WHERE: Dominical to Cartago – Costa Rica (day 17-19)
WHEN: December, 2015
WHO: Karma
OBJECTIVE: rainforest orchid expedition

Costa Rica travel diary

Monday morning and my friend and I caught a “monkey shuttle” north, a sort of poor man’s cab/car share service, a bit Über style, cheaper than taxi and way faster than bus. Still a 5 hour drive to Cartago where Daniel picked us up and drove us the last bit to Paraíso och hotell Orokay. A nice and quiet oasis with a rather spectacular view of the mountains, Macho Gaff-Cerro De La Muerte, in the distance.

City life… ugh! I am not ready!!! Both Cartago and Paraíso are very stressful places, no offence anyone! My perception is of course amplified by the past few weeks of marvelous tranquility. The two cities had sort of grown together into one long stretch of one story buildings, homes mixed in with shops and businesses all over the place. No city planning to speak of what so ever it seemed! Madness. I am really not ready for civilization yet. The day before flying home we had a meeting with Diego at Lankester Botanical Gardens. He showed us around the shade houses and talked about some of his research and in return I consulted a bit on vivaria construction. Turns our he reads this blog. Nice guy! Ambitious research and some very interesting big projects going. I hope he has the funding and energy to see it through!

Last day… Daniel drove us to the airport. It actually feels good to go home, I guess I am ready. We have an expression in Sweden that goes something like “away is nice – but home is better”, I guess it is true, at least for a short, short while before you start dreaming of the next adventure…

Reflections

I knew that getting to experience so many of the orchids I love and cultivate in-situ would have a profound effect on me – and it truly did. I am so happy I had the opportunity to do this trip. The places we went would have been difficult to organize on my own, so I feel fortunate. But I did also learn something about myself… or rather confirmed my suspicion… group trips really is not my thing. It is not a reflection on any of the people in our group, they were all very nice, but this rather a reflection on who I am. I like to be a little more flexible when travelling, free to explore things at my own pace… free to change the plan as I go. Well, free to be a little more spontaneous I guess. Good to know for future plans.

I have many places I want to see on my bucketlist, but I am also sure I will make it back to Costa Rica one day. It is such an amazingly beautiful country and an incredibly friendly people! Thank you everyone!