San Jose

San Jose is the capital city of Costa Rica. Like any big city, it has pollution, lots of people, traffic, bad drivers and bad areas. I needed to come into San Jose to Juan Santa Maria Airport to pick up my friend Emily at the airport. Traveling from Turrialba to San Jose takes 3 bus rides, which is a lot for someone who doesn't really speak Spanish very well.

On this trip I got lucky, and Paula from Serendipity was headed into SJ already, so I got a ride to town. Once there, I had to figure out how to get the the airport. The easy way is to take a cab which costs about $12US. The hard way is to take a bus, which costs about $1US. The problem with the bus system is that if you don't know it, its very difficult to use. Imagine if Broadway and 7th Ave in NY were one continuous bus stop with busses that go all over New York State. The only thing different about this bus stop is that nowhere does it say which buses stop where, when they stop, and where they go. So its kind of a craps shoot.

I managed to figure out which bus I needed to be on via a friendly police officer on the corner in the centro de San Jose. The station was about 10 blocks away so it was quite a haul. I kept seeing the bus I thought I needed go past, stopping at many different places, somehow figuring out who, of the thousands of people waiting on the sidewalks, needed his services. It was organized chaos to say the least.

When I got to the station, I found my bus, and through some very ugly Spanish determined that the bus would indeed go to the airport. What the driver failed to mention (or I failed to understand) is that this bus would stop at every small town between the two and it would take about an hour, maybe more. When I arrived at the airport, I got there right as Em landed, and found great satisfaction in just having gotten there. You don't take the simple things for granted in a place where you know very little. I'm sure the first bus ride is the most difficult.

One other bit about CR. Everyone I've talked to has told me that most Ticos speak English. I'm not really sure where everyone gets this idea, but clearly they never left the safety of their hostel or taxi while in the country. No one on the bus spoke English. I haven't met anyone outside my company who speaks more than a few words of broken English. Maybe I've been in the wrong places, or just those less traveled. Pura vida.

Rio Pejibaye - Upper and Lower - 10.29.06 - III-IV

The Pejibaye River begins near the mountain village of Taus. Although getting to this river was quite the challenge, the payoff in the upper 3 miles of the river was well worth the drive. We put in at a small finca (farm) about .3 miles above Taus, but there is also river access at the school in Taus for a small fee ($1US).

The river begins with a few of the most challenging rapids before mellowing out into the lush jungle scene. Many of the trees in the section overhang, creating a seemingly isolated river canyon of canopy. The rapids are continuous, although not particularly difficult. The trip was for Serendipity, and was a staff duckie trip. Although no one knew where to go, nor how to paddle a duckie, everyone made it out alive, which was quite amazing, actually. We had numerous wraps, swims and lost paddles. Very entertaining.



About an hour into the run it began pouring rain. Although I was only wearing a PFD, it was warm. Amazing. This is one of the great things about being in the tropics. It poured for about an hour, non-stop, and was great. The water was warm although the locals told me that the Pejibaye is one of the colder rivers in the area.

There are lots of small slots on the river which could easily become strainers if the overhanging trees dropped limbs or fell in the river. The gradient is about 80-90 fpm for the Upper and mellows to 40-50 fpm in the lower.

The lower section has one significant rapid where the river drops out of sight on a sweeping right turn with some boulders down below. It can be run right or left, but had an enormous tree wedged in the rocks when we were there. Approach cautiously.

The takeout for the lower Pejibaye is at the bridge at Oriente. There is a large parking area and picnic area on the right side of the bridge.

Turrialba

The Turrialba area where I am living has quite an interesting history. For many years, Turrialba was the train connection between the Caribbean and Pacific shores. A train ran through the city, there was commerce, and the area grew with people and money.

In the later 80's and 90's, roads were built to connect Turrialba to San Jose, and the coasts, which eliminated the need for the rail. Although the town didn't stop using the train for much of its imports and exports, the reduced reliance on the train cut jobs and the area went into decline.

The final nail in the railway came with an earthquake in 1991 that destroyed the railway in the Reventazon River Canyon. With this irreparable damage done, the town declined further, and many people moved out of the area.

The growing popularity of Costa Rica as an ecotour destination brought commerce and US dollars to the area, and it has stabilized in the last decade. The history of the area has contributed to its rich culture and diversity of Costa Ricans. There are black ticos from the Caribbean, alongside the lighter skinned ticos from the Pacific. There are Indians, indigenos, alongside the occasional American ex-pat who is running an ecotour business such as a rafting company, jungle exploration company, or cycle touring company. It is a rich and diverse landscape.

