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.

Osa Peninsula

I just endured an 8 hour long hike through the rainforest. The novelty of the flora, the macaws, the brown nosed coati, and the 4 different types of monkeys (howler, squirrel, white face, spider) wore off by hour 5 of the hike. The good news is that this hike, unlike the Volcan Maderas hike, was bearable. It was tiring, but I didn't feel like my chest was going to explode, nor did I think I might die of a heart attack at the tender age of 24. The hike was partial beach, partial jungle (what's the difference between rainforest and jungle anyways?), at least 3 or 4 river crossings, and one very muddy boot. Camila and I also had to bring 2 changes of clothing, enough food for 2 days, and a lot of water. My daypack probably weighed about 10 pounds, and I felt every pound of it on my shoulders, especially towards the end of the hike.

I've gotten to test almost every single piece of equipment I bought for this trip on this hike. I actually used the waist and chest straps on my daypack for the very first time as they were intended to be used. Its now coated in Nicaragua mud on top of Costa Rican rain. My gore-tex jacket really is waterproof as it kept me dry in the afternoon downpour at 3 pm. And my hiking boots? I'm in love with them. Even despite their stench. Our guide Oscar barely paused to rest or even take a sip of water. The trail to La Sirena (19.5 km) is poorly marked, and I'm not sure how we would've made it without him. My brain is completely fried. My legs are numb, and I'm sure I smell.

La Sirena lodge is... rustic. Whereas some illogical part of me hoped vainly there'd be hot showers, clean sheets, and a nice dinner, the logical part of me wasn't surprised by the lack of electricity, the creepy crawly bathroom, and the spiderweb on my bed. I think I may have to cross "rainforest explorer" off my list of possible occupations, along with "volcano climber". The good news is that there are no mirrors here. I shudder to think of what I must look like afer 4 river fordings, 12 hours of hiking, and 1 torrential downpour. The odd thing is that I've been without a mirror for almost 4 whole days. I'm starting to forget what I look like.

San Juan del Sur

Last few days in San Juan del Sur have resulted in:


1. painful sunburn on my back and arms

We went to Maderas beach yesterday, which is a cliffs and ocean type of place. I should´ve knwn better than to expose my northeast winter body to the central american sun in high doses, but it just felt so good. What doesn´t feel so good is my skin this morning. I may have to wear long sleeves today. The chafing of fabric against skin is lss painful than more burnin sun on my already burnin body.

2. I met Mormon surfers.

As if that sentence on its own wasn´t interesting enough, the surfers also were rather intelligent. We discussed religion and politics on Friday night, and they answered my questions about the Mormon religion. Based on my 2 hour crash course on "Mormonism and what it´s all about", it seems to be a more modern moderate version of Christianity (no "only christians can go to heaven") with conservative values (no premarital sex and no drinking). Upon questioning on how conservative the community actually is, it doesn´t seem to be conservative in any way besides values. THere´s both Republicans and Democrats numbered among the Mormons, and they´re free to date and marry non'mormons if they say choose.

3. A stolen bag

Luckily, it wasn´t my day pack but just my purse. "Just" my purse, containing my money, credit cards, ATM card, drivers license, day planner, cell phone, and the most tragic of all - my digicam!! No pictures of my trip on the travelog this time =(. Natalie and I were sitting in a restaurant when my bag disappeared off the chair beside me. I suppose I should feel thankful since I didn´t lose my traveler´s cheques, or my passport, or my reserves of U.S. dollars. I felt even more thankful when I ran into a group of people at the police station who´d been robbed on the beach by a group of men wielding machetes. The girls handed their stuff over right away. The boys refused. Until one of the men grabbed a girl and held a machete to her neck. I got lucky as far as Nicaraguan robberies are concerned. Though, the theft of my bag included theft of the dorm key at Hotel Estrella where we were staying. Since we´d already paid for our room, we stayed the night. But we stayed the night in an unlocked room since they had to cut the lock off. They wanted to charge us for the lock, but we snuck out the next morning. Hostel Estrella was noisy as well in the morning since it´s right by the ocean, and has parrots that continually yell, HOLA!! HOLA!! HOLA HOLA! We checked into Casa Oro for last night. Leaving today for San Jose.

Camila is coming in tomorrow and bringing me extra cash. Yay Camila!!