How does one relax? I am sure most would say laze on the beach, soak in a hot bath or get a massage, sounds all good…I had the best of intentions to simply just chill on the beach somewhere nice and soak up some sun…but of course me being me and forever wanting to see and do more, I did a hell of a lot more than just that! I blame Alex, una chica muy loca con mucho energia, who I met whilst working at the Ecolodge in Monteverde. With her and I combined, we just didn’t stop!
I started off by heading down to Uvita where she is currently working, suhweet thanks to her lovely bosses I got to go out on not one but two dolphin/whale watching tours. There’s something oh so cool and classy about cruising round on the ocean …that we did for a good 3 hours…peeking through caves, visiting Galapagos like Islands with magnificent frigate birds circling over, and brown boobies diving down to snap up the flying fish…we came across this old as tug boat with a humungous moray eel, was crazy watching the birds fight and catch pieces thrown at them in mid air! Just when the tourists seemed to be getting restless about not seeing any marine mammals we came across a pod of 10 painted/spotted dolphins. They put on a real show for us, doing 5m flips and body slapping themselves against the water, que fortunada! After that spectacle we went for a snorkel, lots of cool fishies but not such great coral or visibility, I am really keen to get up to Honduras to get into diving more seriously, but shall have to wait for a weewhile yet…
Half an hour later after stepping off the boat, we were on a rickety bus to Hacienda Baru, a wildlife refuge…its great to see roadside vegetation re-generating into secondary forest, although the primary forest was spectacular, quite a lot different from in Tortuguero… along with getting eaten by mozzies, we saw some coatis, colourful birds, and us being us we took the longest, steepest trail to get the most spectacular view over the pacific coastline, well worth it! Getting back was quite the mission, we were told a bus would be passing by the dodgy town of Dominical anywhere from 5.30-10pm…so we watch the sunset, grab a beer, have some dinner…9.00pm rolls round and we start getting worried that there isn’t going to be a bus..Taxi drivers tried to rip us off so we ended up hitching a lift, thank god after rejecting a few we found somebody to take us back! Might sound like I’m being paranoid but Dominical unfortunately is one of those towns that has been used and abused… known for its strong, rip currents but good wave break…it attracts a certain ‘Gringo crowd’ and is now a mini surfy mecca with overpriced restaurants and flashy bars. Alex’s friend got drugged there the previous weekend and her 6ft novio (who is Tico!) got held at knifepoint so needless to say we were more than glad to get out of there safe and sound!
Next day, I decided to take it ‘easy’ by taking a ‘stroll’ up into the surrounding hills (or should I say mountains!). Up, up, up I went this metal road, every corner I was like just a little more until my assertion paid off and I got a great view of the ‘whales tail’ (pictured above). Quite co-incidental its formation being the coast where Humpback whales migrate (Dec-April) and its status now being Ballena (whale) national park.
It was on this walk, when I got covered in dust clouds by 4Wds whizzing by me and literally got chased up the mountain by the sound of a bulldozer and heavy trucks…it was then that I really realized the effects of foreigners residing here…this steep as, tiny road was the path to ‘development’, with houses and god knows what else being built up there. Selfish humans that we are, yes everyone wants an ocean view, but at what price does that come?!
Afterwards I finally got my relaxation time and chilled out under a waterfall for quite some time, pure magic. Given I only had 10 days off I was supposed to be heading to Panama to re-new my visa, but Alex and I decided to mish it down to the Osa Peninsula. Located on the Southernmost part of Costa Rica a lot of tourists skip it given its remoteness, I am glad we didn’t though, despite a 12 hour traveling day to get there!! The journey itself was quite the adventure…bus, taxi, boat through huge mangrove swamps and then out of the river mouth into the sea…last part got a little hairy, we were definitely at the mercy of the waves waiting for a calm patch until the driver gunned it across into the bay trying not to get thrown around by the breakers! The hilarious oddballs in our boat also made it quite the laugh, going by the outfits, wandering eyes and their ‘profession’ “yeah we jump all over the world” (skydiving), I’d say they were just a tad high on life! Drakes Bay reminded me of Stewart Island in NZ a lot, here we enjoyed some delicious snapper and then took another bus through gorgeous forest and farmland…I love traveling round in the countryside, seeing the humpbacked cattle and the egrets sitting on them. Alex had booked some random cabinas way on the other side of the Peninsula, but we ended up in a totally different but even better spot “Lapamar” right on the edge of the Gulf dulce with a local family. Swimming here was oh so brilliant, tranquil warm, clear water, nice. It was great being in an un-touristy area and we were certainly the only white girls in the bar that night, my merengue has certainly got a little rusty, give me reggaton anyday! Next morning after an allmighty sleep in till 9.30 (haven’t done that in ages!) we went kayaking through the mangroves and to isolated beaches, was absolutely fantastic saw 30 scarlet macaws feeding in a tree. Along with the iconic toucan they are definitely one of Costa Ricas most impressive birds with their brilliantly coloured red, blue and yellow feathers, one nice guy even found some to give us! Due to deforestation and the pet trade they are now only found in the Southernmost part so it was very cool to see 30 flying into one tree!
Getting to our destination, Isla Boca Brava in Panama took us another 10 hours, Bus.Bus.Bus.Border-crossing.Bus.Bus.Walk in hot sun. Pick-up truck. Boat! Because we went off exploring the Island and swam under the stars, we missed out on dinner-pretty gutted when we found it they had $4 fish or $8 lobster on the menu, but seriously what kind of hotel closes the kitchen at 7.30pm!! So wine, fruit and more jam sandwiches it was. Last day of vacation and I finally got my morning chilling by the beach, in a brilliant turquoise coloured water cove, perfecto! Unfortunately we could only stay one night, had to get back to the city, David so we could make the bus for the next day back to Costa Rica! We stayed in quite the odd hostel “the purple house” literally everything from the house itself to the dishwashing liquid, was purple…even the owners dog had a spray painted purple dot on its head!
To re-new my visa, I supposed to leave the country for 72hours but they seemed to not even check after only being there for 48, a real fly by visit! It was great to see more of Costa Rica this time though, I’ve almost being here a year now and still haven’t managed to see every part! But in that time 3 trips to Panama and 1 to Nicaragua, not bad, not bad! I really am quite fortunate to work here and then travel around every 10 weeks!! Am back in the San Jose office now, catching up on admin before we head back to base. Still lacking a staff member so its gonna be another busy one, but I feel more than capable and have defiantly learnt when to take timeout, maybe I need to learn how to relax more or I simply just do it in a different way than most! Nonetheless I had a fantastic break and am looking forward to the next expedition : )
Hope everyone is well, lots of love xox Brookie
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