Puerto Viejo was successfully a vacation from our vacation. We rode bikes around the sleepy town, watched birds from the terrace over breakfast, went kayaking up the river and spied sloths, and played a lot of cards.
Rio Celeste, Costa Rica
You can look at the pictures of Rio Celeste and know it’s something that you’ve just got to see…but seeing is believing and we were awestruck when we finally laid our own eyes on this place.
The scientific reason for the colour has to do with two different rivers converging into one and the different minerals from each reacting together. When the rivers meet, the PH balance changes and causes a particular molecule of one of the rivers to expand. The enlarged molecule then captures and disperses the light differently creating the unreal blue colour to the water. So in reality, the whole experience is all an optical illusion.
The legend though, and far more realistic is that the gods painted the sky blue and dipped their brushes into the river to wash them thus leaving remnants of the paint behind.
…And the colour truly does look like a dipped paint brush…you know the way paint gives an almost milky quality to the water? Yeah, like that.
Swimming is not allowed inside the National Park but the river travels outside the park so you need only drive 10 minutes down the road to find a place to dip in.
The river ran pretty quickly in some sections but everyone there, including ourselves, were hypnotized by the beautiful water and jumped in anyway. People were cackling maniacally as the river would grab hold of them and bare them away. I found myself in hysterical laughter clinging to the side of a rock as the water rushed past trying take me further than it already had and not being even a little bit scared. It was like everyone was under a spell.
We did manage to tear ourselves away only with the promise we would come back in the morning.
We went off to find our hostel that we had booked feeling quite refreshed.
That is, right up until we drove by what the map said was our place. We kept going, pretty sure that couldn’t have been it. There was nothing further up the road though so we reluctantly turned back and pulled into…we aren’t sure what. There were signs posted about tours you could book there but the actual place was just a small shack on the side of the road. Now don’t get us wrong, we love a place off the beaten path…
But this was not that. We weren’t sure where exactly the hostel part was supposed to be. A guy came out to greet us but he looked fairly confused. He didn’t speak a lick of english so Carson explained in Spanish that we had a reservation. Of which, the man knew nothing about. He got on the phone and spoke to someone who clearly also didn’t know about our reservation but must have said something to the effect of “if they want to stay, make room for them” which I suppose is kind enough but didn’t feel good at the time. After getting off the phone he told us he was going to clean out the room (pointing to the shack) and it would be ready in a half hour.
We slowly backed away, smiling, saying thank you, and said we were just going to go get groceries, for which he gave us directions.
We jumped in the car and zipped out of there, we looked at each other knowing full well we wouldn’t be going back. We found a restaurant with wifi and frantically started looking up places hoping something was available last minute. In the mean time Carson ordered chifrijos that had stale chips and questionable meat and i ate a burger that i’m pretty sure was not cooked properly. Nothing really mattered in those moments though beyond finding somewhere else to stay.
Then out of the darkness, a beacon appeared. A cute little place with a one bedroom cabin on the river with breakfast included for only $60 CDN. “Book it!” Carson exclaimed.
The place was perfect. They had only just opened two weeks prior and were eager to please which was exactly what we needed just then. They served us smoothies when we got there just because, and invited us to wander around while they made sure everything with our room was ready. Just the fact that they had our reservation was a good start. The beautiful magic blue river was right there, the cabins were the cutest things (ours was called the Toucan cabin so you can imagine our delight), they had two rescued deer on the property (one of which loved head scratches and licking faces), and the general atmosphere was just lovely. All in all, things turned out for the better and we were able to cancel our reservation at the shack without any hassle even though it was last minute.
In the morning, we went to the eating area for the complimentary breakfast and it was damn good! We then went for the quick morning river dip we promised ourselves before hitting the road and making our way to Puerto Viejo!
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
A silly time in a silly place, but that suits us fine. It can’t be all revelations under the stars.
We picked up our car in Uvita from a company that was Alamo, Enterprise, and National all rolled into one – the employees wore shirts with all three logos on them just to be clear.
The moment we entered the stuffy, too small office we were reminded of the hustle and bustle of the city back home.
The person who was supposed to have returned our car 4 hours prior, had not yet shown up and they didn’t have any cars left so we had some waiting to do while the company sorted it out.
