Summiting Chirripó

Now that I have internet and a bit more stability, I can catch up on my adventuring notes, and a highlight was summiting Chirripó (September 1st-2nd, 2015).

Cerro Chirripó has an elevation of 3,820 m which makes it the 37th highest mountain in the world, and the highest in Costa Rica. It takes people anywhere between 5- 13 hours to climb to the base camp, and another 2-3 hours to summit.  

Unfortunately, Lonely Planet is outdated for how to get permits to climb (be warned). I splurged and spent $15.00 for a travel agency to arrange the park permits to climb the mountain, as I was in the jungle at the time and didn't have access to the correct bank.  Info on how to get in touch with the travel agency can be found at this website  http://www.hotelcasamariposa.net .

Casa Mariposa has been my favourite hostel thus far. The accommodations are beautiful and the place makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because of the design of the place, the vibes, and especially the people who work there.  They gave me a toque and mittens to keep warm on the summit, and even fed me hearty soup for breakfast the night and day before the climb. Everyone should stay there! It's gorgeous. 

I went to the base of the mountain to climb with the idea to do it alone, but was very blessed to meet a beautiful couple from France/Brazil who were climbing the same day as me.  We woke up the next morning before the sun, and started the climb at 5:00 am. We took our bamboo walking sticks and walked under the stars, straight past the entrance to the park. We accidentally did a quick tour, which cost us about 3 hours, through the Cloudbridge Reserve (so beautiful!). Because of our mistake, we had to do a one km vertical hike up the mountain on a small trail only used by locals on donkeys. We eventually came out on KM 4.  I hiked solo up the mountain, meeting Angela and Alban at the half way point before taking our separate paces.

The changing scenery was gorgeous, from the cloud forest at the bottom to the alpine ecosystem at the top. I got to the base camp in 7 hours (thanks to the 3 hour wandering). 

I got to the base camp at around noon, and was freezing cold in the rainy +2 after living in the jungle in +30 for a month.  The rest of the day went by pretty fast, and I just had a lot of naps. 

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The next morning we woke up at 2:50 AM for the 2.5 hour hike to the summit. We were fairly paranoid of making the wrong turn in the dark, like the first morning.  The sky was clear and starry and we made our way to the top. 

I summited at 4:50, shining my lamp ahead for my climbing buddies to see what lie ahead of them. There was quite the scramble to the top, and I definitely shed a few tears when I got up there. There were hugs all around when all three of us were up. One of the best experiences of my trip so far :) 

The way down was much harder on my legs, but just as beautiful as the first time. We had a two hour nap at the basecamp, and arrived at Casa Mariposa to be welcomed with open arms and warm cups of coffee. <3

Jungle Life- Caño Palma

Volunteering with Caño Palma for a week was amazing. Playing a small role in keeping sea turtles safe (and acting as a midwife to one) opened my eyes to the vast array of problems many animals face.

The people volunteering and working at the centre are courageous and dedicated beyond measure, and it warms my heart to know there are pockets of people like that in the world. It reminds me again, that if everyone plays their part, the world would be a better place. 

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Magical Beasts

While sitting in a tree house on the west coast of Costa Rica, dreaming about my next move, I came across the Cano Palma Biological Station in my Lonely Planet Guide. I e-mailed the coordinator to see if the station was accepting volunteers, and she heartedly accepted my request. Two days later I was on the bus, making my way to the dense jungle of the east coast, with a stopover to pick up appropriate sea turtle volunteer footwear: crocs.

Getting to the station was half the adventure, but after a cab, two busses, a jungle-river ferry, a muddy hike, and a paddle, I arrived.  The station was rugged, with dozens of giant golden orb spiders lining the stoops sitting proudly in their webs, howler monkeys screaming in the trees and toucans flying overhead. The air was dense and the forever dampness cast a moldy hue on the infrastructure. Housed were wonderful traveling scientists and humanitarians, spending their August saving turtles.

