We
checked out of our hotel at Cocles and headed north along the
coast highway to Limon. From Limon, we headed west toward
Volcan Poas. We had 2 nights "open" in our schedule so we
elected to check out the Poas Volcano and surrounding area.
The photos below are what we saw.
Kathleen
spotted this alien creature outside our bungalow and grabbed by
camera to take the shot above. Note the blue color of the
face and the asymmetrical arms. This one is clearly left
handed.
On our
exit from the hotel, I spotted this flower in bloom.
The
previous night at the pool we spotted thousands of vultures
circling as a flock. The next morning as we were leaving
Puerto Viejo we spotted their nesting site for the night.
I am not sure where the other 900 of them went, but the first
100 were here.
When we
got into Puerto Viejo we spotted this fellow breaking down a
concrete wall with a sledge hammer.
We
stopped for one final look at the volcanic sand beaches of
Puerto Viejo.
This
barge must be part of the old port. I cannot imagine any
ship "of substance" docking here.
Our
Suzuki Jimny carried us around the country. The ride was
rough and the seats were tight, but it started every time
(sometimes with a hesitation) and it was small enough to go
everywhere we asked it to go. We gave it a good workout on
the rough dirt roads and various water crossings that we did.
Half way
to Puerto Limon we pulled over for a bio-break and walked to the
beach. The beach was deserted and the waves were small.
The
traffic in Puerto Limon was insane. There were drivers
turning left against red lights and folks driving against
traffic on the wrong side of the road. But after the main
intersection we passed this rig in the oncoming lane. We
were not fast enough with the camera to get a photo of the front
end, but the truck is a Mercedes cab over not unlike our
1017. Note the URL on the rear of their camper:
"burtway.com". According to their website, they suffered
many structural failures due to the poor mounts for their
camper. The frames for these trucks want to flex and the
mount for the camper must accommodate the flexing or either the
frame breaks or the camper breaks or both. In their case
it was the frame that broke. See www.burtway.com for photos.
To the
west of Puerto Limon, we saw trees that were sporting red
blossoms. And of course, fires along the sides of the
road.
On the
highway we passed these plantation workers with backpack
sprayers.
Kathleen
called for a lunch stop at a roadhouse for truckers and I saw
this huge slab of tropical hardwood sitting in the parking lot.
We saw
plenty of Mercedes trucks, most were older, but all had the
classical half hood.
We
headed south into the mountains and passed a large tower that
was part of an aqueduct project.
The road
to our hotel was narrow and steep and had many single lane
bridges. Note the sag in this one. We passed many
oncoming fully loaded 18 wheelers which pretty much put us in
ditch.
We
stopped at a roadside pull-out to check out a creek. Thick
jungle vegetation came down to the creek bed.
The road
ascended a fin ridge and after some really steep switchbacks we
had a view of the canyon below. These are steep mountains.
The road
is on the flanks of the Poas Volcano and subject to
slumping. There was a portion of the road that failed as a
result of the earthquake 5 years earlier, but workers were able
to get the road functional.
The
damage is obvious here and it will not be long before the cliff
slumps onto the road.
Further
up on the mountain, we came upon one of the lower falls on the
La Paz river.
Kathleen
had identified a hotel that looked interesting called the "Peace
Lodge". Despite the new-age name, we decided to stay spend
the night there.
Our host
spoke flawless English and I am sure he was laughing at me
attempting to get a room for the night in my marginal Spanish.
A
sitting area close to the bar had this very nice stained glass
window.
The
hotel is high enough in the mountains for it to be chilly.
It had been somewhat overcast all day and here the clouds
covered the far hilltops. In the valley below is a river
with a set of five waterfalls which we will visit tomorrow.
Our
"small" room was the last room available in the hotel and was
only $150 per night. But, the baseline price for rooms
here is $400 or so albeit for a much larger room.
We had a
kitchenette and sitting area adjacent to the bed/bath.
The
hotel is built onto the side of the canyon wall. Our room
was near the first plateau and was located next to this "Trout
Bar" and lake. The lake is behind the restaurant and is
stocked with fish that you can catch. If you succeed, they
will cook your catch and serve it in the restaurant. I had
never heard of such a thing.
The
property has its own aviary, monkey house, serpentarium,
butterfly house, hummingbirds, frog exhibit, jungle cat exhibit
in addition to the natural hot springs. And, if you get
really bored, you can milk their cows. This Rainbow Billed
Toucan was one of many in the aviary.
This is
a different kind of toucan: Mahogany Billed Toucan.
The odd
lighting in the aviary created an odd color cast to this
toucan's breast feathers.
The birds were
friendly and there was a handler present since we arrived at
closing time. He placed one of the birds on Kathleen's
arm. He put it on my shoulder as well, but I was
uncomfortable thinking about what that big beak would do to my
ear.
Next to the toucans
were larger parrots and macaws.
They ran us out of
the exhibit because it was closing time. But on our way
out, we spotted this beast which is some kind of peahen.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2014
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