COSTA RICA

An e-mail from Colin (don’t worry if you don’t know him) tells me that I haven’t posted a dog photo yet.  I know he likes dogs but he could be reminding me that stray dogs are a part of life in Central America that this Blog has missed so far.  There have certainly been lots of them everywhere and although they are mostly very poor specimens, they must serve a purpose in ensuring that the piles of rubbish contain no food waste.  Of course, having now entered Costa Rica, stray dogs are proving very elusive.  Having arrived safely in Monte Verde I have scoured the mean streets for hours and this is the best I can do!

Another early start brought us to a quaint little ferry at 6am in time for sunrise.  The ferry itself was the first I’ve been on where it was possible to get to the front of the boat so I spent much of the journey there. 

 From here we took taxis to the border and achieved another crossing with only minimal disruption.  Having bought a ticket at the first booth to leave the country, the next person to check it told me that the date was wrong.  The advantage of being in a tour group meant that Andrès dealt with this.  Without him I’d probably still be arguing the toss at the border!

Costa Rica is the richest country of those visited and these differences soon began to manifest themselves although, at first, nothing seemed to have changed.  The vegetation seemed to reflect a drier climate but there were still mainly cattle in the fields.  However, before long the land became much flatter, irrigation channels were evident and large scale arable farming took over.  Crops which appeared to be cereals were growing and in places were being harvested by modern looking combines.  Large circular bales produced a landscape that might even be found in Norfolk. 

Large modern processing plants and even industrial factories were protected by very modern fences.  There seemed to be fewer people walking along the roads and the roads themselves were of better quality and not obstructed by random livestock.  Everywhere the houses were built to a higher standard and seemed better cared for whilst houses occupying larger plots and of a more modern design were far more common.

Eventually, we turned off the main road and headed into the mountains towards Monte Verde.  The hills rose and the cloud base fell so soon we were both on a dirt track and in the clouds.  The hillsides reminded me of the Pennines in Derbyshire except for the giveaway of palm trees in places and for the first time, I saw hydrangeas as household plants.  As we descended on the other side of the mountains plantings of coffee became evident and after an hour and a half of bladder torturing travel we arrived at the Historias Lodge in Monte Verde.  This is a place very much set up to exploit tourists and tomorrow I shall join the exploited.  However, for tonight we have a supply of wine and have located a decent pizza place for the evening meal.