Meeting Costa Rica Member--Punching Throug Bridge--Hanging from Wire

[David]

Meeting Another BMWSportTouring Member

 

This was supposed to be fuller Ride Tale, but I didn't get a chance to ride in Costa Rica. I had talked with Norval Garnier, a BMWSportTouring.com member who lives there, about riding together but we couldn't get our schedules together. We did have a chance to meet, though, and he was quite kind in taking us (as a family) out to dinner. It was one of the best meals we'd had down there, and it was a treat to meet another member. I especially enjoy meeting DB members in other countries, and one of our goals is to make this community as international as possible.

 

Here are the remnants of a great meal. Norval Garnier is on the right, in a blue shirt. Then Jonathan, our oldest, in a blue shirt .Then Julie. Then Nathan, in a gray shirt.

 

 

Norval distributes pharmaceuticals for several well known brands. He rides an RT and is also president of the local riding club. I have never in my life seen a more organized club. They have a full color booklet that catalogs all the upcoming meetings. They typically have a ride planned every three weeks or so, and they last 1-3 days. If you consider the fact that there's only one BMW motorcycle dealership in the entire country, and they sell about three bikes per month, it's a pretty impressive group they have.

 

Norval, thank you for dinner! And congratulations on your soon to be born first child (a daughter).

 

The Beauty of Costa Rica

 

Rather than just end this here, I thought I'd share a little bit more about the trip. It was a family vacation. The boys really wanted to go somewhere as a family, and Costa Rica was their first choice. We'd taken them there once before, and I'd lived there a year as a young child and visited again probably a dozen times, so we made plans to go.

 

In my opinion, Costa Rica is the Switzerland of Central America. It's a very small country, but has miles of oceanfront (Atlantic and Pacific). We are drawn to the black sand and warm waters of the Pacific. It's also an ecologically diverse country with vast areas of rain forest and mountain green. It's a very safe country (relatively speaking), too, with excellent health care and a literacy rate higher than the United States. The people are very friendly, the food is unbelievable, and it's the perfect country in which to unwind. If any of you have toyed with visiting, I'd urge you to do so. I'd be glad to help you with contacts and places to go and stay.

 

Speaking of staying, we really enjoy a little B & B called "Grano de Oro" on the southwest side of the city. The rooms are comfortable and the food is spectacular. Everywhere you eat, in fact, the food is fresh, tasty, and inexpensive. The four of us would regularly eat full meals with beverage and pay in the $15-20 range, total. A cab fare across the entire city of San Jose is less than $2.

 

 

We rented a 4WD vehicle and departed the city, using CA 1, a typical "expressway" that leads out of San Jose, the capital city.

 

After just a few minutes you'll be in the mountains, draped in green in every direction. This is their "rainy season," which means that it rains for a few hours every day (mid afternoon), keeping the lushness intact. It's a great excuse for a nap.

 

 

We arrived at another little favorite place to say, "Club del Mar," in Jaco. This teeny town (with no stoplights) gathers surfers from around the world, drawn to the unique rock formations that create some legendary surfing opportunities.

 

 

This particular hotel is a ways from the town, on the far eastern side. It's secluded and pinned in by the pacific on one edge and the rain forest on the other. In fact, this is one of only a few places in the world where the rain forest extends to the ocean.

 

Here's the view through the front door:

 

 

You have to step carefully to avoid the iguanas. These drop from the trees next to you or sun just outside the door:

 

 

 

And of course there are beautiful flowers everywhere:

 

 

As well, you'll find unique views of the ocean from within the rain forest:

 

 

Nearby I found this very old VW bus, probably abandoned by hippies years ago. Look at how far the wheels have sunk into the earth:

 

 

A Failed Attempt to Reach Manuel Antonio

 

Manual Antonio is a large rain forest preserve, and walking through it is like walking into the pages of the National Geographic. So one morning we set out early to experience it again. Unfortunately, we had to turn around just about ten miles from Quepos, but it was still an interesting day.

 

First you pass thousands of acres of palm trees, harvested for the palm oil (turned into soap, food, etc.):

 

 

The last time I'd gone to Manuel Antonio two of the bridges were out from recent flooding, so we were expecting to use the vehicles capabilities to ford the river. All (but one) of the bridges were intact, though "bridge" might be a generous term. They are one lane and if there had been a weight limit sign, I doubt if trucks like this were envisioned by the bridge engineers!

 

 

Well, the first sign that all was not well came when the traffic stopped in our direction, and we noticed that nothing was passing us coming the other direction, either. We happened to find ourselves next to a school that was just opening for the day, and it was interesting to listen to the lesson. As I wandered the line of cars on foot, I saw the smallest hill climber ever.

