In the Jungle

Before I tell my tale, I have two apologies: 1) I have to catch a bus soon, so I may be brief. 2) Modern computers with USB ports are scant in Costa Rica, so no photos yet.

begin.

The evening before Sam and I were to leave was the hardest rain I have ever seen. It rained all night and we were pretty sure the boat ride would be canceled due to the lightning. Eventually the boat did come, but almost an hour late. The water was very choppy, which made for a bumpy trip and sore backs.
When we arrived at the National Park we were completely drenched from the rain, and it was still coming down. Because of the wetness and the late start, we thought it would be best to spend the night at the ranger station and begin the next day.
By noon it stopped raining as hard and we went for a few day hikes around the area, and to the sea. We also met a guy named Robert from Holland who also wanted to hike across the Park, so we invited him to join us.

Early the next morning the three of us ventured off into the jungle with heavy packs and high spirits. The trail was wide and beautiful. We encountred packs of jungle pigs, jungle chickens, jungle misquitos and jungle monkeys. And a lot of other distinctly jungle stuff.
It rained a few times during the day, but it was so warm out that nobody really cared. Our ponchos were wrapped around our packs and our feet were mostly dry.
Things began to change in the afternoon. It started raining a bit harder and the creek crossings went from ankle-deep to thigh-deep. Also, the trail started to climb and become muddy. By 3:00 we reached a ranger station at the top, but it wasn´t nearly what we expected. The last ranger station had dry areas to camp and provided meals and water. This one didn´t have anything. We ate our avacado and cheese sandwiches, and chatted with a research scientist about the conditions of the rest of the trail. He said it was only a few more hours and that we had already done the worst of it.
He was dead wrong.
Even though we were exhausted and soaked, we pressed on because we didn´t want to sleep in an the mud by an ant-pile. The mud on the trail was so thick that with with every step I didn´t expect my boot to come out of it. A few hours of slippery steep muddy trails finally led us to a river. Now, the researcher told us that we would have to cross it, but didn´t say we would have to cross it fourteen times!! After crossing belly deep muddy water for another few hours it was starting to get dark. And the path was becoming much less obvious. And it was starting to rain hard again. And we were screwed.
A mile back we had heard a dog barking, and a spur trail leaving the main one. The best decision was to go back and look for anybody living out there. So we backtracked and by the time we got to the small shack with three chickens, two horses and a dog, it was pitch black (and, of course, raining). We followed the smell of camp smoke and called out. A trim man with an even trimmer mustache appeared and we asked him about the trail. He reminded us that the crocodiles and venimous snakes come out at night, and the rain will make the river dangerous, and it is easy to get lost. He said the village was an hour and a half further. We asked if he knew of a suitable place to camp and he ran off, ¨I´ll be right back¨ style.
A few minutes later he came out of his shack with boots up to his knees, a flashlight and a small backpack. "I´ll guide you". We all breathed a sigh of relief.
And so off we went, struggling to keep up with him after already a dozen miles with heavy packs. We crossed the river at least five more times, each time it was completely non-obvious where to go. Without our guide, we would have gotten lost even if it had been daylight. The trail was extremely obscure.
Finally we arrived at a town. All in all we had walked 19 miles that day. Our guide got us a taxi to take us to the nearest hotel. The Costa Ricans are so impressively friendly. He was so surprised when we all gave him money. This guy was prepared to lead us through all those rivers in the middle of the night, with no notice, just to be helpful.

Sam and I took a bus this morning to a bigger town of about 2000 people. She had left her backpack at a hotel here and I owed her some cash so we traveled here together. In town we had another man approach us and ask in english if there was anything we needed help with. When we told him that we already knew where we were going he told us about his home town near San Jose and how beautiful it is. That we should make a point to go see it because it has a nice view of the valley. I am so impressed with the friendlyness of the people here. Another man was near the bus station and I asked what time the bus leaves. He told me the answer and ran off. 5 minutes later he came back and corrected his answer. This guy had just ran across town to find out for sure my bus schedule. This is what I have been looking for.
And now I´m off again. Sam just hopped on her bus, and I catch mine in a fifteen minutes...

Time to go see some Mayan ruins,
end.