Cerro de la Muerte and the road to San Vito

Last weekend we made our much anticipated trip to the Guaymi Indigenous Reserve, but our long day of travel beforehand proved to be as interesting and eventful as the reserve itself. Our first stop on the road consisted of a short a short hike in El Cerro de la muerte (Mountain of Death), Costa Rica's highest point, which received its daunting name during the colonial times when unprepared travelers often died during the treacherous journey through these mountains. It may be hard to believe, but at its highest points there is typically ice and snow on the ground during certain parts of the year. Thankfully we didn't climb that high, but where we did hike just of the highway offered some spectacular views of one of Costa Rica's most beautiful landscapes.

After our venture up the mountain and a hearty lunch, we headed down to a calm, undeveloped beach, one of Costa Rica's many beaches named Playa Hermosa, where we remained fairly isolated along with a few surfers and other sun-bathers. We enjoyed the tranquility of a beach not lined with lawn chairs and umbrellas of high rise resorts as we played in the strong surf and lounged in the shade of the green trees that lined the shore.

After a couple of hours in the sun we continued our travels along the Rio Grande de Terraba following the river inland to our destination in San Vito. Along the way we stopped at a couple of shops where indigenous families of Terraba and Boruca heritage sold some of there artwork. A majority of the pieces now cater to the aesthetic appeal of tourists; nevertheless, it is still possible to find some traditionally styled artwork as well. My favorite pieces where the masks made by the Boruca that are used to celebrate La Danza de los diablitos (to the right you can see which one I purchased for home decoration). The seemingly innate skill and artistic ability of the indigenous populations is truly something worth seeing and is well worth any money you can spend on it. However, it is sad to see traditional style art disappearing from these shops and being replaced by improvised artwork forced in by tourism.
The night before our trip up to the reserve we spent in San Vito, a small town founded by Italian immigrants who came to jump into the coffee business. We enjoyed some great Italian food before making our way to bed in order to build up a reserve of sleep that would be much needed the following night.

First Day in the Mountains

Yesterday we made our way up into the mountains just side Santa Ana. We drove to the top and then hiked around the peaks and the forests for around two hours. It was fairly chilly and the wind currents blew hard over certain parts of the mountain. In fact, when we first got out to the vehicles we all had to duck behind them in order to even put on our jackets. Don Jorge pointed out a variety of species and noted some of the ongoing reforestation efforts occurring in Costa Rica's forests. Our hike concluded with a steep trek down the hillside to Don Jorge's second home in the mountains (pictured below) where he keeps an assortment of Pre-Columbian art. We passed the time there eating comida tipica, drinking coffee, enjoying the beautiful vistas from the balcony, and exploring our surroundings. After an hour or so of relaxation at Don Jorge's place our drivers returned to bring us back down the mountain. Along the way we caught our a glimpse of a 5-6 foot long boa constrictor slithering its way off the mountain road back into the forests. I would have liked to have jumped out and snagged a photo but I was locked in the trunk of our jeep on the way home. More pictures to come soon as well, so keep checking updated posts for new photos.