COSTA RICA - January 2024

January 5, 2024

Almost as soon as we returned from last year’s Yoga Retreat at Imiloa Institute near Dominical Costa Rica, we booked again for this year.  Jeff said he’d never been so relaxed in his life (even though he failed a heart stress test the following week and received two more stents in his Cardiac Artery).

Since we’re somewhat retired now, I thought it’d be great to add on another week down here.  We’d already done the thrilling adventures here when we did a REI trip to celebrate Jeff’s 60th birthday 12 years ago.  We got word that the Verona Methodist Church was doing a mission trip to Guatemala the week before our retreat so we signed on to that.  Flying from San Juan CR to Guatemala City is like flying from Madison to Minneapolis, after all!  However, about 4 weeks before we were to depart, that portion of our trip was cancelled due to some political insurgency that doesn’t make our news (but would if the radicals kidnapped some American missionaries)!

I was bummed but not deterred.  I turned to Andrea Russell, our Yoga Retreat leader for suggestions.  Besides leading two weeks of retreats, she stays in CR for nearly three months until winter is nearly over.  She suggested Drake Bay / Osa Peninsula - specifically Aquila Lodge.  I contacted them and of course they were fully booked, but we stayed in touch and they were able to piece together 7 nights for us, but it’ll require moving rooms several times.  We can do that!

We had an early departure from Madison; 5am boarding time!! Ryan offered to drive us, but it was so early. We booked an Uber for 4:30am and that worked great. One hour after we crawled out of bed we were strapped in our seats on the plane. First flight was to Atlanta, where we had a gorgeous sunrise probably somewhere over Tennessee. Tight connection there so we speed walked from terminal C to the International terminal and boarded the flight to CR. Three and a half hours - for the first time on a plane we listened to the audiobook we’d started last week. I overlapped a bit with blackjack on the seat back screen.

We arrived in San Jose shortly after noon, spent an hour in the immigration line, collected our bags and headed towards the little domestic terminal. A polite young man wanted to show us the way and we let him and paid him a $5 tip.

Check in a Sensa Airlines was funny. We had to pay an extra $10 for our heavy checked luggage. Then they weighed our carry on bags, and then they weighed us! We had about 90 minutes to wait for our flight. We had a snack, chatted with some guys from Charlotte and watched people.

We boarded our little Cessna early and took off about 3:45pm. While it was a warm and sunny day, there were clouds on the mountains, and soon we were surrounded by clouds - more than a little frightening as we know there are other little airplanes up here too.

After about 30 minutes, we were out over the ocean and could see the shore, and soon, the tiny airstrip that was Drake Bay. Glad to be on the ground again! Inside the terminal we were greeted by a guy who led us to a truck that had one of those mufflers mounted high on the hood for river crossings! We soon saw why!

He bumped us over some rough roads and rivers, through the tiny village of Drake Bay and to the beach. There we met two guys in a water taxi that brought us to the resort.

January 8, 2024

After a couple of days of relaxing and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere, we were ready for adventure so Guillermo at the resort pulled some strings and put together and all-day Deep-Sea Fishing Adventure for us.

We set an alarm to wake up early - breakfast at 6:30a and on the boat by 7a.  The “Albatross” is owned by Bradd, but they had to find a “helper” as they only have a Captain for whatever reason.

At 7a, we jumped on a small boat at the dock that took us out to the Albatross.  It was a very nice boat, piloted from the upper deck which made a nice comfortable mostly shaded space for us underneath.  Bonus for the Albatross as it had a “head.”  Much appreciated for an all-day excursion offering beer!!

We met Captain Maynor and Alonso, the young man making the magic happen!  They explained we’d motor out to sea about 1.5 hours, then we’d begin to troll for Mahi.  

They both went up top and we enjoyed the scenery - looking at the beaches that we’d walked to the day before yesterday.  The sea was very calm, and we both love riding in boats so we quickly settled in for the journey.  

