Rio Claro - Easter Sunday

Dear all,

Here I am again... I was picked up from my hotel in San Jose at 7am (pity as they didn't serve breakfast till 7am!) and then it was just a scenic 30mns drive to the airport. Tiny aiport and tiny plane. Only 15 people max on it... We took off on time and it was a beautifully clear day so I could enjoy the coastline... which is nothing like the ones you'd see in Europe, because it looks as if the sea is crashing vs some "green cliffs", when actually, what makes up the "cliff" are these towering trees, up to 80 metres high, that come right to shore... there's hardly any beach at all as such sometimes. We landed in this air field too, surrounded by palm trees and banana trees and it looked seriously 'wild'... (much nicer than LHR!). I was then picked up by my other driver, in a jeep (no seat belt) and we crossed a few streams to get to our hotel... I just LOVE that kind of ride. Beats Disney Land any time ! :)

He then took me to a boat so I could be whisked off to the lodge, 15mns away, full speed, with the wind in my air and that ultimate sense of freedom, yipeee. Again, lovely warm breeze, and more amazing vegetation all around, so that real 'lush' feeling was very much there. It also had lots of volcanic black rocks and black sand.

The lodge itself had some incredible views over the sea, with the jungle in the foreground, and I really enjoyed having a balcony there, so that, on a lucky day, I could even spot some couples of scarlet macaws flying at eye levels (always together, fully synchronised when they fly), or some seriously cute tucans. Different colours than the ones I'd seen in the Amazon... so, more ticks in my box.

The location was superb but it seriously lacked facilities. I was appalled to hear we had no electricity, no hot water (which ended up not being a problem as we were SO hot that it was actually refreshing to have spring water to splash under), and no locks on the doors. I was told they have a security guard at night, but I still wasn't convinced it was enough. Worse still, there was no wood between the walls (made of mesh, not even proper walls) and the ceiling. So, in effect, anything and everything could have crept in, i.e. creepy crawlies, bats, monkeys, or even boa contrisctors... in my nightmares anyway... but, thankfully, none of this happened. I'm also glad to say that it didn't stop me sleeping like a LOG. The sea air, combined with intense heat and jet lag was enough to send me to dreamland in record time ! And when I woke up in the morning, because there was no curtain on the 'wall' facing the sea, and because the mesh was almost see-through, it felt as if you were sleeping on a tree top and could just see the sun rise in front of your eyes... (at 5am the sky is pink - stunning).

Anyway.... No longer had I checked in that I asked if I could have someone take me to the Rio Claro... it involved quite a trek through the jungle so I wasn't comfortable doing it alone in case I got bitten by a snake, or got lost (more likely, knowing my appalling sense of direction!). I found a nice naturalist chap who agreed to take me, and even hired a canoe so we could enjoy gliding over the river, he did all the work, I just sat back & relaxed... spotting spider monkeys and white owls. The best bit was when he took me to a secluded waterfall with just enough room to swim at the bottom. It was blissful to cool down. The only downside were the tiny shrimps that kept biting our feet... but outside that, we were surrounded by these amazing trees, and I was looking up this waterfall and could see the drops dance in the sun as they cascaded down on us, it was just a WOW feeling. Swimming pools with chlorine just don't cut it for me... To make things even wilder, my guide even grabbed a lizzard and showed me that they are called Jesus Christ lizzards because they too can walk on water. Sure enough, he released it and the little thing just sped off so fast that it literaly skimmed over the water... quite impressive. They also have 'walking palms' because they can actually shift their roots to move to brighter areas, which is a useful skill to have in such a dark environment as the rainforest.

We walked back along endless stretches of beaches, not seeing a soul. I then had a shower and a little snooze on my hamac, on my balcony and just enjoyed the serenity of the place. My only concern was not having internet access for 3 days and thinking my mother was going to be convinced I'd been kidnapped... I wish she wouldn't worry so much, then I wouldn't have to worry so much about her worrying about me ! If you follow me... and I wish I'd known in advance so I could have warned her at least...

After lunch we went hiking into the jungle and it was so dense that we had to use the semi dried up bed of a creek. We didn't see much of interest beside a caoti. But, as usual, too fast... I didn't have time to grab my camera. The walk was horrendously difficult because it was so humid and the air was so thick, with no wind whatsoever, you were sweating away buckets.

Then we came back to the lodge and I saw my first toucan and I was so excited. It's always a thrill to see such incredible birds flying around freely...

I then had a well deserved cold drink and though I asked for mineral water, they mainly only had spring water. I thought I'd give it a go, and I'm glad I did because I've had no side effects whatsoever. So I can even enjoy my cokes with ice-cubes too, when I've been particularly tried & tested on the energy level.

I fell asleep right after dinner, i.e. 8:30pm and slept like a baby...

The next day was beckoning already and Corcovado was supposed to be one of the highlights of my trip.... I'm not even sure I dreamt of jaguar, I switched off the light (we have generators for the room lights at least) and was 'gone'...