Home on the Highway - San Francisco to Ushuaia, Argetina in an 87 4Runner
07-11-2012, 03:21 PM
#287
Registered User
Thread Starter
Costa Rica is a beautiful country, jammed full of amazing wildlife and breathtaking scenery. It is a safe, well-developed country, with fine infrastructure. It has become the #1 tourism destination in Central America for good reason. That being said, We were getting tired of running the "gringo circuit" and having every place we show up be overrun with tourists, price gouging tour operators, eco-tour this, eco-tour that. Where was the REAL Costa Rica? Someplace that hasn't yet been bombarded by ex-pats looking to make a buck off of milk-faced tourists coming down on holiday. We were hunting for someplace where the smooth pavement ends and the true Costa Rican jungle takes back over.
When we last met up with our Costa Rican friend Erick, we were planning a 4x4 trip out to the "Osa Peninsula". Dubbed Costa Rica's last wilderness frontier, The Osa is rich in wildlife, sparsely populated and, until recently, very difficult to access. Much of this densely forested area is conserved in national parks and private reserves. Here, towering rainforests line undeveloped beaches and untouched coves, making this region one of the most beautiful anywhere on Earth.
Osa as seen from space
We loaded up the 4Runner and Erick loaded up his Nissan and we headed out from San Jose towards the jungle.
We are humming along when all of the sudden a huge thunderstorm hits us. It is coming down in sheets, we can barely see the road in front of us. I am losing sight of Erick who I am following out to the Osa, when all of the sudden the 4Runner bucks and then completely dies. Try to turn it back over and it just cranks and cranks but never turns over. Great.... broke down in a thunderstorm.
Luckily Erick's truck is equipped with a HAM radio setup and he had given me a Walkie, So I radio up to him that I am having some issues and he circles back.
We jump out in the rainstorm and pop the hood trying to figure out what the hell is going out. Getting soaked to the bone in the process...
After some fiddling I realize that while driving down the bumpy and rutted roads the MAF sensor plug has wiggled itself free. Plug it back in and hit with a few zipties and we are back in action! I think 90% of our truck is held together by zipties at this point...
We cruise along the Osa peninsula with no real destination in mind. We eventually decide to head out to "Bahia Drake".
We arrived in Drake and find a small fishing village with a beautiful rainforest lined sandy cove.
We drive right out onto the beach and setup camp for the night.
We share some beers and celebrate our arrival on the peninsula. We are honored with a beautiful sunset over the bay.
The Osa peninsula is one of the wettest places on earth, getting hit with an average of 360 inches of rain per year. It doesn't take long till she starts dumping once again and cuts our celebration short. We both retreat into our individual homes for the night.
Next morning we are up early eager to explore more of the Osa. Erick talks to a local fellow who gives him the scoop on a beautiful beach that we need to go check out. He says the road out there is pretty rough with lots of river crossings. Excellent!!
We make it to our secret beach. A beautiful palm lined beach with not a soul to be seen.
More pics and the rest of the story on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com/headed-to-the-osa-peninusula/
When we last met up with our Costa Rican friend Erick, we were planning a 4x4 trip out to the "Osa Peninsula". Dubbed Costa Rica's last wilderness frontier, The Osa is rich in wildlife, sparsely populated and, until recently, very difficult to access. Much of this densely forested area is conserved in national parks and private reserves. Here, towering rainforests line undeveloped beaches and untouched coves, making this region one of the most beautiful anywhere on Earth.
Osa as seen from space
We loaded up the 4Runner and Erick loaded up his Nissan and we headed out from San Jose towards the jungle.
We are humming along when all of the sudden a huge thunderstorm hits us. It is coming down in sheets, we can barely see the road in front of us. I am losing sight of Erick who I am following out to the Osa, when all of the sudden the 4Runner bucks and then completely dies. Try to turn it back over and it just cranks and cranks but never turns over. Great.... broke down in a thunderstorm.
Luckily Erick's truck is equipped with a HAM radio setup and he had given me a Walkie, So I radio up to him that I am having some issues and he circles back.
We jump out in the rainstorm and pop the hood trying to figure out what the hell is going out. Getting soaked to the bone in the process...
After some fiddling I realize that while driving down the bumpy and rutted roads the MAF sensor plug has wiggled itself free. Plug it back in and hit with a few zipties and we are back in action! I think 90% of our truck is held together by zipties at this point...
We cruise along the Osa peninsula with no real destination in mind. We eventually decide to head out to "Bahia Drake".
We arrived in Drake and find a small fishing village with a beautiful rainforest lined sandy cove.
We drive right out onto the beach and setup camp for the night.
We share some beers and celebrate our arrival on the peninsula. We are honored with a beautiful sunset over the bay.
The Osa peninsula is one of the wettest places on earth, getting hit with an average of 360 inches of rain per year. It doesn't take long till she starts dumping once again and cuts our celebration short. We both retreat into our individual homes for the night.
Next morning we are up early eager to explore more of the Osa. Erick talks to a local fellow who gives him the scoop on a beautiful beach that we need to go check out. He says the road out there is pretty rough with lots of river crossings. Excellent!!
We make it to our secret beach. A beautiful palm lined beach with not a soul to be seen.
More pics and the rest of the story on the blog at http://homeonthehighway.com/headed-to-the-osa-peninusula/
07-11-2012, 03:43 PM
#288
Registered User
Thread Starter
It had been far to long since we did some backpacking and Lauren and I were getting very excited to visit Costa Rica's Corcovado National park. Corcavado is located on the isolated and undeveloped Osa peninsula. It is considered the crown jewel of the Costa Rican park system. Corcovado contains the largest primary rainforest on the entire Pacific coastline and the largest lowland tropical rainforest in the world. National Geographic called it "the most biologically intense place on EARTH". We were stoked.
We signed up for a 2-day permit at the park office located in Puerto Jimenez and picked up a trail-map. The cost was $10 per person/per day plus $3 per day for camping. There are also meals available at the Sirena Ranger station. However, meals must be scheduled far in advance and are very costly due to the necessity of all supplies to be packed/flown/boated into the remote ranger station.
The next morning we loaded up our backpacks with food and gear, parked our truck at a crotchety old ex-pats tienda near the trailhead and started off down the beach.