I was in the middle of my second (of many) naps for the day when the boat suddenly slowed - there was a large pod of dolphins, which apparently signal there are fish there too.  I could have been satisfied just watching the dolphins!  They were jumping on our wake and seemed to be having a ball!

Alonso quickly got to work rigging our eight poles for trolling.  Some went directly off the back, others were strung from rigging off to either side.  The result looked (from the boat) like a small school of fish frolicking behind us.

Then we waited.  There were a few false alarms early on - very exciting.  Lots more schools of porpoises, a couple more naps, and the morning lazed by. 

 At one point, a tiny bird appeared and tried several times to land on the rigging.  He finally made it, and looked a little rough.  He stayed there awhile, then took off and came back several times and once landed on the side of the boat close to me.  I put some water into the cap of my water bottle and he had a few sips.  He made a move towards my fingers and I yelped and dropped the water, and he flew off of course.  But he kept coming back, getting a little braver each time.  Alonso was just getting lunch out of the cooler so we tried to feed him some bread and fruit, but he didn’t eat anything.  He got so used to us that he started walking on us - a bit freaky to me.  He rested and drank some more water and looked less shaken than when he’d first arrived.  He came and went a few more times, and then was just gone - hopefully to wherever home is!

We’d just cleaned up lunch when a fish finally hit - I was just getting the belt on when he dropped off.  I didn’t have my sandals on and my feet were burning!  I put my Chacos on and soon another fish hit.  Alonso set the hook and then handed it off to me while he brought in the other lines.  It was tough work to bring the mahi in!  I’m glad my hands are stronger from rowing!!

After that about another hour of trolling with no more bites.  The crew felt bad, but we were okay with the result - great day in a boat on a beautiful sea - and fresh fish to share with others at the resort.  We motored quite close to Cano Island, then turned towards land, arriving back at 4pm.  Bradd met us at the dock and felt bad that we’d only got one fish.  We were more excited to tell our story about the bird!

We were delighted to hear that we’d be in room #9 for the rest of our time here, so we showered and got really settled into the room.  We still have some loud talking neighbors, but we’re used to it now.

They served my Mahi sushimi style for appetizers tonight, and it’ll be on the menu tomorrow night.  We ate dinner with a couple from Oakland that just arrived and possibly bored them with our stories!  It’s a different kind of vacation with not having to decide where to eat, and having rotating dinner companions.  I like it!!

January 9

We did get out there after 8am it was much too warm already (what a great problem to have!). We dressed for a hike (I dressed for swim and hike) then we packed our bags to be transferred to our next room and walked to breakfast around 9:30am.

Small crowd at breakfast, but we’ve since learned that if people are going on excursions they go early.  We ate overlooking the gorgeous view and the amazing grounds.  The woman that cares for the flowers was there tending to the orchids on the table (cool job)!  We ate and then set out to hike three miles (3 out and 3 back, six total) of the Drake Bay Path - a route that starts in town, goes through our resort and down the coast for a total of six miles.  It was hot without much of a breeze.  We each had a bottle of water with us and drank conservatively!  Jeff hiked in his low hikers, I was in my Chaco sandals, hoping they’d be okay for traction and irritation!

In just under the first mile, we had a considerable climb and descent to the beach.   We were ready for a break and I couldn’t resist the lure of the sea.  I took off my sandals and waded in - it was incredibly warm! Afterwards, it was impossible to get all the sand off my feet, so I just determined the sand would work to exfoliate my feet!  The pack was hot and I wished I’d just carried a water bottle and my Turkish towel.

We continued the hike which was mainly along the coast, through the trees and then opening out to countless gorgeous beaches.  There were a few other small resorts, and possibly some private houses.  We also walked through a platform camp with green tents erected on them, and a “campground,” where two guys who appeared to live there offered to crack open coconuts for us. 

