A recurring theme on this
holiday was, "Well, it's only money!". It's a phrase we utter after
a moment of impulse or a costly mistake. And we said it a few times this
holiday!
We flew into Miami, which was
to be our springboard for CR and later, possibly a week or so of total
relaxation on a Dutch Antillean beach. Not having been to Maimi before we
were totally unprepared for the dominant language to be Spanish, but it's a
sprawling and pleasantly green city, with masses of black vultures roosting on
top of the Dade County Court House! Walking around Miami, our game of
"tease the camera salesman" ended in the impulse purchase of a lovely little DV
Camera, instead of the usual "Thanks, but no thanks!"
Well, it's only money! But
enough of Miami, on to Costa Rica!
The flight to San Jose flies over Cuba and then follows the East Coast of Nicaragua down to CR, but we couldn't see any of the land below due to a flight delay, which meant we travelled at night! Arriving in a foreign airport is always a challenge - and SJ was no exception. Minor chaos as the baggage tumbled out of a chute onto a minute carousel, only to be swept off by two airport staff into an impenetrable mass in the middle of the reclaim area! Eventually we stumbled over boxes and cases and got our bags and having pre-booked our Hotel for the night, walked out into the melee of taxi drivers, porters and assembled ticos. Immediately we were engulfed by half a dozen eager faces, and tried to walk through them with polite "No thanks, we're fine…", until there was only one left, asking "Where you go? What Hotel?" Brian told him, he whisked the bags from us and we found ourselves following him through the Car park and into the dark depths of the lorry park. He stopped beside a battered old Nissan and then from the shadows another man approached - and my defense antenna started to quiver. Brian talked to the new bloke who flashed open his jacket to reveal a gun! I instantly imagined the story line "Bruised, battered, naked bodies of two European travellers found…" and expected at any moment to be facing the wrong end of that gun as the car groaned, squeaked and positively hurtled the 14 km. of uneven road into San Jose itself. Brian, meanwhile chatted amiably to the man with the gun, (I did have time to admire his damnably cool playing of the situation!) and without incident we were deposited outside our requested Hotel! I hadn't heard the original bit when the man with the gun (an off-duty policeman!) had asked if he could have a lift into the Town!
The Hotel Milvia, just outside
the centre of San Jose was a haven of comfort, friendliness and peace and I
heartily recommend it as a place to stay. Not least because Costa Rican
coffee was permanently available and the wake-up call was hundreds of parakeets
screeching overhead on the way to their breakfast! From there,
travel into central San Jose was an easy, cheap bus ride and Fodor's CR an
informative and useful guide.
We were a bit disappointed with the Museo de Oro; loads of
individual pieces, but all so very small! We sampled a coffee while
people-watching at the Gran Hotel with its attractive colonial façade in the
main square. A cosmopolitan mix, generally well dressed, a few mobile
phones in evidence though queues more people were standing at the public pay
phones. Many pavements were being resurfaced with brick sets and the ones
that weren't, were positively dangerous, but don't dream of compensation if you
trip - it's not an option! The main squares are called Parques and
have trees, pigeons and the odd bits of modern architecture, including a weird
green spider-like gazebo donated by a former dictator of Nicaragua! Fine
by day, but at night these Parques are apparently the haunt of drunks,
prostitutes and a variety of undesirables. 
Highly enjoyable for the senses was the Mercado Central, San Jose's
market; a warren of dark narrow passages flanked with stalls selling exotic
spices, gloriously colourful flowers, smelly fish and meat, fruit, pets in cramped
cages, local handicrafts and a host of other items. After that we deserved
another coffee, this time at the delightful and newly decorated art deco Teatro
Nacional. The strains of music and flamenco dancing floated through
as the cast rehearsed 'Carmen' for the following
night. 
