlife if you are interested!

La Leona Corcovado, Costa Rica, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

They foraged all around us, a group of about 10, without paying any attention to us whatsoever.

La Leona Corcovado, Costa Rica, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

I stayed at this tent camp right on the boundary of the park, next to La Leona Station. It’s owned and run by a tico family and the land has been in the family for years. The place is immaculate, has meal plans available (since there are no restaurants, stores etc.) and also has their own trails behind the lodge. Since animals know no park boundaries you are likely to see much of the same wildlife here. I thought the food was great. My tent had a great view of the ocean and sunsets and backed right up to the jungle.

When I say tent I mean a wooden-floored, framed structure with tent top and sides. Like in a regular tent it has “screen” windows with flaps that roll up. Since my tent was rather secluded I could keep these up all the time and maximize my view (and breeze). As you can see in the pic below it had a nice porch for lounging, tho most of my lounging time was spent on one of the many hammocks, catching the ocean breeze. The tents just have basic beds and no other furniture. There is no electricity in the tents.

The common area where meals are taken runs off a quiet generator which shuts down around 9. They have nice wildlife documentation available and people gather in the evening to talk about what wildlife they have seen and compare notes. Boli (short for Bolivar), the guide at the lodge (extra $), was great and really funny, too. We had a good time.

I really enjoyed hanging out and doing the guided morning hike in corcovado with Duncan and Nancy from San Diego. They like bird-watching as much as I do so our pace was in-synch. I was also thrilled that they were very generous with their binoculars since, as you know, I lost mine. Thank you!!

I splurged for the 3 meal package with lodging for $75 per night. It is $65 if you have 2 people per tent. they have a donkey cart waiting at the collectivo stop to pick up bags and guests walk 3.5km down the beach to the lodge. All in all a pretty good deal.

Corcovado Park, Costa Rica, originally uploaded by peggydaly.

I was up early and caught the 6am collectivo to carate, the gateway to corcovado if you are approaching from the south. Carate is really just a restaurant that also have a few basic food items you can buy. If you are camping or staying at the La Leona Park Station (reservations required) it a 3.5km walk from there to carate.

The collectivo is a small pickup truck with benches in the back covered by a tarp-covered frame. It’s very basic transport for your $7 one way ticket. It takes about 2 hours from PJ to carate. Here is a pic of the collectivos ☺.

Golfo Dulce, Osa, Costa Rica

Originally uploaded by peggydaly

taken on my sunset kayak trip near puerto jimenez. there was a sunset in front of me and rainbows behind me. earlier there was a wonderful portage thru the mangrove swamps. i thought aventuras tropicales did a great job.

no matter if you are on the water or near town, get to the edge of the golfo dulce to see the wonderful sunsets.