Costa Rica: 2012

December 1, 2012:

We flew to San Jose Costa Rica for a six day trip with Endless River Adventures (ERA). We were traveling with Robbie Griffith and Jeff Redding. Already waiting for us were Kathy Williams, Ken Jordan, and Christina Peraino. We drove to Charlotte NC in order to get a direct flight and to avoid loss of luggage. Alas, it was not to be. When we got to the San Jose airport, there was only one paddle bag. Robbie’s was missing! The person that checked Robbie in put the wrong luggage tag on her luggage. Elsewhere in Costa Rica a man was looking for his luggage and all he could see was a paddle bag. Fortunately her bag was in another town in CR, about 3 hours away. The bag arrived at the hotel around 10:30 PM.

We met up with Juliet Kastorff, Craig Parks, and Daniel Young at the hotel Torremolines and started our adventure with a “welcome” dinner at a local restaurant. Juliet and her husband Ken own ERA. She went out of her way during the week to see that we were all happy. On the rivers, Craig would lead, Daniel followed up the rear, and Juliet was back and forth with a camera.

Costa Rica is on central standard time. Being close to the equator, they have sunrise around 5:30 AM and sunset around 5:30 PM all year round. It gets dark quickly. Chuck and I kind of stayed on eastern standard time, waking at 5:30 (6:30 eastern) so we could enjoy all the daylight.

December 2:

We drove to Miguel’s house (he was our driver all week) to get in our boats and make sure they fit us well. There was no hurry. Being comfortable in our boats was of prime importance. ERA provides a choice of boats in Costa Rica. We bring our own paddling gear.

From there we drove to the Pejibaye River. This river is one of my favorites and we were lucky enough to get to run it twice. I had a combat roll in the last big rapid…an auspicious start!

This was the first trip to Costa Rica for both Kathy and Christina. It was wonderful to watch the two woman gain confidence in their paddling and gain comfort on the unusual water. Costa Rican rivers are new rivers and have a tendency to change year by year. They also have a tendency to head for a bank or “wall” and make a right or left turn. There is a lot of funny water around the area where the river changes direction. The staff from ERA checks out the rivers they plan to paddle before they bring their guests to them. They are also right there to help paddlers that run into trouble.

December 3:

Today we ran the Pejibaye for a second time, starting about a mile higher up where the water was a little more challenging. One had to react more quickly to the changes but in the end you could always see where you needed to be with plenty of time to get there.

Both nights we stayed at the Hotel Wagelia in Turrialba. There were pillars around an open area with a covered walkway between rooms. We strung up ropes between the pillars to dry boating gear. We were also given access to the warm laundry room. This was probably the driest trip for us in Costa Rica. By that I mean we were able to dry our clothes and gear pretty well. Chuck and I rinse our paddling shirts/pants/socks with soap and then water and wring them dry in our towels after we’ve taken our shower. Even if the clothes don’t dry perfectly they don’t smell!

The Hotel Wagelia has good food and excellent cervichi. Besides the fresh fruit (bananas, papayas, pineapples, watermelon), cervichi is my favorite food down there and I try to have it more than once.

December 4:

Juliet offered us two options for today. We could run or raft the Pacuare or paddle the Reventazon. Kathy and Ken were planning to stay an extra week and raft during that time so they decided to paddle the Reventazon. That was a 4-5 mile run of big water and waves. The rest of us went to the Pacuare. Jeff and Craig paddled this class 4 beauty while the rest of us rode a raft with Tico’s River Adventures. Christina and Robbie sat in front of Chuck and me with a couple from the Canary Islands bringing up the rear. Our guide had been running this river for 20 years and did a good job of putting us in the right place. They served us a delicious Costa Rican lunch half way through the run. We got some beautiful pictures of waterfalls.

We spent the night in Squirres at Centro Turistico Las Tilapias. This place had a canal running among the trees. We got in our kayaks and paddled the flat water enjoying the greenery, birds, one monkey, and lizards. This place was owned by a man that had befriended a crocodile. The crocodile had been shot in the eye. With the help of friends, he carried it home and restored it’s health over a six month period. Some of his story – Chito and Pocho – is online at www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=5VmLF57RuQo&NR=1. We met Chito the following morning and he showed us his billboard pictures and told us that Pocho had died last year of natural causes. The crocodile was stuffed and in a glass case. He was one big crocodile weighing around 1000 lbs at the time of his death.

December 5:

We ran the Sarapique river today. The water was a little more difficult than the Pejibaye but manageable for all that. The run was straight through to the takeout where we had lunch and loaded into the van for the long drive to Jaco Beach. Dinner that night was at a fish taco place. One ordered the fish and then added things from their salad bar. Their salad bar is not like those in the US. They had several cabbage salads, pasta salads and cucumber salads. The fish was really good. We stayed at the Villa Estrellamar. The rooms had a kitchen, and an air conditioner that dried the air. That helped us dry our clothes.

December 6:

We ran a section of the Savegre today. When given a choice, Kathy and I decided to put on lower down. The ride from the upper to the lower put-in was a real experience. It had started to rain and Miguel was worried about climbing the huge hill. He had Kathy and I sit in the very back for ballast. Kathy suggested Miguel sit in the back and let me drive! No way, Jose! He was swerving and the wheels were spinning and we in the back were busy sending positive messages and we made it! Kathy kept her eyes closed the whole time because she was afraid if she watched she would be screaming and that wouldn’t help at all.

Turned out the water was higher and some of the rapids on the upper portion were class 4. Kathy and I were happy we weren't up there. Christina had 6-7 rolls but didn't swim. Chuck got two rescues – one by Craig and one by Juliet.

On the lower section I followed Craig and finally saw how to approach and run the wall shots. I was sorry to see the takeout. Craig approached the wall by paddling on the side of the river that would be on the inside of the turn. That was key for me. By entering it that way I could read the water and knew where I needed to be.

We drove back to Jaco Beach in time to see the sunset and had another dinner at the fish taco place. Chuck and I had tuna steaks – rare – a first for us. They were delicious. Robbie was sharing a shrimp cervichi. I still prefer that dish made with fish.

December 7: So that some folks could go to the beach to do some ocean surfing, we had a late breakfast (9 am) scheduled. Chuck and I took the extra time to walk into town for coffee and an omelet and to do a little shopping. We had a fruit plate for our second breakfast at 9. Today we were going to do a canopy tour with Costa Rica Canopy Tour Adventures. The zip lines are in a cloud forest at the foot of Barva Volcano. This was the second time we’ve done a zip line adventure and we felt like old hands. The trees in the forest were beautiful and the view of the valley from the mountainside was stunning.

December 8:

Alas, all good things must come to an end. We stopped at the grocery store for cheese and salami for sandwiches on the plane and for Costa Rican coffee to take home. At the airport we also bought tee shirts for our granddaughters. The flight home was uneventful. We spent the night at the Microtel where our car had been parked free of charge for the week.