Costa Rica Report II

Posted: May 5, 2009 
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Two Faces

Americans on one side Europeans on the other. Surprise, surprise?

As Scotland is different to England and Schleswig Holstein is a different world to Bavaria so are the two coastal sides of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is strong in agriculture but not so in recent history and culture. The Spanish certainly haven’t left much of a mark; there are no colonial cities or monuments to speak of, so Costa Rica has been claimed in another way.

Most of the west coast / pacific coast is claimed by North Americans, big hotels and a good infrastructure including a couple of Airports that can be reached directly from the USA without having to go through the hub at San Jose, the capital.
The east coast, on the other side so to speak, is claimed by the Europeans or at least a small part of it.

To the north of the Caribbean coast you have a very large nature reserve called Tortugero and I have talked about this before. The centre is dominated by Limon, a port town, and the south of the Caribbean is where the Europeans have set up camp. East or West is the question? I know where I would rather be but that doesn’t mean you would.

Let’s start with Limon, which is about a two to three hour car journey from San Jose, as the road takes you through the coffee and cane sugar farms in the mountains and then drops down and literally past Limon you might as well have a quick look and see if you can be surprised. May be at six on a Sunday morning after the streets have been cleaned from the day before a thought ‘this is charming’ could just flash past your mind but, it would literally be a flash in the pan. Yes 50 years ago but not today. Limon is a very busy port town, a container transit place for the whole country and the petrol that arrives here from the USA gets pumped via pipelines to San Jose and some other cities; Limon is a trading place for drugs and prostitution too and I personally wouldn’t walk it much after 6pm unless you can disguise as a local.

The next little town you pass on the way to the south, about 50 km or so from Limon is Cahuita. A bit of a hippy village, all is to hand and if you wanted to ‘hook’ up with someone to travel you can meet people here in hostels quite easily. It’s a cool place, lay back, nothing posh so you can’t get tempted to burn your dollars.

Another 50 km or so on you reach Puerto Viejo where I wanted to be. No more a small village but a small town it’s a symbiosis between Limon and Cahuita. I had hoped for something tidier and more cared for but then there is no money around and if there was you get your Starbucks, MacDonald’s, Zara stores and other crap that make up our High Streets, boring and monotonous! This way you have to snoop around and explore to find the good bits and you will.

From here on towards Manzanillo about 15km of gravel road and potholes; a 4×4 or Motorbike (yes you can rent BMWs and KMTs in San Jose) would serve best especially if you need to turn right into the jungle to find your next accommodation; 35kmph or less is all you can do here. You are driving of course along a beautiful road and speed doesn’t come into it; ocean, beach and strips of jungle on one side and the deep rainforests on the other side. A mix of small restaurants French, Italian, Spanish, Argentinean; bread shops, yoga and massage and Reicke places, diving centres, riding schools, delis owned by German, Swiss or Italian people and many more small hotels and tiny 6 table gourmet foodie type places all dotted along the gravel road.

With your car window down, with the sun about to go down you hear the howler monkeys, dogs and birds all joining into the final big chorus of the day as it comes to an end sharp at 6pm every day all year. Geckoes Lodge was what I was heading for. I had heard about it from friends back in the UK. Geckoes Lodge is off to the right of course meaning into the jungle bit where you do need your 4×4. The yoga teacher who gave me directions, not bad by the way, both, the directions and the girl, insisted I look out for a purple wall but as it was pitch black by now I wondered how that colour indication might help. A mile or so and with a bit of luck i.e. taking the right fork in the road rather than the left I came across a well lit purple wall with a gecko on it; here we are.

Tom is from Europe, I think he is Dutch, French and Belgian all in one and Zoe is from England. Both are or were lecturers at the University in Amsterdam and made the big jump to change their lives. Tom said most of his fellow lecturers thought they were crazy to forgo their pension rights and leave the ‘system’ and Tom’s simple reply was, ‘I could be dead by the time I get my pension’. After a long search in Costa Rica they literally stumbled over their dream property. With a biologist friend, a local architect and a local builder they created what you can see on their webpage. They have only just opened for business and are now looking for honeymooners and other romantic couples to rent one or two of the luxury guesthouses which they have built next to their own. I don’t know how they did it but there are virtually no mosquitoes on their property; they tell me because they drained the land well and created a well balanced environment; who knows but, you can sleep naked on your bed with windows open and wake up to a magical morning bird concert with your skin still intact. (The bite I’m talking about later on is not from here!)