When we got to the three-mile mark, we stopped at the beach - having such a gorgeous beach all to ourselves is such a different experience!  I took off my shoes and outer clothes and sat on the beach with the surf rolling over me.  It was so much fun.  I’d try to hold my ground, but wave after wave would roll me over.  I went out in deeper water to try to wash the sand and rocks from inside my bathing suit - to no avail.  Now my whole body is exfoliated!

We walked back toward our resort and with the scenery being so spectacular, I didn’t mind the out and back.  We’ll probably do the same hike several times during our stay here and it won’t feel monotonous!

Along the way, we picked up a little dog.  He seemed to know where he was going, but we still felt bad about possibly leading him away from his home. With about a mile to go, we stopped again at a beach and I swam there. 

The water was almost too warm!  After my swim, I toweled off - swapped my suit bottoms for just my “skort” and we headed up the climb.  The dog had lost patience and moved on during my swim.

Back at the resort, we ordered cold drinks and settled in before lunch.  Other groups were coming back from excursions and it was good to hear what they’d done.  One popular excursion is snorkeling at Cano Island (which is cool, we did it as an optional excursion at last year’s yoga retreat!).

At lunch we sat with a mom and two daughters from California, who had also arrived yesterday (however, their luggage just arrived).  They took the kayaks out today and said they unintentionally swam in the ocean.  Lunch was salad with grilled chicken or mahi-mahi with mashed potatoes.  The food here is fantastic!

After lunch, Alex walked us to our new room.  It’ll probably be the nicest of our stay - a deluxe suite.  Comes with a deck with a gorgeous view and hammocks.  We share the deck with the California trio.  The room reminds me of the yoga retreat room - amazing wood and wonderful bathroom, comfy beds and pillows.  What’s lacking may be solitude and privacy as all the rooms are in one row up on the hillside without much room between them.  As I write this I’m hearing people talking (and coughing - keep away from room #3 at dinner) over the sound of the sea and the ever present buzz of the jungle.

They say we can have this room for two nights, so I somewhat unpacked and settled into the hammock for reading and napping.  After a few hours I could tell by the sun that evening had approached so I got up and took a nice shower - always more enjoyable when there is salt water to be washed off!

We showered and dressed for dinner, then went down to the gathering space.  We ordered cocktails: yummy G&T for served with a lot of fruit in a wine glass like we had in the UK, and a yummy whiskey sour for JT.  Appetizers were mini charcuterie boards.  We talked with two guys - both Mikes, from Ohio, here on a diving trip.  We had dinner with them, along with a couple from the UK, a couple from France and an outgoing woman from Switzerland who had a lot of information about traveling in Japan.  Great dinner companions!

By 9pm, we came back to our comfortable room … going to need those earplugs tonight!

Wednesday January 10, 2024

Another wonderfully lazy morning.  There had been a heavy rain that passed through about 5am, sounded fantastic on the tin roof and smelled wonderful.  We woke with the sun and lazed around a bit, headed to breakfast around 8am.  We visited with the German couple as most others seemed to be out on excursion.

After breakfast, we played three games of ping pong with the additional challenge of not losing the balls in the thick jungle lining the path.  As usual, Jeff won all three games but I gave him a run for his money.  We had some hammock time for about an hour, then walked to town again.  We checked all the shops for a super-soaker for monkey patrol, and a belt for Jeff - struck out on both accounts, but I bought a necklace and a t-shirt.  We walked back along the beach, stopping to watch some entertaining water taxi boarding.  There is a medium-sized cruise ship out in the bay - seems odd as Drake Bay is definitely not a cruise ship sort of town!

Back to our resort and we sat down to lunch when a large group returned from Cano Island snorkeling tour.  Nothing new to report there.  We decided to kayak around the point to a beach, so up to the room to change into swimsuits.  I had the bright idea to leave my phone behind, and bought just our plastic 2L water bottle and a plastic bag for a towel.  We headed off without incident.  It was work to paddle, but we were doing okay out in the sea with the waves and swells.  A few boats went by and we were careful to turn into their wakes. 