The ranger informed us when we signed up for the hike that it was around 20KM (12.5 miles) or so total to the Sirena ranger station where we would be camping. The hike is a mix of beach hiking and rain forest trail. Trudging along through the wet sand, Lauren and I were immediately reminded of our backpacking trip on California's Lost Coast
The scenery was breath-taking. Tropical rainforest butted right up to the pristine beach. Similar to the Lost Coast, we had to be wary of the tides. There are 2 stretches of beach that could only be crossed during low-tide. Get stuck in the middle when the ocean comes up and you are shark food.
Within 2-minutes of hitting the trail we started to see our first wildlife.
A Coati(sort of like a tropical raccoon) is feeding on the beach.
They say hermit crabs are signs of a healthy beach. I would say this one is in pretty good shape...
Continuing along the beach we crossed a few small rivers and streams leading out of the jungle into the ocean.
We continued hiking through the sand and made it to our first beach pass. Tide coming up on us already? We are going to have to boogie if we want to get through the second pass before the tide is too high.
Making it through our first stretch of beach hiking we cut up into the rain forest. Immediately the temperature drops 15F and the intense sounds of jungle replace the sound of waves crashing the shore.
The forest is full of thousands of "Halloween Crabs" who make their burrows in the soft soils of the rainforest. They scatter as we approach filling the forest with the noise of claws scratching on the trees, branches, and deadfall of the woods.
We are deep in gigantic old growth rainforest.
We are peacefully walking along taking in the sights and smells of the woods when suddenly Lauren screams and stops dead in her tracks.
I run up to see what the hell is going on, She stops me and whispers. "I think I just saw a jaguar" Nonsense, I think. Jaguars are extremely rare and a nocturnal creature.
She points through the trees. Sure enough I see a black cat with long tail and piercing eyes staring back at us. DAMN! It is a jaguar!
The cat stares back at us nonchalantly then takes a few steps into a clearing. I see now that it is certainly not big enough to be a jaguar but definitely some sort of large black feline. Lauren steps back to safety behind a tree. I on the other hand grab the camera and inch closer as she whispers "What the hell are you doing!?"
The cat is just sitting there staring back at us... in perfect view for a picture. I ready the camera, aim, focus, fire. *BEEP BEEP BEEP*. The serine silence of the forest is broken by a mysterious foreign sound. The cat bolts into the jungle. I look down at the camera which reads MEMORY CARD FULL. The forested mountainside echos with the sounds of me cursing at the top of my lungs.
We later learn that what we encountered was not a jaguar but actually a "Jaguarundi". Someone with a larger memory card than us snapped this photo of one.
We have encountered small bobcats before in the wild but certainly nothing as strange, exotic, and possibly man-eating as this. Our senses are on high-alert now. I grab a stick for protection, Lauren huddles behind me, and we press further into the jungle. The fact that we are the strangers in a strange land fully sinks in. This part of the world is still extremely wild and we are the intruders. We suddenly get the feeling we are being watched as we traipse through the woods.
*CRASH* The sound of breaking limbs, branches fall from the sky, and the forest fills with screeches and screams. We jump 5ft backwards then stare into the tree-tops. We find an entire troop of 15 white-faced capuchin monkeys swinging and playing around. We spot one lazily munching on bananas. My mind was blown as we stared at the stereotypical "monkey eating a banana" scene play out in front of us. I thought this stuff only happened in cartoons!
Eventually we break out of the woods and back onto the beach. The beaming sun was a warm-welcome after our harrowing time in the dark jungle. Unfortunately, We had taken far to long lollygagging around getting attacked by Jaguarundis and staring at monkeys in the rainforest. The tides had risen quite a bit and we found ourselves at the beginning of the second stretch of beach that was impassable during high-tide. By the looks of it we had maybe 30-minutes before high-tide was in full swing.
We had 2 choices.
Number one. Make a run for it and hope to cross the mile-long strech of beach before the tides reach the cliff-walls and drag us out to sea.
Number Two. Wait out the tide for hours and possibly end up spending the night in the man-eating jaguar infested jungle.
We looked at the beach, We looked at the jungle. We looked at each other. Then started running.
We sprinted as fast as we could with our 30Lb backpacks down the beach as the waves crashed inches from our heels. As we advanced we were pressed further and further towards the cliff-wall. Eventually the ocean was too high, we could not go any further. To our right was a semi-dried up waterfall to the left was the ocean bearing down on us. We scrambed up the dry waterfall and bushwacked it through the jungle.
Eventually we found a faint trail. Exhausted we through down our backpacks and enjoyed a victory meal of crackers and tuna fish. We had made it through the second pass.
The trail wound through the woods a bit then came right back down the beach but further in the trees away from the tide.
Palm tree being born from a coconut
We continued our trek until we come to our third and final obstacle. The Rio Claro.
The ranger had mentioned the river contained crocodiles and BULL sharks. But what he failed to mention was that it was over waist-deep and over 50ft wide during high-tide which was of course... when we got there.
We walked up and down the river bank trying to determine the best area to cross. Further into the forest the river was slow but very deep and wide. We figured our chances were high to be eaten by crocs or sharks before we made it to the other side.
Closer towards the ocean, the river was not as deep or wide, however when the ocean tide crashed into the river mouth it ripped the current so fast the banks were eroding and we watched 400LB fallen trees trunks being drug out into the ocean.
We knew the Sirena ranger station was less than 1/2 mile past this damn river. If we did not make it across we would have to sleep in the jungle, which at this point was not an option.
I threw down my pack, grabbed a stick, and stood on the river bank watching the tide come into the river mouth. If we timed it right we would be able to cross when the river was low, the tide was slow, and the crossing would be simple. If we timed it wrong and the tide crashed into the mouth while we were crossing there was a high probability we would be pulled out to sea.
I waited for the tide to slow and stepped off the bank into the river, I slowly picked my way across the river with the water coming up about waist-high. As I was half-way across I looked up and yelled to Lauren "Hey, A crocodile!" and pointed towards a large croc resting about 40ft in front of me near the river bank. No big deal...
I made it safely across with no drama aside from the croc sighting. OK, Well now we know its possible. I waited for the tide to recede again and crossed back.
We hitched our packs up as high as possible on our backs, waited for the tide to calm, looked around for the croc who had since vanished, and stepped in.
