Bahía Drake, Costa Rica

After a grueling 10 hour 25K hike through the Costa Rican rainforest from Los Patos to La Sirena, and two nights of camping at the ranger station of La Sirena, Sara and I exited Corcovado Parque Nacional made it to Bahia Drake via speedboat this afternoon. Bahía Drake (on the upper right corner of the map, just outside of Corcovado´s boundaries) is an incredibly small island town, with two restaurants, a bar, a pulperia, an Internet cafe, and various tourist offerings, but not much else (and no ATM or bank, meaning we are tight on cash). Fortunately, we do have rooms in a beautiful B&B that is clean and has hot water, electricity, FANS in the room, and nice people. We will plan to be here for the next couple of days (or until our cash runs out) before moving on. I am currently covered in mosquito bites (I counted over 40 on one leg alone), and dripping with sweat like a fat person, but I am so glad to be a little bit closer to the real world as I know it.

I have quite an entry to recap the last couple of days we spent in the rainforest. Last night, for New Year´s Eve, for example, I watched teh sun set at around 5:30PM, ate a simple dinner of couscous and lentils shortly after, and was hibernating in my tent by 8PM (I think...I didn´t keep track of time out there). My tent was the best place where I could minimize the amount of hungry mosquitoes I fed, but unforunately, the tent was also poorly ventilated. So....I rang in the new year drenched in sweat and still covered with mosquito bites...but I was in the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest, listening to macaws and howler monkeys not far away. It was a unique experience, one of many that were had in Corcovado.

Path to La Sirena ranger station.

The airfield's right in front of the campsite.

Corcovado was hot, humid, full of mosquitoes, but also very tranquil, beautiful, and full of wildlife that you can´t easily see elsewhere. Bats, spider monkeys, macaws, toucans, crocodiles, various birds and lizards, were all within yards of where we were sleeping. The rainforest portion of Costa Rica in general isn´t much unlike Hawaii or even parts of Washington state, apart from the unique plants and animals that are found here. When I was hiking, sometimes it felt like I was in the mountains of WA or the Manoa trails of HI. The beach even reminded me of scenes from the TV show Lost. It was an adventure that was both very difficult both physically and mentally, but it was a great experience. I will probably never do it again :P More on that later (with some pics too, hopefully!).

Beach - doesn't it look like a scene out of Lost?


Suzi´s Photo of the Day

Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA Sept 2009

Because I miss him.