An Unforgettable Journey to a Rich Land --Part VTrip Report by Ruth Marie Lyons ( April 2- 4, 2001) |
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Photographs by Jack Dodge |
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Monday, April 2: - Corcovado Tent Lodge Departed the Chacon Farm at 7:30 a.m., headed for San Jose and a 10:30 flight to Carate. On our way to the airport, we passed through Cartago which was the colonial capital and not far from San Jose. Charlie took this time to tell us about the most famous church in the country. It is the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, built in honor of La Negrita, Costa Rica's patron saint. The church is built over the rock where the tiny stone image of a black Virgin first appeared to Juana Pereira in 1635. The faithful and hopeful come to the holy water that flows from a spring behind the basilica. On
August 2, all roads lead to Cartago as thousands of pilgrims gather at the
shrine for the Day of Our Lady of the Angels, many having come on foot
over long distances. Charlie also told us about making that
pilgrimage with his wife last year. It was quite windy at the airport and that made for a somewhat bumpy climb to altitude. Jim, who has an inner ear disorder, was a little green around the gills but his normal color returned when we evened out over the coastline. The strip at Carate was dirt and the pilot put us down so gently that we hardly knew it. The
door of the plane opened and there was Philippe welcoming us to Corcovado!
It was HOT! as well as being mid-day. All the luggage and supplies
were loaded onto the horse cart as we began our trek along the beach to
the Tent Camp. In less than 5 minutes almost everyone was soaking
wet with perspiration. It must have been 98 degrees and 98% humidity
- quite a change from the cool misty Savegre River Valley! But this
was to be the way it was for the next three days. Marco had warned
me that it would be hot at Corcovado. What I had not considered was
that it would be extremely humid as well! I was considering it now,
big time! And for the first time I was not welcoming the humidity as
I had at all the other places! We
arrived at camp about an hour later, dripping wet and red-faced, just in
time for a hot meal which was the last thing I wanted. But I knew
that I would need to eat something so I did and drank lots of water.
Charlie had mentioned to me earlier that day that he was concerned about
the difficulty of the hike necessary to reach the canopy platform.
After lunch he announced that at 3 p.m. we would all go to check out the
trail and hike for a short section. I knew then that he was going to
assess each of us. After
the hike, we had cold showers (the only kind there and the only kind we
wanted!) to refresh ourselves and rested a bit before the evening meal. At
dinner, it was decided that Irene, Arnold, Jim and I would leave the next
morning at 6 with Aron, our canopy guide, to begin hiking and that the
others who were going would follow at 7:30 with Philippe. That way,
they would arrive about the time we were finished on the platform.
Click for larger view of tents and grounds. Corcovado
Lodge consists of 20 permanent tents, 2 bath houses and 2 large open-air,
thatched roof structures. One of them is the kitchen/dining area and
the other houses a bar and lots of hammocks. The entire site sits on
a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean about 10 degrees north of the
equator. There is a generator to produce power for the kitchen and a
new satellite dish that is used only for communication with the home
office. In the evenings there was electricity in the bath houses as
long as the kitchen needed power. By 9:00 p.m. everything was dark.
We slept in our 10-foot by 10-foot tent on camp cots. We were given
candles but we never lit them, just used our flashlights when it was
necessary. Midnight treks to the bathroom often uncovered night creatures on the path. I encountered three huge brown toads one night but managed not to step on any of them. In addition, Jim surprised a Halloween land crab on its way to the beach to lay eggs During the day resident iguanas munched the grass and plants growing around the tents and on the last morning there we discovered a family of little bats living in the palm tree above our tent porch.
Tuesday,
April 3: We were up at 5 a.m. for breakfast at 5:30 and I was too excited
(and perhaps a little apprehensive) to eat very much. Besides it was
already about 85 degrees. At 6 a.m. we hit the trail with Aron and Charlie
who planned to go back and forth on the trail with both groups. He
declined going up into the canopy with a comment that he once helped build one
of the structures. By 7:30 we were at the platform area, having stopped
for a look at an ant nest made of leaves hanging near the trail, and to watch
and listen to a whistling wren - a tiny, tiny bird with a very big voice. Waiting for us at the platform area were the Bad Boys. These workers are the ones who buckled us into the harnesses and winched us up to the platform. Extreme strength is the number one requirement for doing this job. (We were told that all winch operators are called Bad Boys, but no one could tell us exactly why.) The first piece of equipment was the body harness. There were all sorts of buckles and links, then we were fitted with helmets and walked in turn to the hoisting area. While we were getting suited up, Aron had already lifted himself up to the platform which is 120 feet in the air. He was there to “catch” us as we arrived. The system that CRE uses to lift participants is fail-safe. In addition to a safety line that was hooked to the back of my harness, there was a canvas boson's seat that each person was hooked into. That line was the one actually used to winch us up. The line hooked to the harness was there just in case the boson seat line failed. Safety is of the utmost when one participates in an activity such as this and CRE is certainly a safety conscious company. The
Bad Boys and Aron communicated with whistles and soon I was slowly being
lifted into thin air. It took about 3 minutes to make it to the top.
