La Paloma Lodge

Hello everybody! As most of you know, my family and I went to Costa Rica for our last “mandatory” vacation (yup, it’s pretty brutal having to go on vacation). We’ve decided to each write about a different aspect of the trip and my assignment is to write about La Paloma Lodge. So here I be, writing to you dear blog reader (even though I’m supposed to be doing math homework but shhh… don’t tell).

On April 23rd we left our apartotel were we had been staying while in San Jose (it was wonderful- I like lived on yogurt) and took two taxis (by law the maximum number of passengers a taxi can carry is four. A cab driver in Tegucigalpa got a ticket for trying take our whole family.) to a little, tiny airport. Because the airplane we were taking was so small, all passengers had to be weighed with their carry-ons. I wonder how many women, after spending several days splurging
on the great Costa Rican food, felt a little uncomfortable with that. Guess you could always blame it on the carry-on. My dad pointed out to us the unique way in which the airplanes were stored- there were two rows of little hangars with a road running down the middle, kinda like two rows of stalls with an aisle down the middle.

After a short wait, we were escorted out to the plane that would be taking us to destination- Drake’s Bay. The plane had huge windows (the largest I’ve ever seen on a plane) that were several seats wide and went almost from floor to ceiling. The plane itself looked as if someone had taken paint filled balloons and chucked them randomly at the plane, with the general target appearing to be the tail end of the plane. I’ll say this much for it, it definitely got your attention. Our take off was uneventful, and once in the air, I spent my time gazing out the massive windows at the panoramic views. One thing that struck me was the number of soccer fields I counted. Granted I realize I’m in Latin America, but still, 15 soccer fields in the same number of minutes? It was pretty neat to watch a soccer game from that far up. I’d see this itsy-bitsy black thing roll across the vibrantly green soccer field with two white blobs chasing after it. The black speck would disappear as one white blob over took it and then the speck would be off again.

We followed the coast south most of the way, and I spent my time watching the white line of waves rushing through the crystal-clear, aquamarine waters and then crashing on the shore. I could tell we were nearing the end of our flight when the plane turned left and started heading inland. After landing on a narrow grass strip with mountains at one end and ocean at the other, we got off the plane and walked to a thatched roof hut where several groups of guests were waiting to fill our now vacant seats and head back to San Jose. A native came up to us and asked if we were going to La Paloma Lodge. When we answered in the affirmative, we were ushered into a battered old jeep while Dad and our taxi driver took care of the luggage. A couple local kids hopped in the car with my sisters and I while we were waiting. I asked one little girl in Spanish what her name was. Had no clue what she said. Como? She said it again. I looked at my sisters and asked if they understood her - they both shook their heads. I tried again. Como? I still didn’t know what she was saying. I tried one last time. “What the hecko is your namo?” She mumbled her name again. Whatever, I give up. “Oh, that’s a pretty name,” I told her. When Dad and the driver came back, I learned that the kids that had joined us in the car were the driver’s kids. Dad and the driver talked in Spanish while I watched the country roll past. One part of the road reminded me very much of Trinidad. Steep, jungle covered hills rise up so sharply from the roadside, you have to crane you neck to see the tops. Our driver kept on pointing out iguanas as they ran across the road. Yup, in Syracuse we have to watch out for squirrels running across the road- here you have to keep an eye out for iguanas. While we were driving, I noticed a pretty broad stream up ahead that crossed right over the road. I was looking for a bridge when I realized that there wasn’t a bridge. Oh no, we were going to drive right through it. We were only a couple feet into the stream when Dad decided he wanted to tape it so, after letting him off, the driver drove through the stream a couple times. I soon realized the stream wasn’t as deep as it looked and that the driver knew what he was doing. However, it still looked pretty rugged on camera. Big, battered jeep, plowing through the stream, water flying everywhere, while the occupants inside bounce around like crazy Mexican jumping beans, despite which, Chaela manages to wave wildly at the camera through the whole bouncy ride, looking like the good tourist that she is.

