February 3, 2025
Costa Rica - in Focus
We had very little knowledge of Costa Rica, and little to go on in terms of arranging a visit. We were not totally in the dark, however, because both our daughters had been there more than once in the past. So Laurie dropped off a big box of maps and guide books, that put us in the picture to some extent. But on questions like whether cycling was really feasible there, we would have to go see for ourselves.
There are some international tour companies, that we have come across from time to time. "Get Your Guide" is one that comes to mind, and we did go on a successful one day excursion with them out of Valencia. But Dodie just stumbled across something called Costa Rica Focus, on a random Google search. We contacted them, and were pleased to get almost immediate responses, and all in good English. They had several proposed tours, generally of 8 to 14 days, and all featuring complete accommodation, meals, a full time guide, and a driver. The cost for this was way higher than we were accustomed to spending on tour. At $US 8000 for about 12 days, we would be spending at about 5 times our customary daily rate. We explained that to Costa Rica Focus, and began to give up on the idea. But Costa Rica Focus came back with a proposal on a tour called "Station to Station", which seemed to involve some more rustic research establishments, rather than luxury resorts. In fact the $8,000 thing was for this rustic option, and I no longer remember what some of the higher numbers may have been.
We must be quite naive, because the suggestion that Station to Station was the "cheap" option seemed to sway us, despite its obvious 5x cost factor. Perversely, the idea of visiting legitimate tropical forest research stations increased the value of the expedition in our innocent minds. So, we went for it!
As it turned out, we had lucked into something that we truly will remember fondly, forever. First off, the supposed spartan or rustic locations struck us as wonderfully luxurious. Perhaps it's a legacy of our camping days, but really not. Compared to average French hotels, which we are well familiar with, they really were luxurious. And the food? We had cautiously asked whether the food would be standardized meal offerings with little choice, but we were surprised to find that we had unlimited choice from the menus of some extremely upscale places. The ecotourism industry in Costa Rica is generally upscale, and were were taken to some fabulous places. We even had a rebellion from Dodie, who almost refused to order from a menu that had main dishes like steak for $80. But one of our tour mates pointed out that the tour company had probably costed things out at the menu maximums, so in a sense we had already paid. We did then order without restriction, but when we did some back of the envelope calculations about all we were receiving, we could not figure how Costa Rica Focus was making any money for the piddling $8000.
Perhaps the greatest revelation concerned the guide, a fellow named Alex Castro. When we had been on the grounds of that hotel in Yucatan, the Aracaris were the only birds we had managed to spot. We had not been willing to admit it then, but a local guide really can be essential. And now in Costa Rica, Alex did not seem to be just a guide. He was a master of bird and forest knowledge. His powers of observation were almost magical. He would look into a forest glade and immediately begin naming birds at (to us) impossible distances and spotting difficulty. His standard dialog became legend with us and the other group members. e.g. "Ok, guys, guys, (names impossibly small jungle bird)! Look, just above my pointer! Stand behind me, you'll see it. Get it, get it! No? Ok, here, look through the scope!" At the end of the day, Alex would hold a group meeting to review what we had seen. In total, there were 258 species over about 13 days. To believe it, or see the details, look here.
Alex's skills were not limited to spotting and instantly identifying hundreds of bird species. He also regaled us with mini lectures on Costa Rican ecology, industry, transportation, agriculture, food, and sociology. I wondered where he had studied, to know all this, and asked about it. He referred to training courses required of all guides, who are licensed by the state. Later, I did spot his bio, and there was university training behind it as well.
The magic for this tour was not woven by Alex alone. He was helped by some wonderful facilities - hotels, restaurants, nature reserves, whose standards were way above what we had seen in Mexico, or even in Europe for that matter. Of course, there exist lower tier places as well, which we have subsequently seen in some Youtube videos about Costa Rican touring, but while we were there what we saw was only the best. The Costa Rica Focus organisation in the background was also stellar. There was never the slightest glitch in any part of the tour. And when I got locked in a restaurant washroom, my message to them resulted in a swift rescue!
Surprisingly, the impression here could be of some level of luxury, for lazy tourist types. But no, or at least not entirely. In rain or sun, in low altitude bugs or high altitude cold, Alex (and therefore we) started at 5:30 A.M., which was the time of dawn. And it didn't end until the review meeting, in the dead of night. The day usually included hiking through rain forest, or along up and down roads. The best spots, for us, were hotel or restaurant observation decks that featured bird feeders. But even among these, it was generally go, go, go.
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One spot that Dodie in particular was not so fond of, was La Selva research station, in the Caribbean lowlands. The main activity here was a jungle trail. It crossed a large river, on something that the map showed as the "Stone Bridge". It turned out that there was no stone involved, but rather the bridge was named for a pioneer named Stone. The bridge, instead, was a swaying cable suspension affair. Dodie crossed it once, slowly, with trepidation. Her reaction to swaying bridges is like mine with heights - that is, terror. Thereafter Dodie stayed at the station, and in fact it was there that she had the best time, because she could calmly observe and photograph the many birds in the bushes and landscaping right there at base!
In the morning at La Selva, 5:30 a.m brought a biblical level downpour. I was sure that this would be a day for enjoyable sitting at tables drinking Costa Rican coffee and staying dry. I thought of confirming this obvious fact with the group on the group Whatsapp. But hey, at 5:30 a.m. sharp here was Alex in his rain parka, and off we went into the jungle. Theoretically Dodie and I also had parkas, but we got drenched. Later we invested in official La Selva rain ponchos, which we now have home as nice souvenirs. Ponchos are not much favoured by cyclists, because they are so flappy. But for walkers they are great, and are able to cover packs in the back and cameras in the front. But this adjustment did not happen before the Lumix camera died in the moisture. The Nikon and the Canon survived, so two out of three survival, not bad! And our parkas? In 24 hours they did somewhat dry out! Next day, after we had departed, we learned that Dodie's birding ground had turned into a lake!
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The unlimited quality food, transfers in our brand new 18 passenger Toyota bus, and comfy beds, in truth we just allowing us to hang in there. Now back home almost a month, I think we are almost back at full strength. No kidding, it has taken a while. We are now looking forward to another 4000 km of cycling, and it feels like an upcoming rest cure.
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