Day 4. Friday April 15th. Ancient Peoples and Dense Tropical Forest

Distance=20 km (12 miles)

This was a long, hard day that nearly broke some of us. We had a 5 am start and ate our breakfast sitting on the balcony overlooking the jungle canopy with wisps of clouds glued here and there, and the sounds of howler monkeys welcoming the sunrise. Only 6 of us went on the walk today. The others stayed behind to rest and tend to blisters. After a pleasant morning at Marine House, they were driven with our luggage to the hotel. We, on the other hand, made the trudge back up the hill (breakfast-and-a-hill) to the trailhead where we met our indigenous guide.

Morning jungle and ocean view.

Traditional Cabécar house.

Today we passed through the ancestral homelands of the Cabécar people. The walking was difficult. It was a muddy, steep track through dense jungle with several river crossings. If I was given the chance, I would walk this section of the trail again. I spent so much of my time looking at my feet, trying not to slip and fall, that I rarely got to take in all the natural beauty around me. We stopped to have a late lunch where we got a tour of traditional Cabécar houses and viewed some displays, including a description of their cosmography.

Jungle up (Credit UrriTrek).

Jungle down (Credit UrriTrek).

As if to cap off the whole day, when we finally arrived tired and wet at the Pacuare River, the 2-person basket meant to carry us across the river was stuck. So now we had to hold on to a rope and wade waist-deep through the rapids across the river, and then walk up a 1.5 km hill to the van that took us to The Pacuare Mountain Adventure Lodge a short drive away. When we arrived (11 hrs after the start of the walk), our rested hikers handed us each beer or wine – god I love these people! I then had a hot shower, a 7 pm dinner and went to bed early.

The Pacuare River and a broken basket

Wet, muddy, hot, tired and … happy (Credit UrriTrek)