We hired a car from the cheapest Car Hire firm we could find - a four-wheel drive Suzuki Sidekick (Vitara, elsewhere). Two years old, 64,000 miles on the clock, a bit basic and only a junior 4WD when compared with the big boys! Still, it drove OK and off we tootled on a day trip to the old capital of CR and a valley renowned for its Coffee fincas. Cartago is much older than San Jose, but its colonial buildings suffered from repeated earthquakes and a big one in 1910 inspired the Government to move to SJ in 1923. Interesting to see is the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels; outside a mix of architectural styles in grey and white - until one walks inside and immediately is transported into a light, open, airy, interior. Beautiful coloured tiles on the floor, intricately decorated wooden columns and lots of stained glass make it one of the most fascinating Church interiors I have ever seen. From there we drove into the Orosi Valley, a verdant green mix of tropical forest and coffee plantations, beautiful but for the weather which was cloudy and threatening rain! Despite the possibility of rain we walked around the Lankester Botanical Garden - created in 1950 by an Englishman who wanted to help preserve some of the local flora. It has an amazing collection of about 800 orchids (mostly not in bloom in November!), bromeliads and various other epiphytes clinging to a large variety of trees. The fern, heliconias, bamboo, torch ginger and masses of other plants encouraged a wide variety of birds, too. We saw our first iridescent hummingbirds zipping about in the herbaceous borders and little rufous-collared Sparrows. The University of CR now maintains the Gardens.
In geological terms, CR was the last part of the land bridge to emerge between the two Americas and as such, is quite young. One can't come to CR without wanting to see some of its amazing geological attractions. So, on our second day we drove up and up, round and round, through field after field of cabbages and crops where the rich dark soil was steaming as it warmed in the heat of the sun, until we reached the top of the closest volcano to San Jose - Irazu. Up at the top there were the gates into Irazu National Park and an $8 entry fee per person. We turned round and drove all the way down again - the trouble was we couldn't see 10 feet in front of us - let alone would we be able to see across the crater! We started to understand the meaning of 'cloud forest'
One of the other reasons for
travelling around CR is to see some of the 850 species of birds that are crammed
into this avian haven! And none is more elusive or exclusive than the
Resplendent Quetzal. Our first trip out of SJ was southward between the
Cordillera de Talamanca and the Osa Peninsula in quest of the Quetzal. We
drove along the InterAmerican Highway, gradually getting higher and colder, and
in the middle of nowhere were stopped by a rather fierce Policeman who demanded
to see our 'papers'. I got very flustered (I think it was the sight of the
revolver on his hip, just at my eye level!) and fumbled unsuccessfully through
my handbag, until a short burst of clear thinking made me look in the document
case! We were shrugged on our way! Leaving the Highway we drove down
the side of the mountains on a rough road, through forest and glen, past hamlet
and stream until we arrived at Alberge de Montana Sevegre, in the mist.
Thirty years ago this was primary forest and now it's a mix of farm and
eco-tourist cabins. The Alberge boasts Quetzal all year round in the
surrounding epiphyte-laden forest of giant oak and laurel trees. We
settled in, bought ourselves a sweatshirt each, and organised an electric fire
for our cabin - it was mid afternoon and decidedly cool! Then, with boots,
waterproof capes and binoculars set off for our first trail through primary rain
forest. And it was disappointing! The fine mist of the cloud
forest made it drippy, slippy, damp and cold with poor visibility as
well! In an hour of walking (mainly uphill) we hardly saw any birds
at all - well, would you sit out in that kind of weather! - and then it started
to rain properly. We decided to walk back down the rough track and were
within half a mile of the cabins when just ahead of us, sitting on a bare branch
watching our approach, was a beautiful male Resplendent Quetzal! 
He wasn't at all perturbed by our presence and we had a
most perfect view of both him and his 20inch tail feathers! Sadly,
no camera although the photo (above) I found is exactly as we saw
him! 'Mrs' Quetzal also made a brief appearance. Despite
being wet through, cold and tired I floated down the rest of the track back to
the warmish cabin!
Outside the dining room picture windows there were hummingbird
feeders - and the tiny irridescent zoomers were a delight to watch. They
have such wonderful names, too: Scintillant Hummer, Magnificent Hummer,
White-bellied Mountain Gem, Steely vented Hummer, Green Violetear and even a
Bananaquit! Our other favourites at this site were the Emerald
Toucanet and the Collared Trogon, both spotted on another walk to find the
elusive Quetzal.
Time to go down to the sea and
the endless Pacific beaches! Everywhere, 'Finca Vende' signs
and evidence of just how back-breakingly hard it is to keep the forces of nature
under control in a country where a common saying is "The only thing that doesn't
grow is what you don't plant!" Fields are bounded by 'living hedges'; just
bare sticks cut from any shrub, stuck in the ground seem to sprout verdant
growth in no time at all!
