An early rise yet again. Barb and Dave, myself and British Dave (AKA JD or Just Dave) were to be the first to be picked up so we had asked for a 6 am breakfast. Noone was in the kitchen so Barb went to check the front office. She had to wake Luis. Guess there had been a miscommunication. We got a rushed meal just in time.
Jan joined the white-water crazies but more on that later.
Despite the rain we had an amazing experience with JP and Andreas. It took about an hour and a half to get to the wildlife refuge with some stops along the way to check for Macaws and the birds at our lunch stop. The Bazo restaurant was private – only by reservation. A number of parrots were resident in the nearby trees as well as flycatchers and black cheeked woodpecker. At Cano Negro we boarded a boat captained by yet another knowledgeable birder. Immediately we began sighting birds. Right off the bat we saw an immature tiger heron. Two roseated spoonbills flew over, accompanied by storks and egrets. The trip upriver brought numerous herons, jacanas, kingfishers, a cayman, anhingas, an encounter with capricious capuchins and a noisy rebuke from some howler monkeys. It was a fantastic ride ending with a rare sighting of a couple of jabidus midst spoonbills and egrets. And to finish it off in style, there was another (same?) immature tiger heron.
Our lunch at the Bazo restaurant was delicious – pumpkin soup followed by a traditional meal of rice, beans, plantain, salad and tilapia – finished off with a light pastry sprinkled with cane syrup. This was followed by a tour of sugar cane processing with some antique machinery. We definitely got our money’s worth.
Meanwhile the whitewater gang had their own adventures. Upon arrival they were issued helmets and paddles and were assigned a guide and raft. Daver, Dawne and Jan made up one raft. Bruce, Beth and Jim made up another and the last raft contained Rick, Diane and Yves. The rapids began right off the bat. Advertised as class 3/4, they felt they were more like 3+. Regardless, they provided a lot of splashes and excitement. Some sections could have been run in a whitewater canoe but others were certainly above their pay grade. The guides were hilarious, teaching them how to splash other rafts with the maximum amount of water, pretending to sneeze while spraying them, deliberately aiming for the largest waves, and ricocheting merrily off boulders. One guide even had them ‘ride the bull’. This manoevre involved the ‘cowboy’ sitting on the front of the raft holding on to a rope for dear life while the other cow pokes paddled enthusiasically down the rapid. The best performance was by Daver who pretended he was roping a cow. Jan did a fine job as well although Dawne almost pulled her off the horse by hanging on to her too tightly. Dave managed to push Dawne right out of the saddle in his attempt to prevent her slipping back. Rick somehow ended up in the water at one point as well although the cause is a mystery. There was much laughter and fun! An extra bonus was the bird life that they saw along the way. It was a fine day indeed!
The canyoning gang began with a shuttle to base camp where we were outfitted with helmets, harnesses and gloves. After receiving instruction on repelling and ziplining, we hiked into a crystal clear creek cradled within a stunning canyon. This is Lost Canyon. We would spend the next 2 hours working our way down this glorious strip of paradise using a combination of repelling down cliffs and waterfalls, jumping into deep pools, ziplining over wide expanses and scrambling over rocks. At one point, one of our guides vanished only to reappear in a prone position further along, his body acting like a dam across the creek. We thought he was blocking a small waterfall to allow us to better navigate the rocking steps below. Alas this was not the case. Once we were below, we were instructed to sit in a human chain configuration. Before we knew it, he released the dam and we were abruptly hit with a cascade of water. Our guides were absolutely trying to keep us entertained. They certainly enjoy their jobs!
Travelling through the canyon was like stepping back in time. The cliffs were obscurred for the most part by a dense curtain of vegetation that looked primordial in nature. Thick vines hung down like ropes and we half expected Tarzan to come hurling by. We certainly tried to play the part ourselves, especially Diane who uttered the most bloodcurdling screams imaginable. All in all, it was an incredible few hours of adrenaline, fear and fun!
We all met up back at the hotel for a swim and a drink by the pool to regale each other with our stories. Some of us were even able to get laundry done by the hotel staff.
Supper was taken in a local restaurant in La Fortuna where we sat in two groups. We do take up a lot of space but the wait staff were very gracious. I had a fish appetizer drenched in lime juice that was really good. I think it’s called ceviche.