The Turrialba area is, in many ways, off the beaten path. You must cross the continental divide (*read=Rocky Mountains, 2000 miles south), take a few different busses, and speak spanish beause few of the people in Turrialba speak english. It is my good luck that there are few english speakers; I need the practice with the Spanish, and I am really enjoying being forced into the uncertain. Not knowing what they are saying, but knowing that in a few short months, I will. This excites me.

First thoughts on Costa Rica...

I've been in Costa Rica for a few days now. I have been settling in at Serendipity, which turns out to be way more than just a company. I am living in a true palace, Casa Volare (I am flying), complete with surrounding windows and a view to die for. Costa Rica lies on the continental divide. The mountains bend and fold through the country, creating steep winding roads, deep river valleys, and wide open skies.

I was lucky to pass through customs without a hickup. They didn't search any of my things on the way into the country, and just waved me through without a second thought. The airport was as expected: hot, congested, full of taxi drivers and buses eager to push their services on the weary traveler. Once the flood of new arrivals came through the gate, the taxi drivers and street vendors backed off the gate, chatted to each other, smiled. Everyone in Costa Rica is always smiling.

About an hour later Tucker picked me up at the airport in Rosita, a red landrover infamous in Costa Rica. We zipped off to the market for some food before heading out of San Jose to the Turrialba area. Driving through San Jose may have been the craziest experience yet. There are no lines marking the 4-6 lanes of the main streets, and traffic laws are observed as mere suggestions of conduct. Basically, its a free-for-all. We zipped through the traffic with little regard for the hundreds of people, cars, animals, and bustle of the city. As Tucker explained, "You don't need to be scared, our car is bigger. They WILL yield."

Tucker is an impressive woman. She runs numerous companies, employs an amazing number of people, and does it all from her balcony overlooking the Turrialba valley. She loves people and good stories. She has crossed paths with many famous people in her life including the Kennedy family, Pink Floyd, and others, and has done it all through her love of hot air ballooning. Talking with her, you would never know the power she commands through her ideas, entrepreneurial spirit, and kindheartedness.

On my first night in Costa Rica, we arrived at Casa Volare just after dark. When we pulled in to the car port, I noticed smoke coming from the hood of the car. Tucker smiled knowingly and told me that it wasn't the car, but rather, we were in a cloud. Each evening, when the air cools, the clouds drop from the sky and fall into the Turrialba valley. 5 minutes later the cloud was below the house, and I was able to look out on a white blanket covering the valley. It was too dark to see the volcanoes or the valley; simply the moon reflecting off the clouds. Five more minutes passed and the clouds had dropped below Turrialba. An entire city came into view as the hundred of lights in the town peaked through the settling clouds.



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Tucker sent me on a mission into Turrialba yesterday with Wilbur, a non-English speaking Tico who serves as a chauffeur for the company. Through his patience and my poor spanish, we managed to communicate and run some errands. At each stop, the vendors we encountered shook our hands and passed with a friendly "Pura Vida,' or "Que paso." The light attitude fills the streets alongside the poorly remixed American music and the constant whistling of men at the passing women.

Kayaks on a plane

Its been a few marvelous days of my brother getting married, driving to LA, and making final preparations for my trip to Costa Rica. There are many things that go into packing and planning for a trip, most of which I enjoy doing in the last few hours. Getting a kayak on an airplane is pretty much impossible. There are a number of websites that advise how to do it, but basically, it comes down to who is checking you in at the airport, the mood they're in, and how much money you are willing to pay (*read=bribe) them.

Making your kayak look like less of a kayak, and more of a surf board, fun board, kite board, surf ski, surf kite board ski, ect.. the better your odds are of getting it on the plane. Uncle Stewart and I went to a packaging store where I purchased 1500 Ft of stretch wrap for $15. I wrapped my kayak like a mummy in this stuff with hopes to get it passed onto the airplane with as little grief as possible. I decided in the end to bring a Creek Boat with me. It is more inconvenient on the way in, but it will be a more versitile boat once I am there. If the creek boat gets stopped in the airport, I will be able to run back to my car, change to the playboat and get that checked instead. Hopefully it will all go smoothly. I'll let you all know how this goes in my next posting from Turrialba, Costa Rica! Pura vida. Love life.

To blog or not to blog...

Well, I'm actually doing it. After careful consideration, I've decided to keep track of all my Costa Rica adventures with this blog. Although I shudder when the word blog is mentioned, this seems like the best option for a few reasons:

1) I don't want to take a laptop to Costa Rica
2) Everything in Costa Rica gets stolen (see #1)
3) There is lots of internet access in CR where I can update a blog
4) I can put this all on my website, http://www.daysontheriver.com when I get home

So, this is the record of my travels, days on the river, and adventures while abroad. Pura vida.