The first view we had of the Pacific was through drizzle at
Dominical. No sea-side spot looks its best in drizzle, and the outskirts
of Dominical were no different. Rain-filled potholes, soggy looking
restaurants and a once pink-washed Hotel persuaded us to move onward. In
fact we stayed at Hacienda Baru, in a bungalow suited for six, with kitchen,
lethal electric shower and no television. It backed onto a
never-ending Pacific beach and gave us a couple of 'firsts'. A
six-thirty wake-up call, a pair of Wellies and a trudge down to the sand to
watch the release of a bucketful of newly hatched Olive Ridley 
turtles! They made a wonderful sight, madly paddling across the
sand towards the pounding waves, oblivious to the elegant surf-skimming pelicans
waiting for their tender breakfast.
In this small 'turtle hatchery' they gather over 9000 eggs and hope to release 7500. We all know the grim survival statistics of turtles around the world, and can only be happy that so many people are trying to help in their survival. On the way back for breakfast, the treetops bounced and shook as a group of Chestnut mandibled Toucans foraged for their fruity breakfast. Such delicacy in the transfer of fruit from one end of the huge beak to the throat and such obvious noisy delight in family gatherings.
Leaving Hacienda Baru we
travelled up the coast towards Quepos on a road which has a rough surface,
potholes the size of swimming pools but excellent birding! Northern Jacana
searched and skittered on their long legs, a Crested caracara menaced on a
wooden fence, about 40 large Wood Stork flew overhead while a white Ibis
gracefully picked its way through wet grass. So engrossed were we in
watching both sides of the road, I'm surprised that Brian noticed the rear wheel
of the car wobbling dangerously outwards! When he inspected it, it was
only just held on by two wheel nuts, the others having sheared off somewhere
back in one or other of the potholes probably! A bit of roadside
maintenance and then we literally crawled the next 20km to Quepos, checking on
the wheel every two kilometres. The car hire company promised us a new car
for the following day, but we were rather stuck at the hotel, instead of being
able to go to Manuel Antonio National Park for the day. One compensation
was that the hotel food was excellent and then at breakfast a troupe of tiny
Titi monkeys (squirrel monkeys) came squeaking, jumping and squabbling for their
free bananas. Our new car turned up after lunch and we were able to
set off to Carara Biological Reserve. Before we went to CR I had decided
that I wanted to see Scarlet Macaws. The guidebook said to be at the
Tarcoles Bridge just before dusk to see them flying over to their nighttime
roost. The Tarcoles River is wide, fairly fast flowing and home to
some gigantic crocodiles. They lay, apparently asleep, half out of the
water on the muddy bank quite oblivious to the tourists above. In the past
the Bridge had got itself a very bad name as the haunt of pickpockets and armed
robberies and I must admit as the dusk fell I kept hold of my bag and binoculars
tight. 
We
did see two Scarlet Macaws fly over, but knew them not by colour but purely
by noise. Quite a disappointment.
Our next choice was to catch a
ferry from ugly Puntarena over to the sparsely populated Peninsula de
Nicoya. Another drizzly day giving only poor views of the pelicans
roosting on a Reserved island. We drove off at Paquera and followed a road
leading south to Tambor. A vast amount of the land around Tambor has been
bought up by the Barcello family, a Spanish concern that has seemingly flouted
local eco-laws and built a huge 'Hotel & Leisure Complex' on the edge of one
of the loveliest bays in CR. Their guests are flown in to a tiny Airport,
and remain 'locked' into their sanitised and expensive glimpse of CR. We
stayed at a little B+B, in a tiny bedroom and had to make do with cold
showers!!! More wonderful birding at the mouth of the little river;
Inca Doves on the sand, Curlew and Wilson's Plover, a variety of heron and in
full morning light, a flight of 7 Scarlet macaws! The local Curu
Biological Reserve is trying to re-introduce these magnificent birds in the
area. 
A morning visit to neighbouring Curu Reserve was delightful, two Spider monkeys joined us on the track - one, hanging on to the car aerial with prehensile tail, while urinating on the windscreen! We saw Roseate Spoonbill, Amazon Kingfishers, a Blue -crowned Motmot and some well named Fiery-billed Aracari. The Aracari were squabbling and fighting over the rights to the juiciest Papayas on the trees! In Curu they were rehabilitating a baby Racoon and a young Spider monkeys. Rocky the racoon, played with a young puppy until devilment got into him and he abandoned common sense and fiddled with all the merchandise in the shop! The young Spider monkey spent his day copying people - walking on two legs - not at all usual for the species, but as the warden said "Monkey see - monkey do!"
