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 Costa Rica- Part 2
April 20, 2005
Exchange rate: $1 = 455 colones
Let's continue on with my travels in Costa Rica. I'm currently on the Pacific Coast near
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (PNMA).
Since it was created in the 1960s, the national park system in Costa Rica now includes an impressive total of 67
protected areas, though not all are accessible to tourists. Some are only open to researchers with special permits.
This country certainly has much to be proud of and their parks and reserves should be at the top of the list, though
they're not cheap for budget travelers to visit. It cost $7 (with discounts for students and old farts) to enter
Manuel Antonio Park and after the 7 km bus ride from Quepos (C100), we did just that. Supposedly PNMA limits daily
visitors to only 600, so we got there around 8 am to make sure we'd make the cut. The diminutive park (the country's
smallest at 682 hectares) is laced with numerous winding trails and you'd think for $7 they could give you a little
map, but I reckon they're steering you towards coughing up the hefty fee for a guide. Nonetheless, Vikky and I
managed to find our way and enjoyed our leisurely stroll.
The well-maintained paths meandered through dense tropical vegetation and we eventually encountered the beautiful
capuchin monkeys. I'd learned while jungle hiking in Africa and Asia that it if you're looking for monkeys it's
best if you don't actually look for monkeys. Sounds like a Zen koan, doesn't it? "How do you find monkeys
without looking for monkeys?" Anyway, what you do instead is to look for falling leaves or other natural debris
jarred loose by their constant activity high up in the tree tops. Once you detect the tell-tail evidence of the
monkey's presence, just sit tight and sooner or later you'll also spot them. And these little white-faced guys
soon moved within just a couple of meters of us. Within the park are reportedly over 100 species of mammals and
nearly 200 species of birds, plus two kinds of turtles are known to nest on the beach. It's closed on Mondays.
After some very enjoyable wandering we came to the beach and let me tell you - it's outstanding, the picture-perfect
white sand beach we all want to spend the rest of our vacations lounging on! The water was heavenly. There're excellent
beaches all along this coastline, but those within the park are much less populated and significantly more peaceful.
We had a stretch all to ourselves, except for some pesky iguanas that tried to sneak up and steal our food while
we weren't paying attention. I was very careful to stay under the trees and to limit my exposure to the sun, but
still got burned. I thought I was wise and experienced enough to not underestimate its intensity, but even the
reflection off the sand left me red and sore for a few days. No I didn't use water-proof sunscreen. Yes, I'm an
idiot!
We stayed in Quepos four nights, including Christmas, and I can recommend Hotel Ceciliano which was C3000 each
($6.60) with shared bath. We returned to the beach, but also leisurely explored and relaxed in this fairly tranquil
community. We ate at tiny restaurants called "sodas" that're popular with locals and found them to be
an economical alternative to those which catered to tourists. These simple establishments offered meals called
"casadas" for less than $3 (about 900 to 1300 colones), which would typically be sizable portions of
fish, chicken or beef with potatoes, rice, salad, fried bananas and chopped beets. Also available were "batidos"
(licuado de leche con fruta) for only about C350. My favorite was mora (blackberry) - yummy!
Not only were the touristy restaurants far more expensive in general, but they also tacked on an additional 10%
service charge AND another 13% tax on top of that. Ouch! No way were we going to pay that! But if you like good
coffee, go to Café Milagro for "bottomless cups" of industrial strength java and an appropriate
ambiance for simply chilling. They also sell some English-language newspapers and magazines. (http://www.cafemilagro.com/home.htm )
The Cordillera de Tilarán is one of a chain of volcanic mountains that split the country in half, running
from Nicaragua to Panama, the highest point being Mount Chirripó farther south at 3,280 meters (11,460 ft).
Our next goal was to explore the highly touted nature reserves within it. So the day after Christmas, Vikky and
I boarded a 7:30 am bus to Puntarenas where we arrived at 11 o'clock and hung out, waiting for our 2:15 bus into
the high country. Puntarenas is a rather graceless yet popular area for Ticos, due to its sandy beaches and easy
access from the capital. Located on an 8 km long narrow peninsula it has that typical seaside vacationer look and
feel to it that one might find in New Jersey, England or the south coast of either Spain or Turkey. It's generally
of little interest to "extranjeros" except as a crossroads of sorts for buses and ferries.
