Today was the day we were going to have to traverse “Highway route 2” which is a particularly windy highway which often suffers from heavy fog. As we left our accommodation we decided to stop by Cafe Mono Congo once more to pick up smoothies for the drive. Just before getting to “Route 2”, there was a car flipped over in a ditch next to the road… Police were on scene and no one appeared hurt, but it didn’t bode well!
The drive itself was very curvy, and we did get stuck behind some trucks, witness some absolutely insane overtaking, some fog and even a brief downpour. But we made it to the other side unscathed just by taking it slowly. Driving through the township of Cartago was another story….
Driving in Costa Rican Cities and towns be insane, sole domain of insane people. Did not like.
But we did make it to our accommodation eventually, a quaint Eco-lodge overlooking a waterfall. The arrival already did not bode well… after ringing the doorbell a lady came on a quad to open it up and just went straight back down without saying a word. We followed down what felt like a 75 degree incline on a road where the mirrors had a centimetre space on each side.
This was one of the few Airbnb’s we really felt was pretty poor: Expensive a little dirty and not well maintained. Eco, in the “Hippie don’t do no work” sense rather than the “Environmentally sustainable, but with all the creature comforts” sense.
But it did have a waterfall on the property! It was just down a, and a I quote from the host, “zig-zag trail”.
He was even nice enough to give me a walking stick (Manja had her fancy tripod walking stick), and a loan of his dog which has walked this trail so much that it could guide us not just to the waterfall, but to the local ancient church ruins. I wanted to say “No thanks, we like to stop and photograph and the dog will not help with this”, but the dog was already happily taking off and showing us the way.
Now, as the more astute of you may have gathered, I have long had a passion for hiking, and I don’t mind challenging terrain or a bit of bush-bashing. I hiked in Nepal and in all sorts of conditions around Australia. But this “walk” be crazy, dude. We should have taken a machete to clear some of the fallen plants and quick-growing jungle plants. Some of the sections were so deteriorated that I needed the walking stick to give me enough stability to pass, and I caught a good handful of slips on that stick too. Manja meanwhile was following me slowly and carefully, but without complaint. (Except about the Mosquitos, which do seem to love her a little too much!)
She even scrambled through a fallen tree with me, which was a little risky as it was no longer properly attached to anything. Doggy meanwhile, was happily waiting for us on the other side of every obstacle, giving exactly zero fucks about our difficulty.
Eventually we did make it down to the river, which we would have to follow to the waterfall. We were immediately dismayed – there was rubbish absolutely everywhere. But in for the penny, in for the pound. So we did 4 river crossings and eventually made it to the waterfall. As we were getting ready to leave I though “wow that waterfall really throws drops far away” about a second before Manja said “Shit, and now it’s raining”.
And so it was that we made our way to the town church, by crossing the river another 5 times (all the crossings back and one more) and walking through mud in the rain. As Murphy was watching, the rain promptly stopped when we got to solid walking ground.
We walked over to Ujarrás, doggy still leading us. We bumped into some local dogs, which promptly barked aggressively, then happily and then came and said hello. Ujarrás is a national Monument, so no dogs allowed. Doggy knew this, so went around the back as we signed in, greeting us at the church. Okay, I gotta admit, doggy knows its stuff and is a great tour guide. Church ruins seen and appreciated, we had to make our way back. There was around no fucking chance in hell that we would take the “Zig-Zag Trail” back up, so we used google to find an alternative. There was still some bush-bashing through wet rainforest plants and a steep incline, but it didn’t feel unsafe. Just hard. Eventually we hit the local road, and doggy mostly kept to the side away from oncoming traffic. I only had to push him off the road once 🙂
After we got back we cleaned up and headed out for a quick dinner before settling in for an early night. As I was writing this a massive huntsman like spider decided to come in through the not properly sealed exterior door to our room. I attempted to help him vacate the premises, but he had other ideas, so by flip-flop finished him before he got into bed with Manja. I have the feeling we will not sleep particularly well. I shall report tomorrow.
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