Rainforest

We got up about 9 today as I had a date with Kim on skype at half past and didnt want to miss it! It was thankfully a bit cooler today as the clouds blocked the sun out, it was still quite muggy though. After having a lovely catch up with Kim for about an hour we hired a bike each and set off on the days adventure! We had decided that the prices for tours through the rainforest were extortionate so had looked on the internet and found that the Gandoca-Manzillo National Wildlife Refuge was about 6 miles away and had trails you could hike along. This should be fairly easy going on the bikes as the road ran parallel with the sea most of the way and we found the only problem was the seats were so hard we had sore bums after about 2 miles!! We stopped in Cocles along the way at a Tourist information where we picked up a map and a magazine full of beautiful pictures of the area as well as a lot about the history, wildlife and local indigenous tribes. We continued another 3 miles or so before the road turned inland a bit and became hilly which is a bit of an issue on bikes that dont have gears or even brakes!! After a mile of ups and downs we found the turning we were looking for and pulled in to the trail, found a convenient post to lock the bikes to and set off on foot. As we walked along we munched on some sugar coated fruit pastry things we'd bought the day before and tried to guess what was in the middle as it had very little flavour, we later found out it was probably plantain. The rainforest is amazing, it sounds just like it does on the tv when you watch a documentary, so many different noises, various birds, insects, monkeys and one thing that sounded like the hound of the Baskervilles was quite disturbing but we never did find out what made it! Walking along we came across various tracks which we followed that generally led to somebody's house deep within, then we turned round and took a different route. After several of these we passed a large guarded compound which was possibly the actual entrance to the main part of the reserve, as we didnt have any money or a guide to try and get in with and the guards not looking too friendly we carried on as we were and soon came across 3 small horses tethered along the path grazing. Only one of them looked anything like in good condition as they were all a bit thin and pestered badly by flies and mosquitos. They seemed to enjoy a bit of fuss each before we carried on along the track and came across a bizarre insect or something, it was pure white and looked a bit like one of those cat toys on the end of a stick, after landing on my knee it zoomed off again, but how we dont know as we didnt see any wings...strange! A little further and after seeing some rather large and beautiful butterflies we found what I'd really hoped we would see in the wild...monkeys!!! A couple of trees with about a dozen small monkeys eating, sleeping and playing, calling softly to each other and quite unconcerned with us down on the ground 10 meters away. We stood watching them for probably quarter of an hour before walking on they are fascinating little creatures. Before long the rain started to fall and we came to another dead end, so stopping to eat some ritz crackers (for the salt as you lose a lot because you sweat so much) we thought we'd call it a day and start heading back. As we went we passed a guy with a huge machete 9 everyone seems to carry them here) and a lady wearing bright clothes rode by us on another small horse, looking only slightly better than the ones tethered back along the path. We came across the monkey tree again and stopped to watch as they hid under the leafier branches to stay out of the rain. Eventually we got back to the bikes and set off on the journey home, the rain stopped and the smells of the rainforest seemed intensified as if refreshed by the water. Riding back we again marvelled at the wondrous scenery along side the road, the rainforest clings right to the edge and as there is a bit more light because of the gap the road causes you get many more flowers blooming in the sunshine. We came across a turn for Punta Uva, a beach that the guy in the TI had said was the most beautiful in this area so we thought we better have a look. Huge vulture type birds rose up in front of us as we reached the beach and settled again on a pile of banana/coconut prunings as we passed, looking at the beach it was lovely but I didnt think any more spectacular than many of the other beaches we'd seen or walked along. However we took the opportunity to have a rest from the hard saddles and watched as 2 4x4s turned up with a load of American's who promptly got out and started posing for pictures before even looking at where they were! We left then and made it back to the hostel at about 4.30 where we went straight to the beach to cool off in the sea for a while before having a shower (even cooler!) and deciding what to eat from the exotic menu at Rocking J's. Andy had the days special which was BBQ pork ribs done in a fruit type sauce with vegetables and delicious garlic mash, whereas I had carribean jerk chicken which was gorgeous and came with salad, rice and beans and fried plantain...NOM!! We relaxed for a while before calling it a night and went to our hammocks.