Boca Brava

14 July 2009

The bus drops us off at a deserted crossing but luckily a lone taxi is awaiting and takes us to Boca Chica on the Pacific coast, a scenic drive with views of the coast and the surrounding jungle. Then a small motor boat takes us across to the small island of Boca Brava. On the island we stay at the only rather run down lodging run by a German chap. The views from the restaurant to the archipelago of islands is amazing. One day we explore the island on foot and spot lots of monkeys. It is very humid.



The next day the German owner takes us in his little motor boat to a deserted beach and leaves us there for the day . . . all alone on a tiny island . . . luckily we get picked up just a few minutes after the agreed time. We enjoy the food though the kitchen is extremely slow, they prepare one dish at a time so with 8 guests on the last day we had to wait 2 hours for dinner.

Monkey Videos:

More Pictures here

The Switzerland of Central America

Costa Rica is often referred to as the Switzerland of Central America. Especially the region around Monteverde reminds us a bit of Switzerland: It is green, very hilly, and a producer of cheese. But there are also social and political parallels: CR is neutral and politically stable, and it enjoys relatively great wealth.
However, as a Swiss banker, I might feel also at home in Panama: Panama is a financial centre with a tradition of strong banking secrecy, and as a result shares a place with Switzerland on the OECD grey list of countries which have not implemented international standards on tax information exchange.
So which country is really the “Switzerland of Central America”?

Relaxing in Boquete

8 July 2009

Boquete is a relaxed small town in the north of Panama, set in a beautiful open valley between many hills and mountains. Boquete brings us a week of nature and relaxation. We stay in a charming little cabana (La Isla Verde) set in a stunningly beautiful garden. We have our own kitchen – ah finally homemade meals, we buy lots of fresh fruits and veg in the local market. Oddly enough, the local meat manufacturer seems to have swiss roots, and I spot one of my favourites in the meat section: a real “Landjäger”.

The mornings we take long walks of 3 to 4 hours enjoying the surrounding nature – rivers, forests, great views over the valley, and lots of coffee farms. Some of Boquete's coffee is marketed as gourmet organic coffee, and sold directly via internet auction.

One day we take a rest from our long walks and go to visit the natural hot springs, about 40 min outside of town. These are natural all right; we get dropped off at the end of a dirt road right before a bridge, we cross the bridge and follow a dirt path which leads through many trees and over some small creeks. Suddenly a lady calls out from a farm house and charges us two dollars for using the hot springs as this is private property. And finally we discover the 2 to 3 hot springs, very small pools with steaming hot water! The pools are about the size of a jacuzzi, and the water is so hot that steam rises from it. Small bubbles rise from the ground. This is an amazing place – especially as it is 100% set in nature, no development, not even a stand that would sell a drink.

We also start to enjoy a small outdoor place behind our hotel: Big Food Grill. This is one big oven with a few plastic chairs around it – we go there a few times. Once we order diet cokes for drink, and the waitress (the daughter of the man behind the BBQ) says that they don't have that, but that the order is OK anyway. A few minutes later, she drives off in a car, only to return 15 minutes later. After that, we get our drinks. We suspect she drove off to the supermarket to get our cokes...

You cannot leave Boquete without picking up at least two words of Spanish:”Se Vende!”. Good thing we are enjoying Boquete now as it appears the whole region is For Sale. We did not see one piece of land or house that did not have the infamous For Sale sign. It appears that this is a favorite spot for North American retirees. Wonder what it will look like in a few years . . .

Crossing the border

8 July 2009

Today, it's bye bye CR. Due to our diversion, we cross the border into Panama not via the panamerican highway but a small place called Rio Sereno. We first take a one hour bus from San Vito through beautiful mountain scenery. We see the La Amistad nature reserve (a UNESCO site) in the distance. The last 40 minutes on this busride lead over an unpaved road. As the bus comes to a halt, all the locals head down the street into what seems to be the village. We're the only ones enquiring about the location of the border officials. Turns out we have to backtrack a bit to get to the CR immigration: the bus passed it undeterred. We get the stamps from a plainclothes officer in the building (to this day, we don't know if Costa Rican uniforms for immigration officers exist at all). Next, we walk our trolley bags down the unpaved road to the Panamanian immigration. The official requests copies of our passports, and is a bit annoyed that we don't have them ready. He doesn't have a copy machine in his office, but a shop further down the road has one (probably on Panamanian territory already). Natasha sprints, gets two copies for a few cents, we get our stamps (free of charge) and walk down the same road the locals did 15 minutes ago into Panama. No fence, no gate.

