Montezuma Part II: Cabo Blanco

We woke up early, had pancakes and coffee at the hostel and were off to catch the bus to Cabo Blanco National Park.  Here we are at the bus stop (so happy and naive of what was to come):

I brought my backpack equipped with sunscreen, random first aid stuff, snacks and of course a large bottle of water:

Check out this rickity, crusty-ass, death-defying bridge (or as Costa Ricans call it, a bridge):

It connects one end of town (Chico's Bar) to the other (bus stop, our fav soda, our hostel).  I actually walked on it later and it was terrifying.
We finally got on the bus, if you can call it that.  It was a large van with a giant hole where the sliding door should be:

Sketchy!  We drove for about 20 minutes through Montezuma and the town of Cabuya:

Gorgeous!  The bus dropped us off here:

This isn't even the entrance to the park.  You have to walk about 15 minutes to get to the entrance.  We saw a lot of these:

I don't know if they were bee nests or guano or what, but they were everywhere.  Then we got to the entrance.  

It was a $12 entrance fee and they aren't very helpful with information.  They don't even give you a map, so I took a picture of THE ONLY COPY HE HAD, just in case:

We're up at the top, where the little house is and our plan was to go on the Swedish Trail down to the bottom (where the abnormally large picnic table is) to get to Playa Blanco.  I don't know what made us think we could do this, but for some reason I had it in my head that it needed to happen.  I've never regretted anything more in my life.  

Cabo Blanco is Costa Rica's oldest protected wilderness area.  It's tiny, but encompasses the tip of the Peninsula de Nicoya.  

The founders were Karen Mogensen and Olaf Nicolas Wessberg, conservationists living in Montezuma in the 1960s.  Cabo Blanco is an "Absolute" nature reserve, meaning visitors weren't allowed for many years.  Now visitors are allowed Wed-Sun, but only on designated trails.

 Now that we have some background, let's hike!  

We saw some really cool trees!  Check out this spiky one:

The Brazilian Fire Tree was pretty and colorful:

This one had all these gross tumors all over it.  They call it a Lizard's Tree.  Whatevs.

We got to a point where we saw ocean and this is when we knew we were on the wrong trail.  We walked back and went the wrong way again!  We ran into a guide that finally helped us, but we were set back by about 40 minutes!  I'm already tired!  Now we're on the Swedish Trail and they call it difficult, which wins The Understatement of the Year Award.  It's supposed to be 2 hours until you hit the beach, but we were in such a rush (it was almost noon and the last bus leaves at 3:30) we hiked there in an hour and 15 minutes!  It was crazy because not only was it super steep (literally climbing stairs made of random stones and tree branches), but it was so frickin humid.  We were soaked head to toe.  I just had no idea what a nightmare this was going to be!  We did see some wildlife though (although at this point we could only see them as a potential food source, since we had been stuck in the wild for so long):

This was some sort of anteater.  I really wish I had my camera for zooming up close (although I wouldn't subject her to this torture).  We also saw a momma Capuchin monkey and her babies:

My iPhone sucks when you zoom in, so this just shows you how close I was to her!  Her babies were up swinging from the treetops.  Really neat-o!

More hiking:

This is an example of how untouched by humans this trail was.  We had to climb over this fallen tree!   I did really like this Hobbit tree:

I was waiting for Gandalf to jump out with his staff and say something in Elvish.  More trees (can you believe they're endangered?  Wanna build yourself a nice coffee table or bookshelf, hell an entire house?  Come to Costa Rica, where trees outnumber people by millions.  Okay, yes I care about trees, but that day I didn't.  I wanted to set that place on fire):

Then after practically running up and down unstable flights of stairs for over an hour in a bubble of stale air, we finally hit beach:

Yea, I lasted about 30 minutes with the backpack before Aaron had to take over.  He didn't mind, purple brings out his eyes.  Here's the beach we almost died trying to find:

Don't get me wrong, it was amazing.  However, when you have a near-death, Castaway-like experience, no beach is really worth it.  Plus, it was rocky as hell!  I could only go in up to my knees (and then I squatted because I had to pee).  Aaron didn't even bother because he didn't want to be sandy for the walk back.  We hung out and had some lunch, but I was so dehydrated and tired that I could barely eat.  I had an apple and then donated it to this hermit crab:

I know it was wrong, but I really couldn't have cared less.  We hung out at the beach for about 20 minutes and then had to hike the treacherous trail back.  The water bottle I brought wasn't nearly enough for both of us.  It wasn't even enough for one of us.  Halfway through the way back, I thought I was gonna pass out!  I did take pictures of a tree with mushrooms growing on it (I almost ate one to put myself out of my misery):

So, two LONG hours later, we make it back to the beginning.  I almost kissed the ground, but it was too hot.  We found a sign that said "Agua" with a random water spigot and we were so thirsty that we didn't even care if it was green lake water or parasite water or poop water.  We drank it, and a lot of it.  Then as if we hadn't been through enough, we had to walk the 20 minutes back to the bus stop.  Once on the bus, we realized we made it and it was almost like we had been given a second chance at life.  It's really amazing how far you can push your body before it breaks.  We tested those limits at Cabo Blanco and try as it might, it didn't break us.  Although at one point, I thought I saw Adrien Brody glistening in a waterfall, which now I realize was a mirage.  Hmm...I'm not even into Adrien Brody, so I have no idea why that's hiding in my subconscious.

Aaron needed to get into the ocean to wash away the pain, so we stopped by on our way home.

There's his Baywatch moment.  We then went to the hostel, showered and felt renewed, but oh so sore.  We knew we needed Carlos.  We went to the soda and got juice (I got pineapple and Aaron got banana).  Carlos was like a magi, he could tell what you needed just by looking at you.  After looking at me, he said "You like seafood?"  I said yes and he brought me a bowl of seafood soup:

The broth was creamy like a clam chowder, but thin and had tons of cilantro.  It was by far the best soup I'd ever had.  It had clams, big and small shrimp and a small crab.  Just what I needed, and the cherry on top is it was on the house!  Carlos is the man!

Then we went to Chico's to sit and watch the water.  Later that night, we played pool with some super nice guys from Milwaukee (Hi Chris and Scotty!).  I turned in early because I could barely keep my eyes open and my feet on the ground. 

Now that the agony is over, stay tuned for Part III!!