My first night shift came, which was one of the grossest and most wonderful experiences of my life. As soon as we got onto the beach, the clouds rolled in and lightening lit up the sky blinding us as we began our patrol. It was strikingly dark without the help of the moon and stars. The four of us stumbled along the beach looking for tracks and turtles. 

After doing the entire transect of the beach, we turned around and spotted some tracks. We waited in the rain on a log for the turtle to begin nesting, while catching glimpses of the magical beast through lightning flashes. And all of the sudden, the work began. The team leader quietly brought me to meet my first green sea turtle; a local encounter I’ll never forget. She was beautiful, strange, and didn't even notice that we were there.

It was my job to count her eggs, which basically means that I lay on my stomach with one gloved hand under the turtles butt while she lays eggs, and the other hand up the air with a measuring tape attached to act as the apex of a triangle. The scientists scurried around me gathering data while I was being doused with turtle birthing fluids, catching eggs two at a time.  Eventually I could feel the high tide nipping at toes as the sand flees jumped all around my face. As soon as she started to move her back flippers to cover her hole, I quickly measured the egg chamber depth, and then started to measure the turtle herself. She was 1.3 m in length.  We got out of the way as soon as she started making sand angels to cover up her egg chamber. The lightning allowed us quick glimpses of the turtle as she made her way back out to sea to graze amongst the sea grass. We went back to the nest, disguised it as best as we can to keep away poachers, and high-fived.

One of the researchers, who was a part of the team, said "There are lots of things in life that are both disgusting and amazing at the same time. Like eating too much chocolate, catching turtle eggs, and sex. Just like sex, there is a lot of buildup, and then it happens. You don't really remember the details, but it was kind of gross but mostly amazing. After, you feel really hungry and somehow deeply satisfied." 

Caño Palma- Volunteering with Sea Turtles

Making mesh to protect endangered sea turtle eggs and hatchlings from poachers and dogs. Eggs are poached because they are (falsely) believed to be an aphrodisiac. The turtles themselves are poached for their meat.  

Caño Palmo

This morning I woke up at 5:45, took a bus to San Jose from Palmares, and then took a taxi to the Caribbean bus station, to take another bus to the Caribbean Coast, and then took another bus to get to Pavona, and then a river boat through the jungle to get to San Francisco (a small town of 600 people near Tortuguero), and then walked a half hour in the mud with my backpack, and then took a canoe to get to the Cano Palmo Biological Station, or the Canadian Organization for Tropical Education & Rainforest Conservation. http://www.coterc.org

It is the rainy season in the NE of Costa Rica, and there are a lot of turtles laying their eggs. I'm going to spend the next week volunteering with the organization. I am super excited to help out with the organization, and to contribute (albeit an extremely small amount of time) to turtle conservation. 

The people here are great. So far, it's a lot like a geology field camp. Everyone here is from either Europe, the UK, Canada or the US. Tomorrow is my first night shift.

I met two awesome ticos on the way (Marlin y Pedro); always good to practice mi español and learn more about Costa Rica :)

Pictures will come later- the internets are too slow here. 

Pura Vida <3

Montezuma

Montezuma is tiny boho town accessible by bumpy dirt roads. It is full of surfers carrying their boards with ATVs and moto strapped on and arisans selling hand-made jewelry and other goods in the street.  The hostel we stayed at was Luna Llena, which translates to full moon. It's a gorgeous hostel that offers cabinas in the jungle, where you'll be embraced by jungle sounds like, like howler monkeys and insects that sing at night, and a beautiful ocean view on the top deck. 