We were slowly picking our way across when all of the sudden, ROUGE WAVE. The river mouth started to flood with ocean water and the current began ripping the sandy river bottom from beneath our feet. I abandoned my crossing stick and turned to see Lauren stumbling and about to go face first into the ripping river. I grabbed her by the pack as she fell forward and drug her along as we clamored up the opposite river bank.
We made it! We sat on the bank for a while catching our breath and checking out our packs. The bottoms had gotten wet a bit but overall were suprisngly fairly dry. Luckily Lauren fell forward instead of backwards, she got her clothes soaked but her bag stayed dry.
I took this moment to remindLauren this is the 2nd time I have saved her from dying in a river. She was almost swept away once before while hiking the Rae Lakes loop back in the Sierra mountains of California. Yes, I am a pretty awesome boyfriend.
We collected ourselves and trudged on as the sun was setting, 1/2 a mile later we came upon a clearing in the woods.
We had never been so happy to see a clap-boarded weathered station! Sirena Station, How we loved you!
We sat for a while taking in the whole experience and resting our bones in the old reclining chairs on the front porch of the station.
Set up our tent on the elevated covered platforms, stripped out of our wet and stinky clothes, and had one of the best sleeps of the entire trip.
The sounds of howler monkeys and squawking macaws woke us in the morning. We made some coffee and suited up to trek around the various trails found around the station.
Lauren and I are avid hikers and backpackers. We have visited tons of parks, reserves, wildlife areas, etc. Never in our life have we seen anywhere close to the amount of wildlife that we saw in Corcavado. It is literal zoo without cages out here. You are constantly stumbling across natures creatures just going about their business in the wild. It is an amazing place.
Spider monkeys crawling in the trees.
More Coatis running across the trail.
And my favorite sighting of the trip. A wild Tapir munching away in the jungle. We were less than 5ft away from him. He did not have a care in the world and just kept on grazing as we snapped photos.
That night we were visited by all kinds of weird, giant and interesting bugs I have never seen before.
A gigantic grasshopper.
This crazy flying leaf looking bug
HUGE flying cockroach
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and the next morning we packed up from the platform as we prepared to set off.
We made some new friends at the station and we all decided to set off back to Carina together.
Back down the beach we go. This time we timed it perfectly and all the beach/river crossings were easy.
Not done with the wildlife yet! We saw an ant-eater plodding along through the forest.
Stopped for some beach-side fresh coconuts.
Not a bad view for a break.
Also spotted some poison dart frogs along the trail
We passed the final ranger station on the way back to Carina where we stopped for a break.
While resting we spotted a weird bird. Upon closer inspection, it was actually not a bird but a GIGANTIC moth. This moth is called the "White Witch Moth" and has the largest wing-span of any insect in the world.
We hiked the last stretch of beach in silence. Taking in the jungle, the beach, and the last few days experience. If you are a biology/nature lover you need to get your butt down to Corcovado National Park. I guarantee you will not come away disappointed. The hike out to Sirena station is challenging but worth every step.
Back to the truck, we loaded our stinky gear and headed to Puerto Jimenez where we got a cheap motel and enjoyed a long hot shower.
The next day we hit the road, Destination: PANAMA.
We signed up for a 2-day permit at the park office located in Puerto Jimenez and picked up a trail-map. The cost was $10 per person/per day plus $3 per day for camping. There are also meals available at the Sirena Ranger station. However, meals must be scheduled far in advance and are very costly due to the necessity of all supplies to be packed/flown/boated into the remote ranger station.
The next morning we loaded up our backpacks with food and gear, parked our truck at a crotchety old ex-pats tienda near the trailhead and started off down the beach.
The ranger informed us when we signed up for the hike that it was around 20KM (12.5 miles) or so total to the Sirena ranger station where we would be camping. The hike is a mix of beach hiking and rain forest trail. Trudging along through the wet sand, Lauren and I were immediately reminded of our backpacking trip on California's Lost Coast
The scenery was breath-taking. Tropical rainforest butted right up to the pristine beach. Similar to the Lost Coast, we had to be wary of the tides. There are 2 stretches of beach that could only be crossed during low-tide. Get stuck in the middle when the ocean comes up and you are shark food.
Within 2-minutes of hitting the trail we started to see our first wildlife.
A Coati(sort of like a tropical raccoon) is feeding on the beach.
They say hermit crabs are signs of a healthy beach. I would say this one is in pretty good shape...
Continuing along the beach we crossed a few small rivers and streams leading out of the jungle into the ocean.
We continued hiking through the sand and made it to our first beach pass. Tide coming up on us already? We are going to have to boogie if we want to get through the second pass before the tide is too high.
Making it through our first stretch of beach hiking we cut up into the rain forest. Immediately the temperature drops 15F and the intense sounds of jungle replace the sound of waves crashing the shore.
The forest is full of thousands of "Halloween Crabs" who make their burrows in the soft soils of the rainforest. They scatter as we approach filling the forest with the noise of claws scratching on the trees, branches, and deadfall of the woods.
We are deep in gigantic old growth rainforest.
We are peacefully walking along taking in the sights and smells of the woods when suddenly Lauren screams and stops dead in her tracks.
I run up to see what the hell is going on, She stops me and whispers. "I think I just saw a jaguar" Nonsense, I think. Jaguars are extremely rare and a nocturnal creature.
She points through the trees. Sure enough I see a black cat with long tail and piercing eyes staring back at us. DAMN! It is a jaguar!
The cat stares back at us nonchalantly then takes a few steps into a clearing. I see now that it is certainly not big enough to be a jaguar but definitely some sort of large black feline. Lauren steps back to safety behind a tree. I on the other hand grab the camera and inch closer as she whispers "What the hell are you doing!?"
The cat is just sitting there staring back at us... in perfect view for a picture. I ready the camera, aim, focus, fire. *BEEP BEEP BEEP*. The serine silence of the forest is broken by a mysterious foreign sound. The cat bolts into the jungle. I look down at the camera which reads MEMORY CARD FULL. The forested mountainside echos with the sounds of me cursing at the top of my lungs.
We later learn that what we encountered was not a jaguar but actually a "Jaguarundi". Someone with a larger memory card than us snapped this photo of one.
