Adventure
in Paradise: A Travelogue by Kay Doolittle
HOLA!!
We are home from Costa Rica & what a
wonderful trip - we hope we'll be returning next year (after
all, I never made it out to the chocolate plantation!).
Took
Eco-tours into rain forest
; had 'hands on' experiences at the exotic animal rehab refuge
(they recondition, care for and/or release birds & "exotic"
animals confiscated from smuggling trades & mistreating
owners);
watch
video took a private tour of Botanical Gardens
(
watch video)on the Osa Peninsula - at first glance
our host seemed a reminder of our Earthchild days of the 60's
& 70's, but he was an absolute whiz (and an inspiration
considering the fete he accomplished in building a respected,
dream inducing botanical site). He lives his passion and holds
serious knowledge of botany & gardening. His compound
& gardens look like something out of a movie set. The
only way in & out is by small boat, so no roads (presume
everything there was solar) so his work is a true challenge
since you can't just hop in the car & run to the store
for potting soil, seeds or fertilizer).
Our
lodging was on the 2nd (top) floor - roomy bath & main
room, replete with much needed A/C . A large deck
looked right out into almond & Ylang-Ylang trees (which
held huge scarlet macaws, toucans & other exotics @ eye
level for our enjoyment while sitting in oversized wood &
leather rocking chairs during cocktails or morning coffee).
Crocodile
Bay's 1 yr old spa is in a low sprawling building right on
the compound. Faint scents of clean
exotic herbs & flowers wafted through its rooms &
I could've
sworn I was in a posh Palm Springs Resort inside. The decor
is high end tasteful with a hint of tropics. They had a
complete menu of treatments, massages, etc...but Mark only
opted for an upper body massage & I fell asleep during
a facial - I am such a hick!.
- Cuisine @ Crocodile Bay resort's worthy of the very
best U.S. restaurants - local & Cuban specialties, beautiful
fruits & salads...3 squares a day if you wanted it (drink
&
food was all part of package)... we just had trouble
deciding what to select for dinner each night. We can
always get steak, prime rib & rack of lamb @ home, so
usually it was one of 4 or 5 fresh (off the daily charter
boats) fish...grilled - Ahi/Tuna, Wahoo/Ono, Snapper,
Corvina/Sea Bass, Marlin, Dorado/Mahi-Mahi, Seviche (mixed
fresh seafoods "cooked" in lime & spices), or
perhaps
grilled prawns or seafood bisque?...all prepared in a large
spotless kitchen by trained chefs in their immaculate white
uniforms & tall chef's hats. If you even hesitated at
a
dish, they would immediately appear to explain (in very good
English) its ingredients, preparation... or even ask you if
you wished something else (the only time we hesitated was
merely to decide how to try EVERYthing - the buffet setup
for breakfast & dinner allows a wide range - from a healthy
weight conscious approach to sheer indulgent gluttony!
- Other lodge services were 5 star too - friendly &
attentive without being pretentious. Seems that even if you
"thought" you wanted something, it instantly appeared.
The
lodge is US owned but staffed mostly with locals or Ticos
(native Costa Ricans) from other areas, with a few
Internationalities thrown in. English is easily understood
by all staff we encountered. Service is friendly &
efficient...in other words if I swam up to the pool bar &
took a seat, the bartender was already muddling the mint
leaves for my refreshing (and authentic) Cuban Mojito (or
if
it was Mark, they had blackberries in the blender ready to
make him a Blackberry Colada)....and speaking of the
beautiful pool with a rock waterfall (hot tub was at the top
of the "volcano" of course!)
we should mention the 1st day there no one was in the pool
when we heard a splish-splash & saw a 2' long "Jesus
Christ Lizard" (Basilisk) running on his back legs full
speed across the surface of the deep end! Apparently named
because they "walk on water" this guy appeared more
than once around the pool, but didn't pose any threat to anyone
- he merely showed up for a daily ration of pineapple rind
from anyone who might supply it...like having the Nature/Discovery
channel without even touching a TV dial.
Charter fishing is with the
lodge's own service - the best of fishing gear (according
to both Audie & "Marco") - all boats were nearly
brand new Boston Whalers withprofessional Capt & mate
(who thankfully spoke English)....and yes, Mark's catches
included Sailfish, Dorado, Snapper, Grouper, Triggerfish (a
shaker), Big Eye Tuna, Bonita, and a huge Moray Eel (also
a shaker, only the mate cut the line far away from its needle-like
fangs). All but the snapper were released (and that grilled
snapper WAS delicious @ dinnertime!). In our ventures across
the Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) we also saw lots of reef fish,
"regular" dolphins (could almost touch them from
the boat), spinner dolphins, marlin, various types of sea
turtles & manta rays jumping...there's probably more I
just can't remember right now.
I visited a few local artisans, although there's very little
to the old gold mining town of Puerto Jimenez. Town itself
consists of a few dirt roads & makes a lot of places in
Mexico look posh. Only the small airstrip is "paved"
(and even that is chip seal...and located right along the
wall of the local cemetery). As soon as each NatureAir plane
lands - there are several in & out daily, the airstrip
is filled with kids on bikes & dogs....so much for TSA
standards! We both love the views & experience of small
plane flight, but be prepared to bump a little in & out
of San Jose while climbing over the mountains - and likewise
be
prepared to enjoy the sights of the coastline as you approach
the gulf to land - from the plane we could even see dolphins
chasing after the boats!
I often walked out of the 45 acre compound, through the gate
(with a golf umbrella borrowed from the lodge for shade) &
took a dirt road to an ocean beach about 3+ miles away - Playa
Preciosa ..isolated with a few rustic thatched cabanas (for
some reason I was hearing old Jimmy Buffet tunes in my head!)...pure
& beautiful with just a couple of
well-hidden "resorts" (which we'd call "bed
& breakfasts for the naturalist soul"). I usually
saw 2 or 3 kinds of monkeys (including howlers), lots of exotic
birds, herds of odd Brahma cattle (thankfully fenced - some
had huge horns!) and many many butterflies (even several of
the famed big, Blue Morphos). I was joined in my travels by
2 local dogs - one hound & the other a Samoyed mix - I
called them Thelma & Louise. They'd run a little ahead
& dutifully look back over their shoulders to make sure
I was following (HOT & HUMID even @ 8AM - walks there
are not for wussies!). Occasionally the dogs would disappear
& I'd find them sitting in & drinking from deep pools
in the creeks we crossed. Once we got to Playa Preciosa towards
the far end
of the beach they were in & out of the ocean & up
under the Cabanas before I could even get my feet wet!
Our journey both coming & going included 1 night in Costa
Rica's capital, San Jose...it's almost as high as the
Klamath Falls basin & surrounded by lush green mountain
ranges...a LOVELY climate there - mid to high 70s with
slight breeze & humidity is less than Portland even though
it's very tropical. On the way home, our driver, Carlos,
apologized that he couldn't actually check us into the Hotel
Cariari Melia; but he could only drop us off with our bags
to the bellhops in front "due to security"...seems
they were
having a summit of all the Presidents of Central American
countries there that day ! We were not inconvenienced at
all (told Carlos that had it been the US, we wouldn't have
even be allowed to stay @ same hotel!) - but it WAS
interesting to see how they do security & secret service
down there...and we never did catch a glance of Mr. Ortega!
Kay
Doolittle
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a recently submitted fishing travelogue