For property and other info on the area also go to: www.caribesur-realestate.com

I talked to quite a few people here from many different countries, men and women and the message I got from most of them is, you don’t come here to make a lot of money but for a different style of life. You come here to appreciate nature and live with it as it was and is; not trying to change the landscape to ultimately line your pockets by starting a big business. It’s about living a civil live for the few years we are on this earth, without destroying it.

These discussions and meetings reminded me a little of similar talks I had with people in central Portugal not long ago. There too you have this eclectic bunch of people from different countries in Europe who I’d call ‘Aussteiger’ who have grouped together, supporting each other where possible and looking at life in a more honest way; in a Buddhist way perhaps? While I write this I realise it is a thought I need to keep thinking about and find out what the answer is for me.

Bloody hell, I just realised I’m late for lunch, got to dash and meet ex Miss Costa Rica……see you later….

Her name is Kristy, a friend of my friends and she is Ex Miss Costa Rica 1994 that makes her about 35; I didn’t ask of course. She now works in a bank but still walks, obviously the first thing I noticed, in the way when you learn how to walk properly; straight back, tall, head high and proud. When I asked her what was the most important thing she had learned from travelling the world and showing her body she said, ‘to have the confidence to talk in front of many people; it helps me in my job even today and if I have a daughter I would want her to go through the same training’. What about if she is not pretty I asked she laughs and said, ‘she will be’ and if it is a boy I said, ‘I will think of something’ she replied. Something self-conscious and a bit black and white about her but a great lunch anyway.

Where was I? I went horse riding with Edwin Salem, an Argentinean, who is in his elements when he is active. We did hit it off pretty quickly but if you are a girl and you fancy the look of Sean Connery he is your man and from surfboarding to sailing to horse riding he will teach you anything. (From 3h to 5 days and more if he likes you) I went with him on a jungle and beach horse trek and my legs will never forget this. I have never ever ridden this fast in my life before (on the beach) nor swam with my horse to cross rivers nor got so close to wild life as on this trip. Check it out. www.horsebackridingincostarica.com

After eating mangoes, bananas and apples all day one does get hungry so you go either to see another Argentinean couple called Patricia and Michiel who own ‘el Refugio Grill’ just a couple of km north of Manzanillo. 7 tables, a small place just set back from the road and the food and service couldn’t be better. Alternatively there is also a French woman at “La casa del pan” in Playa Chiquita who cooks a pretty wonderful meal and of course the Italian guy at La Pecora Nera if you have money on you or his other one just beside the road called Gatta Ci Cova both truly fabulous and one more casual than the other.
Italians seem to be incredibly and overtly fond of each other and they must be walking around with a magnet in their pockets. As soon as the ‘Madam de la Maison’ of La Pecora Nera found out that my friend was Italian she phoned her head chef, husband, proprietor somewhere in San Jose, this evening, and the two Italians where talking away as though they were long lost friends. Just imagine you were English or German for that matter and walked into a restaurant were the owner is from your country. All you do is say, oh really!