Emmanuel, who while ever so kind and helpful, sat behind the counter and made sure we knew all about how busy he is every day and how he doesn’t know the concept of breakfast and how he works all the time and has so much to do he can’t even get it done. Funny though, there seemed to be time enough to talk about this lack of time for over half an hour.
The thing is, there is always time for breakfast. Time is what you make of it.
We understand the stress of a stacked day and we will offer words of encouragement wherever we can but if you insist on taking misery as company like a badge on your shirt, well there ain’t nothing in the world that can help you. And we are liable to take a walk while you pull out your hair and get ourselves an ice cream bar and see if we can eat it faster than it can melt in the 35 degree heat (and in case you are wondering, it’s almost not possible but we gave that ice cream a run for its money).
There’s a theme out there in the world where it seems the more you complain about how busy you are, perhaps it will validate how miserable you are. I think I’ve likely fallen prey to this more than once. We glorify our stress’ and anxieties in order to prove to ourselves that they are worth it. I think sometimes maybe it helps, but, like with anything, it’s a balance, and the misery will take over your life if you let it.
Emmanuel didn’t want any ideas for how to fit breakfast in or how to manage his work load. He just wanted to wallow and for us to be awed by how hard he was working. So we played our part and gave our condolences and wished him well and told him we hoped he had time for lunch and then we parted ways.
Then began the 5+ hour drive to La Fortuna. We took a mountain pass which displayed a new beautiful view at every turn. And when we
say ‘turn’ we mean hairpin turns up and down a very narrow road where really only one car can fit (but it’s terrifying because sometimes you have to fit two side by side but the road gives way on both sides of you to an endless sheer cliff) because it turns out you are driving on the very narrow ridge line of the mountain top. Everwhere, beautiful homes speckle the hillsides, nestled into this bluff or the next. Still not really sure how they stayed in place.
We made our way through just before the sun went down which was just as well because it wouldn’t have been possible in the dark.
Locals here are maniacs when it comes to driving. Which is strange because they are very laid back in every other aspect (some might even say lazy). Such as, closing their pizza shop down at prime dinner time because their wife has a head ache, simply not being open during certain parts of the day – closed when it says open and open when it says closed. No real rhyme or reason, work just doesn’t seem to be a priority. (Which is actually refreshing.) But the laid back living attitude is incongruent with the aggressive driving.
We made it to town after a hair raising drive in the dark among the wild local drivers. We made it to the hostel after detouring around a fair with a bunch of cowboys on their horses.
(In the morning, we saw a stray cowboy; a remnant of the night before, stumbling around looking like he forgot where he tied his horse up…which was likely the case.)
The town is a tourist trap so we endeavoured not to fall victims to it all.
They were a touch behind the times there too…
We drove two hours to a beautiful waterfall where the park entrance was cheap and the swimming was refreshing, we went off the beaten path to walk some trails on some private property, we bought some guaro and made chili guaros (which were slightly horrendous but not enough to stop drinking them), and we went on a chip hunt to find where we might find more of our new favourite chips.
…and here I feel we must talk about THE chips.
In Santa Teresa, Carson ran into a grocery store to quickly choose some chips for our planned chifrijos that night. And, well those chips turned out to be the best damn thing we had ever had. We promptly bought another bag and had each decided those would be the only chips we needed to buy for the rest of the trip. We saw them again while in Quepos and so figured we would find them everwhere. Unfortunately, we were gravely mistaken. We have been looking and looking but no dice. Finally, in La Fortuna, we decided to send the company an email. They are a local Costa Rican company which makes the chips all the better. I emailed explaining that we loved their chips and were looking for stockists in our current area. They responded almost immediately with a place not far away. Carson hopped in the car and came back with three bags.
San Gerardo – the full Unicorn complete
We were up before the sun to walk the half hour to the bus we needed to catch to San Isidro where we would make a connecting bus to San Gerardo (and the hostel at the base of our 2 day hike).
We will spare you the extra gory details but I woke up this day with a real bad case of food poisoning. I will tell you that vomiting into our bag of groceries while it slowly leaks onto me while being stranded on a 2 hour bus ride, is not my particular idea of a good time.
