crows to burnaby

On Sunday, our first full day in Montezuma, we opted to go check out the Cabo Blanco reserve, which is right on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. As the reserve is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, it'd be the only chance we'd have, and we were really keen to see monkeys. We tried to get up early and catch the first bus to the reserve at 8, but our cheap-ass Radio Shack travel clock failed us and it turned out we got up half an hour later than we thought we did. The next bus wouldn't have been for two hours and it was already getting hot, so we grumbled and took a $10 cab instead of a $1 bus. Hmph. Of course, it was already disgustingly hot and humid there by around 6:30 AM, so it might not have made much of a difference...

The first third of the trail is on waffle-shaped cinder blocks that appear to be the default trail surface for Costa Rica. It starts off pretty easy. If it were a hike in BC it'd be no problem at all for me. After a while it starts going uphill a lot. I have some issues with uphill; I'm a bit anemic and find that I have to stop and rest a lot on tougher hikes to give the oxygen a chance to circulate. Combine the uphill with the heat and humidity, and it was pretty tough. We brought a lot of water, but we could easily have used twice as much as we had.

We reached a river, which was a relief - even though we couldn't drink the water, it felt great to splash around a little. I soaked my bandana in the water to cool me on the rest of the trip.

We didn't see monkeys, but we heard howler monkeys for the first time. It's a strange, eerie sound, and LOUD. It's a bit like an angry backyard dog bark played backwards. We also saw a neat tree with a few sleeping bats hanging in it. Further on, we saw a big iguana up a tree, and a few smaller ones here & there, and an assortment of small lizards. I also got my first look at a big blue Morphos butterfly - they are stunning.

After an eternity, we made it to Cabo Blanco beach. On the trail it had seemed like we were the only ones in the park, but there were about ten people scattered around a picnic area or in the water. There would usually be running water for showers and for drinking, but alas it wasn't working today. The "showers" were tucked behind a massive grove of bamboo - very cool-looking.

We went in for a swim, and had to contend both with the strength of the waves and the large pebbles that piled up partway up the beach, concealed beneath the water. Basically, if you get the timing wrong heading into the ocean, the incoming waves shove you into the pebbly part of the beach and then the undertow drags them over your feet. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but Greg helped me get past the tricky part and out to where you can just float with the waves.

These funny little Halloween Crabs are everywhere, mostly in the forest near the beach. There's tons of them! They scuttle across the path and under the leaves and trick you into thinking there's something more interesting there. After the twentieth crab or so you stop reacting to rustling in the bushes. (There's also lots of dead ones crushed on the road.) They're brightly coloured and awfully cute.

We rested and ate and prepared for the return trip. I have to be honest and say I didn't particularily enjoy it. It exhausted me, and I had to stop a lot, and I was in tears at one point because I was just so overheated and frustrated with myself. But there was nowhere to go but onwards, and with Greg's constant encouragement we made it back. The ranger booth for the park sells a massive bottle of cold water for $1, and it was the best dollar I've ever spent.

That night, back at the hotel, there was the most wonderful tropical storm that started just as we were heading back from dinner. Heavy, heavy warm rain, loud thunder, and sheet & chain lightning off in the distance. I love a good thunderstorm - that's one of the few things I miss about New York, the great summer storms - and we sat on the porch, talked with Pat and Cindy, and watched the weather change. The rain felt glorious after the heat and sweat of the day, and it felt like relief.

Next: a gorgeous day snorkelling at a perfect tropical beach.