At the Panamanian side of town, we're greeted by a Chinese supermarket. We already started to wonder if the Chinese had not yet set up shop in Central America – they're relatively absent in Nicaragua and CR, but we see many Chinese supermarkets in Panama.
We take the minibus to David: a three hour ride along curvy mountain roads and blasting salsa music. At times, the driver races like a criminal on the run, only to bring the vehicle to a halt a bit later and slip in a three minute cigarette break.

Your address in Costa Rica

Costa Rica does not use a system of street names. An address is always in relation to a popular landmark, often the church. In every town and village, the church is at the same location: it is always at the eastern side of the central square (parque central). An official address might read: '100 meters north of the church', or '300 meters west of the gasoline station'.

San Vito: Wilson Botanical Garden

7 July 2009

Our initial plan was to take the express bus from San Isidro via the Panamericana to David, Panama. However, we did not reckon with the start of the school holidays in Costa Rica: all buses to Panama were sold out for the next three days. We switch to plan B, which is to take a bus to San Vito, a small village in the mountains of southern Costa Rica. A scenic drive up a narrow and steep road brings us to this community.

At some point, a herd of cows takes over the road, and the bus has to stop and wait, until they pass us. Remember: if you see a man on a horse on the roadside waving a red handkerchief, it means that about a hundred cows are around the corner, coming your way!

The main attraction of San Vito is the nearby tropical garden and research centre: The Wilson Botanical Garden. Part sculpted garden, part nature reserve. We spot a pair of Toucans with yellow beaks. These birds are spectacular – the binoculars allow us to admire them up close. We also see tons of Agutis – an animal similar to a rat the size of a small dog. We take a guided tour through the garden and learn some interesting facts about tropical plants. For example, did you know ...

....that palm trees are not trees, but herbs.
....that bamboo is not a tree either, but grass.
....that it only takes two months for a bamboo to grow to its full height of 25 meters. That puts a whole new dimension to "cutting the grass"!

We like the place so much that we decide to spend an extra day. Fotos

Link: Wilson Botanical Garden - Organisation for Tropical Studies

San Isidro and Playa Ballenas

1 July 2009

While the north of Costa Rica is heavily developed and receives many US tourists, the south is virtually untouched. Beda leads us to beaches which are completely unspoiled – and on some of them we were the only people. One of the reasons for this isolation are the unpaved roads and the absence of road signs. But with the upgrading of roads in progress, billboards already announce the development of resorts and golf courses. For now it seems most of these plans have been put on hold due to the crisis.

Link to Photos.

Witnessing theft on the beach

30 June 2009

Although we felt secure in Costa Rica, theft in bright daylight does occur. It happened on the beach of Manuel Antonio nature reserve. The small beach looked like paradise: a small bay with yellow sand, fringed by the trees of the national park.
While I and other visitors enjoyed the crystal clear water and the fine sand on the beach, a suspicious looking character wearing a black mask around his eyes for camouflage sneaked out of the dense forest and surveyed the beach. He then approached an unattended backpack. Other people yelled at him to get away from the bag, but unimpressed, he opened the bag and ran of with his bounty . . . a pack of potato chips. We later spotted the thief eating the chips under a bush.

Walking through the tree tops

28/29 June 2009

We leave Monteverde Sunday morning on the 6.45 am bus to Tilaran. The buses in Costa Rica also provide a delivery service: Someone stops the bus, hands a package to the driver. Half an hour later, someone else stops the bus on the roadside, and picks up the package.

We made a date with Gaudi's uncle Beda, who currently lives in Costa Rica, at 12.00am in front of the church in Tilaran – that landmark is easy to find. Tilaran is a quiet town on most days, and very quiet on a Sunday. The reason for this is that the whole town seems to attend the mass in church, which ends at 12.00h. At that time, the street fills with people streaming out of the church. Looks like we've decided to meet at the only busy corner in town!







Beda and his girlfriend Mimi take us to Arenal, the most famous Volcano of Costa Rica. We stay in a Swiss style chalet and eat Buendnerfleisch, Cordon Bleu and Roesti. Outside, Simmental cows graze. Feels like home.







Volcan Arenal is a giant. It's still active: there is hot lava running down one side, and steam coming out of its cone.







We visit the national park of hanging bridges. In this region, most of the vegetation and plant life takes place not on the ground, but high up in the trees. Dozens of plants and flowers grow in a tree's branches and along its stem. These plants gather the water they need directly from the clouds. The hanging bridges, sometimes at frightening heights, make it possible to observe all these different plants. Besides all the plants, we spot many monkeys, and a chameleon (hard to spot!).





Photo-Album:

El Arenal