Hola from Beautiful Costa Rica!

My first few days in Costa Rica have truly been an experience, and though the daily rainstorms can be somewhat hard to handle, I have enjoyed almost every minute of it. My journey really started when I reached the main office of the Rara Avis rainforest lodge and reserve in Las Horquetas. From there, I was transported with an elderly couple from Holland in an old Land Rover in a state of disrepair followed by a tractor-drawn cart down the most primitive road I have every seen. With the preponderance of potholes, boulders, and mud pits, I am amazed that we even reached the Rainforest Lodge at all.

An hour after I arrived, the daily rain began, but this time it didn’t stop.  The rain continued strong and steady for the rest of the evening, so I stayed in the restaurant chatting with a group of students from Tulane on a visit for a summer class with Rara Avis founder Amos Bien.  As we sat in the restaurant it was discovered that a horde of army ants had invaded the main lodge.  Apparently every four or five years these ants completely take over and eat everything that crosses their paths (including humans who are either dead or just dead drunk).  Not exactly a warm welcome.  Later that night, the ants had cleared out and I was shown to my room (a rustic dorm-like room with a balcony and hammock).  After a few rounds cards with the students from Tulane, I slept through one of the darkest nights I have ever experienced.  Clouds covered the stars and moon and there was no electricity in the lodge, so the night enveloped me completely. 

I awoke in the morning to a cold shower and a traditional breakfast of gallo pinto with pineapple. Then the hotel manager and senior guide, a Rasta from the Caribbean coast, led me on a tour of the reserve along with the couple from Holland. We saw poison-dart frogs and Howler monkeys as well as numerous species of palms and orchids. After our short walk, Wilberth and I went for a swim in the pool below the main waterfall on the reserve.  Because of the heavy rains the day before, the water was strong, and it was hard to swim.  But standing under the pounding waterfall was a truly thrilling experience.

After another lazy afternoon of writing, reading, and napping, I’m ready to head to Orotina to see what life as a Researcher-Writer is really like, because I can’t imagine that it’s all as laid-back as my visit to Rara Avis.