Back to La Leona

Total distance of Yesterday's Trip: 20.5 km
Total distance of Today's Trip: 20.5 km
Total days spent hiking: 2 days

Reason for leaving today: Torrential downpours all night that made the rivers rise. We decided that instead of sticking around for day hikes like we'd intended, it was better to head back today.

Andrew's Favorite Animal Seen: The crocodile.
Who is Andrew: One half of Andrew and Tracy. A couple we hiked in with.

Of course, Andrew failed to mention the presence of this favorite animal until after we'd made the river crossing. After the downpour of the night before (it woke me up at midnight with its thunderous pounding on the roof), all the rivers had risen, and some creeks that hadn't previous existed suddenly popped up. All of us were sleep deprived. The rain coming down in the night had woken everyone up. The high school group that was also staying at La Sirena had an awful night as their hammocks leaked and half of them slept on wooden boards. They came in later than we did, and their river crossing was chin-high (ours was waist-high). 3 of their group didn't even make it in to the lodge and had to spend the night in the rainforest. They left at 4 am this morning for the return trip. We left at 10 am, instead of 7 am as originally planned. We were hoping the waters would recede by then.

At 10 AM, the river was still twice as wide as the river we'd forded the previous day, with muddy waters, and what looked like a pretty swift current. The girls were debating whether this was even the river we'd crossed, when we noticed Oscar, our guide, wading in. Then we noticed he had no pants on. Apparently, boxers are not the custom of middle aged Costa Rican men. Nor are white cotton briefs. Try black spandex type material. We changed shoes, and he indicated that we should wade across without our bottoms as well. To reduce drag and weight. This was a problem. Especially as I'd decided earlier that morning not to wear underwear. The previous day's hike had resulted in the result of my clothes drying (thanks to dry-fit technology), but my cotton underwear remaining wet for the duration of the 8 hour hike. I felt like a baby with a wet diaper and every bit as irritable and annoyed. As well as a vague worry about whether it was possible for adults to get diaper rash. To my relief, the rest of the girls (Camila and Tracey) opted to keep their shorts on as well, so I didn't have to explain in my broken Spanish to Oscar why I wasn't complying with his advice.

At Oscar's suggestion, we crossed as a group of 5. As we waded, all those hours spent watching Animal Planet flashed into my brain.

"Gazelles cross the river in packs, as crocodiles lie motionless in the water, waiting."

As Camila and I waded in behind Andrew and Tracey, fear suddenly kicked in.

"The straggler gazelles at the back of the pack are the ones preyed upon by the crocs. The weaker ones are thus culled from the herd in this manner."

I tried to move faster but tripped over a rock instead, almost tumbling into the water. We crossed safely, and only found out later that Oscar had waded in, in his skivvies, to bait a croc he had seen on the opposite bank. When Andrew had asked him what he was peering at, Oscar had replied simply, "Los animales." As Oscar waded in, the croc slid into the water as well, but headed towards the estuary to snack on fish. He must not have been hungry enough to take on large mammals such as ourselves. As much as I slightly resent not being told about the existence of crocodiles in a river I almost crossed in my underwear, I'm almost relieved I didn't know. Though, it was interesting how instincts to stay with the herd kicked in, even without direct knowledge of predators.