Our host at Tambor was quite keen on birds and suggested a wonderful spot, down a side turning off the road to the next village. We found the single track and despite a bit of mud, it looked passable. Dicey bit when we wondered if the projecting rock in the road would hit the suspension or sump, but we got through. The track went downhill through patches of muddy slippery wetness; a stream and we then started to get a bit concerned about getting back UP the track. It began to rain more heavily and we finally decided to stop just short of the river (and the best part for birds!) If only it hadn't rained the place would have been stunning. A shallow, wide river with beautiful green overhanging trees and shrubs, absolutely idyllic except for the mud and wet! We decided to go back before more rain made the return uphill journey completely impossible. The car came to a halt at a particularly gooey, muddy spot and we could see that if the left front wheel slipped into the previous drivers' rut our car would be damaged and stuck there! It's called a 4WD, but with only road tyres and a straining 1600cc engine it's not certain we'll get through. I got out of the car and in the pouring rain (at least it was warm!) collected stones from the stream to put in the deep rut, and with bare hands scrabbled mud to flatten the profile and actually started enjoying the feeling of smearing mud and being wet through! A howler monkey 'howled' from not far away - was he laughing at our predicament? Brian decided on a daredevil dash - 'make or break' slipslide through the offending stretch. It worked! but he kept the car going far up the hill before stopping to let a soaking wet, muddy me, back in!
Arenal has to be the most
handsome Volcano, sitting as it does at the end of a large man-made lake,
perfectly peaked, with verdant greenness all around. The tip is often
obscured by puffy white clouds, but we saw it clearly from our B+B.
Perhaps the most impressive view though, is lying back in the thermal pools of
Tabacon Resort with a drink to hand! Imagine looking up through layer upon
layer of warm water as it tumbles down through beautiful gardens, with palm
trees and green forest to a powerful monster regularly spitting out red-hot
boulders and clouds of ash! Magical! The number of hotels and B+B's
has proliferated around the Arenal area at break-neck speed, and we couldn't
help wondering what would happen if the daily spectacle of fire and brimstone
suddenly stopped! Leaving one of our bags at our
lovely SJ Hotel we caught a long distance bus to the Caribbean side of the
island. £2.30 for a four-hour, comfortable journey and we are even dropped
outside our next destination - Aviarios del Caribe. A small wildlife
Sanctuary set on the Caribbean coast, now looking after disabled and orphaned
sloth. The situation of the place is idyllic, a long varnished
wooden verandah (wood from the damage that was caused by the huge
earthquake in 1991) looking out over the fresh water channel - La Estrelle
River, with reeds, trees and shrubs all around. I immediately
booked in for an early morning bird trip up the river. Nighttime was
disturbed by the resident female 3 toed sloth - Buttercup - 'calling' for a mate
and the local Howler monkeys, but I'm up and ready by 6.30 the next
morning. Kali, the boatman paddles absolutely silently out into the area
where the herons and egrets roost at night and I see my first Boat-billed Heron
(weird!). Along the River there are loads of Heron of all types, an Osprey
perched on a tree looking for breakfast, a Least Bittern scurrying into the
reeds and we watched spellbound as an Amazon Kingfisher tried to swallow a fish
the same size as his own head and neck! He did, and the fish was still
wriggling in his throat!
The Caribbean coast has a
reputation for being a laid back and easy going - 'Bring yo' Bong, man' kinda
place - but I have to say that we didn't once get asked to share anything
illegal, or even see anything druggy! All the villages have an easygoing
feel about them and we seemed to inhale calmness and peace strolling along the
shoreline of Cahuita National Park. Our last stop was at the Hotel
Shawandha. French designed and owned, known for some exotic bathroom
tiling and an attempt to blend wooden chalets in with the surrounding
forest. Not quite as tidy and well-run a place as we had expected but the
French chef certainly knew how to prepare and cook food! And I did
love the dawn chorus of Mealy Parrots and Montezuma Oropendolas as they foraged
in the treetops at 5.30 in the morning! I wandered out onto the track I
front of the Hotel to look at birds and saw a sloth climbing slowly down from
his tree. A young CR came along the road and stopped by me, and I do
believe I was propositioned by a 14-year-old! He spoke no English, but
kept showing me two fingers crossed over one another and suggesting "Playa?