The hostel, though lovely and full of nice people, screwed us over three times (not on purpose). First, though they said they would happily organize our transportation, they dropped the ball and didn't send the form to the transportation company. When I e-mailed to check the transportation times, they replied saying that it wasn't booked. We tried everything under the sun to get to Montezuma, and finally our hotel in Arenal (Roca Negra- an amazing hotel! Everyone in Arenal should stay there) was able to hire us a private cab, which was the only way, besides flying, to get to Montezuma because everything else was full. It costs us $175 more than a shuttle, so when we got here, we weren't able to do any tours or activities that cost us money because it shot us way over our budget. The plus side is that we got to spend a day with an amazing taxi-driver, who was super fun and kind (thanks Wilson!). 

When we arrived to the hostel, we found that they moved our booking without asking us, despite sending an e-mail saying that we were going to still be arriving as planned. So, after spending $175 dollars to get to Montezuma, they didn't have our room. They had to organize to send us to a hotel down the street. The next day, we came to the hostel and everything went smoothly. I booked an extra night. I told the hostel that Jaclyn was leaving on Thursday afternoon, and I was leaving Friday morning, so that I'd like to book another night. 

Yesterday, when Jaclyn left, they made their third mistake by booking an extra night at the end of our stay. So, they again didn't have the right room for me to stay in.  I had to pay double what I was expecting.  All in all, we had to pay $195 more for our trip to Montezuma than we expected. I guess next time I have to pull out my calendar, and spell out day by day what days I'm staying. I've traveled a lot, and I've never had problems like this with a hostel in my life. 

These hiccups are a part of life and a part of traveling.  I'm not letting it get the best of me, but it did teach me that I have to spell out exactly what I want. Traveling woes :)

Pura Vida <3

Scrambling up to Montezuma Falls

We thought the hike to the falls would be a leisurely jaunt through the park. To get to the first waterfall it was a bit of a scramble over slippery river rocks. The waterfall was gorgeous and totally swimmable. When we got there, I looked around for the path to get to the other two waterfalls. I found a hammock maker, who introduced me to his "dog" (his iguana). He asked me if I had any bananas to feed his dog, but unfortunately I didn't. I asked (in Spanish- Si!) how to get to the other falls, and he pointed to the wall behind him and he said "escalar" or "climb". 

After a little bit of talking Jaclyn into it, we set up the wall which was an easy climb, but still quite the scramble. It befitted my love for climbing, so I climbed onto the top. After the first climb, we got to a little path that brought us up and around to another steep down climb, which I had to coach poor Jaclyn, who is mortified of heights, through. She said she was a 6/10 scared, so it was pretty amazing that she fought through it and did the climb. It was totally worth the little adventure. The waterfalls and pools were all sorts of fun to play in, with Tarzan swings and cliff jumps. I didn't jump the 30 foot waterfall though- I stuck to the 10 foot jump  and the Tarzan swing :)

Jaclyn helped me the next day with conquer my fear of the ocean as we navigated back to the town during high tide. I'm pretty sure I almost got eaten by the ocean five times (just kidding mom).  <3 

Today my lovely adventurous friend left to go back to Canada. I'm so happy that we were able to wander around Costa Rica for a week, blunders with shuttles and bookings and all. I may have to write another post about that later. I'm going to miss you so much Jaclyn! Pura vida. 

Hiking up Volcano Cerro Chato

This weekend my friend from Canada flew all the way from Toronto to Costa Rica! Yey Jaclyn! And today we hiked Cherro Chato Volcano, which is Arenal Volcano's older sibling. It took us about 5.5 hours (with a little swim in the lagoon) to get from the Observatory to the top then to the crater lake, and then back to the observatory. It felt great getting my boots dirty :)  We loved it.

So I tried Surfing

My favourite thing that I've tried in Quepos/ Manuel Antonio, so far, is surfing.  I tried to do it every day this past week, but the waves were only good for learning on two days.  There is something about being tumbled in the ocean full of salt water and sunshine that really gets to me. Until I took sailing and surf lessons this year, I didn't know that I was in love with water sports. If you're every in this part of Costa Rica and want to surf, definitely surf with Alex: https://www.facebook.com/alexander.gutierresz

Him and his girlfriend, Ashley, are the sweetest people in the world. Ashley is a yoga teacher, and if you're into yoga/surf experience, they are definitely the people to get in contact with. 

