Rain Forest Meets Beach
Maria just dropped by to tell me my beer has been delayed; a young German guest has a fever and has been taken to the hospital to get some tests for malaria, my beer awaits the results of those tests, for the driver must stay with the wounded. What a beautiful place I find myself in, I had to leave the USA by the tenth of June, my ninety days were up. I chose Costa Rica for two reasons, my god son Daniel who I have only seen, probably three or four times in his life, for a short time, lives there and it’s probably warm. San Jose was as I expected, hustle-bustle, diesel fumes in the air, warm and humid. I spent a couple of days walking around, finding my way and replacing the things security took from me when I left the States, I started to look into where I might go in Costa Rica. I wanted somewhere quiet, where I could just sit a while, after 3 months of moving around, the decision was made, the Caribbean side sounded the less built up of the two coasts, I booked a ticket to Puerto Viejo and found a place to head for when I arrive. I had messaged Daniel to let him know I was in town and he replied to inform me he was on the Pacific coast around Dominical; I’ll see him down the road a bit. The bus to Puerto Viejo was a 4 hour journey that took six, a protest on a bridge held us up for two hours, my Spanish is nada, so I have no idea what they were protesting, it didn’t seem anything unusual to the locals though and no one seemed perturbed. I splashed out and got a $10 taxi to Walaba Hostel, 6 k’s out of town in Punta Uva and arrived to where I am now in the tree house. It’s not a tree house at all, it’s a house in the trees, built securely on the forest floor, there are more little houses on the grounds. One for 1 or 2 people, one for 4, one for 6 and the house I am in, which houses about 10, each house has its own, bathrooms, kitchens and balconies, to sit and wonder at the spectacle before you, the howler monkeys appear daily, first to wake you as the sun is rising, the head honcho, who no doubt had to fight his way, to having the privilege, to gather the forces, lets off the deepest most growwwwwlll, a real roar which fills the forest with the music of the wild. Slowly if you watch the trees you see the pack gathering and swinging in the trees around you. After roll call they wander off, do their monkey thing for the day and return for the evening call. When there are no monkeys around you may get lucky and catch a sloth, slothing up a tree, if she’s around, no need to rush for the camera, It’s going to take her an hour or so to get up there, I was told at the rehabilitation centre here, that dogs barking at the sloths, is the major reason for their demise, the little darlings can’t take the stress and have a heart attack. Then there are the Toucans, the multitude of multi coloured birds, insects and frogs. If for some reason you’re getting a bit restless and want to move a little, there is Playa Punta Uva, 2 minutes through the trees, to walk, swim, read a good book under the palm tree, snorkel, dive, fish. Rent a bicycle and go for an easy ride to Puerto Viejo, north or Manzanilla south and just chill in the Caribbean breeze, I am already checking out the price of land and the requirements of foreigners to own it. An exercise I seem to do whenever I arrive in the tropics, I was greeted by Maria on my arrival and introduced to Alexandra her mother soon after. Alexandra bought this piece of paradise 23 years ago and has built something to be proud of, the youth of the world drop in for three or four days, sample the delights of the area, then move on to the next place for more wonder and excitement. A lot of these young people seem to be heading for Boca Del Toro, about an hour or so over the border in Panama, I think, a place the lonesome traveller may have to check out, as it is so close to where I am now. Maria asked if I was staying for the weekend, she had a group of students coming from San Jose and needed to know how many beds she had, just the push I needed, no I said “I’m going to Panama”.
I am…. THE LONESOME TRAVELLER….travelling east….BE HAPPY!