Orosi

Determined to get out and see more today, I was up early and out the door by 8am. I went back to my favourite little Swiss bakery for breakfast and to set a plan for the day over a couple of cups of tasty coffee.

The main church in Orosi is the longest continually operating church in Costa Rica despite being only 250 years old. It is a sweet little building with a lot less of the ostentatious trimmings found in most Central American churches. There was a wedding taking place when I got there so I had to wait to poke around until afterwards. Fortunately, there was a very interesting little museum in the old convent wing attached to the main church. Some fascinating historical ecclesiastical items fished out of local Catholic institution storerooms made up the majority of the display.

Heading out of town, I crossed the Rio Grande de Orosi on what is known as the Puente de Hamaca de la Alegría, or the Happy Hammock Bridge. This pedestrian suspension bridge connects people living on the other side of the river with the main town and provides a novel way of crossing the river. Plus, it provides a much safer way of taking happy snaps of the river without worrying about an errant vehicle not so gently nudging you into its depths.

I noticed on the map, there was a lake only a couple of kilometres away that I thought I would wander out to. Unfortunately, I discovered the land around this closest point to me was privately owned and to go down to the lake’s edge, I would need to walk another few kilometres. As I had already come this far, I decided to continue. The road was narrow and not much in the way of easement on the side in most places, but the traffic was reasonably infrequent so I was able to work around it with a degree of safety.

Eventually, I came to a rutted, muddy track that lead down to the lake. Lago de Cachi is actually a reservoir and hydroelectric power-plant the Costa Rican government built in response to the devastating floods that used to plague the area. Now, it is a impressive, picturesque body of water, fringed with massive clumps of water hyacinths.

As the town of Cachi was only another couple of kilometres further on, I decided to walk there and see about the possibility of catching a bus back as it was now on dusk and I didn’t fancy dodging speeding vehicles on a dark, narrow, windy road. I got information about buses from a couples of señoras who advised I would need to go into Cartago and then back out to Orosi. Although not ideal, it was the safer option. I was directed to where the Cartago bus would stop and at the appointed time, it lumbered up.

The thing about Costa Ricans is that they smell great. Like a waft of sweetly scented fresh laundry. Unfortunately, after traipsing some 7kms in the humid countryside, I did not. And was most mindful of that as I climbed aboard the tightly packed bus. Still, it couldn’t be helped. We drove over the dam wall and although it was nearly dark by this stage, you could still make out an impressive drop into the valley below. The bus lumbered on through the hilly terrain and on into Cartago. This time I had the secret information about where the bus left from, though, I needn’t have worried. The bus pulled up directly in front of the Orosi bus. A few minutes later, I was back on the road again and this time got off in town. A big day, but most enjoyable. It’s great to be out in the countryside and poking around its fringes.