It’s been a busy week in my house and now that things have settled down, I wanted to share some of my adventures with all of you. I have been in the Jaco area for a little over a year now but we have been busy with the business so I haven’t really managed to play tourist.

As I may have mentioned (I can’t recall), we had guests this past week, and their arrival meant a bit of time off from sailing to spend exploring…and sharing…the beauty of our new home.

Robert and Marion wanted to see waterfalls, and explore one of the National Parks to see critters, so I started doing a bit of research. We have been driving past signs for something called Neofauna since arriving in Jaco and since the signs said everything from monkeys to frogs to waterfalls, it seemed like a good place to start.

It turns out that Neofauna is actually an animal rescue center and that they do tours as a means of making money to support their rescue efforts. The price was fairly low and they had a few different options to choose from so I made the suggestion and we all decided to go check it out.

It was less than ten minutes from home which was convenient and the road up the hill was in relatively good shape. we pulled into a small parking lot where a small building sat. There was a wooden overhang where some young people lounged in hammocks (awaiting tour guests) and there was a large butterfly mural on the wall.

We were met almost immediately by a young man who spoke very nice english. We told him that we were interested in animals and waterfalls, and he quoted a price of $40 US for a combination of the two tours (animal shelter and waterfall) which would take at least two hours in total.

We agreed that it seemed fair and he introduced us to David who was a volunteer. David took us through a gate in the fence (near which was another beautiful mural of scarlet macaw wings that you could stand in front of and take photos…I took photos but they seem to have disappeared from the universe into some black hole)

The gate led into a small terrarium like area with wandering pathways and small hand made enclosures that housed various kinds of critters. They started with frogs (both poisonous and non-poisonous) and then the large birds and a Capuchin monkey who had been rescued and was awaiting a new family.

We were given peanuts to feed the macaws and parrots. David was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions with a smile. Most of the animals had been rescued and were to be released back into the wild when/if possible. There was a smaller enclosed area at the back for butterflies (they have a butterfly farm onsite as well) and then another path meandered over to glass cases that housed the snakes and ponds that held a caymen and some turtles.

It was quite hot and humid (we were there over mid-day) but well worth the sweat. Robert and Marion and I shared our photos so not the photos that I will be showing below have come from several sources…

We emerged from the animal enclosure somewhat wilted but with smiles on our faces and were met almost immediately by the same young man who introduced us to a tiny little man with a big smile and a soft voice who would be our driver.

We wandered around looking at the items displayed outside the ‘office’ while we waited for the jeep to be made ready and the young man, noticing our interest in a large seed in the display, explained to us that it was a cocoa bean pod. He cracked the large seed open to display a cluster of smaller, whitish beans held together with soft white goo.

He picked one of the beans out and popped it into his mouth, gesturing for us to to do the same. As we sucked on the beans he told the story of an indigenous tribe who had found the large pod in the jungle. They were curious about the pod and it’s use as a potential food source , so they collected quite a few of the pods and took them back to the village.

The village had a meeting and they decided to ‘sacrifice’ a member of the village to look into it. The young man who was chosen cracked open the pod and popped one of the seeds into his mouth (as we were doing) the taste of the goo around the pods wasn’t unpleasant but the bean itself, once bitten (he gestured to us to bit our bean) was bitter and unpleasant… (yup….right on the money there! we spat out our beans).

The villagers decided that the pods were of no use and tossed the now open pods on the ground. The discarded pods which were laying in the humid air molded and decayed and then dried roasted by the sun.

Eventually another villager noticed that the beans had now dried into small brown beans and that the animals were eating these beans. They decided to give the bean another try…..and discovered that the dried bean was much tastier.

Voila! the beginning of our addiction to chocolate.

By the time the story was finished, our driver (whose name might have been Marlo) was ready and we were helped into a very tall, very beat up old jeep with large stubby tires and a hole in the floor. Marion and Chris and I climbed into the back where small benches had been build and straps hung down from the roll bar to hang onto and Robert (who has very long legs) climbed into the front seat beside the driver.

We drove down the road for a small distance and then veered off into the jungle, following a mostly dry river bed in under the canopy. The noise and the shade of the jungle enclosed us as we bounced along the rough ‘roadway’ over large rocks and through shallow ditches. It was bumpy and there were many areas where we held our breathe and sent up a prayer that the jeep wouldn’t tip over because we were at an extreme slant but our driver seemed to know exactly where he was going and laughed with joy every time we made a comment about our eminent death.

It was strangely comforting. He stopped at one point and turned off the motor unexpectedly, so that we could head the loud hum of the cicadas in the trees around us and then smiled and motored on.

We were quick a long distance along the riverbed when, unbelievably we spotted a bulldozer perched on top of a newly graded sandy hill. The driver explained that they were building something on the top of the hill. Sadly, the bulldozer’s work had sent a pile of rock tumbling down into the riverbed and our route was now blocked.

We parked the car and prepared to walk the last way. It was beautiful and quiet and we gazed around taking photos as we walked and asking random questions. The trees beside the path had large sections of roots exposed and it made me curious, so I asked the driver how deep the water was in the wet season. He gestured to an area almost at the top of where the tree roots stopped and then gestured to his own chest.

Apparently the water level is well over 4 feet, perhaps closer to 5 feet deep during the rains. we looked down at the trickle at our feet and tried to imagine a roaring torrent in it’s place.

He explained that the waterfall we were going to see could only be reached on foot or on horseback for much of the year.

As we approached the waterfall, the trickling bits of stream got wider and deeper (but still probably less than a foot deep). Being silly gringos who didn’t want to get our shoes wet…we hopped from rock to rock while our guide waded into the water and held out his arm to steady us as we went.

When we reached our goal, the waterfall itself was rather underwhelming…however, having seen the difference in water levels from season to season, it was easy to see that it could be a really impressive spot.

I have secretly (not so secret now) vowed to go back again and do the tour on horseback during the green season… hopefully with my daughters in tow. Chris found a path that ran right up the face of the waterfall itself and headed up, but since none of the rest of us wanted to brave it, he posed for pictures and came back down. At the top, apparently, there is a sort of deeper pool where some of the locals were soaking and fishing for crayfish. They held one up to show us their catch which looked to be 6-8 inches long.

We spent a few minutes taking photos and enjoying the beauty of the place and the call of the birds in the trees… and taking photos of course…

Again, due to technical difficulties, many of my photos seem to have disappeared, so I will see if Robert or Marion have some that I can add later on…

About halfway back along the riverbed it occurred to me that I should get some video of our trek through the jungle. The footage isn’t great because there was an unfortunately placed sticker obstructing my view from the back seat. In the end, I stuck the phone up through the roll cage and held it there. There are places where the bars themselves are in the way, but it gives you an idea of the place at least…

Overall , our day with Neofauna was both informative and exciting and I will happily go back to wander through the jungle on horseback.

Most importantly, the owners and volunteers of Neofauna are doing what they can to help injured and displaced jungle animals and they deserve both praise and help, so if you are in the area, go take a tour!

https://www.facebook.com/neofauna/

I will post more about our touristy adventures in the next few days…

until then Toodles and Pura Vida!