C

We first became really conscious of Chirripo National Park while staying with the Aronsons in Heredia. Their son Tupie was very fit, liked playing soccer, and liked running. He liked it so much he was willing to run up to the top of Costa Rica's most famous mountain, Chirripo, and back down again. We didn't have any such ambitions, but we did think we would like to visit the mountain which we heard abounded like so much of Costa Rica in wildlife.

The Road to Chirripo

Our first goal was to find somewhere decent to stay in the nearby town of San Isidro del General. We arrived there early one afternoon and indeed found a nice room where we rested up in preparation for what we expected would be a day hike in the park.

Hotel Zima, San Isidro

The next morning, we set out for the park having checked maps and guidebooks. The first part of the road was well-paved although the road quickly climbed up out of the San Isidro valley, the countryside became very rural, and we started to get nice views. Our first goal was the park office where we expected to pay another $6.00 each for entry to the park. On arrival we were a bit surprised to find it deserted. We asked a man nearby about the office and he explained to us that if we were only going into the park for a short hike, we didn't need to pay any entry fee. He also told us, as an aside, that he had a guesthouse nearby if we needed a room and when we said no, offered his restaurant for lunch. We said we'd probably take him up on that but after we had gone for our walk. He gave us directions to the nearest park entrance and off we went.

The Lovely Morpho Butterfly

The road, already narrow, got even narrower and even steeper. We crossed a small bridge, climbed a little further and found a flat spot by the side of the road near a gate and parked the car. As we put on our boots and packed our backpacks, we saw several mothers walking up the hill with grade-school kids in tow. It was almost noon and they were off school for the day and heading home. We followed them uphill quickly getting winded from the exertion.

A little further along, we got to the entrance and switched from the road to an even steeper muddy trail. Stopping now and then to catch our breath we struggled on up the path for an hour, getting some great views on the way. Gerry was struggling a lot, having some chest pain, and getting very out of breath. Then, Jan felt the first rain drop. We walked on a little way, just to get to the next trail marker, but with the trail already muddy we didn't fancy being on it in serious rain and we could already here the thunder approaching. So we turned around and said goodbye to panting.

Birds Nesting

Just as we got back to the road, the rain started to come down heavier. Luckily, it didn't stop us from seeing a pair of really colorful birds that seemed to be building their nest in the bank to one side of the road. It made the whole walk worthwhile, just to see these two perched on the bank working on their nest. But the rain kept getting heavier and so by the time we got back to the car we were pretty wet and I was starting to get chilled. We quickly drove down the hill to the restaurant owned by our helpful man, grabbed our coats, and went in to eat while waiting for the rain to stop. When it had, we continued on down the hill and back to San Isidro. Maybe on our next trip we'll find time to walk to the top, who knows.