 

Eventually I made my way to the front of the line of cars and trucks and buses and saw that a truck had gone partially through the bridge, bringing traffic to a halt. Look carefully and you'll see that it bent the iron crossbars with the sheer weight of the front end:

 

 

The gap through which you can see the river, by the way, is not a result of the accident but is always there. The ironic part is the sign just at the bridge's entrance warning you not to swim due to the crocodiles!

 

 

The truck driver, patiently waiting in front of his truck, told me it would be at least two hours before they could extricate the truck. Well, "two hours" in Costa Rica time is not, shall we say, ciento veinte minutos, so we decided to turn around. Besides, I wasn't sure I wanted to traverse the bridge after seeing the damage. I was even more sure of that when he explained that it did that "solo porque estuvimos manajando muy lento," which translates to "only because we were driving too slowly."

 

So we made our way back to Parrita, a little frontier town where I snapped a few more pictures. The first is a high tech bicycle trailer (probably where Uni-Go got their inspiration). The second is some interesting plastic, disposible panniers. The third was a roadside umbrella store. And the fourth is a little cafe we had to ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Birds from a Wire

 

The last thing I thought you might enjoy seeing is a "canopy tour" on a monorail. After five months of very hard work, one of these was finished up the hill from our bungalow, and so the boys and I decided to brave it. Where's OSHA when you need it, eh?

 

I'm afraid of heights, oddly enough. Flying doesn't bother me, but ladders, towers, and any other tall, stationary, man-made object does. So within minutes of saying I'd do it with them, I started having regrets. Then, as I told Fernando, it was a battle between giving into my own fears or being ruthlessly made fun of by the boys forever for being a chicken sh!t. I decided I'd rather face the monorail, so off we went.

 

There were three guides and only the three of us in the group. Normally they climb the hill with a 4WD tractor (with a trailer), but the "road" had been washed out the night before, so up we went on pack horses. Here I am following Nate:

 

 

Eventually we went as far as the horses could take us, and left them at a shelter, where we took one last picture to help identify the body parts later:

 

 

From there it was a hike up a narrow path from where we saw some interesting things, including poisonous frogs, termite nests, and leafcutting ants:

 

 

 

 

When you get to the first platform, you would not believe what they've strung up. Essentially it's a single strand of cable that extends from the top of one tree to the next. The first platform is at the end of the trail, but all the other platforms are high up--and I do mean high up--in very old trees. There's just enough room to stand as you sort out your equipment in preparation for the next run to the next tree. There are twelve runs, and thirteen platforms. It took us 2.5 hours, including the climb to the top platform.

 

As you can see from the earlier picture, we are strapped into mountain climbing gear with one addition. There's a pulley which you connect over the cable, and hang from one nylon strap as you scream (literally or figuratively) from one tree to the next.

 

Your left hand grabs the pulley to keep it straight on the cable, and also to keep your body from twisting during the run. Your right hand is in an ordinary thick cotton garden glove with a thick leather patch on the palm. You extend this right hand far behind you, and it is your only brake. You squeeze to slow down. It's a little unnerving, too. Brake too little and you smack the tree. Brake too much and you have to stop yourself, spin around, and pull yourself hand over hand the rest of the way to the tree.

 

The first picture is of Nathan about three-fourths of the way to the platform I'm standing on. The second picture shows what happens when you panic and brake too much, and then have to pull yourself the remainder of the way:

 

 

 

The first run is only 60 yards or so, just to give you a chance to get the hang of it, so to speak. The other runs are between 100 and 250 yards, and the angle varies, too. Some require no braking and an aerodynamic body position in order to make it all the way. Others allow you to reach speeds of 55 mph! Like this one, they laughingly call the "Turbo Run":

 

 

On that run, I would estimate that the drop is 500-600 ft down. Argh. I was not comfortable the first few runs, but after that I started to relax and enjoy it. It was definitely a conquering moment for me. It's strange how illogical our fears are, and how those fears vary from person to person.

 

But the views are spectacular. Here's one from one of the later platforms:

 

 

And here's the view forward from the same platform, where you can see a particular run that is not near any trees at all:

 

 

On others, though, it's prudent to stay awake. You are flying so fast, and so close to trees, that you must keep your body from going sideways in the wind or you'll smack a tree:

 

 

What a great treat it was to see the rain forest from that angle. It's not uncommon to see families of monkeys and staggeringly beautiful birds, like toocans (sp?), the Fruit Loop bird.

 

Finally, let me thank Dick Schwartz, AAFlyer on the discussion board. He knew the captain piloting our flight back to the USA, and arranged for a cockpit tour as we deplaned. Mr. Doug Bauder, thanks for the hospitality!

 

Thanks for letting me use our meeting with Norval as an opportunity to stretch the Ride Tale definition! Hopefully I've enticed a few of you to go to Costa Rica some time.

[giggyboy]

Wonderful pics and story David

[SteveB]

Seems to me that the monorail is safer than the bridges.