We approached the first beach and the landing looked too rough.  The tide was in and the beaches looked small and steep.  The second beach was wider, so we gave it a try.  I paddled to the beach successfully, but failed to jump up and haul the boat to shore as I should have.  A wave came and rolled me from the boat.  As I was getting up, the wave brought to boat back sideways and bowled me over.  I got up and a new wave brought the kayak back and bowled me over again.  That time I lost my Ray Bans and my hat!  A nice young man came and grabbed the boat and hauled it to shore.  I recovered the bag with my shirt and the towel (filled with sea water now), and the paddle and pfd.  I found the water bottle bobbing in the water, but the hat and sunglasses were goners!  Jeff was further down the beach and fared better, although his boat was waterlogged and had no handles, so he was struggling to get it up above the surf until the young man helped him too.  I’m sure it was great entertainment for those on the beach!

I tried to go back out in the water to wash some of the sand out of my hair and suit - to no avail!  The surf was strong, and the waves all had a bunch of sand in them anyways!  The only thing I accomplished was losing my hair tie too. We sat on the boats and drank some water, and studied the waves to plot how we’d paddle out.  There were sections of time without big waves so we’d just had to time it right.  We put our pfd’s on and drug the boats to the water.  Jeff gave me a shove and I paddled as hard as I could, and got through the waves without incident.  I turned around to watch Jeff launch, with the help of the nice young man and a few others who had been swimming.  I’d just remarked how much I loved that hat - so packable and comfortable … and I guess I’d had those Ray Bans pretty long as far as sunglasses go.  And I am glad I didn’t have my prescription sunglasses on.

Easy paddle back to the dock.  I stopped in the middle of our voyage to try to get some of the sand out of my suit, and also to try to bail out my boat - lost causes.  We docked at the resort, and tried to just slip into the side to deposit our waterlogged towel and retrieve our key.  I hopped into the shower, and discovered I had about a half cup of sand under the lining of my suit bottom.  I’ll try to get it out after it’s dry.

After showering, I tried to nap, but still had a bit of adrenaline coursing through my veins.  I finished the book I was reading and scrolled through some email.

About 5:30p we dressed for dinner and headed down to the jungle bar with our cribbage bar.  Fernando joined us and we abandoned cribbage after one game and enjoyed our conversation with him.  Not sure if I mentioned him before, he’s here for three nights with his wife, Maria, who is the General Manager.  He’s quite a character.  He spent three years at the Military Prep school in Delafield, WI as a teenager (as did his father, uncle, and many cousins). 

We had G&T’s and Mahi-mahi ceviche again - yum!  When the dinner bell rang at 7pm, we were delighted to find live music.  A trio, with Guierrmo on the drum box.   They were quite talented and we enjoyed their music, even though many of the guests were just loud-talking over the music.  The singer was very good, but self-conscious of his English (I can relate).  He sang a few Elvis songs in Spanish.  The keyboard guy was also very talented.  They asked for requests, and could play a song by just hearing a bit of it and looking up the words.  Jeff and I danced a few songs, tough in the heat and humidity of the jungle, but it delighted Maria and the staff.

We closed down about 9pm, with more music promised for tomorrow night.  Off to bed with an early morning excursion tomorrow.

Thursday January 11, 2024

Up early for our excursion to Corcovado National Park, with our 4 new friends from the UK (2 originally Irish, one Scot, and one Brit).  We had breakfast and met our guide, Tony.  Then down to the boat for about a 30 minute ride to the park, with sea a little rougher today, but not too bad. 

Tony is extremely knowledgeable and we started with driving up the river a bit, and he pointed out many species of birds, faster than I could record them.  We’d heard a bit about Tony from Fernando last night, they’d been out birding together that evening. We stopped at an island just outside the park where Tony told us about the brown footed boobies. They came from somewhere in South America to nest here, and had a fuzzy white baby chick with them.