20 years ago cocoa farms were the big thing here until a virus called the Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus Disease came and wiped it all out. Farmers had to change and either sold their land or ‘gave’ it back to the jungle or started a small tourist operation – remember there were hardly any tourists in this part of Costa Rica in the 80ies. To read more about the virus go to www.icco.org
 
I have stuffed so much bloody chocolate down my throat over my long life and never touched or felt or smelled or opened a cocoa fruit; it’s like not knowing where milk or eggs comes from. So off I went, you do need your 4×4 for this one, and met up with a Swiss couple, who else, who farm cocoa trees and manufacture the most delicious chocolate. Their product gets sold at many deli shops around Costa Rica foremost at the international airport shop in San Jose. I paid $1 and at the airport you pay $4 for 33grms of heaven. Look out for ‘CHOCORART’! and / or look at this too: www.fodors.com

When you run out of cash you have to go back to Puerto Viejo. You will also most likely cue for at least an hour because there is only one cash machine for the whole area, no petrol station either for 60 km, you get the drift but, while you are cueing at least you are being well entertained by prostitutes, drug dealers and other down and outs. One woman, not a pretty face, stripped down to her knickers and nearly created a war with the more ‘respectable’ women waiting in my cue for the cash machine whereby the men of course cheered her on; poor thing didn’t know what she was doing. It must be the draw of the cash machine but dealers of all sorts seem to do well here.

Back to Edwin and I and the jungle trek on horseback. By the way, Edwin keeps his horses’ semi wild because he says that way they are not spooked by snakes and other creepy crawlers and not long after this bit of information Edwin spotted a red frog on the floor. I told him how ashamed I was noticing so little and he replied it’ll probably save your life. What he meant was that if you don’t notice things you can’t be afraid or curious and therefore you are not scaring the animals. Makes perfect sense but I still rather notice things and not be afraid. The red little frog by the way is most venomous like many pretty colourful things in the jungle. Indigenous people use the serum to coat the tip of their arrows and shoot monkeys and other beasts. If you are a large enough human and have been bitten by this beautiful frog you have about three hours to get to the next hospital or you turn into a dead prince. The basic rule of the jungle is most pretty, colourful things are frequently also most venomous – does that apply to us humans as well?

The driest months in this part of Costa Rica are February, March and early April and mid September to the end of October but temperatures are all year a steady 28 degrees during the day. No surprise therefore, it is May after all, the rainy season, when we did our first river crossing, my horse which was a tat smaller than Edwin’s could for a moment not quite touch the ground. I was about to sacrifice my camera which I was holding with one stretched out arm high above my head and swim away from the horse, only to be helpful to my horse, when it just in time caught ground again and climbed up the steep river bank. A beautiful experience and a camera richer we carried on.

You should know a little about the local indigenous people who managed to survive the Spanish invasion. The woman who told me first about them gave me a massage and I’ll tell you about that later but after she finished she gave me a piece of chocolate made by the Bribri community and told me about them. There is the Indian reserve in Bribri; the Kekoldi Indian Reservation. Both are home of highly organized indigenous groups, the Bribri, Kekoldi and the Cabecar Indians. As you visit places like the ‘Parque de la Amistad’ in ‘Alta Talamanca’ you will encounter a hidden ancient world of strong spirits that fight hard to hold on to traditions and costumes practiced by their ancestors over 1000 years ago. Many generations were able to survive in the deep, dense Caribbean jungle, several tribes possessing countless medicinal secrets; their bush doctors, or Shamans as they are called, are highly sought after internationally for their successful cure of cancer. Bribri is only about a 20 minute drive west of Puerto Viejo and a must visit.

As Edwin and I were riding along the river bank, we were able to ride next to one another for a short while; I questioned him about the Papalomoyo Mosquito bite. (Leishmaniasis) As I had learned the night before, it is a mosquito on which a butterfly has laid its eggs and when you get bitten by this mosquito the eggs of the butterfly are placed under your skin or that of an animal. The bite looks like a normal bite but doesn’t disappear. So if it hasn’t gone after say a week you must consult a doctor and be checked out. Edwin confirmed this and my thoughts went straight to Mr Dick who had been bitten nearly two weeks ago and the spot hadn’t disappeared. I decided to forget about it and concentrate on the next muddy, steep and dark jungle bit as the hind legs of my horse sunk deep into the morass and it had to use all its strength to keep moving. Can it wait to London was another thought, will the eggs hatch into little larvae under Dick’s skin was another and then Edwin pointed out a sleeping boa which I would have missed again!

