We were both relieved to be allowed on the flight to Golfito. They required a passport of which Deb still had none. We were almost foiled on two occasions but thankfully police docs, Aust Consul docs and a look of desperation got us through.
We boarded our tiny plane of around 8 passengers, certainly no drinks trolley on this one. We landed at Golfito airport, little more than small shed nestled between the jungle and sea. From here we traveled by boat to our lodge, to be our home for the next four nights. There is no road access to the lodge, only by boat. It was not just a step up from our accommodation so far, the step was so far you'd need a ladder.
We also saw a few toucans and acari (a small toucan), plus a lot of various types of lizards. This camouflaged one was awesome. You can see why it can be hard to find things in the jungle.
The snake below was only metres from one of the cabanas:
This is our own private cabana in the middle of the jungle. So private you don't need to close doors and windows, day or night. In fact the bathroom and shower windows couldn't even be closed. We had a resident lizard (large gecko) we called Larry. For those old enough to remember Leisuresuit Larry the Lounge Lizard, this was his Costa Rican cousin who preferred bathrooms.
We also had 2 resident bats that lived in our cabana. In the afternoon they'd circle around the cabana almost like they were guarding it. Some people have baseball bats for protection, we had real bats (we called them Borris and Morris).
The accommodation was a step up but so was the heat and humidity. Nothing was ever dry, even sitting with a cocktail left sweat pouring down your back, hard work. The only time you were not sweating was in the bay...still wet but at least cooler. It didn't take us long after arriving to go for a cooling quick dip in the bay. This is where we realised that no where is safe from small things that want to bite you. We'd only been in the water for a few minutes when we starting to feel stinging bites all over, particularly in the sensitive bits inside of swimwear, one got particularly intimate with Deb. We later discovered these are called sea fleas, not dangerous but hurts like hell for a short while. Mostly they go for fish...must be because we're Piscean.
The lodge has a few trails through the jungle that you can trek through anytime by yourself...if you can handle the heat, humidity and more tiny things that want to bite you- mosquitoes, biting flies, stinging ants, tiny lash vipers and a range of other bizarre creatures that you'd need to see to understand.
We did a few of the trails but realised that the animals we'd been used to finding in all the other jungles we'd trekked, were less prolific here. We did see a lot of red macaws. There was a macaw sanctuary nearby and many were being released back into the wild.
The snake below was only metres from one of the cabanas:
It wasn't deadly but did leave us thinking about all the snakes that we didn't see, we'd heard there were many around.
We also saw a peccary (basically a wild boar). A wildlife sanctuary we'd visited early had said these were some of the most deadly vicious animals in the jungle. If you see them in a large group, climb the nearest tree...and if you can, burn your arm hair as they hate the smell. Otherwise you could be stuck up that tree for days while they grunt and click at you. They have massive teeth and tusks. First issue is the trees are either 10m in diameter with no footholds, very hard to climb, or they are 10mm in diameter - string or robe like vines - hard to climb also but quite strong; Tracey did manage to use a jungle vine as a makeshift belt for shorts that were too big. Putting aside there was a tree we could climb, then we'd need to be concerned about all those other jungle creatures up trees that bite, snakes, spiders (including tarantulas), general creepy crawlies. Further, we'd heard many of the plants were poisonous to touch. However, if all those thing were averted, then you'd need to have some matches on you to burn hair - keeping in mind that everything in the jungle is wet, chances are if you had any they wouldn't light anyway. Thankfully it was one peccary who snorted in our general direction then disappeared into the shrubbery. Phew.
The lodge also had a few resident squirrels, much less dangerous.
The lodge had available kayaks and snorkelling gear we could use for free anytime. We'd heard there was a particular spot where turtles like to feed. With our new found friend Kelly we head out one morning in hope of snorkelling with turtles, we found none but did find a huge range of colourful fish...plus more sea fleas. The currents were extremely strong, Deb was in danger of drifting with the currents back to Australia, given she still had no passport...this might be an option (just like the turtle in Nemo😊). The kayaking itself was also a highlight, we could stop anywhere along the way.
As we made our way back to the lodge, we intercepted 2 dolphins who swam just metres from our kayaks. Our attempts to keep up with them was futile.
Having seen how many fish there were while we were snorkelling, we decided on a fishing tour in the bay. It was only minutes before Tracey caught her first fish, a snapper.
Deb's first catch was a beautiful rooster fish, sadly protected so it lived to see another day but there we more to follow
We caught 9 fish we didn't have to throw back, snapper, snook and many mackerel. A fun day.
Having enjoyed the kayaking, we did a mangrove kayaking tour. Unfortunately the tide was a bit low so we couldn't get into most of the smaller channels. We got stuck in the mud a few times, which had absolutely "nothing" to do with Deb's steering of the kayak :-/ Deb's "skillful" maneuvering enabled Tracey to get up close and personal with nature. Tracey fended off tree climbing crabs and slimey branches on many occasions. We did see some crocs but not too much else. Yes, kayaking in a croc infested river.
We enjoyed our time at the lodge, good people, good food and good cocktails.
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