Pura Vida <3 I love surfing

Me trying to be a surfer

Jungle by Horse

Exploring places with different modes of transportation is the best. Horseback riding through the jungle was a beautiful experience. We followed a river up to a waterfall. The trees and other vegetation were beautiful, and there were three dogs with us who had the best life ever going up and down the trail every day with the horses. We eventually got to a little waterfall, which I climbed, and got in trouble (my bad). Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, amiright? 

Though I enjoyed it a lot, I prefer activities that aren't so touristy. The group that went was pretty big, but since I was at near the front of the line, and my horse was faster than the others, it seemed a bit more remote. Either way, it was gorgeous :) 

When you look like a Tourist

Hiking in the Jungle at Night

One of the best things I've done so far was hike through the jungle at night. There are tours in Manuel Antonio called "Jungle Night Tours Manuel Antonio", which brings you to the middle of the jungle on a search for night creatures, like frogs and insects.

The tour guide was passionate and knowledgable and had an amazing ability to spot everything nocturnal. I found a cyanide spitting centipede (I was pretty proud). The tour guide put the centipede up to my nose (it was huge, and they freak me out) and the cyanide spelled delicious- like almonds.  We also found a giant frog that, when picked up, makes the most alarming sound in an attempt to attract larger animals, like snakes, to attack whatever has the frog. It also emits poisons from its skin that acts like pepper spray.  We saw four types of frogs, 3 species of walking sticks, two species of vine snakes, and all sorts of spiders (HUGE SPIDERS). 

Throughout the night, we were also being followed by something in the canopy. My mind immediately went to jaguar or puma (there aren't any of those cats in this part of Costa Rica). At the very end of the tour, we saw what was following us. We caught a kinkajou staring at us from the canopy. We were able to see her through the telescope, but we were too busy admiring her to take any photos. Kinkajous are now one of my favourite animals <3.

The two hours passed by too fast. I could spend all night running around the jungle trying to find things. 

Pura Vida <3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkajou

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

This Sunday was all about Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. Some friends and I hiked the park this weekend, and opted for a tour of the park ($15.00 each). Taking the tour is worth it, because (of course) you learn a lot from the guide, such as what plants are edible, the different behaviours of the animals, etc. The guide also has a telescope that allows you to see different animals up close and take better pictures (like the bat picture below).

We saw all sorts of animals, including sloths (perezoso in Spanish, which translates to lazy bear), howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys, giant spiders, "Jesus Christ" lizards, whip-tail lizards, racoons, vine snakes, etc. The howler monkeys make the most haunting noise, and the capuchins are smart as hell and will steal any food they can get their little monkey hands on.  The racoons were just as bad as the ones in Toronto.

Both the beaches and the canopies were gorgeous. The park was busy,  well-paved (no going off the paths), and so lush. The highlight for me was scrambling over the rocks at one of the smaller beaches and taking in the views of the bay and the turquoise waters, and the volcanic rock formations #sometimesiamsuchanerd.

Me gusta <3

Quick Notes- Manuel Antonio

I'm in love with Costa Rica

1. The people here are so warm. 

2. The geology- SO MANY VOLCANOES

4. I've had two mangos and a star fruit drop on me from a tree. I'm averaging 2.5 pineapples a week. I'm basically living off of fruit.

5. The coffee- everywhere all the time, and always hot. 

6. How everyone is so laid back. Running a little bit late? Pure vida. Spilled your drink? Pura vida. Almost accidentally broke the door trying to get into your apartment complex? Pure vida. 

7. The mixture of forest and beach. I love walking through the rainforest on the way to the beach and spotting monkeys.  

8. The language. The school I chose, Maximo-Nivel, has been really wonderful. My Spanish teacher is spectacular. My Spanish slowly improving, but I have a long way to go. The tica accent is lovely.