We have encountered small bobcats before in the wild but certainly nothing as strange, exotic, and possibly man-eating as this. Our senses are on high-alert now. I grab a stick for protection, Lauren huddles behind me, and we press further into the jungle. The fact that we are the strangers in a strange land fully sinks in. This part of the world is still extremely wild and we are the intruders. We suddenly get the feeling we are being watched as we traipse through the woods.
*CRASH* The sound of breaking limbs, branches fall from the sky, and the forest fills with screeches and screams. We jump 5ft backwards then stare into the tree-tops. We find an entire troop of 15 white-faced capuchin monkeys swinging and playing around. We spot one lazily munching on bananas. My mind was blown as we stared at the stereotypical "monkey eating a banana" scene play out in front of us. I thought this stuff only happened in cartoons!
Eventually we break out of the woods and back onto the beach. The beaming sun was a warm-welcome after our harrowing time in the dark jungle. Unfortunately, We had taken far to long lollygagging around getting attacked by Jaguarundis and staring at monkeys in the rainforest. The tides had risen quite a bit and we found ourselves at the beginning of the second stretch of beach that was impassable during high-tide. By the looks of it we had maybe 30-minutes before high-tide was in full swing.
We had 2 choices.
Number one. Make a run for it and hope to cross the mile-long strech of beach before the tides reach the cliff-walls and drag us out to sea.
Number Two. Wait out the tide for hours and possibly end up spending the night in the man-eating jaguar infested jungle.
We looked at the beach, We looked at the jungle. We looked at each other. Then started running.
We sprinted as fast as we could with our 30Lb backpacks down the beach as the waves crashed inches from our heels. As we advanced we were pressed further and further towards the cliff-wall. Eventually the ocean was too high, we could not go any further. To our right was a semi-dried up waterfall to the left was the ocean bearing down on us. We scrambed up the dry waterfall and bushwacked it through the jungle.
Eventually we found a faint trail. Exhausted we through down our backpacks and enjoyed a victory meal of crackers and tuna fish. We had made it through the second pass.
The trail wound through the woods a bit then came right back down the beach but further in the trees away from the tide.
Palm tree being born from a coconut
We continued our trek until we come to our third and final obstacle. The Rio Claro.
The ranger had mentioned the river contained crocodiles and BULL sharks. But what he failed to mention was that it was over waist-deep and over 50ft wide during high-tide which was of course... when we got there.
We walked up and down the river bank trying to determine the best area to cross. Further into the forest the river was slow but very deep and wide. We figured our chances were high to be eaten by crocs or sharks before we made it to the other side.
Closer towards the ocean, the river was not as deep or wide, however when the ocean tide crashed into the river mouth it ripped the current so fast the banks were eroding and we watched 400LB fallen trees trunks being drug out into the ocean.
We knew the Sirena ranger station was less than 1/2 mile past this damn river. If we did not make it across we would have to sleep in the jungle, which at this point was not an option.
I threw down my pack, grabbed a stick, and stood on the river bank watching the tide come into the river mouth. If we timed it right we would be able to cross when the river was low, the tide was slow, and the crossing would be simple. If we timed it wrong and the tide crashed into the mouth while we were crossing there was a high probability we would be pulled out to sea.
I waited for the tide to slow and stepped off the bank into the river, I slowly picked my way across the river with the water coming up about waist-high. As I was half-way across I looked up and yelled to Lauren "Hey, A crocodile!" and pointed towards a large croc resting about 40ft in front of me near the river bank. No big deal...
I made it safely across with no drama aside from the croc sighting. OK, Well now we know its possible. I waited for the tide to recede again and crossed back.
We hitched our packs up as high as possible on our backs, waited for the tide to calm, looked around for the croc who had since vanished, and stepped in.
We were slowly picking our way across when all of the sudden, ROUGE WAVE. The river mouth started to flood with ocean water and the current began ripping the sandy river bottom from beneath our feet. I abandoned my crossing stick and turned to see Lauren stumbling and about to go face first into the ripping river. I grabbed her by the pack as she fell forward and drug her along as we clamored up the opposite river bank.
We made it! We sat on the bank for a while catching our breath and checking out our packs. The bottoms had gotten wet a bit but overall were suprisngly fairly dry. Luckily Lauren fell forward instead of backwards, she got her clothes soaked but her bag stayed dry.
I took this moment to remindLauren this is the 2nd time I have saved her from dying in a river. She was almost swept away once before while hiking the Rae Lakes loop back in the Sierra mountains of California. Yes, I am a pretty awesome boyfriend.
We collected ourselves and trudged on as the sun was setting, 1/2 a mile later we came upon a clearing in the woods.
We had never been so happy to see a clap-boarded weathered station! Sirena Station, How we loved you!
We sat for a while taking in the whole experience and resting our bones in the old reclining chairs on the front porch of the station.
Set up our tent on the elevated covered platforms, stripped out of our wet and stinky clothes, and had one of the best sleeps of the entire trip.
The sounds of howler monkeys and squawking macaws woke us in the morning. We made some coffee and suited up to trek around the various trails found around the station.
Lauren and I are avid hikers and backpackers. We have visited tons of parks, reserves, wildlife areas, etc. Never in our life have we seen anywhere close to the amount of wildlife that we saw in Corcavado. It is literal zoo without cages out here. You are constantly stumbling across natures creatures just going about their business in the wild. It is an amazing place.
Spider monkeys crawling in the trees.
More Coatis running across the trail.
And my favorite sighting of the trip. A wild Tapir munching away in the jungle. We were less than 5ft away from him. He did not have a care in the world and just kept on grazing as we snapped photos.
That night we were visited by all kinds of weird, giant and interesting bugs I have never seen before.
A gigantic grasshopper.
This crazy flying leaf looking bug
HUGE flying cockroach
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and the next morning we packed up from the platform as we prepared to set off.
We made some new friends at the station and we all decided to set off back to Carina together.
Back down the beach we go. This time we timed it perfectly and all the beach/river crossings were easy.
Not done with the wildlife yet! We saw an ant-eater plodding along through the forest.
Stopped for some beach-side fresh coconuts.
Not a bad view for a break.
Also spotted some poison dart frogs along the trail
We passed the final ranger station on the way back to Carina where we stopped for a break.
While resting we spotted a weird bird. Upon closer inspection, it was actually not a bird but a GIGANTIC moth. This moth is called the "White Witch Moth" and has the largest wing-span of any insect in the world.