We finally get to the beach where a boat is waiting for guests and luggage headed for La Paloma Lodge. We have to walk a couple feet in the water to get into the boat so anybody wearing pants or sneakers changes into short and sandals. A few quick steps into the incoming surf, then a strong brown hand grabs my suddenly very white one (and here I thought I had some color), and helps me into the bobbing boat, where I wait for the last couple of guests. Once everyone’s in, we head for a little cove on the left side of the bay. We pull up to the lodge’s dock, jump out and walk up a short flight of concrete stairs. One of the lodge’s helpers lead the way while the rest of us trudge up the steep hill. By the time everyone reached the top of the hill, we were all puffing. Thankfully the rest of the walk was relatively flat and allowed us to spend more time admiring the vibrant flora and fauna that surrounded the flagstone walkway as it wound through the jungle. As we veered to the left, I spotted a pool between the trees and took note of where it was- I’d knew I’d be spending a lot of time there.

The main lodge soon came into view and as we walked up the steps, Katie (the owners’ 26 year old daughter) came to meet us. We were led to one of the several long dining tables where iced tea, fresh fruit, and homemade bread awaited us. She told us about the lodge, meal times, the rainforest and snorkeling outings, and other activities that she could arrange for us (horseback riding, bug tour, and zip line canopy tour). After handing us a waterproof bag filled with two flashlights, four sarongs (used because they require less water and detergent to clean then towels), and five water bottles, a helper led us to a freestanding, two-story bungalow- our home for the next six days. We walked up a flight of stairs onto a small porch, complete with a hammock at one end. Our guide told us that just a couple weeks before a strong wind came through and blew down a huge tree that had once dominated the view from our porch. She said it was her favorite tree because monkeys and all sorts of jungle birds used to congregate there. Now all that remained was a knotted mass of roots, branches and vines. We walked through the door into what came to be Mom and Dad’s bedroom. Another door led to small, pale teal tiled bathroom. A spiral staircase led to the upstairs, which was where we girls slept. Our bedroom had two beds (one queen sized one, which Bethany and Chaela shared, and a single) a wicker couch, and a table. From our room you could look out the large sliding windows and see jungle covered hills sloping down to the roaring ocean below.

After getting semi-settled, Dad, my sisters, and I put on our bathing suits and went looking for the beach. After a 10-minute hike through the jungle, we could hear the sound of the surf crashing and soon came to our destination. As we were putting on sun block, I noticed with a little apprehension that swimming area was strewn with sharp rocks that protruded out of the water. To add to that, the surf was pretty strong and the receding waves revealed more submerged rocks. We ventured into the ocean and swam out beyond the rocks, but soon decided that it was too dangerous to keep on swimming. We got a little scratched up from the waves pushing us over submerged rocks but besides that everyone reached the shore okay. Dad decided to go exploring as we were walking back to our bungalow and found that a nicer and much safer beach was just a little further down the trail. After showering and changing into dry clothes, we all laid down and read until dinnertime rolled around. At about quarter after six we headed up to the lodge to hang out with the other guests and enjoy the hors d’oeuvres. My sisters and I sat out on the open porch and talked, while Mom and Dad sat in one of the deep, wicker chairs or sofas that were set up around the room. At quarter to seven we all sat down to a family style dinner. The food was nutritious, delicious, and salubrious, as Dad always says.

The next day we just hung out. My sisters and I wandered over the pool a little before lunch and jumped in to escape the humid heat. The pool temperature was absolutely perfect, and with trees overhead, and an unobstructed ocean view, we were all reluctant to leave for lunch. My sisters left to shower but I stayed behind, too caught up in a good book to leave. As I was reading, I heard a splashing noise in the pool and as I looked up I spotted a Jesus Christ lizard running across the water. It turns out that these unique lizards are pretty common in the area, and we saw several more of them during our stay. A couple days later, while I was swimming alone in the pool, I looked up to see a pair of toucans flying through the trees. Later that afternoon, Mom, Dad, and I walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. As we were walking, I noticed what appeared to be hundreds of shells crawling towards rocks and large pieces of driftwood that had been washed up on shore. On closer inspection, I realized that they were tons of hermit crabs, ranging from pea-sized squirts to tomato-sized bullies that crawled over the smaller and less fortunate crabs in the rush to get to shelter before nightfall. As we started walking back, I heard rustlings in the plants that grew up on either side of the path. I cautiously peered into the dense green, getting ready to bolt if the creature looked anything like a large spider. A black and red form scurrying through the plants, made me jump until I realized it was just a crab. We later learned on our rainforest tour that what I was seeing was a land crab. They burrow into banks and the like and are found in great numbers in the jungle that borders the sea. As we continued up the path, large iridescent blue butterflies, another common sight at the lodge, flitted along path. We stopped by our bungalow to get ready for dinner, and then headed up for another great meal. The next day we went kayaking (which Dad briefly describes in his blog entry) which was a ton of fun. I wish we had proper foot ware because I would’ve loved to been able to go further up the river.

