On the road again... part deux
Like all good plans, mine had a few hiccups, and that’s why I had to go home for a bit more than a month, leaving HAL into the caring hands of my friend Liana in Costa Rica.
What was supposed to be a relax month back home turned out to be very busy, the school and the rehab center must have missed me loads, cause the phone kept on ringing and ringing, and ringing… (after the third time I answered!!!) At one point I even became a French teacher for a couple of weeks, disaster, got stuck with responsabilities… and a schedule!!
But being home was fun, got to see the missus (and learn to live together which must be hard for poor Nicky), see the friends, realized that I do have a very fortunate life, and also realizing that I do love the road as well. So May 6th I re-left Ottawa and returned to Costa Rica, home of the craziest drivers so far in Central America. In a week since I came back, a guy next to me ended up in a ditch while trying to overpass me in a 1 and a half dirt road (had to tow him with cables), almost had a face to face with a police car, saw drunk drivers swirl all over the roads, and saw a dead guy in a ditch next to a motorbike. Scary stuff that makes me extra cautious…
But the highlight of the last week must certainly be:
THE CLIMB OF THE MIGHTY CHIRRIPO!!!!!
Liana, Kevin and I left the town of Jaco at sunset on Saturday morning for San Gerardo de Rivas, pearch high up in the mountains, home of the Cerro Chirripo, Costa Rica’s highest peak at 3800 meters high. We arrived that morning and met up with Juan Carlos who fixed us up in an amazing wooden house overlooking the mountains, surrounded by cloud forest. For only 12$ each, we had a 2 story house, equipped with all comforts… AND SATELLITE TV WITH SKY SPORTS… AND THE MONTREAL CANADIENS-PITSBURGH PLAYOFF GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!
After a day filled with trout fishing, meeting the meanest waitress in the world, offroading, and exploring the gorgeous village of San Gerardo, we left again the next morning at sunrise to attempt our climb and reach basecamp at 3000 meters. What followed was a steep climb up with all our gear and food for 2 days, that left me sweating like never before and absolutely exhausted when we arrived at camp a bit more than six hours after.
Next morning, we woke up at 3 in the morning to start the final ascent and reach the 3800 meter peak to watch the sunrise and the view of both oceans: Pacific and Atlantic. OR NOT!!! After stepping outside we soon realized that it was foggy and rainy, leaving us, after a climb of 2 hours, with a view of… well… fog!!!! But nonetheless, we did reach the top, after I suffered from a bit of altitude sickness and felt proud to have touched the roof of Costa Rica.
After a bit of soup and rest at basecamp, we descended back to the village, where after 2 days of hiking, my body was in bits and pieces, struggling to put my feet in front of each other and walk… Even as I’m sitting here after 2 days, I still feel the pain in the legs, me and Liana, walking like to old ones.
I finished my stay in Jaco with a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park, where I saw a multitude of massive lizards, sloths, and monkeys… topped off with a gorgeous beach at the end of the trail.
What was supposed to be a relax month back home turned out to be very busy, the school and the rehab center must have missed me loads, cause the phone kept on ringing and ringing, and ringing… (after the third time I answered!!!) At one point I even became a French teacher for a couple of weeks, disaster, got stuck with responsabilities… and a schedule!!
But being home was fun, got to see the missus (and learn to live together which must be hard for poor Nicky), see the friends, realized that I do have a very fortunate life, and also realizing that I do love the road as well. So May 6th I re-left Ottawa and returned to Costa Rica, home of the craziest drivers so far in Central America. In a week since I came back, a guy next to me ended up in a ditch while trying to overpass me in a 1 and a half dirt road (had to tow him with cables), almost had a face to face with a police car, saw drunk drivers swirl all over the roads, and saw a dead guy in a ditch next to a motorbike. Scary stuff that makes me extra cautious…
But the highlight of the last week must certainly be:
THE CLIMB OF THE MIGHTY CHIRRIPO!!!!!
Liana, Kevin and I left the town of Jaco at sunset on Saturday morning for San Gerardo de Rivas, pearch high up in the mountains, home of the Cerro Chirripo, Costa Rica’s highest peak at 3800 meters high. We arrived that morning and met up with Juan Carlos who fixed us up in an amazing wooden house overlooking the mountains, surrounded by cloud forest. For only 12$ each, we had a 2 story house, equipped with all comforts… AND SATELLITE TV WITH SKY SPORTS… AND THE MONTREAL CANADIENS-PITSBURGH PLAYOFF GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!
After a day filled with trout fishing, meeting the meanest waitress in the world, offroading, and exploring the gorgeous village of San Gerardo, we left again the next morning at sunrise to attempt our climb and reach basecamp at 3000 meters. What followed was a steep climb up with all our gear and food for 2 days, that left me sweating like never before and absolutely exhausted when we arrived at camp a bit more than six hours after.
Next morning, we woke up at 3 in the morning to start the final ascent and reach the 3800 meter peak to watch the sunrise and the view of both oceans: Pacific and Atlantic. OR NOT!!! After stepping outside we soon realized that it was foggy and rainy, leaving us, after a climb of 2 hours, with a view of… well… fog!!!! But nonetheless, we did reach the top, after I suffered from a bit of altitude sickness and felt proud to have touched the roof of Costa Rica.
After a bit of soup and rest at basecamp, we descended back to the village, where after 2 days of hiking, my body was in bits and pieces, struggling to put my feet in front of each other and walk… Even as I’m sitting here after 2 days, I still feel the pain in the legs, me and Liana, walking like to old ones.
I finished my stay in Jaco with a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park, where I saw a multitude of massive lizards, sloths, and monkeys… topped off with a gorgeous beach at the end of the trail.
posted by transamericatrek at
7:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]