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Costa
Rica Adventure
March 5-20, 2005
The town of Manzanillo,
located about a 15-minute bus ride from Puerto Viejo, houses a wildlife
refuge that is home to about a zillion species of plants and animals. We set
out early for a guided tour of the park – the first of many opportunities on
the trip to learn about nature. Breakfast was served at
typical Tico-speed (i.e. very slowly), but it was delicious, with fruit
smoothies and of course excellent coffee. We met our tour guide, Ricky, and
set out into the park.
Ricky, our local guide in Manzanillo (Photo credit: SHS) The tour was fantastic and, as
it turns out, was unparalleled the entire remainder of the trip. Ricky knew
seemingly everything about every tree, every flower, and every animal in the
park. We saw a yellow eyelash viper snake (very poisonous), monkeys in trees,
a spider that spins a golden web, a poison dartfrog, bullet ants, and even a
termite’s nest that introduced some members of our group to a brand-new
source of protein. Yuck.
Yellow eyelash viper snake – beautiful but poisonous! (Photo credit: SHS) Ricky also was heavily into
educating us on the medicinal properties of the jungle flora and fauna. He
told us about the noni fruit, which smells like stinky cheese but
supposedly offers a cure for anything from migraines to cancer. He even showed us how to make a sling from
a banana tree. Way cool.
Mandy sporting her banana tree sling (Photo credit: SHS) After several hours of nature, we were enthralled. But
we were also hot, sticky, and longing for a swim in the ocean. The beach at
Manzanillo was beautiful and the water beckoned to us, so we headed to the
beach.
Beautiful
beach of Manzanillo, on the Caribbean coast (Photo
credit: SHS) That afternoon, we went swimming, and then rented sea
kayaks and went kayaking for a while, which was incredible. We sort of forgot
to memorize a landmark on the shore, though, and finding where to return the
boats and get our stuff back was an adventure on its own. By late afternoon,
we had sand in our clothes, in our hair, in our bathing suits… it was
wonderful! We returned to Puerto Viejo by bus and headed out a bit
of shopping. We attempted to find an internet café, but the connection speeds
were slow and there were long lineups pretty much everywhere. Ah well, I
didn’t come to Costa Rica to spend time online. Dinner was great, at a thai/sushi restaurant. We met
Jordan, our waiter and a partner in the restaurant, who was also owned the
luxury bungalows behind the place that were equipped with canopy beds,
Jacuzzis, and the like. Monday night is reggae night in Puerto Viejo, and we
headed over to the beach bar after dinner to have a couple of drinks and
dance to the Caribbean beat, before succumbing to exhaustion and heading back
to the hotel to sleep. Next: Boat trip to
Tortuguero. |
