Savegre Lodge, Tuesday 18th Apr 2006
Well, I ended up leaving the hotel with the internet a little bit past 6pm last night which meant I missed the most glorious sunset. I could have kicked myself... the first night it had been a pale pink, the 2nd night a darker pink, but last night it was a vivid purple with stripes of pink and would have been SO unusual as a shot, but ... of course, for once I'd left my camera behind in case I got robbed on my way back ! They do say that the area is very very safe but there's always a first, and I didn't fancy being that one... so, by not wanting to take chances I blew it ! :)
Oh well... I had another dinner with the people I'd befriended the day before and headed for bed fairly early as we all had to be up at 6am for a boat trip at 7:15am.
It was another beautiful morning the day I had to check out and I felt so sad at the thought of leaving such a heavenly place. As if to give more regrets I was greeted by several couples of scarlet macaws who kept flying in front of my balcony. To see such vivid splashes of red, yellow & blue in the sky is always something one treasures. I also saw more smaller toucans, whose chest bears the most incredible patchwork of colours too. Even their beak had got several shades of orange on it. I must say I never cease to be amazed by the outstanding diversity of patterns that God has thought of... He didn't just make ONE toucan, He made many variations on the theme... and ditto for SO many species.
Anyway, I took one last shot from my gorgeous balcony and waved good bye to the massive caterpillar and grasshopper that had managed to crawl on my desk over the last 2 nights... they had added a touch of 'exotism' to the place so I didn't hush them out ! :)
Once on the boat it was the same 20mns to go back to the main shore and then the jeep ride and the 45mns flight back to San Jose. The airport lounge was just a shed with some half cut tree trunks to sit on. I had to take some photos of the plane on the air strip before take off ... such a massive contrast from busy Heathrow !
I was picked up by another driver (Carlos) and he was quite friendly. Probably 55 but very chatty and he was more than happy to chat to me in Spanish. I am actually quite chuffed because I can understand 95% of what they tell me, they don't speak too fast here (or maybe he made an effort for me?) but it's such a beautiful language and I find it totally romantic to read things in Spanish, they have so many lovely expressions that just woudn't translate in English or French... I guess that's one of the plus of being tri-lingual, you can feel more 'in it' when you interact with the locals in the language that they can feel and think in. I just really enjoy this side of the trip too and just know I will miss it when I get back.
Anyway... we had to go 2,000 ft up from San Jose so it was quite interesting to see the vegetation change from tropical forest to cloud forest. You suddenly see a lot more moss on the trees, and ferns and massive leaves and more flowers... well, different flowers... different birds. The beauty of Costa Rica is that though it is so small (only 0.005% of our planet's surface) its topography is incredibly diverse, and blessed with many mountains and beaches - ranging from the Caribbeans to the Pacific. My driver had never travelled abroad but, as I told him, at least he was born in a strikingly beautiful place, which is a small consolation. The temperature in Savegre is also cooler but still pleasant. About 22C by day (i.e. no sweat unless you put lots of weight on your shoulders like some foolish people do... ) and 12C by night. I even have a bath tub so I can have a hot bath AND my own log fire if I so wish (they have put logs and matches next to the fire place and it smelt of log fire when I walked through the door). Pretty neat. My bed is massive too... in fact, all the rooms I've had so far have been incredibly spacious. Too big for one person ! But then I can spread all my things and make myself really comfortable ! And spending 3 nights in each place is actually just about right... you start to see it as a 2nd home and it saves having to constantly pack & unpack!
We eventually got to Savegre Lodge for lunch and the first thing that struck me was the amount of humming birds that they had on the grounds. Countless humming birds, everywhere you looked. They try to attract them by giving them watered down honey in some plastic things that hang down from trees. Humming birds just LOVE that stuff but Carlos was telling me that the downside of treating them to this (to keep the tourists happy, same old, same old) is that they have neglected flowers as their nectar isn't as delicious and so they find that out of 10 humming birds that they study, only 2 will actually have nectar on their beaks, which, in the long term will create a macro disaster (man made this time!) because the flowers rely on the birds to spread their nectar... and the flowers are food for other things... and we saw what happened in Coracavo when you take out ONE element out of the food chain... it all goes haywire.
