Original Journal Entry Date: May 19th at approximately 5:00pm and then later about 8pm.
I am writing this now from el parque nacional Corcovado on the southern tip of Costa Rica. My hammock is just behind me between two palm trees, the beach is in front of me with some thunderous crashing waves, and there is nothing but bery plush jungle all around me. Annalee and I just finished eating dinner, a macaroni and cheese hybrid where instead of cooking the noodles, you soak them in cold water for nearly an hour before finally adding the mix and stirring. Not bad actually.
Ok, so here is what's going on and how we got here. Annalee and I decided before graduation that we would travel to Costa Rica and go backpacking after we graduate. That happened when I stumbled upon a ticket to Costa Rica for just $300, texted her asking if she wanted to go, and received a simple response of, "yes". So, I bought the ticket, and we started buying equipment in preparation. On this trip, we are spending very little. We have hammocks to sleep in, things to cook, fire starting material, water purifiers, and just about anything you would need to survive in Costa Rica with very little money. Our hammocks aren't your typical day relaxers. I am using a Hennessy made Expedition hammock (pictured on the background of this page), making me waterproof (attached rainfly) and mosquito proof. Annalee is using a Eno-Nest with a Hennessy made rainfly attached seperately and a fully enclosed mosquito net. Both hammocks can be setup anywhere between trees ranging from 10ft to 30ft apart, a complete setup in less than four minutes.
On May 16th, I flew down on a very delayed flight from Atlanta, arriving in San Jose at 1am. Annalee, originally on a different flight before mine, didn't make her flight and was delayed by one day. I was going to stay in the airport and wait for her, but the wait ended up being nearly 14 hours, so I decided to get a room for the night. A friendly taxi driver, determined to find me a room in Alajuela (the town nearest the airport), stopped by five places before finally finding an open room. For $20 I got a full bed, A/C, and a warm shower. In the morning, I jumped on the morning bus to San Jose, and from there, a short walk connected me to the bus to Santa Marta, where I found the YWAM Costa Rica base. Because I have worked with YWAM previously, the base was happy to put us up for the night with a small fee. I would prefer this over any hotel, if only for the great company and atmosphere. I got in around 11am, sat my stuff down, took a breath, and thought, "Ok, where's Annalee?" Checking my email, I found that she had made the morning flight and was just now landing in San Jose. However, because of the mixup from the day before, one of her bags had gone ahead to Costa Rica without her, and she had to track it down when she arrived. Finally, around 2pm, she made it to the base, after many stories of her own. Just to give you an idea, she met two retired U.S. police officers on the bus who paid for her taxi to Santa Marta, which ended up being the wrong Santa Marta. After a long tour of San Jose, she ended up at the gates of YWAM with a $28 cab fee, well over what the officers originally paid the driver.
We stayed the night of the 17th at the YWAM base with the company of some amazing YWAMers. One, Roberto, had worked in El Salvador during my DTS, and I only found out when he yelled at me from across the base. It was great to run into him on this trip. Everyone was really friendly and gave us some good information for our trip. At 6am the next morning, we headed out to San Jose to catch the bus for the first part of our trip: Corcovado. After walking nearly two kilometers to the wrong bus stop, we caught a taxi to the station San Carlos to get on the right bus. We arrived at 7:55am for our 8am bus. After a very "lively" 8 hour bus ride, we arrived at a small port town on the southeast coast of Costa Rica called Puerto Jimenez. After getting off the bus, a local guide, Vilmar, stopped us and asked if we were going to the park. He was able to take us to a very inexpensive hotel, and by inexpensive I mean two beds, a fan, a shower, and a sink, all for just $8. He then proceeded to give us a speech cenetered around scare tactics of the jungle: Jaguars, snakes, man-eating insects, crocodiles, and the occasional purple-people-eater. He went on to say that he understood our "youthful courage and desire" to see things for ourselves. He finished his speech saying that if we want to survive, we need a guide, and he was the answer. To top it all off, he gave us the weekend special of only $70... a person... a day. We basically told him we would risk our lives for the sake of adventure... and also that we would have enough money for a half day tour, for only one of us. At this point, he left us alone, and we watched, helplessly, and the couple in the room across fell victim to "Vilmar the Villian". I'm sure he's a great guide, but for us, guide just means money, and even worse, following rules.
That evening, after settling in at our $8 hotel and fending off jungle guides, we went for a quick swim in the ocean and then got some dinner at a local restaurant before settling down for our morning adventure. At 5:30, we got up, packed, and headed to the corner to catch the only bus of the day to Carate, a tiny village just before the entrance to the park. The ride was in the back of a large 4x4 tarp covered truck (military style) that took us over mountains, through rivers, and finally dropping us off two hours later at Carate. We walked three kilometers up some beautiful beach, crossing four estuaries in between. Looking down the beach was incredible. The jungle, green and plush, came right down to the edge of the water for as far as the eye could see. A light fog hovered above the sand and dissapeared into the tree line, providing a mysterious, almost "jurassic park" kind of feeling. The beach was filled with every kind of bird you could imagine. The most notable were the wild Macaws. These Macaws, which fly in pairs because they mate for life, would soar high above and then dip down into the low lying branches. I made the comment to Annalee at one point, "These aren't your average pet store parrots", referring to the incredible size and color of the Macaws. After arriving at the ranger station, we discovered that a multiday journey into the park is only available by reservation, or with a guide, which costs, as we learned, $70 a person, a day. After trying to figure out exactly what was going on, decided to walk just outside the park and setup our hammocks along a black sand beach.
As Annalee is setting up her hammock, she stops, turns around and says calmly, "Large. Python". I look over at the tree she's next to and see a 7ft - 10ft Python curled up next to her tree. Kudos to Annalee for not freaking out and approaching it calmly (snakes aren't her favorite creatures in God's great creation). The python was a dark color with the distinct python pattern and a head large enough to fit my hand in without a problem. He is really calm and since we first saw him, which was about 10 hours ago, he hasn't moved an inch. He's still sitting about 10 feet to my left, just being chill, waiting for some unfortunate rodent I guess. We named him Monty.
After setting up camp, we had some ham sandwiches, slept on the beach, and then went for an epic swim. These waves are consistent 10ft - 12ft waves, and although we didn't go out far due to the rip current, we got in some good body surfing and got tossed about quite a bit. We found a freshwater waterfall just off the beach, which made for a perfect shower before dinner. We made dinner (that macaroni hybrid I originally mentioned) and are now getting ready to settle down for the night. Im in my hammock now, its pitch black out, the ocean is roaring, and the jungle is alive around me.