We woke up bright and early on our third day at the lodge, and had a wonderful time walking through and learning about the Corcovado National Rainforest (Bethany’s gonna write about that). Later that night, we went on the bug tour, which was absolutely amazing (Mom wrote about that). It was very informative and interesting, and I would say a must for any guest staying at the Lodge. We spent the next day snorkeling off an island in the bay (Chaela’s topic). We saw a couple white-tipped reef sharks and multitudes of colorful tropical fish. That night after dinner, my sisters and I headed back to our bungalow so Bethany and I could get changed before baby-sitting the kids of a family (the Eshaghpours) so their parents could go on the bug tour.

Chaela was leading the way with the flashlight, followed by Bethany, and then me. We were walking down the path when Bethany suddenly jumped straight up in the air, and started screaming. Chaela and I immediately asked her what was wrong. She didn’t answer but saying kept saying, “Oh my God! Oh my God! That was soo freaky!” Now for those of you who know Bethany, jumping up down like a kangaroo, and screaming wildly isn’t quite in form with her usual calm, cool, and collected self. It was so completely out of her character, that Chaela and I couldn’t resist laughing at the comical sight. When I realized she was okay, aside from hyperventilating, I edged closer to her, still chuckling. She practically jumped on me, screaming in my ear, “Get me out of here! That was so scary!” “What happened?” I asked, eyeing the bushes that grew up on either side of the path. “Ugh, it was a huge slimy thing, and it wrapped it self around my legs. I’m going back to the lodge!” “Bethany, don’t be ridiculous. We’re almost there.” Bethany insisted on carrying the flashlight and then ran the rest of the way home. Leaving Chaela and I to face whatever it was that “attacked” her in the dark. Although a little incredulous, neither of us were very keen on finding out what it was that had caused Bethany to flip out so. We were soon chasing Bethany yelling for her to wait up. She later said it was about the size of a rat and had wrapped itself around her legs before she succeeded in kicking it off. We think the mystery monster was one of the humongous (a good seven inches long, and very fat) toads that live around the lodge. The only other thing that we did that pertains to my blog entry is when we went swimming in the ocean the day before we left. My sisters and I walked down by ourselves and had only been swimming about 15 minutes before being joined by Dad. The tide was coming in so there were huge waves. We couldn’t really body surf because waves were hitting the shore with such force that it made it, if not dangerous, pretty uncomfortable to be thrown onto the beach. Bethany, however, didn’t listen to me and tried to ride a good-sized wave into shore. She did several somersaults, and was pounded onto the beach. She sat up, with a dazed expression on her face and groaned. She gave a wry chuckle, “Don’t do that”, she said as she brushed off the sand that covered her hair and bathing suit. I couldn’t help saying, “Told ya so.” The towering waves would pick us up, lifting us way above the shore, and rush towards the land. To avoid being tossed when the waves broke, we’d stick our feet straight out, landing gear fashion, and break our descent with our bent legs, trying desperately to remain upright. Once in a while, a big wave would succeed in knocking us over, and we’d go tumbling through the water, legs and arms flailing above the froth, before being tossed up on the shore. The water was filled with
grit from the turbulent waters that arose from the incoming and receding waves clashing together. A couple waves were so strong; the undertow knocked us off our feet. We spent at least an hour and half doing this, before heading off to the pool to rinse the salt water off.

That pretty much concludes our stay at La Paloma Lodge. We all had a great time- I think it was the best vacation we’ve ever been on. I’ve got to go get ready for the day cuz I’m still in my PJ’s (it’s only 2:52 p.m.) and get going on school. I can’t wait to see you all next month.

-Gabrielle