But they are cute little birds, most are the size of my thumb but some are even smaller... and they are all colours. Mainly blue, green, some have got red in them. I took some neat shots of a few drying their wings in the sun. It's just really easy to picture them here... whereas in most natural places, they fly so fast from one flower to the next, you don't have time to focus that they're gone already....
After Carlos left (I treated him to lunch), I went on one of the many trails around the lodge trying to find some quetzals, but no luck so far (he'd seen countless and told me that most Costa Rican people have never seen one because they cannot afford to come to Savegre or other places where one can see them). He'd also seen some jaguars... I was jealous ! But he said I shouldn't feel so upset I didn't get lucky because National Geographic came over last month to film a documentary on jaguars and they had to be in the reserve 40 days before they saw their first sighting !!! They are too smart and tend to avoid humans like the plague. Also, there used to be many many more but even Corvacado only has 40 left now because humans have hunted the pecari almost to extinction, and it's the jaguar's favourite food. So, they had to move elsewhere to try and feed... so, back to the food chain being interrupted again and creating chaos. When will we ever learn and what will it take? God knows... I guess we won't bother to learn much until our own specie is threatened... (but then one would argue that the tribal people hunted the pecaris to feed their own families too ! But then the jaguars ended up having to look for cows to feed on instead and got shot down by farmers who didn't want to lose their meals either! etc).
Anyway, I shall move on from the subject not to become too depressed. So, as I said earlier, I ventured towards the waterfall, with my rucksack and all my gear, yet again, in case I spotted the prized quetzal up on a tree... it was actually a pretty ride by the river with all the lush vegetation around it... so I took some nice scenic shots, but saw no wildlife whatsoever. And I didn't even get to the waterfall... the last 500m were just impossible to manage with all the weight on my back. I almost fell backwards once, and could have seriously injured my back... I don't know how I managed to get my balance back, I think an angel must have pushed me back as there was no one in sight to even shout for help once you were down the ditch ! :) One had to use ropes to go up or down slippery slopes and if I'd wanted to actually get to the said waterfall (30m high) I would have had to get rid of my 'excess luggage' and hide all my camera gear AND tripode (= I only had one spare hand to hold onto branches, etc) and I just didn't want to risk it. Chances are, no one would have stolen it as I only saw one woman there, who was heading back when I was nearing it... but still, it'd have been bummer to have all my gear stolen just a few days before I'm due to have my photo workshop with Greg Basco ! (oh and when I was on my Nature Air flight from Drake Bay, I noticed he'd written and illustrated an article on sloth bears for their in-flight magazine - cool!).
Anyway, I'm trying to become more sensible as I'm becoming older... so I ventured back, and I must say I was totally shattered by the time I got back the lodge. I'd sweated buckets and had developed blisters on my feet, and my legs felt like jelly... and I did think to myself at my peak of exhaustion 'why is it that my holidays never feel like holidays?'... 'why do I put myself through all this?' ? :) I guess that one wants to see as much as what the land has to offer once you're in a beauty spot, esp. considering how much it costs to GET there in the first place.... just having more naps would feel like a waste of time in the long run.
But I'm glad to say I managed to do without a nap today, though I'd only slept 6 hours last night... (reason being I'd made a point to not wear ear plugs so I could hear all the jungle noises - esp. the macaws' bickering, because they sound quite unusual... and I don't get to hear them very often).
Voila! I guess I'd better sign off and get some food before they close the restaurant !!! Food, as it happens, is nothing to write home about actually... I haven't had ONE dish yet that has really excited my taste buds so far... Peru or India were first class in comparison. BUT I haven't had anything that's made me sick either and even tap water seems fine which is amazing. So, I'm not complaining !
There's only one PC here but I've been able to grab it before anyone else did... whether I'll get as lucky tomorrow & the day after remains to be seen.
Tomorrow we have a guided walk to try and locate the famous quetzals and I'll be heart-broken if we cannot spot one... they have many many pictures of the said bird at the lodge here (even on the key-rings! and on their stationary, etc.) and it just looks totally adorable - and exquisite. Truly an awe inspiring sight. Fingers crossed! I haven't been very lucky at all so far, so I hope my luck soon changes for the better... Only time will tell...
