From a Rainforest to Surfside

We awoke on our fourth morning in Costa Rica to rain, for the fourth time, and this time, it was absolutely teeming. It was time to say goodbye to Bijagua.

Our SUV, as seen from our cabin, getting washed by the rain.

For our last breakfast at Finca Verde Lodge, our host, Kendall, instructed his cook to make us something special for our morning meal. Breakfast was included with our stay and we had always chosen the typical Costa Rican casado of beans, rice, eggs, sausage, plantains, and fresh fruit, all washed down with excellent coffee.

But for this breakfast, we were treated with a type of breakfast empanada, filled with rice, beans, and pulled pork. This was served with a side of coleslaw and a dish of cubed papaya. It was Kendall's way of thanking us for our stay.

Last breakfast at Finca Verde Lodge.

Because Bijagua isn't a huge draw for tourists, where they stay for more than a day or two to visit Rio Celeste or Tapir Valley, Kendall said that he doesn't have guests staying for more than a night. We stayed for four nights, and he told me that he really enjoyed having us as guests.

I've already written a glowing review for Google and plan to add another to Trip Advisor.

DW, Bee, Marc, and I were planning to spend the morning exploring Tapir Valley, hoping to spot one of these interesting creatures, but because the rain was falling so hard, we decided to skip this side adventure. Instead, we decided to wander more of the trails in the jungle around the lodge, as Kendall pointed to a spot at the back of the property where the Lesson's Mot-Mot frequents, near a creek and a mud cliff.

We had only seen the mot-mot on our first morning, and it was brief, and I was hoping to photograph it in all of its splendour, with its log tailfeathers.

Bee, listening for mot-mots.

Despite the rain, we wandered the jungle trails that our guided tour had missed. Did I mention the tour that we took in our first morning, when we saw the toucans and the sloth? I forgot to say that during that tour, our guide, Juan Carlos, showed us a termite's nest and used a twig to extract a few.

We ate those termites. Alive.

They tasted like mint, or eucalyptus, with a woody finish. They were actually tasty. I have video evidence of us eating the insects, so stay tuned for that.

The rain let up through our hike but we never saw the mot-mot again, though we did pick it up on our Merlin app. I'd have to be content with the photos I captured on day one.

We stayed at Hummingbird Café for lunch and said our final farewell to Kendall before heading across the continental divide, back to the Guanacaste province. Our destination was just under two hours away, on the Pacific coast.

There's really only one road that gets you from Liberia to the coastal region in this part of the country. Highway 21 runs west, from Liberia, and passes the airport on a vast plain. As we started on this highway, we could see smoke in the distance, ahead of us.

Traffic was at a crawl and it took us much longer to get down this stretch of roadway than we anticipated. As we neared the airport, we could see that the fire was burning all around it.

Had a plane crashed, we feared? I suspected no, as the smoke was a greyish-white, rather than black, but we could see airport emergency vehicles were moving around the perimeter closest to the highway, spraying the fields.

It was a grass fire that had actually closed the airport for hours. By the time we reached the airport, we could see planes stacking up on their approach, coming in for a landing. Fire was burning on both sides of the highway, and several road signs had melted.

DW captured video as we passed by and I'll include the footage when I get around to editing and preparing a travel video for my YouTube channel.

The roads beyond highway 21 were a mix of potholed asphalt and bumpy dirt, and at one point we had to drive cautiously across a shallow river. But about an hour before sunset, we reached our condo at Playa Potrero.

It was a spacious apartment with two large bedrooms and bathrooms, a comfortable sofa, modern kitchen, and cosy patio. A shared swimming pool was great for cooling off on hot afternoons.

DW, cooling in the pool.

We got settled, went to the beach and wandered the shore until sunset, after which we sat at a beachside restaurant and had dinner.

Playa Potrero.

We started the day in a rainforest and ended it at the Pacific Ocean, and we still had a week ahead of us. Stay tuned to learn about the highlights of this more relaxed part of our trip.

Happy Monday!