Landing was a little more exciting with the surf up, but the boat pilot navigated it well and timed it perfectly. We’d been instructed to wear closed toed shoes while hiking in the park, so Jeff and I took off our shoes and jumped in barefoot. We were met by an officer, not terribly friendly, not terribly friendly. It was her job to inspect our backpacks to ensure we weren’t bringing in any disposable plastic bottles.

Tony was a fantastic guide for the park. He told me in the early 1980s he had his first opportunity to come to the United States. They took a bus tour from Washington DC to Tucson Arizona. In Tucson, he lived with the family for eight months.  The trip was funded by several central American governments for them to learn farming practices and bring what they learned back to Costa Rica. Tony said he was 24 years old before he ever heard anybody speak English, so going to the United States was a crash course for him. Tony grew up in the area near what is now this national park. It was amazing to hear him describe how he worked with his grandfather when he was a child to take down trees in the rainforest and burn them, then level the fields to plant rice, beans and bananas, and have space for cattle. The area he walked us through first had been the farm, and he pointed out the new growth of the rainforest only about 45 years old, and lots of remnants of banana trees.

The sign said to stay on the path, but that didn’t apply to Tony, apparently. He had on knee-high rubber boots, and he would call for a bird, listen for a reply, and then go trapsing into the jungle expecting us to follow him - a bit out of my comfort zone of course. We were able to see about a half dozen different kinds of birds. I didn’t retain all the names, nor did I really get photos. He also found several hiding places of bats, and we disturbed a few of them and they flew off in a huff.  It was very hot, and very humid with no breeze. Jeff and I both felt ourselves getting lightheaded.

Soon, we looped around and went back to the pavilion where we had a snack and freshened our water bottles, and had another shot at the bano, then we went across the river to the area of the old growth rain forest. By then other groups were starting to arrive, and I think Tony led us on the loop backwards from the way most people do it, because we didn’t encounter many groups until we were walking out of the forest . Tony let us down to the beach as we heard the Scarlet macaw in the trees down there. It was fantastic to stand on the beach and watch three macaws feeding on some kind of nut. Jeff and I had watched Mackay on the beach a few days ago  With similar behavior pattern. Tony said the macaw beak cracks the nut with 100 pounds of pressure. Whoa, keep your fingers away!  They flew off together and it was simply majestic!

Back in the forest, Tony had us stay on the main path while he went down a side path. He was looking for a sloth that had been there a few days ago, but the sloth had moved?  We Trudged on, and soon we came upon several families of Coati, several moms with lots of little babies. They were adorable to watch. Tony had a lot to tell us about who in the jungle is prey, and who’s predator, up and down the chain. The Coati eat crocodile eggs and I can’t remember what kind of animal feeds on the Coati.

Back to the ranger station, and our boat arrived about noon.  On our way back to Aguila, we stopped at a beach I recognized as San Josecito (love how familiar we are with the area now), and picked up the boys from last night’s band.  Looking forward to another show tonight.

We had another delicious lunch, sat with two ladies from the UK.  They live in London and on the Isle of Skye.  Charlotte is a landscape designer with work all over the UK and Scandinavia - cool!  After lunch, I retreated to the hammock.  Scrolled through email, read a bit and napped until it was time to shower and head down to Happy Hour.  While I was in the shower, it started raining outside - heavy rain.  We grabbed our large umbrellas and headed down to the Jungle Bar, enjoying the rain - the smell, the noise and the moisture in the air!

We played a couple of games of cribbage and chatted with some others.  G&T was mighty refreshing, but I just couldn’t eat much of the tuna tartare appetizer tonight!

