It was lovely falling asleep to the sound of the river gently cascading over rocks, but not so lovely being roused at dawn by the on-site caretaker beginning his noisy chores. Still, it gave me opportunity to get organised for the day well in truly in time for my tour. I wandered down to a nearby little open-air roadside restaurant and breakfasted on chicken empanada washed down with good coffee. By the time I returned, the rest of my tour group had arrived and we were shuttled into an awaiting mini-van.
After picking up an English family en-route, we drove alongside the Rio Sarapiqui for several kilometres; eventually turning down a narrow, windy road which lead to our launch point. Our rafts and guides were all ready for us so after kitting up and receiving the obligatory safety brief, we jumped in and started our way back down the river.
Whilst not the most exciting of rivers to raft down in terms of heart stopping rapids, there was still sufficient whitewater action to make it thoroughly enjoyable. Especially when other rivers cascaded into a cascade of the main river you were traversing down. The river wound it’s way past jungle clad embankments, teaming with birds and other wildlife. During the sections we were drifting in the current, it was magical to just look up at the passing jungle canopy and soak up the tranquillity. We stopped off at one stage to jump off an embankment into the current and drift down to our waiting rafts which had pulled up on the rocks with fresh tropical fruit awaiting us.
All too soon, we came to the end of our rafting trip and pulled up back at the Hostel. I had left my belongings in my room so had my own private bathroom to shower and change. Joining the others, we sat down in the outdoor pavilion overlooking the river to a delicious, typical Costa Rican lunch complete with fresh tamarind juice.
I enquired as to buses to La Fortuna where I was heading next and found the next one was in a couple of hours. I was happy to wait and chill in the beautiful gardens of the hostel and catch up on my blog. I looked up at one stage to find a large iguana sunning itself not far from where I was sitting. That was until the caretaker’s little dog decided it was an unwanted guest and noisily encouraged it to scramble back under the thorny bush it had emerged from.
My wait time was up, so I gathered my pack and walked up to the bus stop. Turning my back for half a moment, my bus careened around a corner 10 minutes early and sped off down the road. Caught off-guard, I tried hailing it but was too late. It was gone. And the next bus wasn’t until 7pm. I weighed up my options and decided to try hitching a ride into San Carlos where I needed to catch the bus to La Fortuna.
After about 10 minutes, an hombre by the name of Marcos picked me up in a lightweight truck. I explained what had happened and he was happy to give me a lift to Florenzia in San Carlos where he was heading. It was a pleasant drive and be dropped me off at a bus stop after placing me in the care of an awaiting passenger catching the same bus. It was then a matter of waiting about 15 minutes for the bus and I was on my way. By this stage it was dark and I couldn’t see beyond the sealed windows. We pulled up in La Fortuna and I found my hostel a short walk away.
Wild Woman Wandering 