Rincon de la Vieja

January 20, 2004-Getting Around
(photos: Me with Rincon de la Vieja pals,
In zip-line gear,
Ready to ride)

Leaving San Jose yesterday was like leaving old friends. Some of the names of the suburbs were San Francisco, Coca Cola & Volkswagen. It was sad to see all the security around the homes. There were bars on windows, gated drives, & razor wire. This was the poor section of town. I’d hate to see the rich homes.

We headed for Liberia with people who were going on to Coco Beach. Our interbus van shuttled from resort to resort, was air conditioned & was shared by a male couple from Canada & another couple from The Netherlands. The guy from Holland said that all week he speaks German at work since he commutes to Germany. Now he’s a Dutchman in a Spanish country speaking English.

Our transfer point was a Subway Restaurant in Guanacaste Province. We took advantage of the opportunity to grab a turkey sub & changed vans. The road from San Jose was paved but now we were on a gravel & stone washboard. It wasn’t as bad as Kenya but it took us an hour to go twenty miles. Rincon de la Vieja is in a dry forest area in a national park. The resident volcano hasn’t erupted since Columbus was here, and it’s a five-mile uphill walk one way.

The Old Ranch

Our lodge complex would be called a ranch here. The red metal-roofed log cabins are set near a pond. Ample landscaping & wild grassland surround the cabins; mountains provide a backdrop & free range horses supply the lawn service; a grasshopper camping out in our bathroom sink served as a welcoming committee. Later that night I found a large beetle in my toiletries case. We ended up putting our belongings into our luggage & zipping them in.

An open-air bar served as a gathering place after dinner & we enjoyed star-gazing in the clear night sky with no interference from artificial lights. The musical background was mostly American 60’s & 70’s. YMCA was popular. We were glad we packed a flashlight to guide us along the unlit paths.

A Zip What?

We were anxious to take our canopy tour of the forest this morning. What we didn’t realize was that it wasn’t going to be a “walk in the park.” It was more a slide in the park. We were outfitted with harnesses, helmets, hooks, thickly padded leather gloves, & pulleys. The truck taking us to the canopy had to be pushed to start it & I don’t know the last time the ignition ever felt a key. The walk to the first ladder was a twenty-five minute climb straight uphill. Where else would a tree canopy be? Our guides were patient & coaxed us up the first ladder to our platform. It was there that they told us we wouldn’t be walking on suspension bridges as we mistakenly thought. I do believe we were auditioning for Fear Factor. There were twelve wires to slide across, a Tarzan-like rope swing, & one suspension bridge. I was satisfied that it was being run as safely as possible. At no time were we not hooked onto something…even when climbing the ladders. All I can say is that I’d do it again in a minute. It was a thrill, exhilarating, & fun. At no time was I scared. I didn’t even scream during the first run/jump. We used our hands to brake by pulling down on the wire. I never felt out of control. David is afraid of heights & got a bit dizzy going up the ladders, but he calmed down & loved the glides. He didn’t climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge with me when we were in Australia & that was a piece of cake compared to this. Our granddaughter, Talia, would have loved it. As she says, “Whee! Slide!”

We were so full of ourselves that we signed on for a horseback ride to a waterfall in the afternoon. The horses are very healthy looking & well cared for. We knew this first hand since on our way to breakfast we had to walk through them as they grazed in front of the cabins. The climb down to the falls & fording the stream was my idea of bliss. I love to climb rocks & pick my way from one slippery boulder to another. The falls cascaded into a pool that emptied into their Colorado River. The current was too powerful for us to get under the falls so we scrambled down rocks into the icy water & paddled around. My legs were numb within seconds. The rocks surrounding our pool rose one-hundred feet in the air & glistened with spider webs wet from the mist.

There are no Americans here. The horseback riders were German & French. Other guests are Canadians & Dutch. I guess this part of Costa Rica isn’t where U.S. travel agents send clients. It’s a shame. It’s pristine & totally un-commercial.

We leave tomorrow for Monteverde where we’ll explore a rain forest. That means wet. They have riding there too but the men on our van said it’s unsafe & muddy this season. The footing is insecure for the horses & they’re hit until they jump from hills into mud. There’s a canopy walk but I think we’ll take a quiet walk with a guide. We saw howler monkeys on our canopy walk today & hope to see other wildlife in Monteverde.

Toby