On a horse, in a jungle, on a trail that wasn’t really one with all those beautiful sounds around you and no human voice nor barking dogs for that matter, is just magical. But I can also see how this dampness and darkness and cold at night can affect your mood very quickly and you need to be up where the monkeys are, in the canopy, where the light is.

The horses were muddy and dirty by the time we got to the beach and so were we. A fast canter (sorry, the fastest canter I have ever done) along the beach and walking the animals into the water to cool off and clean off was great. The coastline along this stretch of Costa Rica is truly stunning, mid week the beaches are empty and I assume there are not many places on earth where one can appreciate the ocean and jungle in such proximity plus a few comforts like excellent food and a clean bed.

Of course, if you are living here permanently you have to have some major interests to keep you alive and going all year long even with all this beauty around you. But, there certainly are some big questions I need to ask myself as to why I am not doing it now…..

Oh there was this fabulous massage I mustn’t forget to write about. Sylvia, her name is. Although I was meant to have gone to see Sondra (88564423) on Edwin’s recommendation somehow I was drawn to ‘La Hija De La Luna’ (88892020) next door to the hotel more hostel type place but right on the beach. Sylvia was magical, she told me there was something wrong with my 4th chakra and my right side upwards from my shoulder blades and if I don’t see her again I should find someone in London. She was pretty amazing, from not having discussed anything with Sylvia beforehand, she gave me an accurate description of my problem zones. She knows more than I do! Scary! My Spanish is still terrible but the other thing I understood is that your left side of your body is the female side and your right side is the male one. I need to get my right one sorted she said. What a tall order sorting out my male side.

And there was a little injury from riding I want to keep track of so I’m recording it here. Unfortunately, what was a little graze turned into something bigger and I don’t know if it is from swimming in the ocean afterwards and getting some sand into it or from washing the wound afterwards at the hotel and drying it with a towel that wasn’t perfectly clean. I even covered the cuts in tee tree oil but it still went nasty.

My foot….I went to see a doctor at a farmacia who gave me un crema con cortisone and bandages and it went green two days later so I went to see another doctor at the emergency section of the international hospital here in San Jose and came out totally confused. First I had a medic looking at it then a doctor who told me I need to wash it three times per day and take antibiotics orally. Then a nurse came to wash it for me and said I should keep it bandaged up after every wash. Hellllppppp!

Here is what I am doing:
I bought the antibiotics $58 because I had none left in my first aid chest. (My last lot I administered to a guy in the jungle in Colombia) I went home and kept washing the wound with an antibacterial liquid soap 3 times per day as suggested to get out all the green gunk but, I didn’t of course take the prescribed antibiotics.
It seems to heal although slowly because it’s right on the ankle. If it doesn’t get better I can always take the drugs.
I have got to go to the RF Hospital anyway when I’m back for some tests as I think Dick has been stung by a mosquito. (I was of course sleeping naked on top of the bed) Normally a bite disappears after about 4 days and this one has been there for over 2 weeks which could suggest something more serious but I’m not getting my Dick in a twist until I know what’s what.

Now you are all up to date with some serious jungle news!

One last cup of coffee before I go……A Costa Rican Company won an award last year for extracting the essence from the flower of the coffee plant and creating a range of new products.

So, this is coming to the end of 8 exciting, wonderful weeks in Costa Rica; thankful and grateful to my dear Friend of 28 years when we met in London and to his wife Katalina and three year old boy Daniel. We said farewell over lunch at ‘Da Marco’ one of his favourite restaurants and hope to see each other again soon. Click here or see also here

From my earlier notes on Costa Rica you have learned that since the 1945 about 50% of all forests here in Costa Rica (Costa Rica use to be one big rain forest) have been destroyed. Even today Costa Rica is finding it hard to preserve and protect what is left of the forests from people and companies who are still going deep into the jungle and cutting down hard wood for profit; only about 1/5 of the country today is preserved and what will it be in 10 years time?
HRH the Prince of Wales is working on a rainforest project that wants to see a tree to be more expensive alive than cut down. If you are interested to find out more and want to sign up, here is the link: www.rainforestsos.org