Prior to boarding, Vikky and I had met a Kiwi named Blaine, plus a French Canadian from Montreal by the name of
Melanie, and as our bus ascended into higher elevation the virtually rain-free weather along the coast was replaced
by heavy showers, accompanied here and there by vibrant rainbows spanning the horizon. We were now moving into
a heavily forested region and the scenery was stellar, punctuated at times by amazing views as far as the distant
sea. Eventually we arrived in Monteverde and checked into a shared room at Cabinas Monteverde Paraiso (4 beds and
a bath for C2300 each).
Monteverde was founded by North American Quakers in 1951 when they bought up approximately 1500 hectares (about
3800 acres) for dairy farms. And being the socially and environmentally conscious people they tend to be, they
preserved around one third of it as a watershed, then added another 2000 hectares in 1972. What resulted in 1985
was the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve and that was expanded by way of the Monteverde Conservation
League which works with school groups from all over the world to save additional rain forest, in addition to a
few other undertakings. Nearby is Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, founded in 1989, and these two projects attract
thousands of visitors a year. Don't you just love the Quakers?
The next morning three of us (sans Vikky) paid C3000 each for a taxi to the Santa Elena reserve and then shelled
out another $9 to enter it. At 1200 to 1600 meters, this area is a refreshing alternative to the hot coastal region.
It's also cloudier… much cloudier. I reckon that's convenient in a cloud forest reserve! It also rains a lot, which
also makes sense, but consequently the trails were a mucky mess and what I later learned was that I should have
spent another $1 to rent knee-length rubber boots. My Gortex "water-resistant" hiking boots were soon
soaked through and my pants splattered with mud as I slipped and slid along the way. Blaine and Melanie appeared
to be approaching the walk as if their goal was setting a new land speed record so I quickly and gratefully bid
them farewell and took my time, watching for birds and other wildlife while checking out the extremely verdant
and nearly impenetrable surroundings.
It drizzled almost constantly and although the reserve is reputedly chocked full of bird and animal life I saw
nothing more than a few frogs immersed in the shallow streams under the narrow wooden bridges, plus a handful of
small uninteresting birds flittering around. All alone, rarely meeting another hiker, my deliberate stroll became
a kind of gentle moving meditation, albeit a very damp one. It was a hauntingly ethereal and even mystical setting
and at one point I felt virtually suspended in time and space, as if floating along in nature's nurturing cradle
of flowers, trees, ferns, vines… and mud. However, after three hours of almost taking a few headers on the slippery
path and later getting a little chilly, I was ready to return to the hotel to get dry and warm.
Later while using the internet, a guy next me leaned over and asked, "Do you, by any chance, know who David
Byrne is?" When I acknowledged that I surely did, he blurted out, "Finally I've found someone who knows
who David Byrne is!!!" When I inquired as to the relevance of his question he replied, "Haven't you noticed
him here in town?" Huh, he's here! Now I realize that most of you reading this are not aware of who David
Byrne is, but then again, hardly anyone knew who J.S. Bach was in his time either.
Perhaps some of you are familiar with Talking Heads, a band from the 70s and 80s that just happened to be one of
the most influential forces in contemporary music. Time magazine once put Byrne, the leader of that group, on its
cover and labeled him "Rock's Renaissance Man". He's truly a Beethoven or Charlie Parker of our time,
though admittedly his music is not everyone's cup of tea. So now you're thinking, "Wow, fast eddie's going
to tell us how he met this guy." Right? I sure wish I could, but I must've JUST missed him. He'd been in the
store we were now sitting in - JUST before I'd arrived. My informant also told me that Byrne had been at Santa
Elena Reserve that morning and so my mind searched through my mental Rolodex of the few faces I recalled seeing
at the park as I tried to match them up with my recollection of what he looked like, but nothing clicked.
