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On March 26, many of the breeders arrived at CRES to drop off their pupae for the day’s shipment. Joris had arranged for me to go to one’s home near Guacimo, not far from the Atlantic coast. A man named Oscar provided the ride since she had not come that morning. |
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We left CRES about 9:00 am and made our way to San Jose. I sat in the back seat as Oscar stopped at various fruit stores trying to sell a trunk load of zapote, a fruit that he and another passenger with riding with us had grown. I found the city to be very smelly with exhaust fumes — my nose and throat became irritated during the hour or so we were in the city. Finally all the fruit was sold and Oscar’s friend dropped off at his destination. |
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Once out of the city, we began the climb out of the Central Valley. The road to Guacimo goes through Braulio Carrillo National Park, a beautiful cloud forest preserve. Thankfully Oscar stopped at a number of scenic pullouts along the way so I could take a few pictures.
I hope to return to this preserve for a closer investigation of its beauty and diversity but these photos should give readers an idea of what it was like. According to Les Beletsky in Costa Rica - The Ecotravelers’ Wildlife Guide, this park was recently created and has only a few short trails to explore.
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Two highlights of the Park—one man-made and one natural—caught my attention. This tunnel is about 500 meters long, going through the very steep mountain ridge. |
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The Rio Sucio (Dirty River) crosses under the road, joining another river just upstream from the bridge. Here you can see the water in the foreground is yellow. This not human pollution as many of Costa Rica’s rivers carry, but minerals from the Barva Volcano.
The plants were of course amazing. Beletsky states that there are about 6000 species in this park of 117,300 acres. The Park extends into the Caribbean Lowlands where I will spend the next couple of days.
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