(This post is delayed because the internet connection at Pacuare was unavailable during our last two days there.)
On Wednesday, we awoke at Pacuare Reserve with the howler monkeys again, before dawn, even though it had been a very short night after seeing the leatherback nesting. We had a 6am nature walk scheduled with Angel and didn’t want to miss it because it was a chance to see the trails leading away from the maintained grounds. Guests aren’t supposed to go on trails without a staff member/guide for safety reasons, i.e. snakes. So we again met Angel and he took us on a wide, flat, but very buggy trail that paralleled the beach. The walk was about an hour round-trip, with the farthest point being a large pond in the forest where Agami Herons nest in May and June. They weren’t there now. He showed us various interesting plants, animals and birds along the way, but there were so many mosquitoes and other pestering bugs that we were continuously slapping them away. We returned a few minutes before breakfast and were happy to go into the screened dining area.
Our afternoon activity was a boat ride scheduled at 3pm. We joined Eder, two French-speaking guests, and Lola, a French-speaking employee. The breeze felt wonderful as we sped through the canals looking at birds. We saw a crocodile sunning itself too. Before returning about 5pm, we stopped at a dock on the main canal where there was an open-air bar. Stephanie and I bought a bottle of beer each and a bottle of Coke for Eder. The beer tasted great but we were badly pestered by mosquitoes the whole time and were happy to get back in the boat.
After dinner back in the Pacuare dining room, we returned to our room in the dark, took cool showers, and went to bed.
On Thursday, our final full day at Pacuare, we looked forward to two more boat rides, one of which was an afternoon trip to the mouth of the Pacuare River. From there we would walk to the northern Pacuare Reserve station, a smaller location associated with our southern location, where a few scientific assistants were staying to conduct turtle surveys from there. We really liked this trip, which included only Eder, Stephanie and I. Michael took us three by boat to the river mouth, then we got out and began a slow and interesting walk along the shoreline of the Caribbean on a trail that also led through a very small community. As we walked, Eder told us (in Spanish) about residents who fish in the surf on the bar where the river meets the sea and about Costa Rican life and issues for residents. It was a very relaxed walk and fun to talk with him and learn about non-touristy things in Costa Rica. We ended the walk at the northern Pacuare station, where Michael picked us up in the boat on the canal side of the island and returned us to our accommodations at the southern station of Pacuare.
After dinner, we were guided by Eder on a night walk of the grounds around our Casa Grande, where we encountered large land crabs, spiders, army and leaf-cutter ants, and a kinkajou in a tree. No snakes, thankfully. Earlier in the day Eder had also pointed out a two-toed sloth in a tree close to our room. Before this night walk, Stephanie and I had prepared as well as possible for all the mosquitoes that we knew would be out there, with head nets and liberal repellent application.
Friday was our travel day, returning to San José for our flight home. After breakfast we packed up and got in the launch at 10am with Michael for the ride back to Goshen dock.
Rolando was at the dock with his car, ready to drive us halfway across the country. We were happy to see him and quickly got in the car to avoid the horrible mosquitoes at the dock. During the drive, we told him about our stay at Pacuare and other parts of our trip. He is a very good driver, patient with our poor Spanish, and a very nice man. He even indulged our desire to make a short stop to buy Churchills for each of us. It’s a shaved ice, condensed and powdered milk confection that’s flavored with fruit syrup, which we found in the town of Siquirres en route.
We had arranged to stop at Lankester Gardens in Cartago during the drive and we got there a little after 2pm. It’s a large and beautiful garden associated with the University of Costa Rica. Stephanie and I walked through the gardens for about an hour while Rolando waited in the car for us.
Then we headed across San José through rush hour traffic on this Friday afternoon. Traffic was horrible, just crawling along. It took us about 2.5 hours to cross the big city from Cartago to Alajuela, where our hotel was. Around 6pm, we stopped at a soda near the hotel that Rolando knew of, and happily ate casados consisting of chicken or fish, rice, beans, picadillo made from chopped potatoes and vegetables, tamarindo juice and rice pudding at the end. Then Rolando dropped us off at Hotel de la Rosa, where we had spent the first night in Costa Rica.
Our flight returning to the US was scheduled for about 1am Saturday, and we had reserved the hotel room so we could freshen up before going to the airport. So we showered, changed to clean and comfortable travel clothes, then took a short nap in preparation for the long travel day ahead. At 10pm a taxi came to pick us up to go to San José airport. Our flights to LAX and SeaTac were on time and not full. We both enjoyed empty seats beside us, which made it a little easier to sleep en route. Arriving in Seattle around noon, we were very happy to be home after a great vacation.
Lori's Travels 