Like every other guest, he'd signed the register at the park and my fellow Byrne admirer had made note of the name
of his hotel and then told me its name. I actually could have raced over to where he was staying and hung out,
waiting for my chance to walk up to him and hum a few bars of "Psycho Killer" or "Same As It Ever
Was" or some other Head's classic, in hope of eliciting a smile and maybe even a conversation from him. But
that felt too much like stalking for my sensibilities, so I let that idea pass and merely kept my eyes peeled during
the remainder of my time in the area, alas to no avail. But I can't complain. After all, I did meet Mother Teresa
once in Calcutta and she was just about everyone's cup of tea… though I understand she couldn't play guitar or
sing worth a damn.
This mountainous part of Costa Rica is certainly quite lovely, but I must tell you that the incessant wind and
rain just about drove me crazy. And when I say wind, I mean serious wind - the kind that has permanently bent trees
into misshapen aberrations. It's the kind of fierce wind that makes you pull your hood up over your head, duck
down and lean your entire body against it while walking. I once had a friend from Montana tell me that the wind
was so strong there that "you could play handball against it". That kind of wind. And with the constant
mist thrown in it got on the nerves of all four of us to the point that we decided to leave after only two nights
in Monteverde.
On the Caribbean side of the Cordillera de Tilarán is Volcán Arenal (1633m), Costa Rica's best known
and most visited volcano. Dormant for centuries until 1968, it erupted that year and killed about 80 people. It's
continual activity since has been quite a spectacle to behold - if you're lucky enough to see it through the clouds.
We left Monteverde in the rain (no surprise!) and after 2 ¼ hours reached the small town of Tilarán
where the sun was actually shining. I had lunch and spread out my wet clothes (which consisted of just about all
my clothes) on the grass in the park to dry. Later we boarded another bus that headed east and skirted the edge
of large Laguna de Arenal until we reached La Fortuna three hours later. This is the closest village to Arena,
only 6km to the west. It was raining and we couldn't see jack shit!
In La Fortuna we stayed at what was one of the very finest hostels I've ever been in: Gringo Pete's. Pete is a
64-year-old retired laborer from Washington who started it up 2 ½ years ago and has really done it right:
a nice shared kitchen; games, guidebooks and other reading material and travel info; facilities for washing/drying
clothes; a guitar and frisbee to use; plus a hammock out back to lounge in. As an owner he's thought about what's
important to travelers, little things like hooks in the showers to hang up your clothes on and coffee available
24 hours/day. His place is immaculately clean, there's a comfortable common area to socialize in, plus his prices
were the best I saw in Costa Rica. We paid only C1600 ($3.50) each for the four us to share a large room with both
sink and shower.
My Three Favorite Hostels Ever (in random order):
- Rainbow Hostel
in Dingle, Ireland
- The Artemis Guest House
(AKA Jimmy's Place)in Selchuk, Turkey
- Gringo Pete's
in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Throughout the remainder of the day it continued to rain and that night I asked Pete what the chances were that
I'd ever actually be able to view the volcano and its dramatic lava flows. "To be honest, not good,"
was his candid reply. "It really doesn't clear up around here until the end of January and it's fairly decent
through March. September is good too. But I've known people who've been here for weeks now and haven't seen it
yet." Damn… that was it for me! I was totally fed up with all the inclement weather I'd endured and I just
wanted to get to where it was sunny and I could stay dry for a change. I'd been fortunate to have already seen
active volcanoes in Indonesia, so I decided right then I was leaving the next morning - headed for someplace where
it was not raining!
I also decided that I wanted to go solo. I'd been traveling with another person, either Travis or Vikky, for over
three weeks now and I was feeling the strain of having to continually consult with someone else over so many decisions.
Both of them had been fine companions: easy going and adaptable, courteous and with needs and interests similar
to mine. But I'm used to traveling by myself and just needed to be alone for a while, to feel the freedom of spontaneity
and have the flexibility to make choices based on my slightest peculiar wish or whim.