Well, I ended up leaving the hotel with the internet a little bit past 6pm last night which meant I missed the most glorious sunset. I could have kicked myself... the first night it had been a pale pink, the 2nd night a darker pink, but last night it was a vivid purple with stripes of pink and would have been SO unusual as a shot, but ... of course, for once I'd left my camera behind in case I got robbed on my way back ! They do say that the area is very very safe but there's always a first, and I didn't fancy being that one... so, by not wanting to take chances I blew it ! :)
Oh well... I had another dinner with the people I'd befriended the day before and headed for bed fairly early as we all had to be up at 6am for a boat trip at 7:15am.
It was another beautiful morning the day I had to check out and I felt so sad at the thought of leaving such a heavenly place. As if to give more regrets I was greeted by several couples of scarlet macaws who kept flying in front of my balcony. To see such vivid splashes of red, yellow & blue in the sky is always something one treasures. I also saw more smaller toucans, whose chest bears the most incredible patchwork of colours too. Even their beak had got several shades of orange on it. I must say I never cease to be amazed by the outstanding diversity of patterns that God has thought of... He didn't just make ONE toucan, He made many variations on the theme... and ditto for SO many species.
Anyway, I took one last shot from my gorgeous balcony and waved good bye to the massive caterpillar and grasshopper that had managed to crawl on my desk over the last 2 nights... they had added a touch of 'exotism' to the place so I didn't hush them out ! :)
Once on the boat it was the same 20mns to go back to the main shore and then the jeep ride and the 45mns flight back to San Jose. The airport lounge was just a shed with some half cut tree trunks to sit on. I had to take some photos of the plane on the air strip before take off ... such a massive contrast from busy Heathrow !
I was picked up by another driver (Carlos) and he was quite friendly. Probably 55 but very chatty and he was more than happy to chat to me in Spanish. I am actually quite chuffed because I can understand 95% of what they tell me, they don't speak too fast here (or maybe he made an effort for me?) but it's such a beautiful language and I find it totally romantic to read things in Spanish, they have so many lovely expressions that just woudn't translate in English or French... I guess that's one of the plus of being tri-lingual, you can feel more 'in it' when you interact with the locals in the language that they can feel and think in. I just really enjoy this side of the trip too and just know I will miss it when I get back.
Anyway... we had to go 2,000 ft up from San Jose so it was quite interesting to see the vegetation change from tropical forest to cloud forest. You suddenly see a lot more moss on the trees, and ferns and massive leaves and more flowers... well, different flowers... different birds. The beauty of Costa Rica is that though it is so small (only 0.005% of our planet's surface) its topography is incredibly diverse, and blessed with many mountains and beaches - ranging from the Caribbeans to the Pacific. My driver had never travelled abroad but, as I told him, at least he was born in a strikingly beautiful place, which is a small consolation. The temperature in Savegre is also cooler but still pleasant. About 22C by day (i.e. no sweat unless you put lots of weight on your shoulders like some foolish people do... ) and 12C by night. I even have a bath tub so I can have a hot bath AND my own log fire if I so wish (they have put logs and matches next to the fire place and it smelt of log fire when I walked through the door). Pretty neat. My bed is massive too... in fact, all the rooms I've had so far have been incredibly spacious. Too big for one person ! But then I can spread all my things and make myself really comfortable ! And spending 3 nights in each place is actually just about right... you start to see it as a 2nd home and it saves having to constantly pack & unpack!
We eventually got to Savegre Lodge for lunch and the first thing that struck me was the amount of humming birds that they had on the grounds. Countless humming birds, everywhere you looked. They try to attract them by giving them watered down honey in some plastic things that hang down from trees. Humming birds just LOVE that stuff but Carlos was telling me that the downside of treating them to this (to keep the tourists happy, same old, same old) is that they have neglected flowers as their nectar isn't as delicious and so they find that out of 10 humming birds that they study, only 2 will actually have nectar on their beaks, which, in the long term will create a macro disaster (man made this time!) because the flowers rely on the birds to spread their nectar... and the flowers are food for other things... and we saw what happened in Coracavo when you take out ONE element out of the food chain... it all goes haywire.