Black on White?" I declined the offer! The trip back to San Jose was
uneventful, and the Hotel Milvia a lovely, welcoming place.
The rest is another story
….. 
We drove back
to the mainland and an expensive mishap, using the Tempisque River
Ferry. Another 'Only money' episode coming up! We
were in Canas, one of those towns that you stop in purely for convenience and a
meal; we got into the car, checked side mirrors, reversed … into a Mango
tree. The damage was superficial, but was to cost us dearly.
One of the best known places
in CR is Monteverde. It is a Reserve that was started as a peaceful Quaker
community in 1951 and has expanded through farming and cheese production to full
eco-tourism. We decided that we wanted to see the place for
ourselves. The road up to Monteverde is beautiful; a slow gradual ascent
through verdant pastureland and forest, the hills shaped gently by
weathering. Roadside hedges are interlaced with multi coloured Impatiens
and orchids; houses nestle in little groups each with some small evidence of
self sufficiency. But the surface of the road is dreadful. Potholes,
rough stones and unevenness for 40 km up and the same on the other side, going
down! How the tourist buses make it - is amazing! There are two
aspects to Monteverde; the commercial Hotels, the tour operators, the shops and
restaurants aimed at tourists and then the Cloud Forest itself.
Luckily for us we met up with a delightful couple who were also staying in the
same hotel and who had arranged a local tour guide for a half-day trip into the
Cloud Forest. Going around with someone who knows their biology, ecology,
plants, animals and birds was such a pleasure that the four hours flew by.
We wandered slowly along trails and our young guide linked conservation ideas
with ecology, the importance of understanding the interdependence of species
within the forest, and birdsong with glimpses of Prong-billed Barbet and
Black-faced Solitaire (sounding for all the world like a squeaky
door!) He was so committed and sincere in his work, it was a
wonderful morning and he even managed to 'scope' the lower half of a Quetzal as
it fluttered into the forest. Though very lovely, cloud forests have a lot
of rain and drizzle, and the next morning we set off down the mountain to some
blue skies and the most famous Volcano in the country.
Back to SJ and the Car Hire people. Being honest we tell
them about the dent. The man they sent spent ages looking at the damaged
back door - phoned his superior and then promised to do all he can to make the
bill as small as possible. But of course they have your neat little
signature on the VISA slip. All he can say is "Wait until the Operations
Manager has seen the damage." We both feel an "Its only money" … coming
on! The next morning, despite yesterdays protestations about doing "his
best for us" - the Americana Car Rental bloke tells us that there will be a $680
charge for the purchase, fitting and spraying of a new door… plus,
of course the Hire charges!
Buttercup, the three toed
sloth, is an orphan whose mother had been killed by a car and she was taken in
by Luis and Julia. They learnt, bit by bit, about keeping sloth and have
over the past eight years become good authorities. They hope to be
able to rehabilitate some of the sloth that they nurse back to health and have a
succession of research students to help. Some of the facts about the sloth
are quite astounding, for example it takes them ages to climb up or down a tree
and if a baby falls off its mother it is simply abandoned. Sloth
metabolism is very slow and digestion of their vegetarian diet equally so.
They defecate only once a week and slowly descend to the base of a tree to do
so, then slowly climb back up again! Further down the Caribbean coast we
saw about half a dozen wild sloth in our walks.
Manzanilla is the last village on the
coast, it has traditional fishing boats and just one restaurant where we sat
upstairs on the balcony watching youngsters playing football on the sand and
ordered Lobster! (A whole lobster with butter, onion and tomato sauce,
beans and rice cooked with coconut milk for less than £10!)
At breakfast the next morning
we were watching some ants cutting leaves and trailing them back in neat lines
to their nest and discussing how they all work together, " No
insurrection in the ranks, perhaps they're Quaker?" I said,
"Well, I've heard of Quaker Oats but not Quaker Ants!"
The Car Hire Company was
still insisting on the $680 costs for a new rear door (plus $340 hiring cost)
and CNN News was full of the impending chaos on roads and in Airports as 34
Million Americans travelled to join their families for Thanksgiving
Weekend. We phoned British Airways in San Jose to ask if we could change
our Miami - London tickets and fly back to UK early and got provisional seats -
to be confirmed on arrival in Miami. After a lovely dinner at the Hotel,
Brian went to the Hotel office to check email and we got the news that Dad was
quite ill in Tenerife and also flying home early.
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