On the great Osa Peninsula

Making it to Matapalo

OK, I have to catch up—we’ve been in Matapalo—way south of Dominical on Costa Rica’s remote and lush Osa Peninsula that stretches into the Pacific Ocean—well over two weeks now.  Our Internet connection is so weak here—present only in the early mornings and late at night—so I haven’t been able to blog.

As I write from our house, I hear the black and brown Howler Monkeys in the distance, their long, deep, guttural rumbling booming through the trees--much less a howl than a roar.  They are the earth’s loudest land animal and you can hear them miles away. I have learned to sleep through the howls at dawn now. Our guide Rodolfo, on a recent, long hike (10.5 miles) through the Corcovado National Park here, described the howlers (‘mono congo’ in Spanish) as having sad faces…I saw through his scope that indeed, their black leathery faces and deep, dark reflective eyes are sad, their mouths bent in a melancholy frown. 

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A Howler Monkey--picture taken from our guide Rodolfo's scope

Yet these quiet creatures, (quiet except for the male’s giant roars at daybreak and sunset), are fascinating and beautiful.  We have been fortunate to see them in the tall trees that shade the bumpy dirt road leading to our house…mothers with babies clinging to their backs, an alpha male clamboring through the trees separate, but not too far, from his pack of females and younger males.  One recent evening a troop of Howlers made their way through the giant bamboo that runs along one side of our house. They must be one of the few animals, along with pandas, that can eek out any nutrients from the fibrous bamboo leaves.

With Rodolfo in Corcovado National Park -- our 'epic' 10.5 mile hike with many
sightings including an ant eater and giant Jesus Christ Lizard

 Javier our wonderful driver and friend had driven us down to the house we rented here—it took a full day from Dominical, going south along the Pacific coast. We enjoyed his relaxed pace, taking time to stop for lunch at a lovely restaurant on a high perch in the mountains with a beautiful view of the ocean as the kids read on their iPads. 

Lunch in the mountains with
Javier on the way to Matapalo

We drove further down the mountains to Puerto Jimenez, the last town on the frontier before you reach the little outpost of Matapalo—where the road stops and the giant expanse of Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula begins.  We stocked up at the local supermercado in Puerto Jimenez, knowing it would be an hour’s drive back on a bumpy dirt road to buy food once we reached our house. I was a bit intimidated as the checkout people loaded our groceries into big large cardboard boxes…it felt somehow ominous, like we were headed on an expedition, which we kind of were.  Javier’s low riding VW bus hit quite a few bumps on the last stretch of road to Matapalo, and we crossed two rivers without a bridge. We arrived safely at our house and sadly bid goodbye.

Our Jungle House

Despite my fears of being so remote (off the grid, using rain water for showers, solar panels for electricity, and being on my own with two kids in this distant place) when we arrived at the house it was so beautiful. Happily Lusijah, Robert’s mom, was still with us for another week, a wonderful friend and fellow adult on this adventure.  Far from roughing it, the dark tropical hardwood floors and open kitchen and floor plan are a luxury. Our grassy front yard, rimmed with blooming trees, adjoins the ocean.  We are right on Backwash Beach, a small crescent lined with trees where big waves attract a few surfers who have made it this far out on the peninsula. Though we are on the beach, we don’t have an ocean view because Costa Rica—happily—has prohibited building within 150m of the shore.  It is a sensible country—they also have no military, and have spent the extra funds providing education and health care to their citizens, so life expectancy here exceeds that of the US.

View from the hills way above our house,
at Bosque del Cabo resort

Joys of Living in the Tropics

I quickly learned that despite the luxury of this open air house, complete with hammock and small plunge pool, we are still living in a tropical jungle. The bugs—ants of many sorts, termites, wasps and spiders—are never far away.  We even found a giant scorpion curled up in a kitchen tea towel on our counter today…I screamed bloody murder and Harlan went running.  Our local neighbor who takes care of the house, Irma, killed it and threw it nonchalantly into the garden. I have learned that if you leave dirty dishes in the sink for more than a few minutes ants and bugs are there!  Every morning there are tiny droppings in the kitchen—either from bats or geckos, I am not sure…and one in about 5 nights our garbage can is knocked over by marauding opossum, or perhaps white faced capuchin monkeys, known as monos malos (bad monkeys) as they love to get into things including birds’ nests, all manner of fruit trees, and anything else.  A few days ago they came into our kitchen and stole our last 3 avocados!

A giant Matapalo (strangler fig) Tree, for which this area is named

But being right near the rainforest in this peninsula where flowering and fruit trees and plentiful among the sparse houses is a blessing as we see so much wildlife. Matapalo is home to four species of monkeys …we have seen all four in our yard, as well as macaws, hawks, and agoutis—kind of like a cross between a rabbit and a rock marten.  Perhaps the most exciting sighting was a giant snake eating snake, about 8 feet long, that slithered across the dried leaves at the border of our lawn a few days ago.  I am so scared of snakes, thank goodness it was fairly far off from the house. Our neighbor and groundskeeper Serjio was raking the dry leaves and the kids urged me to run over and warn him of the snake. So I did.  He was completely unconcerned. “Oh, yeah, it lives here. No problemo.” Apparently last year it climbed the giant tree in our yard to eat the large young of the black hawk that is nesting there. The juvenile was too big for the snake to swallow, so the snake just dropped it down in the yard, with the poor parents squawking above.

I could go on forever. We are loving getting to know our beach and the wave here two beaches over, "Pan Dulce" or sweet bread (don't ask me why), which is a long right point break. It is totally different to surf than the crashing beach breaks-- much slower…I am getting the hang of just riding it sideways as it breaks, taking the long ride in…but it is so tiring paddling back out!  The kids are doing lots of homework trying to keep up. Before cooking dinner, and I try to do my evening “monkey walk” to see the animals that come out to eat while it is cooler, and the other day Ella and Harlan surprised me by cooking me dinner, macaroni and cheese served in half coconut shells, decorated with a red hibiscus flower on top. I will try to send one more post before we leave…we are sad that we have just one week left in this amazing place, but glad that Robert, Roman and our au pair from Columbia, Juliana, will be joining us later today. Pura Vida to all our dear friends and family, we miss you!

Never too old for Mom's lap (I hope)

An armadillo!