But they are cute little birds, most are the size of my thumb but some are even smaller... and they are all colours. Mainly blue, green, some have got red in them. I took some neat shots of a few drying their wings in the sun. It's just really easy to picture them here... whereas in most natural places, they fly so fast from one flower to the next, you don't have time to focus that they're gone already....
After Carlos left (I treated him to lunch), I went on one of the many trails around the lodge trying to find some quetzals, but no luck so far (he'd seen countless and told me that most Costa Rican people have never seen one because they cannot afford to come to Savegre or other places where one can see them). He'd also seen some jaguars... I was jealous ! But he said I shouldn't feel so upset I didn't get lucky because National Geographic came over last month to film a documentary on jaguars and they had to be in the reserve 40 days before they saw their first sighting !!! They are too smart and tend to avoid humans like the plague. Also, there used to be many many more but even Corvacado only has 40 left now because humans have hunted the pecari almost to extinction, and it's the jaguar's favourite food. So, they had to move elsewhere to try and feed... so, back to the food chain being interrupted again and creating chaos. When will we ever learn and what will it take? God knows... I guess we won't bother to learn much until our own specie is threatened... (but then one would argue that the tribal people hunted the pecaris to feed their own families too ! But then the jaguars ended up having to look for cows to feed on instead and got shot down by farmers who didn't want to lose their meals either! etc).
Anyway, I shall move on from the subject not to become too depressed. So, as I said earlier, I ventured towards the waterfall, with my rucksack and all my gear, yet again, in case I spotted the prized quetzal up on a tree... it was actually a pretty ride by the river with all the lush vegetation around it... so I took some nice scenic shots, but saw no wildlife whatsoever. And I didn't even get to the waterfall... the last 500m were just impossible to manage with all the weight on my back. I almost fell backwards once, and could have seriously injured my back... I don't know how I managed to get my balance back, I think an angel must have pushed me back as there was no one in sight to even shout for help once you were down the ditch ! :) One had to use ropes to go up or down slippery slopes and if I'd wanted to actually get to the said waterfall (30m high) I would have had to get rid of my 'excess luggage' and hide all my camera gear AND tripode (= I only had one spare hand to hold onto branches, etc) and I just didn't want to risk it. Chances are, no one would have stolen it as I only saw one woman there, who was heading back when I was nearing it... but still, it'd have been bummer to have all my gear stolen just a few days before I'm due to have my photo workshop with Greg Basco ! (oh and when I was on my Nature Air flight from Drake Bay, I noticed he'd written and illustrated an article on sloth bears for their in-flight magazine - cool!).
Anyway, I'm trying to become more sensible as I'm becoming older... so I ventured back, and I must say I was totally shattered by the time I got back the lodge. I'd sweated buckets and had developed blisters on my feet, and my legs felt like jelly... and I did think to myself at my peak of exhaustion 'why is it that my holidays never feel like holidays?'... 'why do I put myself through all this?' ? :) I guess that one wants to see as much as what the land has to offer once you're in a beauty spot, esp. considering how much it costs to GET there in the first place.... just having more naps would feel like a waste of time in the long run.
But I'm glad to say I managed to do without a nap today, though I'd only slept 6 hours last night... (reason being I'd made a point to not wear ear plugs so I could hear all the jungle noises - esp. the macaws' bickering, because they sound quite unusual... and I don't get to hear them very often).
Voila! I guess I'd better sign off and get some food before they close the restaurant !!! Food, as it happens, is nothing to write home about actually... I haven't had ONE dish yet that has really excited my taste buds so far... Peru or India were first class in comparison. BUT I haven't had anything that's made me sick either and even tap water seems fine which is amazing. So, I'm not complaining !
There's only one PC here but I've been able to grab it before anyone else did... whether I'll get as lucky tomorrow & the day after remains to be seen.
Tomorrow we have a guided walk to try and locate the famous quetzals and I'll be heart-broken if we cannot spot one... they have many many pictures of the said bird at the lodge here (even on the key-rings! and on their stationary, etc.) and it just looks totally adorable - and exquisite. Truly an awe inspiring sight. Fingers crossed! I haven't been very lucky at all so far, so I hope my luck soon changes for the better... Only time will tell...
posted by Sylvie at 4:36 PM
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