9. The animals. I've seen a monkey, a toucan, or a lizard (or all three) every day since I've been on the coast. 

10. The fun activities. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love 'fun activities'. Yoga on the beach -- surfing -- jungle hikes -- mountain hikes  -- volcano hikes -- basically all the hikes -- kayaking -- paddle boarding -- bird watching ahhhh yeah. 

Culture Shock Notes:

1. I thought that I knew a little bit of Spanish from the casual classes that I took, but it turns out I don't. 

2. I have no idea how to turn on the stove. Tonight I had chocolate cereal and bananas for supper. I have to go up and ask to the top of the hill and ask the land lady for help tomorrow. I guess I'll learn how to say that in Spanish tonight. 

3. I had no idea how to open the door to apartment complex. I was locked out of the apartment complex for two days because of it, but someone always let me in (thank goodness). After some experiments, I now I know how to use my key. 

4. I had no idea how to use the shower. I had a freezing cold shower my first morning. Turns out the water heater is attached to the shower head. Now I can have warm showers. 

5. It is absolutely pointless to do your hair or makeup. Normal bras are also incredibly uncomfortable. 

6. I am still not quite in the habit of not throwing my toilet paper into the toilet (sorry if too much information- but god damn it's a hard habit to break)

Irazú Volcano

This morning, after eating a tantalizing breakfast under the courtyard canopy of Hotel Aranjuez, my friend Dennis' brother Javier picked me up to go check out Volcano Irazu.

Irazu is a complex startovolcano with multiple craters, of one which holds a gem coloured lake. The last eruption was in 1963 which showered the area in ash. Unsuprisingly, the entire base of the volcano is fertile farmland. 

We picked up his girlfriend Daniella and we headed up the agricultural spread base of the mountain. It took about 1.5 hours to drive there, and it was gorgeous all of the way up.

I almost peed my pants with excitement because it was my first time up close to a volcano.  When I got there, it smelled like volcano (sulfur). Unfortunately though, it was really foggy and I couldn't see the lake in crater. Even though I didn't get to see the crater lake, the fog cleared up from time to time and I saw the layers of ash along the crater, as well as the steep drop to what would be the centre. 

Looking into the crater on a foggy day

I'm pretty sure Javier and Daniella thought I was a huge geek because I was running around like an excited kid explaining the different types of rocks, the ash, how volcanos form etc. 

Daniella and Javier with the view

Me and the view. (Javier and Daniella are both professional photographers. I need to learn how to make my camera do this! :) )

There were plants called "Poor Man's Umbrella" which had monstrous green leaves that turned white when they died. There were also pretty red and yellow flowers that looked like fire. Cute white faced racoons roamed the park and desperate for food, just like Toronto racoons. 

I shall dub these fire flowers

On the way back down we stopped at a restaurant called Linda Vista, which had a pretty view of the city below when the clouds opened up. The best part of everything was hanging out with two Costa Ricans as they showed me such a cool part of their country.

P.S. This is what the volcano looks like when it's not rainy (thanks Wikipedia) :)

Costa Rica Day 1- happy tired

Arriving in San Jose this morning was festive: 

Airport arrival confusion ☺️ #cassiapuravida

Even with my 2 hours of sleep last night I'm happy and awake. Costa Rica is lush and abundant with rain and flowers. 

Rainy day 🌺#cassiapuravida

My hotel for the next two days is basic but lovely. I'm staying in Hotel Arunjez, one of Lonely Planet's suggestions.  There are sprawling garden courtyards in the middle of the hotel and it's in a quiet part of central San Jose.

It's a close walk to a cafe with soul and character, which serves delicious and afforadable food and drinks called Cafe de los Deseos. It is decked out in local art; the one below was my favourite. I was able to communicate with the waiter completely in Spanish. Perhaps my Spanish isn't as bad as I thought? **High fives self**

Volcano tomorrow? Probably.