Sounds like a great trip.

[BadAdam]

What an awesome story. My younger brother is a major surfer and has told me more than a few times that I need to go visit Costa Rica.

 

Maybe sometime soon..........

[rdfrantz]

Thanks for the story, David. Fill those live up.

 

Isn't Norval just the most wonderful guy. I got to spend (too little) time with him here in the US. Can't forget a moment of it, and wouldn't try. I'm so glad you met up with him.

 

Ahhhh. David Tree-hopper.

[JerryMather]

David-

Perfect timing! I'm planning to go to Jaco in Sept. with some friends and would very much like to do some riding down there.

Just E-mailed Norval to see if we can hook up for a ride.

Thanks for the post.

[ian408]

 

Wonderful tale and a great ride report (you did ride the

cables). Those pictures are beautiful too!

 

Ian

[Marty Hill]

David,

 

Wow!!!! Really beautiful. Many thanks for the trip report and pics. Next time think about taking your very old uncle Marty.

[RichEdwards]

Thanks for the great photographs and a wonderful family vacation story.

[BMWGreenRT]

Damn..Another place I have to add to the list.

 

Nice story David

[ChrisNYC]

What a great, colorful, adventurous Ride Tale, David.

 

And those monorails give me a few ideas for commuting in NYC

 

------------------

Chris (aka Tender Vittles),

Little '77 KZ400 in the Big Apple

Black '99 RT for Everywhere Else, such as...

[StretchMark]

Wow! Great pics, Great story.

Our sales incentive trip this year is to the Mariott Costa Rica for a week. I'm in the lead.....sell, sell, sell!

They force feed us screen savers, so every morning I see:

Costa Rica - makes up .03% of Earths land, but contains 5% of all known plant and animal species.

- 9000 plant species, 800 types of ferns

- 10% of all known butterflies (2000 different kinds)

- 850 species of birds (more than US and Canada combined)

- 1200 varieties of orchids

- 160 amphibians, 220 reptiles

 

Looks like a truly amazing place. Hope I get to experience it.

[David]

Perfect timing! I'm planning to go to Jaco in Sept. with some friends and would very much like to do some riding down there.

Just E-mailed Norval to see if we can hook up for a ride.

Thanks for the post.

 

Jerry, if you have any time to spend in San Jose, here are some suggestions.

 

/The food at Grano de Oro is great.

 

/The steak place Norval took us to is called Los Anonos (228-0180).

 

/If you need to do some shopping to take things back, try the gift shop in the Don Carlos Hotel, or just take a cab to 1st Ave. and 5th Calle and wander the area.

 

In Jaco:

 

/There are a half dozen internet cafes. Throughout the entire country they are almost all $1/hr. There's a much better one in Jaco, though, and it's just west of the Max x Menos grocery store, on the same side of the street (north). Big yellow sign. Just a bit more expensive, but tons faster.

 

/There's great pizza on the main drag at Rioasis. Get Imperial beer to go with it!

 

/Eat at the Club del Mar, too, the last stop on the way out of town towards Quepos. Say "hi" to Phillip, the owner. And ask for Modesto, the best waiter.

 

/The canopy tour place I talked about is just across the road from Club del Mar, back towards town a few blocks.

 

/You can make quick phone calls at $1.70/min, direct dialed back to the US at the internet cafe behind El Colonial Restaurant (don't eat there, though).

 

Have fun! You'll love it.

[itchybro]

Yes, let me add to the pile of thanks for letting me vicariously swing thru the trees.

 

Have the boys figured out just how cool dad is? (and gutsy too for doing the hyper dangle through the jungle!!)

 

You rock David.

[PeterScottNJ]

EXCELLENT adventure - great pics - thanks

[BPeterson]

man, that is S W E E T ! Thanks for the excellent photos and tale David.

[David]

What a great, colorful, adventurous Ride Tale, David.

 

And those monorails give me a few ideas for commuting in NYC

 

Speaking of ideas, we did something this trip we hadn't before. I bought four inexpensive Motorola GMRS handhelds at Radio shack. They were about $40/pair, believe it or not. So each of us carried one and we could wander on our own, through town, at the airport, shopping in the city...just everywhere. It worked out really well.

[murrayg]

Now that's a vacation. Thanks for taking us along. Glad you triumphed over your fear. I think I would have wussed out and let my girls make fun of dad.

[Bill Poche]

What's that pulley looking thing on Nathan's belt?

Scroll down a few pics.

Oh, I see. Damn, Sam!

USMC Jungle training.

 

Thanks for the tale David! It was better than being there! No lizards in my computer room.

 

[Chris K]

What a great vacation. Thanks for sharing it with us.

My sons thought ours was good until I made the mistake of showing them your writeup! At least they now know where Costa Rica is.

Have fun at Barber this weekend.