The hostel up in the mountains was the most beautiful place and our favourite lodging. The temperatures were reasonable, it wasn’t very busy, and we were nestled right in the heart of nature. In between trying to recover from whatever I ate that felt like death to my system, we organized ourselves for our hike.
Yes. In the span of one week, we attended a 4 day party, I had terrible food poisoning, and we hiked a 40km trail up and down the tallest peak in Costa Rica. Carson is calling it the full Unicorn (where a half Unicorn is running a half marathon after partying all night the night before).
The morning of the hike we got up early and I was thankfully feeling better so we set right out at about 6AM. And you know? I felt light as a damn feather after that sickness (ha-ha)…
We hiked 15km the first day to basecamp. At the 7km marker there was a rest area so we took the opportunity to refill water and have a snack. We were feeling pretty darn smug at this point…it had been tough but manageable and since it was the half way marker, well the next leg should be just dandy, right? Not a damn chance. The last 5km were incredibly challenging. It was quite steep and it was the hottest part of the day so we were slow moving. There was almost no shade at that point so anytime I passed a small little shrub that had a few leaves that offered shade, I would stop and catch my breath.
We are pretty sure that there is some inconsistency with the km markers. It is more likely that there were just 15 sticks handy and they were placed along the path at random intervals just to give you an idea of how many sticks were left. Whether they accurately marked off a specific measured distance…we are skeptical…because my god that last km went on for miles.
Basecamp did eventually come into view. And bless them it was sloped below us.
It was a pretty classic Albergue with one long hall with doorways that led to the rooms which had 4 beds each. There was a central area with picnic tables and a kitchen where were coffee was available throughout the day.
It was cold up there, even during the day. I wanted to get the shower out of the way so I could relax and in hindsight…I could have gone without it. The water was so cold it felt like it would be frozen solid if it was any colder. Why I proceeded with the shower, I can’t rightly say. By the end, I couldn’t feel my hands or feet. At my review of the experience, Carson smartly opted out of the shower in favour of a quick hand and face wash (from which even his hands were frozen).
We bundled up, had coffee and snacks, and then sat outside in the peaceful mountain air with the sun warming our skin and the wind chilling our bones.
We opted for the provided dinner so we had to stay awake until it was served at 6PM, which was difficult but worth it. We chose the hearty bean soup with tortilla chips and boiled eggs. It was so satisfying (though we paid for the excessive bean consumption the next day). Then we got into our bunks and got as much sleep as we could.
Our alarms went off at 2:30AM and we were up by 2:45AM and out the door at 3AM.
We looked up to find the most beautiful clear sky we’ve ever seen with the milky way, bright, in all her glory.
We were just two little specs in the vast turning of the world. It felt comforting to feel so small under such splendour above. Drinking in every glittery drop of the silky night, we were filled with the courage to begin.
5km to the summit.
We were in total darkness but for the light of our head lamps.
Scrabbling up the cliff face, the wind whipping into our eyes and threatening to toss us over the edge as the sky began to hint at the new dawn. The stars disappeared one by one to make way for the new light.
And I was struck by the magical impossibility of it all. I felt my chest tighten in glory of that sunrise. The dripping gold of a new day.
We ate a brownie as the sun came up. Shivering and smiling in awe with a handful of other crazy hikers.
We we had full sun, we began the descent back to Basecamp (and breakfast).
10km down before 7:30AM and another 15km to the start of the hike. Once again, we were deceived by the half-way rest area. Feeling good. Feeling smug. And those last 5km were death to our legs with the final km stretching on for miles and miles.
In that final km, we passed a middle aged guy hiking up…for what purpose we aren’t sure…as he wanted to stop and chat.
“Do you speak English?” He said
“Yep!” We panted back
“What’s up there?”
“……..depends how far you want to go…..”
What’s up there….WHAT’s UP THERE?!? Do you have all day? What a strange question.
Anyway, we had just seen some monkeys in the trees so we mentioned that and we mentioned that around km 2 or 3 there’s a nice view. This didn’t seem to interest him as after we parted ways, he soon started making his way back down.