We hiked the last stretch of beach in silence. Taking in the jungle, the beach, and the last few days experience. If you are a biology/nature lover you need to get your butt down to Corcovado National Park. I guarantee you will not come away disappointed. The hike out to Sirena station is challenging but worth every step.
Back to the truck, we loaded our stinky gear and headed to Puerto Jimenez where we got a cheap motel and enjoyed a long hot shower.
The next day we hit the road, Destination: PANAMA.
07-11-2012, 09:22 PM
#290
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Fresno, Ca
Posts: 719
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For a second there i thought someone was showering off their manacare. Then i notices the gigantic moth. Hahaha really nice photo. This is my favorite spot you guys have shown us so far but then again i like all those others you both posted up also haha. Have fun guys!! I mean... Guy and girl 
07-16-2012, 11:21 AM
#292
Registered User
Thread Starter
We booked it south from the Osa and were soon at the border of Costa Rica-Panama.
Within an hour or so we had gotten all our paperwork squared away, changed some Costa Rican colones into U.S. dollars (the official currency of Panama) and drove on in. Country #9. Our friends at fromatob.org have a nice writeup on"How to cross the Costa Rica-Panama border with a truck".
BIENVENIDOS!
A few friends of ours had crossed the border a few days earlier and told us of a town called Boquete nestled high up in the mountains. After spending the last few weeks in sweltering jungle temps we were looking forward to a few days of cool weather. We bee-lined it for Boquete.
Boquete is a small town in the highlands of Panama. It's cool weather makes it very popular with Panama tourists and ex-pats alike. The dormant and normally cloud-covered Volcan Baru dominates the skyline above Boquete. It is the highest point in all of Panama.
Our guidebook mentioned that most of Volcan Baru was protected national park land. It also mentioned a 4x4 road to the Volcano peak, elusive Quetzal bird sightings, and camping possibilities. We were sold. I guided the truck through the town and started snaking up through some small fincas and houses towards the volcano.
We arrived at the ranger shack around 5PM, jumped out and told the guard we were going to drive the 4x4 to the top. He started laughing. I pointed out the window to the 4runner and he said "Oh. We'll you can try" and wrote us up some permits. I wondered just how bad this road was going to be...
We drove up the gravel road which quickly turned to dirt then to straight up rocks and boulders. Maybe the ranger wasn't so crazy after all. We were less than 1/4 mile past the guard station when I first had to engage 4x4.
Example of the road-bed
The scenery was beautiful though. Mountainous cloud forest surrounded us. We inched along up the road navigated around and over gigantic boulders. At one point we took a shortcut through a farmers land to avoid a treacherous looking section of the trail.
After about an hour of driving the sun started to set. We had only driven about 1 mile and had not found any campsites. However, we also had not seen another soul and by the conditions of the road I doubted any joyriders would be making their way up the mountain. We pulled over and setup camp on the side of the trail.
View from our campsite. We are deep in pristine cloud forest, perfect Resplendent Quetzal country.
Made a nice meal and went to sleep in downright chilly weather. It was 45F according to our thermometer. Coldest weather we have been in for quite some time. Had to brush the dust off the sleeping bags and thermal underwear!
I woke in the morning with one thing in mind. QUETZALS.
Those of you following the blog know that we have been trying to see this damn elusive bird for months now. We have traveled through 6 countries that claim to have Quetzals but have yet to see one. We did catch a glimpse of a female back in Costa Rica but the male is what everyone is after. Volcan Baru was our last chance. The rest of Panama was lowlands and they do not exist in South America. It was basically now or NEVER.
I am sitting on the tailgate sippin come coffee when all of the sudden I hear a familar bird call way off in the trees. Could it be!? Back in Costa Rica we were on a quetzal hunting tour with a guide who was making the call himself. I sneakily recorded it on my phone for later use. I jumped in the front seat and played the recording. AN EXACT MATCH! Solid proof that Quetzals do exist out here.
I sat back on the tailgate listening, hearing nothing for a while. Disheartened I started playing the call on my own phone, hoping to lure in some horny males searching for a morning piece. After 10 minutes of messing with my phone and getting no where an idea strikes me.
I get back in the truck, turn on the radio and hook the AUX cable up to my phone. Now I am cranking the call out with 750Watts of goodness. The forest fills with the sound of my female call.
Female Quetzal Call Recording
Quetzal Call
I play it about 5 times and wait. All of the sudden, I hear a strange call I have never heard before. I scan the trees. I hear the call again, this time directly above me. I look up. A iridescent green bird with a blood-red breast, yellow beak and gorgeous 3ft long tail looks curiously down at me. <strong>I crap my pants.</strong>
I whisper/yell for Lauren to get out of the truck. She looks up and can't believe her eyes. It is a damn male Quetzal hanging out directly above our home.
I fumble for the camera and pop off a few shots for proof. I knew none of our overlanding friends were going to believe us if we didn't have solid proof. After all they have been on their own quests to see the bird for months. By this point most of them had decided that the bird is a myth and does not really exist.
Unfortunately our camera has a crappy zoom and it was pretty dark under the forest canopy. Its not winning any NatGeo photo contest but there is no doubt, MALE QUETZAL, IN YO FACE.
Excited as 2 kids in a candy shop we watched the male Quetzal as he made desperate calls trying to find this She-Beast of a giant female quetzal. After all what other birds voice is backed by a 750Watt amp?
Eventually he grew bored and flew off in search of a good time somewhere else.
We started up the calls again, this time even louder. You had to be able to hear the call for at least 1/2 mile in the mountain.
We waited, soon enough we saw another, then another, then another. At one point we had 3 male Quetzals above our heads BATTLING each other to claim this sexy silver Toyota Quetzal/4Runner.
Truly amazing, after searching for months and months we finally had more male quetzals than we knew what to do with. We sat there for 2 hours just messing with the poor males as they flew in from miles around to see what was up with the new lady in the neighborhood.
Eventually they wised up and word spread quick that it was just 2 jack-ass gringos messing around in the forest and they stopped showing up. We decided to try to drive up to the top of the Volcano.
We drove about 1/4 mile further when the road degraded to straight up 4x4 rock crawling expedition. Being out in the middle of nowhere, alone, and with no ability to get ourselves back out if we were to break the truck we decided to stop and hoof it on foot. If we had a partner we would have gone further, I think the 4Runner coulda made it.
