We woke up with the birds again this morning, nearly an hour before the 6am sunrise. The instant hot water head for the shower proved to be finicky for me, so I took a cold and minimal shower. It was sunny by 7am when we walked up the hill for breakfast. As we ate, our guide from Friday, Alex, came in after guiding a French couple and he greeted us warmly. We returned to our cabin and packed up in preparation for a 9am pickup by a driver to take us to our next location, Bosque de Paz.
We were worried when the driver hadn’t shown up by 9:20, but he came a few minutes later, apologizing because he went to the wrong place in San Gerardo. Carlos helped us load up the large tourist van he was driving with our bags and we departed.
I was especially anxious that we depart on time because today was the day we had arranged to meet my longtime Costa Rican Spanish conversation partner, Yeinel, and his wife Laura. We were set to meet them for lunch at a San José restaurant at 11:45. It all worked out and we got there on time and Yeinel and Laura arrived soon after. We invited our driver Carlos to join us too.
We had a very pleasant lunch together, speaking nearly totally in Spanish. It was so very nice to meet Yeinel and his wife in person after talking to him via Skype for about 4 years. After lunch, we both drove to a nearby shop for some ice cream and a little more conversation. Then we said goodbye and Carlos, Stephanie and I got back in the van to continue the trip to Bosque de Paz.
The nature reserve of Bosque de Paz is northwest of San José and is located in a cloud forest at lower elevation than San Gerardo de Dota. It’s a private reserve, lodge and restaurant located quite a ways from any city or town. The temperatures are warmer and it’s more humid, resulting in different vegetation, birds, and animals than where we had last been. We were greeted by the owner, an older man. Immediately after we got settled in the room, we went outside and saw new birds, bugs and some agouti animals. Then after dark, while we were waiting for a 6:30pm dinner, we saw fireflies and pacas, which are bigger animals than agoutis. Our room was nicer than at Miriam’s too.
Dinner was very good: chicken with gravy, fries and green beans plus fresh juice and a pastry in syrup for dessert. There was only one other couple in the dining room, indicating that only two of the rooms have guests.
As I write this, we can hear frogs croaking outside our room in the small pond. Very relaxing!
Lori's Travels 