7pm dinner bell, and the music started right on cue.  We met some new arrivals, but didn’t chat a lot as the music was the show again!  Just after dessert was served, it started raining again really hard, and blew into the first layer of the restaurant!  The band moved a bit more towards to the center of the room, as did most of us!  And then we lost power.  There was an emergency flood light over the desk, giving us a bit of light, and the singer’s amp was battery operated, as he kept singing even though the accompanying keyboard had stopped.  It was awesome!! Fernando called it “Jungle Charm” and I can’t think of a better term.  The power came on after about 15 minutes, and most of us took advantage of that to head back to our rooms.  I heard the next day that the band kept playing … wish we’d have stayed!

Friday - Friday January 12-19, 2024

Last full day at Aguila.  We had our usual leisurely breakfast, quiet with most of the others out on excursions.  We put on our swim suits and hiking shoes and headed down the trail, stopping a several beautiful beaches that we had mainly to ourselves again.  It was a bit slippery after last nights rain, but Jeff is adept at finding us sticks to use for hiking poles.

We walked about 2.5 miles out, swam, sat against a log and read for a bit, then walked back to catch the end of lunch.  Everyone was back from their excursions so the place was a-buzz.  Jeff had his Kilimanjaro t-shirt on, and a young couple from CA wanted to know all about it as it’s their goal to do all seven summits.  Always fun for us to find people who want to hear our stories… we have a lot of them!

Same afternoon routine, hammock, nap, read, shower, and down to the Jungle Bar for G&Ts and cribbage (were evenly matched this trip, but JT is ahead on our travel rivalry scoreboard).  We sat with some new people at dinner - a couple from PA, and a couple from the UK.  We’ve lost track of how many new people we’ve met during our 8 nights here!  The pattern seems to be to come from three nights … and do snorkeling at Cano Island one day, and Corcovado NP the next, then off to somewhere else for three nights.  It’s what we did last September in the UK, but I think they miss the magic of immersing in the wonder of this area, and this resort specifically!

We said some goodbyes, then headed up to pack and rest up for our transition.  I awoke to someone else’s alarm this morning before mine went off at 6am.  We had breakfast, said more goodbyes (told the staff we’d see them next year) and boarded our water taxi at 7:30am.  It was a fun ride, north along the coast for 15 minutes, then into the Sierpe River to the village of Sierpe.  The river was a twisting path of mangroves, with the occasional house/dock - obvious erosion issue where they’d removed the mangroves.  There were lots of boats out fishing, and boats loaded with tourists coming towards us.  I wasn’t quite prepared for what we saw upon arrival at Sierpe - quite a bustling port!  People getting off boats, and waiting for boats.  About 20 different docks offering taxi services and car parking.  We were surprised to see Aguila had its own dock, with Jimy there to greet us in an Aguila shirt.  On the dock waiting to be loaded was a washing machine, a mattress and box set, and coolers full of things to be transferred.  I would have loved to stay to watch them load the boat, but our ride was waiting.

Alex at the resort had arranged for Chino to pick us up and transport us to Dominical.  Chino is Chinese, and didn’t speak much English but we did ok.  We arrived in Dominical about 10am, which gave me time to hit a shop for new cheap sunglasses and a hat!  At 10:20am our driver from Imiloa came with a 4x4 pickup.  We know Chino’s van wasn’t going to make it up the road to Imiloa!  We arrived about 10:35 am, just three hours after leaving the resort, relieved that it all worked out!

We relaxed for about 15 minutes before the others arrived in a series of taxis.  We’d met Yolanda, the massage therapist, and wrangled ourselves into massages for today.  We skipped lunch and headed to our amazing room (booked the same as last year), where Yolanda was setting up her table on the balcony.  I’m writing this from my hammock.  Life is good!

The yoga retreat itself was even more amazing than my previous two.  Great food, twice a day yoga (Andrea and Shanel), and wonderful participants to meet, share and interact with for the week.  Once again, Andrea hired the master artist to create a labyrinth on the beach for us to enjoy walking meditation and a ceremony to bury our worries and dance on the labyrinth before it washed back into the sea.   There were some hassles getting home (24 hour adventure) but we’re already booked again for next year!