Gringos in the Mist

My family and I spent the rest of our holiday in the Costa Rican mountains. My parents have property not far from San Isidro, about 4000 feet above sea level. From the highest point on the property, on a clear day, one can sea the Pacific to the west and a mountain range to the east, with mountains as high as 12000 feet. Most days during the rainy season the clouds roll in low and cover everything in a soft grey fog. There are pine trees up there, as well as ancient ferns, mangos and oranges. Although I never saw them, I heard howler monkeys and parrots deep within the treeline. It is a pretty amazing place.

Much of the cloud forest in that area was cleared to make way for cattle ranching and the view from up there often resembles a distorted checker board of green and brown squares and rectangles bordered by large trees. The road to town is often blocked by herds of cattle and the cowboys who move them from pasture to pasture. Of course, there is the occasional coffee plantation and grove of fruit trees. And chickens. Oy, the chickens.

We have a little house tucked away on a lower slope, where six of us (seven if you count my niece Izzy), slept for a few nights. There is no electricity, or hot water, there yet. Showers were an invigorating experience, I can tell you! There was a little propane stove to heat tea when the weather cooled down and it rained, and we often sat on the porch, reading books or talking while the rain came down. Several local workers are building two other cabins to Dad's specifications on one of the summits. My parents plan to build as many as six of them around the property, as well as a main house and a conference center. The property was once part of a ranch and Dad is currently reforesting the place, planting thousands of trees and recreating habitats for the local wildlife. In fact, he is making a business out of it. As soon as his web site is up, I will provide you with a link. There will be plenty of pictures there, I assure you.

All in all, it was a great trip. I was a little wary of the country; I am not comfortable in places where I cannot communicate very well (which is ironic, since one of my heroes is Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton). But I can easily fall in love with a place like Costa Rica.