So I told Vikky that night and, not surprisingly, she was totally understanding. I'd been a bit concerned about
"abandoning" her, particularly since some women are justifiably nervous about going it alone in a place
like Central America, but she assured me that she was comfortable with that. So the next morning I woke early,
stocked up on fruit and bread, and was on a bus before 8 am rambling north towards Nicaragua where I would end
up that night - after five different buses. I only spent ten days/nights in Costa Rica, but enough I feel to make
a fair-minded assessment of it.
Costa Rica boastfully describes itself as the Switzerland of this region - partly due to its enormous natural beauty,
but also because since 1948 it's had no standing army. It's enjoyed a level of political and economic stability
unheard of elsewhere in Central America. In 1889, the country had its first democratic election (though neither
blacks nor women were allowed to vote) and democracy has been the theme ever since, only briefly interrupted by
a dictatorship from 1917 to 1919. It's literacy rate is over 96%, higher than most countries, including the United
States.
The coups, despots and internal strife that have ripped through other countries in this region have largely bypassed
Costa Rica. Consequently, it's been able to establish itself as a haven for investment and mass tourism from outsiders,
particularly from the U.S. The CIA has had no need to finance and train "liberation armies" to insert
"stable leadership" into office since there's never been a threat to U.S. corporate investments there
- no "communist menace" to contend with during the paranoia of the Cold War era.
Ticos are fiercely proud of their nation, even to the point of being seriously in denial of that which is not perfect.
The fact is that there has been trouble in paradise lately and wearing rose-colored glasses won't help reverse
this trend. Costa Rica is not as safe as it used to be, partly because of internal issues and partly due to the
intrusion of desperately poor Nicaraguans and Panamanians sneaking across the border. Petty theft and even armed
robberies in San Jose are commonplace now and I wonder how much worse it'll get before shotgun-bearing security
guards will become as much a part of the scenery there as they are now in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
One of the biggest shocks to national pride (and hopefully not a harbinger of things to come) occurred this past
March 10th in the aforementioned Monteverde. In this tiny idyllic tourist town a thwarted bank robbery turned into
a 30-hour hostage standoff that ended when police violently stormed the bank. The end result was nine dead, including
one police agent and five customers. Also killed were three of the five thieves, while one escaped and another
was captured. Included in the group were three Nicaraguan brothers. Banco Nacional is one of the buildings I walked
by frequently while there.
Corruption within government is business as usual throughout Central America, but it must be hard for Ticos to
cope with the reality of also seeing two of their own former presidents in handcuffs. Miguel Ángel Rodriguez
(1998-2002) and Rafael Ángel Calderón Jr. (1990-1994) are both being detained and face charges of
"illicit enrichment". For example, Calderón is accused of accepting a $9.2 million "commission"
on a medical equipment purchase. A third former president, José María Figueres (1994-1998), is now
residing in Switzerland where he's being pressured to return home to face charges as well. He's already admitted
to pocketing huge sums of money for "consulting services" he provided to Alcatel while in office. This
is not supposed to be happening in Costa Rica - the shame of it all! One politician commented, "We've always
thought of ourselves as different from the rest of Central America, but now we realize we're not so different."
No kidding… wake up and smell the home grown coffee!
There're also serious environmental issues that need to be sorted out. Both deforestation and poaching are critical
problems and the government seems to prefer looking the other way, pretending they don't exist. Since the banana
plantations responsible for the alarming rate of forest being cleared are owned by the big corporations that "butter
the politician's bread", don't expect any major whistle blowing any time soon.
Always a favorite of U.S. ex-patriots, Costa Rica is now starting to take a back seat to Panama and even Nicaragua
as a preferred place to buy property and live out their dreams. These neighboring countries "offer a lower
cost of living and better security", at least that's what I was told by ex-pats who are making the move. This
is not to say that Costa Rica is going down the toilet. It's only to recognize that it has problems just like the
other countries in the region and that it isn't an unspoiled garden of eden. But it's still an incredible place
to visit and one with many, many more holiday possibilities besides those I've mentioned. You could easily spend
a lifetime of vacations there.
Item seen on menu in Costa Rica: "Cooktail". I can imagine a waiter asking, "Would you care
for one?" My response just might be, "Perhaps, but could I have a look at her first?"
Next - Panama and El Salvador. Until then……
Hasta luego,
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Peace,