Just before we saw the sign marking the start (and end) of the hike, we came along two other people, who much to Carsons irritation wanted us to dish the details so they could best plan to hike the whole thing in one day. We tried to be supportive, and the guy was fit enough to do it, but it’s just not the kind of thing you want to hear. From what we could gather, they were going to start at 9PM and hike through the night and plan to be done by early afternoon the following day. All the power to you champs.
The first thing we did after finishing is acquire beer and a burger.
Once that was out of the way, we went back to the same hostel as before (but with an upgraded room), had a hot shower, and lay down.
Once we had a chance to breath and assess the condition of our bodies, we set about decided on what to do with the rest of the day. The hostel had this beautiful tub set into stone that you could reserve for $8 and they would light candles, poor your bath, and set out flowers and bath salts. So yes, we opted for that to sooth our tired limbs. We also ordered two more of the brownies that they were making fresh (the very same that we ate on the summit). They were the best damn brownies we have ever eaten. They must have sense something about us because they gave us the batter spoon to lick while we waited.
All in all, if we could recommend one hostel to stay at would be that one – Casa Mariposa up in the mountains – and if you are up for a challenge, the hike is truly a rewarding experience.
Something to note
I feel something should be mentioned about Carson + heat + bodies of water…
In the heat of the day, the Carson that dashes to the ocean to slip out of the hottest parts of the day, is not the same Carson that emerges 15 minutes later.
The buoyancy in his step and the blithe expression imprinted on his face is like nothing I have ever seen. He’s like a beacon of light unto himself, languidly making his way back to shore, every bit of discomfort from they day dissolved into the salty sea behind him.
Uvita, Costa Rica
While waiting for the bus in the morning from Dominical to Uvita, a local passed us and asked if we wanted a ride. The price was right so we said yes. We got his number and he ended up also taking us to Envision and then picked us up and helped us run post festival errands.
The ride situation here is pretty awesome. You can take a taxi, an uber, or negotiate a price with a local. Often locals will be going in the same direction as you anyway and so will offer a cheap ride.
Envision
Good heckin fun. The main festival grounds were fairly typical but what set it apart was the addition of the beach filled with local vendors which you can get to through a short jungle path. On the beach side, you can find cheap beer and cheap delicious traditional Costa Rican food. It was like two separate festivals with two different vibes.
There was a vendor with the best damn rice and noodle dishes that we went back there more times than we care to admit.
(And yes we did watch the mermaid galastivation show…it was about exactly as you would expect.)
Cascada Verde – Uvita hostel before and after the festival:
Our friend who lives in New Brunswick with his girlfriend (but used to room with Carson way back when he lived on commercial drive) was planning on being in Uvita at the same time as us so we gave them the info of our hostel and they booked a night there to be there at the same time as us. It was fun to catch up and talk about our different adventures. We took a walk to the nearby waterfall where Carson and Matty climbed a sheer cliff face so they could take the natural waterfall “slide” (which if course had us girls squirming with worry but what can you do). Mostly though, we lounged and listened to the jungle sounds.
…I was trying to get photo and video of Carson but this girl kept posing for pictures in front of me so it just looks like Carson is about to slide on her head…
Dominical, Costa Rica
This place was a nice slice. At this point, almost everyone out and about were festival goers. We ran into Sunflower again which was nice, she was glowing with that pre-festival light that people get. We found a craft brewery that was supplying some of the beer for the festival so we went there twice.
We were heading back to our hostel with some beer from the corner store one evening and a crew of fire spinners were twirling down the road beckoning people to follow. Carson can’t say no to a fire spinner so we did follow them. We found a spot to watch the sun set and drink our beer and as soon as it got dark the fire troop started. And all of a sudden it absolutely poured with rain. A welcome feeling. Having burnt ourselves to a crisp earlier in the day, the rain cooled us right down.
The troop kept spinning through the rain so we stayed to the end.
Heading back from the beach we encountered many crabs along the road. What they were doing so far from the ocean, we are not sure, but they were scuttling around as far as our hostel. One even tried to cram its body into the crevice of our door. They waved their pincers in the air at us as a warning so we let them be.
Manuel Antonio – tripple threat salt
We got up at quarter to 5AM to catch the first bus from Quepos to Manuel Antonio so we could spend a solid day wandering around the National Park.