I prefer driving, but walkings OK. I guess....
The cloud forest was full of life and we saw tons of other birds, even a few more male quetzals.
Later that night we are lying in the truck watching some scary movie. A big lightning storm is raging outside. Thunder shaking the truck like a tin-can. I start to get concerned about a damn tree falling on the truck...
Back to watching the movie when *BAM* something crashes into the truck so damn loud and strong Lauren and I jump and hit our heads on the roof. It scared the crap outta us. I roll down the rear-window in the rain and shine around with my flashlight. Sure enough, a big chunk of branch had broken off the tree above and came crashing into the roof of the 4Runner.
Not having anywhere to go or much we could to about it, We hoped for the best and went to sleep, the storm stopped soon after.
A pic of the branch in the morning.
New speed dents in the cab over the driverside
We spent 3 nights up in the forest parked right on the side of the road. We saw no other people and only 1 truck, a gigantic old school Ford with 40 inch tires and chains slowly crawling up with a bunch of forest workers in the back. They gave us a thumbs-up for making it this far up and kept on crawling.
If male quetzals are what you seek. Take the recording I posted on this blog and get your butt out to Volcan Baru. They are there waiting for you!
We packed up and hit the road. Destination: Panama City.
We are meeting some new friends and preparing to ship the truck across the "Darien Gap" via container ship from Panama to Colombia.
Within an hour or so we had gotten all our paperwork squared away, changed some Costa Rican colones into U.S. dollars (the official currency of Panama) and drove on in. Country #9. Our friends at fromatob.org have a nice writeup on"How to cross the Costa Rica-Panama border with a truck".
BIENVENIDOS!
A few friends of ours had crossed the border a few days earlier and told us of a town called Boquete nestled high up in the mountains. After spending the last few weeks in sweltering jungle temps we were looking forward to a few days of cool weather. We bee-lined it for Boquete.
Boquete is a small town in the highlands of Panama. It's cool weather makes it very popular with Panama tourists and ex-pats alike. The dormant and normally cloud-covered Volcan Baru dominates the skyline above Boquete. It is the highest point in all of Panama.
Our guidebook mentioned that most of Volcan Baru was protected national park land. It also mentioned a 4x4 road to the Volcano peak, elusive Quetzal bird sightings, and camping possibilities. We were sold. I guided the truck through the town and started snaking up through some small fincas and houses towards the volcano.
We arrived at the ranger shack around 5PM, jumped out and told the guard we were going to drive the 4x4 to the top. He started laughing. I pointed out the window to the 4runner and he said "Oh. We'll you can try" and wrote us up some permits. I wondered just how bad this road was going to be...
We drove up the gravel road which quickly turned to dirt then to straight up rocks and boulders. Maybe the ranger wasn't so crazy after all. We were less than 1/4 mile past the guard station when I first had to engage 4x4.
Example of the road-bed
The scenery was beautiful though. Mountainous cloud forest surrounded us. We inched along up the road navigated around and over gigantic boulders. At one point we took a shortcut through a farmers land to avoid a treacherous looking section of the trail.
After about an hour of driving the sun started to set. We had only driven about 1 mile and had not found any campsites. However, we also had not seen another soul and by the conditions of the road I doubted any joyriders would be making their way up the mountain. We pulled over and setup camp on the side of the trail.
View from our campsite. We are deep in pristine cloud forest, perfect Resplendent Quetzal country.
Made a nice meal and went to sleep in downright chilly weather. It was 45F according to our thermometer. Coldest weather we have been in for quite some time. Had to brush the dust off the sleeping bags and thermal underwear!
I woke in the morning with one thing in mind. QUETZALS.
Those of you following the blog know that we have been trying to see this damn elusive bird for months now. We have traveled through 6 countries that claim to have Quetzals but have yet to see one. We did catch a glimpse of a female back in Costa Rica but the male is what everyone is after. Volcan Baru was our last chance. The rest of Panama was lowlands and they do not exist in South America. It was basically now or NEVER.
I am sitting on the tailgate sippin come coffee when all of the sudden I hear a familar bird call way off in the trees. Could it be!? Back in Costa Rica we were on a quetzal hunting tour with a guide who was making the call himself. I sneakily recorded it on my phone for later use. I jumped in the front seat and played the recording. AN EXACT MATCH! Solid proof that Quetzals do exist out here.
I sat back on the tailgate listening, hearing nothing for a while. Disheartened I started playing the call on my own phone, hoping to lure in some horny males searching for a morning piece. After 10 minutes of messing with my phone and getting no where an idea strikes me.
I get back in the truck, turn on the radio and hook the AUX cable up to my phone. Now I am cranking the call out with 750Watts of goodness. The forest fills with the sound of my female call.
Female Quetzal Call Recording
Quetzal Call
I play it about 5 times and wait. All of the sudden, I hear a strange call I have never heard before. I scan the trees. I hear the call again, this time directly above me. I look up. A iridescent green bird with a blood-red breast, yellow beak and gorgeous 3ft long tail looks curiously down at me. <strong>I crap my pants.</strong>
I whisper/yell for Lauren to get out of the truck. She looks up and can't believe her eyes. It is a damn male Quetzal hanging out directly above our home.
I fumble for the camera and pop off a few shots for proof. I knew none of our overlanding friends were going to believe us if we didn't have solid proof. After all they have been on their own quests to see the bird for months. By this point most of them had decided that the bird is a myth and does not really exist.
Unfortunately our camera has a crappy zoom and it was pretty dark under the forest canopy. Its not winning any NatGeo photo contest but there is no doubt, MALE QUETZAL, IN YO FACE.
Excited as 2 kids in a candy shop we watched the male Quetzal as he made desperate calls trying to find this She-Beast of a giant female quetzal. After all what other birds voice is backed by a 750Watt amp?
Eventually he grew bored and flew off in search of a good time somewhere else.
We started up the calls again, this time even louder. You had to be able to hear the call for at least 1/2 mile in the mountain.
We waited, soon enough we saw another, then another, then another. At one point we had 3 male Quetzals above our heads BATTLING each other to claim this sexy silver Toyota Quetzal/4Runner.