I had decided to keep my eyes open and look straight out in front of me
for the duration of the trip. It does not do for me to look down in
situations such as this. As I approached the platform, Aron caught my knees and swung me over, whistling at the same time so that the Bad Boys knew to stop winching. Before removing me from the boson's seat and unhooking the safety line, he clipped me to a tether that was attached to the tree. I couldn't stop smiling - I had made it to the top! I pretty much stayed right by the tree on which the platform rested, only venturing to the railing once - no need to push my luck!
The harness that took Jack to the canopy. |
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It was exhilarating to look out into
the distance at the different kinds of trees where birds were feeding and
displaying, but I did not look down. There were even butterflies
visiting the blossoms of the May tree high in the canopy. The hour
passed quickly. Heading down we heard the voices of the next group
as well as Charlie exclaiming that we must come quickly and see what had
happened to the ant nest we had looked at on the way up. As
the second group went to suit up, Charlie led us to the ant nest.
What a commotion! The poor leaf ants had been attacked by army ants.
The nest and area all around it was “boiling” with activity. In
addition, birds were gathering and swooping in to feed on the hapless
ants. This is the sort of thing one sees on PBS nature programs, not
in real life! Charlie's enthusiasm in telling us about what was
happening almost matched his euphoria when we saw the jaeger at Tortugero
last week! He related it to the history of the middle ages when the
Huns swooped down to attack small villages, and ended by saying, “Well,
there goes another village!” The rest of the hike down the steep
trail would have been anticlimactic except we saw another new bird and
watched a coatimundi climb a liana vine. Neither Jim nor I had
realized that coatis could climb like that! By
the time we completed the hike down the trail, we were depleted so we
stopped at the Hammock House for something cold to drink. Coke over
ice never tasted so good! Nadine who kept the bar was especially
generous with the ice which I appreciated greatly. Aron moved on to
his next responsibility, Charlie headed back up the trail to take another
look at the ants' demise and Irene, Arnold, Jim and I sat in the shade
drinking cokes and savoring our morning's experience. The other group returned about lunch time and Charlie graciously gave us the afternoon off till 3:30 when we gathered at the Hammock House for cold drinks and to go over our bird list. While we were calmly marking our lists, the mango tree next to the deck filled with howler monkeys who began to pull the green mangos off the tree, take a bite and throw them. There was a great commotion, a rain of mangos and flying monkeys everywhere! Our fearless leader said they were a troop of young males out to make mischief and make mischief they did!
White-faced
capuchin monkeys were better behaved. Click for larger view. Never
one to let us rest very long, Charlie suggested that we hike to the Rio
Madrigal early the next morning. He promised that this trail was not
as difficult as the one to get to the platform and we are holding him to
that promise. Wednesday,
April 4: When I woke at 4 a.m. I knew I'd never get back to sleep and
besides we were having breakfast at 5:30 so we could begin our hike at
6:00. It was already warm in the tent so I moved to the little porch
where it was cooler and listened to the crashing waves of the Pacific.
The stars were still bright and the Southern Cross was visible. For
me this was a time of introspection, a time to again re-visit all the
places we had seen, the things we had done and the people we had met....
I am at my best in the early morning hours. Our
final hike as a group with Charlie began promptly at 6 o'clock.
First along the beach until we reached the ranger station of the Corcovado
National Park. After signing the register we picked up the trail in
the forest running parallel to the beach. The promise Charlie made
was easily kept. The trail wasn't bad. It took us about 90
minutes to reach the Rio Madrigal with stops for sightings of birds,
plants, insects and anything else interesting along the way, such as the
rusted remains of some gold mining equipment. Charlie says that gold
is still found in this area but not in great quantities. According
to him, throughout history the goldminers in this area were pretty
disreputable characters. It was incredibly cool along the river which flowed to the sea. Irene, Arnold, Jim and Charlie went for a swim while the rest of us enjoyed the shade and breeze. I was very happy just sitting and watching the world go by. After an hour's rest, our fearless leader emerged from the water along with the other swimmers, and we began our trek back to camp. It was amazing how much more intense the heat had become in the forest! And the ending walk along the beach took a bit longer as well. As we climbed the bluff back up to our tent, Jim and I agreed that cold showers were the next item on the agenda.
Click
for larger view of Corcovado beachcombers During
lunch Charlie announced one more hike at 4, up the trail toward the
platform one more time. Jim readily agreed and I readily said,
“been there, done that.” It turned out that Ann and Arnold also
decided to go, but the rest of us were content to be lazy for the
afternoon. I spent a great deal of the time writing in my journal
and watching a little elaenia building a nest. She used lots of
kapok fibers to line her little home. By
the time the hiking group returned the rest of us were at the Hammock
House watching the birds in the trees nearby and having drinks. As
it began to get dark most of the group dispersed but Jim and Charlie were
talking about star gazing. So Charlie went to his tent, gathered up
the spotting scope and a book on the heavens. He set up on the lawn
in front of the dining area, and along with Mary and Jack we looked at the
heavens until dinner time. It was amazing to see Jupiter and 4 of
its moons as well as Saturn with its rings in a different aspect than we
see it from our latitude. The moon was almost full so it was quite
nice to view as well.
Some of the best birdwatching was from the Hammock House. After dinner we settled our bar bill, had a chat with Erick, the manager, who had been most accommodating when Charlie asked for early breakfast, and then went to take one more cold shower before the generator shut down and the lights in the bathhouse went off.
Next stop: Sarchi and San Jose
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The only bird book you'll need in Costa Rica |
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