I spent a few days in San Jose to sort through the multitude of sights and activities that are somehow packed into such a small country: zip lining, surfing, scuba diving, white water rafting, jungle treks, volcano treks, cloud forests, ... the list goes on. With some detailed planning and timely effort, a well built itinerary could be put together to neatly encompass all the major attractions with one well coordinated swoop. But who wants to do that especially since it would take time, time I felt could be better spent practicing my Spanish in late night bars. So after talking to a few experienced Costa Rican travelers, the sentence 'One of the most intensely diverse jungles in the world is down south.' struck my fancy. Maybe it's because I had recently spent so much time on the beach that my evolutionary DNA was yearning me forward, to move from the sea farther inland, to the canopied shade of the forest, where man was first born. But that is getting a bit to existential for this blog and well beyond its intended scope. I will stick with what works: funny human interactions with insects, animals, mother nature, or other humans who may or may not be living an altered existence, ie. drunk or high. There is plenty of this below.
So, I packed up some essentials, left the rest of my earthly possessions in a 'secure' storage room at my hostel in San Jose not knowing exactly when I would return, headed out with some cryptic notes, and hoping I remembered at least a quarter of the info people had told me.
First stop - Manuel Antonio National Park
The slide show below has some of my favorite photos from Manuel Antonio. Just wanted to make something easily viewable so if folks don't have time to look at all the Costa Rica photos on the right, you can at least get a glimpse of how amazing this park is.
Slideshow of Manuel Antonio NP
Manuel Antonio town is on the Pacific side of the country a bit over midway down the coast. The national park starts where the town's beachside road ends. Due to its ease of access, abundant wildlife that can be spotted from the main jeep trail cutting through the park, and secluded, sparsely populated white sand beaches it is a must see for most travelers to the country. Before I delve into the park itself, just a quick quip about my time in Manuel Antonio town.
While trying to make sense of my notes on where it was suggested I stay, the bus driver randomly dropped me off across from a picturesque 5 tiered hostel positioned at the top of the large hill that leads into the town itself. It had endless views down the southern coast and a pool at its lowest tier to soak in during the hot, balmy days. So much for my notes. This place was great plus I didn't feel like trudging my bag up and down the hilly area blindly searching for some other hostel of whose name I wasn't exactly sure anyway.
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| Lifeguard on duty. No tipping. |
One of the tiers was a nice social area where most of us who were staying there would commune in during our down time. One afternoon around 3 pm, two guys from L.A./Mexico (was never really clear which exactly) stumble in completely drunk wearing just swim trunks with a fresh sixer of Bamboo, pre-mixed rum & coke in a can, one already popped open to drink. Not sure how they found the steps leading down to us or much less made it down them safely but here they stood. Two able bodied specimens representing the future of America ... or maybe Mexico.
After scanning their immediate surroundings which included myself on the couch reading, an older gentleman cooking, 2 girls on the other couch chatting privately, and a brother and sister at a table doing their spanish lesson. They obviously only had one choice. They made their way toward the two girls in what they probably thought was a bee-line (interesting origin of the term 'bee-line' for those who want extra credit on the test when this is over), but in reality their path more closely resembled the contrail of an acrobatic airplane at an air show. As the rest of us covertly perked our ears to hear the ensuing conversation, the guys started in with loud introductions. One was Jesus, pronounced 'hey-soos' of course, but he said if you called him 'geez-us' that was ok too. I eventually called him Richard which he seemed to respond to as well.
Anyway, these guys, after finally reaching their destination a few feet in front of the girls, courteously apologized for their state of apparent drunkenness at 3 in the afternoon but hey, they were on vacation. After the normal small talk, the conversation quickly shifted to what great marriage prospects they would make to which the girls played along with for a while. The guys' logic being if we get married then we have to consummate the marriage. At least their mom raised them right.
Obviously it was an entertaining situation but the thing that struck me as the funniest was as these guys were discussing their vows hoping to consummate the marriage sooner than later, the three-legged mutt who lived at the hostel named Lucky, had trotted just behind these guys, set up camp, and began to lick itself. I'm not sure if the girls or anyone else noticed this but when two guys are trying to seriously court two women to the best of their abilities, if you throw a three-legged dog licking itself into the picture it raises the entire comedic level at least ten fold. Not sure if that makes me clever or odd or some combination of the two there of but hopefully if at least one other person gets a laugh out of that, I will feel satisfied with my work.
As you can imagine, the rest of us eventually joined in the conversation and in the drinking of spirits in the early afternoon. The two guys shared the rest of their Bamboo as we shared the few beer bottles we pooled together from our refrigerator, we celebrated two Costa Rican weddings (I was best man for one and ring bearer for the other), the guys passed out around 8 pm to the relief of their brides, and the rest of us headed to Quepos, the nearby 'party' town, to have a night out. As you can see from the picture, pickings were slim in Quepos but it was an evening well spent:
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| The Jay Bird trying out newly acquired ambush skills. |
Now back to the point of this posting, the jungle.
Manuel Antonio NP, as I said earlier, has one main jeep trail running through its center with a few small single track trails leading to secluded beaches. Guides could be had for $20 but it was just as easy to follow a group that had a guide and listen in for free. I'm no dummy.
The scene of quiet groups interspersed down the long hall-like trail focusing their attention intently at a particular piece of underbrush which their guide had pointed out reminded me of something more akin to an art gallery with small groups spread about looking at abstract paintings while an art critic explains what they are looking at. The onlookers look at the piece long enough until they finally 'get it' and see the object of the painting. Or like one of those stereogram paintings at the mall, of which I could never do, where you are supposed to relax your eyes and look through the image until it popped out right in front of you Well, you would be amazed how close you could be to a 10 in. stick bug, while knowing exactly what you are looking for and even where it is, without spotting it, before it finally pops out at you.
The pictures and slideshow share the bulk of the experience better than I could explain in words. So I will let them do the rest of the talking and finish up Part II.
Aside from visiting the park, I spent one long morning getting pummeled by 8 - 10 ft waves just trying to survive the paddle out to surf a few of the smaller ones. I also ended up hiking through someone's private pasture with the brother and sister from the hostel on our way to find a secluded beach. We found out it was private because like love, being pissed-off seems to also be an international language that is easily understood no matter what phrases someone is yelling at you.
Cheers,
JB
