OKAY.
Where to begin...
First off, LAX. Galen and I met up with JaneJo for a glutinous night of Thai food in hopes of catching the Thai Elvis impersonator. Unfortunately we were either late or he didn´t perform that night.
We followed this by meeting up with Julie K. and having a lot of drinks at Kevin´s Bar and some food at a 24 hour restaurant.
Then Galen and I were on our way to Costa Rica! A quick stop over for some BBQ at the Dallas airport and WHAM, we´re taken to the beautiful throbbing heart of downtown Allejela. Our cab driver didn´t seem to know where anything was except hotel internacional. But Galen and I used our super power of tolerance and patience (and perhaps a bit of stubbornness) and didn´t get out of the taxi until we were infront of any hostel he wasn´t trying to convince us to go to! Next morning after a brisk walk through the beautiful morning light cast across the labyrinthine streets of Allejela we set off for the domestic airport to wait three hours to get on a flight in a small commuter plane to the Osa Peninsula in the South West of Costa Rica. A mecca for enviro-crazed tourists. We flew a twin otter like plane into the local airport of Puerto Jimeneze (lovingly referred to as Port Jim by the stupid gringos). As we were landing I couldn´t help but notice the sweeping cemetery located conveniently next to the airstrip. A walk into town was welcomed by White Faced Monkeys in palm trees and a fantastic dinner at a local ´soda´which quickly became our favorite. BTW, those in the know will find this funny- the proprietor LOVED Galen´s around the world with some random girl hat. the one he bought with JaneJo. Like LOVED it. I told him he should have given it to her...
ANYWAY, here are a few things I noticed about Galen-
He likes to find random things and eat them. Or try to. Hence a mishap with a sticky plantain, numb lips from a possible ´lime´and a bit of actual enjoyment from a juicy fruit with the texture of human flesh.
No one here can pronounce his name.
He doesn´t really know Spanish at all.
Ticks don´t like him as much as they do me.
He shaves for a good reason.
All that said we are having a fine time. I wouldn´t trade travel partners for... well...
Anyway- from Puerto Jimenez we headed north to begin our trek across the peninsula through the dense jungles of Corcovado National Park.
Almost immediately after getting off the bus and heading toward the trail head we were picked up by a kindly farmer hauling wood apparently across the whole country as he drove us about five miles into the hike and dropped us 2KM from the first nights camping area. Just as we stepped into the thick forest a growl sounded. This was the beginning of our adventures...
First let me say the Jungle is AMAZING. Literally teeming with life. Even death here has life. Thick pockets of dense shrubbery. Woven threads of hanging vines. Twisted cages of roots. In the first day alone we were witness to Squirl monkeys, sloths, a plethora of butterflies, a kinkajou, Scarlet Macaws, spider monkeys, and fathoms of unnameable plant life. Even the dirt there seemed to be alive. Cutter ants carrying ridiculous amounts of leaves traversing grounds until they wore a path to and from their bounty. We joked that every moment something more was happening all the way up until climbing in our tent and discovering the trees around us were flashing with lightning bugs that seemed more like strobe lights. Even the moon was a sliver in the shape of smile at the end of the day. That was the first ranger station Las Patos where we hiked to a waterfall pool and cooled ourselves. It was already magic. Galen played a little football with the rangers and I watched and laughed.
The next day we woke early and ate our sad excuse for breakfast. We had calculated exactly what we need food wise and ended up with this list:
2 cans Tuna
2 bags precooked beans and salsa
3 carrots
5 avocados
peanut butter (low fat- oops.)
Cookies
rice crispy treats
4 bagels
This is our list for our three day 30 some km hike. It worked.
The second day we set out and saw more wildlife (including holler monkeys) this was a great part of the hike through more dense beautiful greenery. Mid day we stopped at a river and rolled around a bit before seeing our first hiker. We ended up walking the rest of the way to the next campsite with him. This campsite: Sirena is a biology center so there were groups of scientists here and it was much more elaborate and full than the last. Here we were able to see wild Tapirs that were fantastic and strange. Sort of Giant pig like cow things...
They stink, but their cool.
The beach was teeming with crabs and supposedly sharks and crocodiles though we didn´t get to see either of those (if Galen tells you we did he´s a GD liar!)
This is where I first noticed a tick.
That was the beginning of the tick infestation. The next day I found 7 then 8 then 10 then 11... (and now today I found two more. I´m googling Costa Rica, ticks, disease as we speak...) Of course Galen didn´t find any for ever and then 1.. then two... now he´s up to four. I´ll keep you updated.
I digress.
So that night was HOT and the biology students in Costa Rica apparently LOVE to party because they were up clapping and screaming and generally running a muck until the wee hours (and since the sun sets at 6pm the wee hours are something like 9pm).
The night was long either way. We woke up and set out on what turned out to be a grueling walk along the beach in five billion degree heat resonating up from the sand. We cracked open and ate some coconuts on the beach. Watched macaws fight, bitched about how frickin´ hot it was. this is the part of the trip during which I was wrought with exhaustion and happened to mention passing something that looked like a lime. Galen of course forced me to retrace my labored steps to retrieve it for him so he could cut it open and proceed to inform me that it numbed his lips. We also finally learned our new travel partners name (yes, we are so friendly it took two days for either of us to ask his name.)
I practically ran the last 2 KM to the next hut and guzzled two liters of water.
THEN more beach walking. Hot. Pelicans. Hot. A swim in a little water hole. HOT. ridiculously hot. And then we climb up this path to an airstrip. None of us could believe this was the town of Carate but apparently it was.
Is.
Here we waited for the Collectivo which is basically a 4wd truck with a roll cage over it that speeds through rivers and throws you around in the back. We got to watch two Germans in the other truck out the back of ours. This took us back to Port Jim where we ate at our favorite soda and drank beer in the hostel.
Yesterday we took a 7 hour bus to a town called San Isidro where we are waiting to board the bus that will take us to Chirripo, Costa Rica´s Highest mountain. We´re climbing it.
Alright what did I miss... Oh yes, we saw anteaters, a plethora of spiders and butterflies and a tree filled with hundreds of white birds.
And now you are up to date. I can´t seem to upload my photos at the moment but I promise too very soon and you won´t be disappointed. I´ve got some good ones. Hope all is well, Love your way.
heartrl
