Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 64: Bouncing Along
April 12, 2006
The intended early morning howler monkey watching session gets postponed - while they were growling around the campsite (supposedly they visit the camping area every early morning), we were still dreaming our sweet morning dreams :)) Eventually it gets too hot in the tent, so we finally wake up. It's 10AM, the monkeys are long gone, and so are most of the campers. The ones who have stayed appear suspiciously monochrome: all the real colors of the tents (including ours) and the cars (including our recently washed Nissan!) have vanished under a thick layer of dust! Dry summer days, unpaved roads, and way too much traffic for this little town have done their dusty job to an otherwise very nice beachfront place. Time to get out of here.
So we get our dust together and swiftly leave Playa Tamarindo - no regrets! Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve (Reserva Biologica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde), which is the next stopover on the itinerary, is high up in the Central Highlands, but Costa Rica is so small that the Central Highlands are only some 160 miles away from the Pacific. For a change, we decide to choose an alternative route via Liberia hoping the road will be better than the one we arrived on. Keep on hoping… All the secondary roads in Costa Rica are equally "wonderful"! (And there is only one main road, the Panamericana, which goes straight down south along the Pacific coast :)
Getting to the little mountain village of Santa Elena took the entire afternoon of non-stop driving up into the highlands (on the map, look for Cordillera Tilaran in the Central Costa Rica). The higher we got, the more treacherous the road became. Yet, the long and bumpy drive was not tedious at all because the views along the way were truly terrific: the mountains were verdant, banana plantations were abundant, the lakes were beautiful, until everything eventually gave way to a dense cloud forest. We even saw some howler monkeys in the trees just steps from the road!.
Most of the hotels in Santa Elena offer guided wildlife watching tours to Monteverde Reserve, so we arrange one with ours for 7 o'clock next morning and go straight to bed to make sure we don't slumber away more monkeys :)
Tip #1 The road from Tilaran to Santa Elena is full of rocks, potholes, tight turns and steep angles that altogether make it so atrocious it could almost compete with the road to San Carlos. Your car will hate you for this ride, but unfortunately, there are no alternative ways to get there. However, it's worth the sweat! The spectacular scenery en route and the cozy little mountain village of Santa Elena (about 4 miles from the reserve) make a fair reward for the bumpy ride.
Tip #2 Pension Sinai at the entrance of the village is a clean and comfy place with spacious rooms, hot showers (essential in the freezing highland mornings!), free internet 24/7 (one computer in the lobby), gated parking, and a very helpful owner, who will either inform you about the good hiking treks in the area so you could go on your own, or will arrange a guided tour for you, depending on what you are up to.
Tip #3 The nights in the highlands get really cool, especially if
you come from the tropical coastal temperatures, and the days are not too
hot either, so be prepared for some chillin' :)
Click on the pictures to enlarge
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On the way to Monteverde
Pakeliui i Zaliakalni :) ("Monteverde" vertimas i lietuviu kalba) |
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One of the 3000 Costa Rican bird species
Viena is 3000 Kosta Rikos pauksciu rusiu |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
64-oji diena: Vaziuojam toliau
2006 m. balandzio 12
Vakar vakare netiketai susitikom Maikla is Sietlo, su kuriuo kartu nardem Roatane. Susitikimo proga vakaras prie alaus uzsitese daug ilgiau, nei planavom - labai daug prisiminimu ir nuotykiu reikejo aptarti! Maiklas, kaip ir mes, jau pora menesiu tyrineja Centrine Amerika, tik jis keliauja autobusais ir lektuvais. Is Costa Ricos planuoja vaziuoti i Panama, o is ten noretu skristi i Kuba - jei iki tol nepasibaigs pinigai. Jei pasibaigs, tada galvos is kur ju prasimanyti ir vis tiek skris i Kuba :)).
Pastebejom viena idomu dalyka - per du keliones menesius jau pradejom atsiminti zmones. Ne tuos, su kuriais kazkur asmeniskai susipazinom (pastariesiems atsiminti, laimei, dvieju menesiu nereikia! :)), o neutralius "bendrakeleivius", kurie atsitiktinai keliauja tuo paciu marsrutu ir panasiu greiciu, kaip ir mes, todel juos vis pastebime. Neitiketina (ir smagu!), kad tiek daug paties ivairiausio amziaus zmoniu (teko snekteleti ir su 20-meciais, ir su 60-meciais, keliaujanciais jau po pusmeti ir daugiau) sugeba susiorganizuoti ilgas atostogas ir biudzeta tokiai ilgai kelionei. Vadinasi, neklydome sakydami, kad reikia tik didelio noro, ir kiekvienas gali tai padaryti! :)
Per uzsitesusi susitikima su Maiklu pramiegojom bezdziones (anksti ryte jos, atseit, ateina i kempinga pusryciauti - grauzti medziu lapu bei tykoti apsimiegojusiu turistu pusryciu). Bet nieko tokio - gi prasidejo dar tik antra diena Costa Ricoje, ir panasu, kad bezdzioniu cia netruks! Napsirikom - pakeliui I Monteverde draustini, medziuose, visai prie pat kelio, gyvena bezdziones-staugunai, kurios, pateisindamos savo rusies varda, garsiai triuksmauja (i staugima mums tai buvo maziausiai panasu, bet, jei jau kazkas jas pavadino staugunais, sakykime, kad stauge... spreskite patys, pridedam video klipuka (2.6Mb) su garsais).
Kelia i Monteverde/ Santa Elena pasirinkom per Liberia, tikedamiesi, kad bus nors kiek geresnis uz ta, kuriuo uzvakar atvaziavom I Playa Tamarindo. Kur tau! Visi keliai, isskyrus Panamericana greitkeli, buvo ypatingai prasto stovio, o atkarpa per kalnus, nuo Tilarano iki Santa Elenos (zemelapyje ziurekite centrine Costa Rica, Cordillera de Tilaran), mazai kuo nusileido keliui i San Carlos. Tokiu "puikiu" keliu deka, I Santa Elena atvaziavom jau sutemus (o nuvaziuoti reikejo tik apie 250km - Costa Rica- labai mazyte). Taciau krastovaizdziai pakeliui buvo ispudingi, tad kelias neprailgo.