This place was an incredible little slice of magic. It was a VERY hot day, I think I could have filled a few bottles of sweat with my upper lip alone.
The capuchin monkeys here were much more comfortable with people. We were in a crowd of people crossing a little bridge and there was one right on the railing. He took a good look at each person and sussed out one girl with a bag of snacks in her hand and walked over to her (and I do mean walk…he hoped off the railing, got up on his back legs and walked). It was unnerving and she was scared and pushed the bag of food into her boyfriends hand so he could be the new target.
They were everywhere though – in the trees, on the path, hanging on the water spouts…
We were walking up (yet another) set of stairs on the path and the people coming down (clearly seeing the hopelessness in our faces) said “it’s worth it! There’s a mama sloth and a baby sloth up there”. You better believe we weren’t feeling as tired just then, and quickly made it to the place.
Sure enough, quite close to the path and not too high up, was a mama sloth casually hanging there while languidly eating leaves, and scooped inside her limbs was the baby moving even slower than mom. We stood for a while with the other tourists gaping at the creatures who, except for a long side eye glance mom gave us, couldn’t care less about us.
We continued on, already feeling like what we had seen was well worth the price of admission.
Heading along a different section of path, it was only us and one other couple and coming at us in a wave was a group of capuchin monkeys and squirrel monkeys. They chirruped and scampered through the trees and couldn’t care less about us. Except when one was travelling along a branch in front of Carson and the branch gave way slightly…the monkey paused and then looked accusingly right in Carson’s eyes as if it was all his fault. Carson got right out of his way and the monkey leapt across to the nearest sturdier branch. They sounded like gusts of wind through the leaves as the waves of them travelled. They talked to each other, they snacked on the leaves, and leapt and swung around our heads.
So much to see in this park – monkeys, birds, sloths, little lizards, medium and large lizards, there’s a stretch of beach as well (so we took a dip to cool off when the heat became too much); of the tourist ventures we’ve done, we would say this was by far the best.
Quepos, what?
Just make sure you aren’t leaving things to the last minute and book a place in Manuel Antonio before everything is booked up and do not go to Quepos.
We made the best of it though and these pictures misrepresent the place.
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
The waves here verged on feeling dangerous but not so much so that you didn’t want to go in.
Even in the shallows you could feel the force of the water and how it could just swallow you up. It’s a strange thing we do…gambling with the force of all forces. But gosh it sure is beautiful.
We rented an ATV and took a day trip to Montezuma and hiked to the waterfalls. I was terrified but as usual glad we did it. I sat behind Carson while he drove and hung on for dear life. By the return journey I was used to it and no longer digging my nails into his sides.
Cruising through those backroads through the rolling hills, we were both picturing what a life here might look like. Not that it’s a decision we’ve made…but it could be.
That waterfalls were beautiful (though the cliff scaling to get to the second set of the falls was dicey). But what’s life without a little bit of risk?
When we got back from the hike to the parking lot, there was a crew of monkeys in the trees. The lady in front of us was unabashedly squealing in delight. You could tell all her family was embarrassed as she baby talked them and fed them and demanded photos be taken. We hung back and set ourselves above such a response. Cool cucumbers we pretended we were.
Right up until she offered us a handful of nuts so we could feed them too. Then we were right in there feeding and squealing and photographing. I know I know…we talked about being glad that the monkeys never came to us at the farm, and that holds true still but nothing is ever 100% one way. There’s a swerve in all of us.
Something that struck me about the monkeys is something I thought I already knew. It’s a well accepted fact that monkeys are smart and similar to humans in many ways and that’s all well and good and I’ve always agreed that that must be true. HOWEVER when the little guy looked me in the eyes, glanced at the walnut in my hand, then looked back at me in the eyes and snatched the walnut from my hand, his little soft fingers grazing my palm, there was an exchange of something there that goes beyond a typical exchange with an animal. There was true understanding there in those eyes and awareness of more than the baseline.
I felt like a hypocrite and there was part of me that felt ashamed but I also loved every minute of it. What can you do.
Santa Teresa is also where we decided to get (mostly) matching tattoos. It’s a theme. Those Toucans that we fell in love with at the farm? Well…
Between The Things 