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Days 4-9: La Fortuna & Monteverde

Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:22:00 GMT

Outside, the sun is setting across the bay, over the pacific ocean, behind the small town of Flamingo. This is my fourth day on the coast, in an area of Costa Rica called the Peninsula Nicoya. It’s known for the slew of beautiful beaches that dot the coast, each one complete with sleepy town and local bar for the necessary Imperial (or two).

I’m staying in an extra room of the small home of Benito and Liseth Peralta, in the town of Portrero. Cows crisscross the dirt roads here, occasionally walking through the front gate to munch on garden hedges. When Benito sees them, he yells and throws rocks to keep them off his property. In the evenings, Liseth cooks fantastic dinners and always serves me a mountain of food; I can never finish everything. The two are very friendly, and they put up with my awful attempts to speak Spanish with them.

In the morning I wake up early and take the bus to Playa Flamingo. There, I take Spanish classes at Central Panamerica De Idiomas till noon. In the afternoons I find something to do. There are salsa and merengue lessons, cruises to local reefs for snorkeling and watching the sunset, buses to nearby beaches; it’s hard to go wrong.

There’s too much to describe how I got here. For now I will just write about Monteverde, my last stop before the coast. I think I might run out of adjectives for these entries. It can be difficult at times to put some of this to words without it turning into a laundry list. There are the things that have happened, the people I’ve met, and the way they’ve left an impression on me. For now I will have to stick mostly to describing the things that have happened.

day 4

Today Dan, Emily, Adrilyn, and I visited Baldi hot springs, at the base of Volcan Arenal. The springs ranged from pleasantly tepid to unbearably hot, all heated by the same flows that power the looming volcano. A number of them had conveniently placed bars that one could swim up to. The evening could be summed up by the following simple but sublime sensation:

At one point, I was sitting in a steamy hot pool and it began to rain. The rain drops were cold, and enveloped everything with soft patter. I leaned back into the hot water and saw Volcan Arenal just a kilometer or two away. The whole experience was sublime.

day 5

Today I travelled from La Fortuna to Monteverde. I took a jeep for a few miles, then got on a boat to cross Laguna Arenal, and then got on another jeep on the other side that took me to Monteverde.

In Monteverde I found a Santa Elena, little more than a shanty town carved out of a side of a hill in the rainforest. It had three roads that formed a triangle. It was a sort of fronteir: 4wd trucks, rickety old buses, and mopeds zoomed by constantly.

Upon arriving I found the Pension Santa Elena and snuck into the last bed available in the dorm. On the front porch of the pension, a couple of people were drumming and a lady began to belly-dance. It drew a crowd, and soon people were clapping and cheering.

That night I saw a three-toed sloth climbing along a telephone line at the edge of town.

day 6

Today I hiked out to the San Luis waterfalls. I walked along a long road past coffee houses and small art galleries with second floor balconies that peered out into the forest canopy. On the way, I passed a local farmer, and old fellow with no shirt and a huge machete tied onto his belt. He smiled and nodded when I walked by.

Not long after I arrived at an old man’s house. In a slow, slurred Spanish, he explained to me that the trail went through his property, and so in order to pass through I had to buy a “ticket”. I haggled with him for a while about being a student and not having much money, and ended up paying him a few dollars.

It was worth it. The falls were gorgeous, and looked quite like how one would imagine gorgeous waterfalls look. The trail there was full of butterflies that would follow you for a while as you walked.

That evening I had yet another great time sitting on the balcony of the pension, talking to travelers and to locals, and finding strange coincidences among the people I spoke to. It’s a curiously small world.

I need to make a separate post to describe all the incredible people I’ve met.

day 7

Woke up with a bit of a hangover. Took a bus to SKYTREK, one of the big attractions in the area, where they strapped a pulley on my waist and sent me careening through the jungle canopy on metal ziplines. It was certainly exciting.

That evening I had dinner with Adrilyn and Emily. We picked up some supplies from the supercensored and cooked up some fantastic pasta with fresh basil and vegetables.

I prepared for the next few days, collectively called Semana Santa, covering Good Friday and Easter. All businesses shut down for a couple of days, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

day 8

Walked to a butterfly garden. Became a big fan of the postman butterfly. At one point, a monkey made its way in from the nearby forest and stole the show. He came down to a tree only a couple of feet away and started eating the berries. Everyone gasped and got out their cameras. Oddly enough, the monkey behaved as if he was completely oblivious to us all.

That evening I heard guitar music coming from the dorm next to mine. I walked over and found a bunch of guys sitting around listening to two Swedish surfer dudes singing Neil Young songs.

I wish I could describe it better, but it was just such a fun evening. We were telling stories and playing music and all having a good time. At one point, a guy from San Francisco grabbed the guitar and hammered out a blues riff, and everyone just started making up vocal harmony that really wasn’t all that terrible. I played a few Leonard Cohen songs and an old lady followed along, interjecting with the occasional “Amen!”, and the Swedes said “Who ees dees Leonard Cohen? Ees very gud!” I leaned my head back and the scenery around me gelled – I felt whole.

day 9

Today I hitched out to La Reserva Monteverde. The people along the way were incredibly civil and friendly. Three tourist cars passed me and the fourth car was an old pickup with a few Ticos. Of course they picked me up. Has it been the U.S., it would have taken a few hours before one person might stop to give a ride.

Especially in the light of the book I’m currently reading (Carlos Castaneda – Journey to Ixtlan), the forest was magical. The jungle was teeming with life, and the way the cool breeze swept through, the whole jungle seemed alive. Writhing. Filling the jungle was the strange call of a bird that sounded like a metal gate closing but more haunting, more harmonic. All together, the whole effect was right out of Don Juan. The place was imbued with magic. I felt strangely energized and buoyant as I walked the trails. Twice I saw my ally out of the corner of my eye, following me on my right. I took a short nap on the side of the trail and had many strange dreams.

Not five minutes into my hike I found a group of tourists stepping over eachother to take pictures. I looked up and saw a rather resplendant green bird with a long tail. I asked one of the photographers and they whispered that it was a Quetzal! It stood on a branch for a minute and then swooped away. A few minutes later I heard a rustle. I looked down and found a koati spying me from just off the trail. I chose to follow it for a while, or rather, it chose to follow me for a while before turning its head and ambling away. I saw billed birds like toucans but smaller. I saw hummingbirds. I saw all manner of monstrous insect. At the end of my hike I even spotted a pair of monkeys climbing around the high canopy.

The jewel of the hike was La Ventana, an overlook at the top of Costa Rica’s continental divide. Mist-filled jungle valleys spread out before me for miles in every direction. The wind whipped furiously.

It’s somewhat ironic that I forgot to pack my camera for this hike. But I’m glad – it would only have been a distraction.

That evening I played Set, had even more amazing conversation, and had a late-night snack at a devilishly good chicken joint called Super Pollo.