Truly amazing, after searching for months and months we finally had more male quetzals than we knew what to do with. We sat there for 2 hours just messing with the poor males as they flew in from miles around to see what was up with the new lady in the neighborhood.
Eventually they wised up and word spread quick that it was just 2 jack-ass gringos messing around in the forest and they stopped showing up. We decided to try to drive up to the top of the Volcano.
We drove about 1/4 mile further when the road degraded to straight up 4x4 rock crawling expedition. Being out in the middle of nowhere, alone, and with no ability to get ourselves back out if we were to break the truck we decided to stop and hoof it on foot. If we had a partner we would have gone further, I think the 4Runner coulda made it.
I prefer driving, but walkings OK. I guess....
The cloud forest was full of life and we saw tons of other birds, even a few more male quetzals.
Later that night we are lying in the truck watching some scary movie. A big lightning storm is raging outside. Thunder shaking the truck like a tin-can. I start to get concerned about a damn tree falling on the truck...
Back to watching the movie when *BAM* something crashes into the truck so damn loud and strong Lauren and I jump and hit our heads on the roof. It scared the crap outta us. I roll down the rear-window in the rain and shine around with my flashlight. Sure enough, a big chunk of branch had broken off the tree above and came crashing into the roof of the 4Runner.
Not having anywhere to go or much we could to about it, We hoped for the best and went to sleep, the storm stopped soon after.
A pic of the branch in the morning.
New speed dents in the cab over the driverside
We spent 3 nights up in the forest parked right on the side of the road. We saw no other people and only 1 truck, a gigantic old school Ford with 40 inch tires and chains slowly crawling up with a bunch of forest workers in the back. They gave us a thumbs-up for making it this far up and kept on crawling.
If male quetzals are what you seek. Take the recording I posted on this blog and get your butt out to Volcan Baru. They are there waiting for you!
We packed up and hit the road. Destination: Panama City.
We are meeting some new friends and preparing to ship the truck across the "Darien Gap" via container ship from Panama to Colombia.
07-16-2012, 11:38 AM
#293
Registered User
Nice, that road looks like a blue trail at Rausch Creek(off road park PA) totally doable in your rigs current form. I don't blame you for being cautious though, pictures never show how bad a trail really is.
keep on truckin...
keep on truckin...
07-23-2012, 03:47 PM
#296
Registered User
Thread Starter
The Pan-American Highway, a series of roads linking the great white North of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska all the way down to the southern-most reaches of Ushuaia, Argentina. At a total length of just under 30,000 miles, Guinness Book of World Records marks it the "World Longest Motor-able" road. Yes-siree, 30,000 miles of awesomeness all navigable with nothing but 4 wheels, a tank of gas, and a sense of adventure.
Except... Except.... Except 54 damn miles of impenetrable jungle full of beasts, FARC rebels, impassable mountain terrain, and native tribes who are rumored to still dabble in cannibalism. I am of course talking about the "Darien Gap". The little stretch of jungle that separates Panama from Colombia. The little stretch of jungle that has created much headache for all overlanders headed south.
Panama City is where overlanders must arrange shipping around this swath of rainforest. I would say it tops the list of all overland PanAm travelers fears (the ones that have gotten over the whole kidnapping/beheading nonsense at least). Imagine loading your baby into a dark box, hoisting her high into the air, placing her among thousands of strangers, and setting her off to sea... Not to mention travelers have been stuck without their vehicles for months, forced to pay exorbitant fees, and there have been some whose trucks never showed up at all! Lauren and I approached the city with trepidation knowing what lies in store.
As we came upon the sprawling metropolis full of gigantic skyscrapers, super highways, and malls I was instantly reminded of my home city of Miami, Florida. Mix in everybody speaking Spanish and driving like crap and I really felt like I was back home!
We had a few goals for the big city of Panama. #1 See the Panama Canal. #2 Arrange shipping from Panama to Colombia.
We made some friends off the internet who had been traveling south as well. <a href="http://www.adventuretheamericas.com/[/img]Adventure the Americas</a> is a group of 3 friends who set off in a 4runner from Colorado and are now in Panama City. Pretty cool.. even cooler when you think only 3 weeks ago they were still in Colorado. Yes you read that right. In 3 weeks they managed to drive all the way from Colorado to Panama. A process that took Lauren and I over 7 months to complete! We told them they were crazy. They told us their plan is to circumnavigate the entire continent of South America and return home to Colorado in only 6 months! Then we told them they were just F'n nuts.
Aside from being crazy they turned out to be pretty cool dudes and we instantly hit it off. We spent the night sharing beers, swapping stories, and scheming our plan to ship around the gap together. It is cheaper to double-up and place 2 trucks inside 1 container. They had already laid some of the ground work for the process, found a shipping company, and begin the initial paperwork. These guys were fast.
Team Adventure the Americas and yours truly.
Since it was the weekend and we could not move forward with any of the process we decided to do some sightseeing.
First off we headed out to the walled-city of Casco Viejo. Panama City's historic district. It was built in 1673 after the old Panama City was completely destroyed by the dastardly pirate Henry Morgan (Yes of Captain Morgan rum fame) and his crew. Casco Viejo was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. The area itself was getting quite run-down for a while and is now undergoing massive remodeling and restoration. It was crammed to the gills with beautiful colonial architectural, ornate churches, palaces, and now hip bars/restaurants. There is also a seedy side to the place which I can only imagine will get shoved out as real-estate values increase. Ahh progress.
After scoping out the city we headed up to a large forested area called Ancon Hill. Ancon Hill was under U.S. jurisdiction as part of the Panama Canal project and thus avoided urban development. It is an odd island of green surrounded by the urban sprawl of the city below.
We had read that the hill is home to monkeys, sloths, deers, and all kinds of wildlife cut off from any other jungle. Our friends from Adventure the Americas had seen a sloth up there just the other day, we hoped we would be so lucky.
As we climbed the hill we were greeted with sweeping views of the city between the jungle brush.
Panama City
Casco Viejo
CAUTION: GIANT BUTTS CROSSING
We made it to the top of the hill which had a gigantic Panamanian flag flying, viewable from all over the city.
Lauren looking off towards the Panama Canal off the distance.
We headed back down the hill still searching for wildlife. We head some screeches up in the trees and saw a small pack of Geoffrey's Tamarin monkeys roaming about.
