The roads are quiet on Christmas Day, even
the Transamericana is empty and it’s a short drive before we turn off at
Chacarita and head for the Golfo Dulce.
We’re expecting an unpaved road but things have changed and we now have
brand new smooth tarmac and we zip up hills and tree covered valleys at
reasonable speed before turning onto an unpaved road to the Dantica Cloudforest
Lodge on the Osa Peninsula.
Our accommodation is a fantastic lodge (
hut) in the rain forest some distance from the other lodges and completely surrounded
by trees. Our secluded lodge has its own
private outdoor bathroom and no solid walls.
Insect proof nets separate us from the jungle on three sides of our
lodge and during the day we fasten back the nets to let the jungle in. There’s a veranda with a hammock and a big
fan (which is essential).
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| walk to our room |
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| Clean and airy |
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Our room. Look no walls
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| Hard work this hanging around |
We sign up for an all day trek into the
national park. The guide describes the
walk as medium/difficult with a lot of steep terrain. It’s not for the faint hearted. A guide and 6
other people accompany us and we travel to the ‘jump-off’ point in a cart
pulled by a tractor.
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| Thinking of you Pip ....our own tractor |
The journey takes an hour and is spectacular. Now we understand the need for the tractor as
we pass through the Rincon River some 12 times, often using the shallow river
bed as the road. It’s a bumpy ride but
the views are stunning and we spot Amazon Kingfishers, a King Vulture, White
Ibis and Blue Herons on our trip
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| on we plunge into the Rio Rincon |
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| Black headed vulture drying out his wings |
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| fly catcher building a nest |
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| Striped Cuckoo |
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| Amazon Kingfisher |
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| King Vulture |
Eventually we reach the Ranger Station
where we register to enter the park. Eating fresh from the tree bananas is a
welcome treat before we climb back on the tractor to go further into the
interior.
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| We weren't smiling for too long! |
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| arrgh the rain forest |
We are dropped off at a small gap in the
foliage – the paths here are muddy and steep.
Immediately the heat and humidity hit us – on the cart gentle breezes
lulled us but here even thinking makes you sweat. It’s a steep climb, probably at 45 degrees and
its long – we plod our way upwards drenched in sweat from head to toe. The pace is gentle but even with stops to
look at the wildlife the humidity is a challenge.
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| Basilisk |
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| Spider (not long for this world as it was stood upon) |
At the half way mark our group is sodden
but determined! We find a small stretch
of flat path before we begin a very steep downward descent to our objective, a
waterfall where we can enjoy a dip. We
climb down using tree roots and branches to avoid tumbling down the rocky path
it’s steep, slippery and very muddy and all I can think of is how on earth are we
ever going to get back up again.
Eventually we arrive at the small waterfall
and everyone strips off and jumps into the refreshing cold water. A small waterfall tumbles down the rock and
the deep pool below is fantastic for cooling down. I’m just amazed that no steam comes off our
very hot bodies
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| Fantastic ice cool fresh bath! |
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| John cools off |
We unroll our Everton towel (thanks for the
Christmas present Ian) and 5,500 miles from Goodison Park we claim the pool on
behalf of all Evertonians.
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| Everton,, into the middle of the rain forest |
We enjoy a packed lunch before putting back
on our damp cloths and boots and set off on the return journey. Yep climbing back up is a killer and I have
visions of not making it. John assists
with helpful shoves from behind and our group, bonded by sweat, eventually
reaches the top of the climb and we gee on each other until eventually returning
to our trusted tractor that is waiting for us with a cool box containing beer. Never
did beer taste so good. The journey back
is just as spectacular with the toucans putting in an appearance and a lovely Swallow
Tailed Hawk above.
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| Laughing Falcon |
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| Dragon Fly |
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| White Ibis and a Little Blue Heron |
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| Slaty Tailed Trogon |
Sleeping in the lodge is a real jungle experience
with all the sounds of the rainforest just a net away. We are awoken at dawn to a chorus of
unimaginable birdsong with every bird insisting on being heard.
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| View from our bed |
After a lazy day lying in the hammock we
set off to go kayaking into the mangroves.
It’s a short drive to Play Blanca and on arrival we are met by hundreds
of partying Ticas who have descended on the area for Christmas. Music blares out and it’s a real family
event. Tents, cars, dogs barbecues –
bathers in the warm waters of Golfo Dolce – everyone is generally having a
great time and there’s a carnival atmosphere.
Our guide, Flacko leads us into the very
warm water and we hop in to our kayaks setting out for the mangroves. Dolphins
and sea turtles put in an appearance before we turn into the mangroves. We leave the ‘party sounds’ behind and enter
a largely silent world broken only by the bird calls and the swish of our
paddles. I almost crash into a parked
boat with Flacko shouting to me to use the brake. I didn’t even know kayaks had
one so after a quick lesson in how to stop and steer we set of again. We don’t have camearas with us for obvious
reasons but John has the Gopro. Our guide
points out various birds and a large boa constrictor that is sleeping inches
above us in the trees. At this point I find the overdrive and speed off. John
spends ages looking at the snake which made me even more nervous.
After about an hour we stop and get out of
our kayaks into about 5 inches of water.
John is chasing the fish with the Gopro and soon realises the water quickly
gets much deeper.
The journey back is beautiful with toucans
and herons in the trees. We get up close
with a large tiger heron and above us a family of raccoons sleeps high in the
branches of an overhanging tree.
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| A shy Fiery billed Aracari |
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| Black mandibled Toucan - makes you want a guinness |
We skillfully negotiate the happy bathers
and arrive back at Playa Blanca. The
party is in full swing whilst in the tree above, a sleeping sloth dozes. Back at the lodge we continue to dodge insects on our path to the bar - and as it's barefoot in the bar it pays to check your shoes on leaving.
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Schoolboy stick insect error - you need to be amongst other sticks!
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| and this was hiding in my shoe! |
After another wonderful nights sleep under
the stars we give up on our plans to go visit the local town and spend the day
lounging around watching and listening to the wildlife from our hammock. This has surely been one of the highlights of
our trip but its not over yet and tomorrow we travel into the clouds for an
appointment with the Mountain of Death!
