Costa Rica: 1990

Trip Organizers/Guides: Eileen Ash & Paul Mason from NOC
Guests: Chuck & Nancy Brabec, Harold Burks, John Burton, Ted Gerula, Stuart Grannen, Allen Kraus, Rebecca Ann Schneider, Gary & Ardie Shaffter

October 26:

This was our first trip to Costa Rica. We arrived in San Jose after an uneventful flight with more than enough baggage - including paddling gear, sleeping bags and a tent. We were met at the airport and transported to the Europa Hotel in the center of the city. There were 13 of us including our trip organizers - Paul Mason and Eileen Ash. We had dinner at a restaurant attached to the company that was supplying our boats for the week. For supper we had broiled fish or chicken with cashews, black beans, rice, salad, an unknown vegetable with sesame seeds that was very good, plantains and a fruit drink. For dessert they served a banana cake. After dinner we adjusted the outfitting in our boats so they fit us.

October 27:

We had coffee (strong and served with hot milk), loaded our gear on the bus and headed out of San Jose. We drove through coffee plantations, plantations that raised ferns under netting for shade and farms that grew strawberries in raised beds. We also saw hibiscus and bougainvillea growing wild along the road. After an hour or so, we stopped for breakfast and then paddled our first river - a flatwater section of the Rio Sarapiqui.

When we stopped for lunch, we carried up a steep hillside. Lunch included sandwiches, pineapple, papaya, palm hearts and fruit juice. When it came time to get back on the river, we got in our kayaks and slid down the hillside about 12-15 feet into the river. It was fun. While paddling, we saw several iguanas and one tree with 6-8 small monkeys who started growling at us. We also saw cattle egrets flying overhead.

On our drive to our hotel we saw nests of oropendula (a bird related to the oriole). Their hanging nests are about 24" long. The Selva Verde Inn was in a natural area with hiking trails in the jungle. The inn is a two-story affair with a veranda all around it. Our rooms off the veranda had screened windows with no glass. There were bamboo shades to provide some privacy. We had a private bath and two twin beds.

October 28:

The country rises early to take advantage of the dawn which comes about 5:00 AM. The birds start singing early too. We went for a hike before breakfast and saw several black birds with yellow or red markings. There were hummingbirds everywhere because of all the red flowers. Breakfast was rice/beans/cilantro, scrambled eggs, granola, bread and jam, papaya, watermelon, bananas, fresh pineapple juice and coffee with the usual hot milk.

Our second river (a different section of the Rio Sarapiqui) was delightful. It has some interesting rapids with some unusual water patterns. The water would head directly for a 12-15' high bank before making a sharp turn. There was a strong recirculating eddy on outside of the turn and a swirling eddy on the outside of the turn. One time one of the men ended up right at the wall and the water kept his boat still there until he paddled off. While sitting in a eddy, we saw a river otter swim downstream. He stuck his head up and looked at us a couple times. This river had some interesting waves but not difficult paddling. One area had had reactionary waves coming from both sides such that you were buffeted first one way and then the other. It was like the rapid called "Slice and Dice" on the Ocoee.

Lunch included pejivalloes (the fruit of the palm tree) and papaya. For dinner we had roast pork, mashed potatoes, green beans, casava and salad. The juice was passion fruit and dessert was watermelon.

October 29:

At this point, our trip took a bad turn. Chuck had been taking large doses of cortisone the week before (to deal with a rash) and it disabled his immune system. He got a diarrhea/vomiting problem starting in the middle of the night and nothing was working to stop it. The trip got diverted to San Jose where we left the group and checked in at Hotel Europa. We went to the pharmacy for medication too.

October 30-31:

Unfortunately, the medication did not help and we called a doctor to the hotel. A few hours later, Chuck was admitted in Clinica Biblica, a private hospital, suffering from severe dehydration. The doctor spoke enough English to help us and was very nice. He had Chuck in the hospital for 2 nights and visited us a total of 6 times, once at the hotel and 5 times at the hospital.

The hospital had only private rooms with a bathroom. In addition to his bed there was a seat area the size of a twin mattress. I was allowed to stay there all the time and sleep on the padded seat. After Chuck was admitted, I walked back to the hotel, had them store most of our luggage and took a cab back to the hospital. The cab fare for the 14 blocks was less than a dollar. The first day after Chuck checked in, I walked to a McDonald's for lunch. My supper was crackers, peanut butter, apples and Coke.

Check slept most of the first day. He was put in intravenous feeding and nothing but tiny sips of water by mouth. He had a good night and was able to have some tea and ginger ale the next morning. I went down to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast (rolls, papaya and coffee). She then walked to an English bookstore and bought some reading material for both of us - including a Spanish/English dictionary. After a stop to buy fresh pineapple from a street vendor, she returned to the hospital.

Chuck was served chicken and mashed potatoes and ate a little of it. My lunch was the leftover chicken, more peanut butter, crackers, an apple and the pineapple. When supper rolled around, I decided to go to the cafeteria for a regular meal (with the dictionary in hand). She asked for the roast chicken and was told that there was none left. She ended up with fish and a salad.

Another characteristic of the country is their good public transportation system. People wait for buses to get around the city and to outlying areas. They also consider the car horn a necessary part of their driving and stop signs (Aldo) are only for when someone else gets to the intersection first. You better run across the street because they will run you down. Another problem is that the pedestrian cannot see the traffic lights so you have no idea if the light is getting ready to change or not.

Our room had a window that opened on the street and in order to breathe you needed to leave the window open - even though the air was polluted with diesel and leaded gas fumes. The silencio sign with a horn and a slash through it was completely ignored so we had noise pollution too. The noise did quiet down at night, but Chuck was getting medication at midnight and 6 AM so our sleep was interrupted. Also, the nurses change shifts at 5 AM and there is a bus stop across from the hospital. Latin men love to whistle and carry on when the pretty nurses walk to the bus stop.

November 1:

The doctor said that Chuck could be discharged after his last medication (intravenous). The hospital chaplain showed up and offered to accompany us to the cashier. Her ability to speak English and Spanish was quite helpful. The hospital bill for two nights and all medication was about $240. The doctor's bill was $80.

We returned to Hotel Europa and went for a short walk in the afternoon, then wrote postcards. Chuck rested while I went out for some pineapple for a snack. The rest of our group returned to the hotel that evening and we accompanied them to an Argentinian restaurant for our farewell dinner.

November 2:

Our adventure ended with a flight back to the states this morning. We thought the country was really nice and would like to go back some day. I am determined to work on my Spanish because it is awful not being able to communicate when you need to. She said that she wanted to be able to say "Take good care of him. I'll be back after I finish the trip."