A little further down the hill I am scanning the trees and spot a clump of fur. Looking closer... SLOTH!
Satisfied with our adventure tour we headed back into the city and grabbed some Dim Sum at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294480-d1309023-Reviews-Lung_Fung-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html[/img]Palacio Lung Fung</a>. Best Asian food we have had since leaving the states! That's not really saying much but this was as good as the stuff I could get in San Francisco. Highly recommended. I ate about 1000 trays.
Next morning we headed off to see Panama City's #1 attraction. The Panama Canal.
The Miraflores locks are located just outside of Panama City. They are one of 3 sets of locks used to traverse 51-miles between the Pacific and Atlantic. Looking at the locks in person and seeing them operate is mind-boggling. Add in the fact they are almost 100-years old is even crazier. A true engineering marvel. The history of the Panama Canal is very interesting as well. Did you know the French were actually the first to attempt digging the canal?
Tomorrow begins the shipping nightmare!
Except... Except.... Except 54 damn miles of impenetrable jungle full of beasts, FARC rebels, impassable mountain terrain, and native tribes who are rumored to still dabble in cannibalism. I am of course talking about the "Darien Gap". The little stretch of jungle that separates Panama from Colombia. The little stretch of jungle that has created much headache for all overlanders headed south.
Panama City is where overlanders must arrange shipping around this swath of rainforest. I would say it tops the list of all overland PanAm travelers fears (the ones that have gotten over the whole kidnapping/beheading nonsense at least). Imagine loading your baby into a dark box, hoisting her high into the air, placing her among thousands of strangers, and setting her off to sea... Not to mention travelers have been stuck without their vehicles for months, forced to pay exorbitant fees, and there have been some whose trucks never showed up at all! Lauren and I approached the city with trepidation knowing what lies in store.
As we came upon the sprawling metropolis full of gigantic skyscrapers, super highways, and malls I was instantly reminded of my home city of Miami, Florida. Mix in everybody speaking Spanish and driving like crap and I really felt like I was back home!
We had a few goals for the big city of Panama. #1 See the Panama Canal. #2 Arrange shipping from Panama to Colombia.
We made some friends off the internet who had been traveling south as well. <a href="http://www.adventuretheamericas.com/[/img]Adventure the Americas</a> is a group of 3 friends who set off in a 4runner from Colorado and are now in Panama City. Pretty cool.. even cooler when you think only 3 weeks ago they were still in Colorado. Yes you read that right. In 3 weeks they managed to drive all the way from Colorado to Panama. A process that took Lauren and I over 7 months to complete! We told them they were crazy. They told us their plan is to circumnavigate the entire continent of South America and return home to Colorado in only 6 months! Then we told them they were just F'n nuts.
Aside from being crazy they turned out to be pretty cool dudes and we instantly hit it off. We spent the night sharing beers, swapping stories, and scheming our plan to ship around the gap together. It is cheaper to double-up and place 2 trucks inside 1 container. They had already laid some of the ground work for the process, found a shipping company, and begin the initial paperwork. These guys were fast.
Team Adventure the Americas and yours truly.
Since it was the weekend and we could not move forward with any of the process we decided to do some sightseeing.
First off we headed out to the walled-city of Casco Viejo. Panama City's historic district. It was built in 1673 after the old Panama City was completely destroyed by the dastardly pirate Henry Morgan (Yes of Captain Morgan rum fame) and his crew. Casco Viejo was declared a World Heritage Site in 1997. The area itself was getting quite run-down for a while and is now undergoing massive remodeling and restoration. It was crammed to the gills with beautiful colonial architectural, ornate churches, palaces, and now hip bars/restaurants. There is also a seedy side to the place which I can only imagine will get shoved out as real-estate values increase. Ahh progress.
After scoping out the city we headed up to a large forested area called Ancon Hill. Ancon Hill was under U.S. jurisdiction as part of the Panama Canal project and thus avoided urban development. It is an odd island of green surrounded by the urban sprawl of the city below.
We had read that the hill is home to monkeys, sloths, deers, and all kinds of wildlife cut off from any other jungle. Our friends from Adventure the Americas had seen a sloth up there just the other day, we hoped we would be so lucky.
As we climbed the hill we were greeted with sweeping views of the city between the jungle brush.
Panama City
Casco Viejo
CAUTION: GIANT BUTTS CROSSING
We made it to the top of the hill which had a gigantic Panamanian flag flying, viewable from all over the city.
Lauren looking off towards the Panama Canal off the distance.
We headed back down the hill still searching for wildlife. We head some screeches up in the trees and saw a small pack of Geoffrey's Tamarin monkeys roaming about.
A little further down the hill I am scanning the trees and spot a clump of fur. Looking closer... SLOTH!
Satisfied with our adventure tour we headed back into the city and grabbed some Dim Sum at <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294480-d1309023-Reviews-Lung_Fung-Panama_City_Panama_Province.html[/img]Palacio Lung Fung</a>. Best Asian food we have had since leaving the states! That's not really saying much but this was as good as the stuff I could get in San Francisco. Highly recommended. I ate about 1000 trays.
Next morning we headed off to see Panama City's #1 attraction. The Panama Canal.
The Miraflores locks are located just outside of Panama City. They are one of 3 sets of locks used to traverse 51-miles between the Pacific and Atlantic. Looking at the locks in person and seeing them operate is mind-boggling. Add in the fact they are almost 100-years old is even crazier. A true engineering marvel. The history of the Panama Canal is very interesting as well. Did you know the French were actually the first to attempt digging the canal?
Tomorrow begins the shipping nightmare!
07-27-2012, 06:49 PM
#299
Registered User
Hey man I just want to say thank you. I have honestly spent some of the most enjoyable hours of my life reading your trip. I am jealous, but you have inspired me to do a trip like this of my own. I look forward to future updates. You are truly living the life my friend.
07-27-2012, 09:19 PM
#300
Registered User
I remember a post a while back where you saw a coconut sprout and I thought "I've never realized that what coconuts are really for." Turns out you don't need to drive the pan am highway to see that, just go to home depot
But yours way much much cooler. Hope everything keeps going as good as it has been. Good luck shipping the rig. Thanks for sharing.
But yours way much much cooler. Hope everything keeps going as good as it has been. Good luck shipping the rig. Thanks for sharing.
