"Gringa":White chick
First of all, let me apologize for my lack of posting this last week and a half. The good news is that in the last two weeks my spanish has drastically improved from hanging out with my tica brother and his friends and the rest of the family. Not to mention my costa rica slang, otherwise known as pachuco, has definitely gained some words. The bad news is that the more I talk, the more I talk, and don't write. So please bear with me as I find a balance! Today's story is about my most recent adventure to Corcovado National Park. Since the last time I was in Costa Rica two years ago, it had been my dream to make it to Corcovado National Park to go hiking in "the most biologically intense place on earth" according to National Geographic. Corcovado National Park is located in the south of Costa Rica in the Osa Peninsula. Because much of the Osa Peninsula is protected, it is very difficult to get to the town right outside of Corcovado, Puerto Jimenez, by car or bus. For this reason, in order to take advantage of my limited time, I flew to Puerto Jimenez on a Thursday morning and then flew back to San Jose the following morning. So the logical place to start in my story is the planes... Many people have a fear of planes which some would argue is irrational since you are more likely to get struck by lightening than it is to die in a plane crash. My argument here is what are your odds of getting struck by lightening while in a plane? I think that's just where luck comes into play. Anyways I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to catch my plane which is commonly referred to as a puddle jumper. Picture one of those creepy white vans we normally stray away from, and the interior of the plane was no bigger than that. It was a enough room to"comfortably" fit 6 people plus the pilots, but instead it is called a 12 seater plane with 2 pilots. While I am scared of cars and blood, I am not scared of airplanes, so typically I'm just dandy regardless of the size of the plane. I must say though that these pilots have a special talent to be able to take off and land so quickly and precisely without a problem. The take off in San José was not bad, but the landing in Puerto Jimenezfelt like we were going to land on top of the trees, or rather give the trees a trim. Just to give you an example I have included footage below of both the take off from San José and the landing in Puerto Jimenez. Take off in San Jose: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xpwa21jmh1pjs58/IMG_0353.MOV?dl=0 Landing in Puerto Jimenez: https://www.dropbox.com/s/pm51tjf7n1k526j/IMG_0377.MOV?dl=0 After landing and making it to my lovely hotel, Cabinas Jiménez, I took a relaxing nap while listening to the daily afternoon rain in order to site up energy for the following days. The three day hike in Corcovado would consist of the following: DAY 1: Hike from Carate to La Sirena, 20 km = 12.4 miles DAY 2: Hiking around La Sirena biological base station, 10 km = 6.2 miles DAY 3: Hike from La Sirena to Carate, 20 km = 12.4 miles TOTAL: 50 km = 31.07 miles I was all packed and ready to go, though not completely ready to wake up at 4 a.m. In order to meet up with the guide and start hiking. Meeting up at the bakery at 5 a.m. I meet the 2 others in my guide group. It was a couple from Portugal and myself. The two spoke Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The guide spoke Spanish and some English, and I speak Spanish and English. Therefore our common language was Spanish. Needless to say, 3 days of only Spanish was excellent practice. The day started off after our breakfast at the local bakery by jamming into a jeep like car with 4 wheel drive and stuffed or packs in the back by folding up the jump seats. The 4-wheel drive should have been the first indicator that we would be doing some light "puddle jumping" in this jeep. By puddle jumping I really mean ducting through rivers sometimes up to knee height or more. The ride was an hour and a half and was off to an amazing start as we saw a sloth, "perezoso" on the way. Suddenly the driver drove up onto the sand of the beachand said, "We're here!" I thought he was kidding at first, but when the guide steeped or of the car and said, "vamos," I knew that he was not. At 7:00 a.m. the sun was entirely too early for work. It felt like it was 95°F with no wind and it war only going to get hotter. That first day we walked on the beach for the majority of the day. There we were, walking on this gorgeous beach that was truly a paradise surrounded by trees, boulders, caves, scarlet macaws, toucans, monkeys, and plenty of other animals, and it felt like we were waffling in the middle of an abandoned desert. The only sounds we heard were the crashing of waves and the sounds of the jungle. The beauty of our surroundings is what made the entire trip and drop of sweat worth it, and trust me there was a LOT of sweat! Those of you who know me, know that I am a hour weather summer gal. The hotter it is, the more I love the weather. Well this trip took hot to a whole new level. The most disappointing thing was that we were walking just meters away away from the surf, but due to the heavy current, swimming was NOT an option, not to mention that there were tons of not-so-smooth rocks protruding out of random spots of the ocean. When there were small pools of water that seemed perfect for a dip, they were so hot you could have boiled an egg in them. Now it may seem like I am complaining, but in reality, I was more in awe of how real and raw the nature was. I was experiencing the environment for everything that it is, not taking the good with the bad but instead soaking in the intensity of true nature and everything it requires of its trespassers in order to soak in its treasures. Though a trying hike, it was beyond worth every blister, but bite, chafe, sunburn, ant backpack attack, crocodile river crossing, and step through loose sand. Raw nature at its finest.
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Photo used under Creative Commons from Felipe Arias U.