My Costa Rica - My journal from the year 2002... Today's photo by Tad Cantrell of Popo's Expeditions Costa Rica http://www.camaronal-cr.com
February 24, 2002 – Estrada, Rio Ora, Costa Rica - Well, the night before last Frank and I went shrimping in the Upper Rio Santa Marta. The Saint came down to the house earlier in the day and invited us to go. He told us what we needed for tools (a stick with bicycle spokes or nails tied on the end to spear them with, diving masks if we had them, and flashlights). We were all excited!
We got everything gathered up and headed out to pick up the Saint at the scheduled time. As usual, there were just about a hundred people in and out of his mother's house. By the way, someone GAVE him a wicked nice double cab pick up truck – he says it needs a clutch. Frank says they cost $200 so we are going to try to come up with some work for him so he'll have the extra money to get it fixed. Anyway, when we left the house it was me, Frank, the Saint, his brother in law, and the Saint's eight year old son. The women were a little surprised that I was going shrimping with the guys. Apparently very few women in that village have anything to do with fishing. They exchanged knowing glances with each other. I should have figured this was going to be a challenge.
We headed toward Hojancho (I had only been as far north on the road heading out of Estrada as Raffa's farm before). I thought we would go on forever. Up, up, to the top of the mountain, and then, down, down, down, forever. We passed maybe five houses the entire drive. The moon was about half full and very bright.
We stopped along the way and picked up some friends of the Saint (one of whom was the guy who had claim to the fishing spot). We drove on and on, heading for the river. After turning off the dirt road onto a worse dirt road and hitting a dead end at a cemetery, the guys riding in the back of the pick up truck yelled for us to stop and park here.
No one but Frank and I spoke English. The Saint told us to lock up the truck (or I misunderstood, he may have only wanted us to roll up the windows, I can't be sure – after all I don't know who would be around to take anything). We headed out down a dirt path off a dirt road off another dirt road.
It was rocky and a few of us used our flashlights. I used mine to help the Saint's son who was in front of me. Soon we could hear the river – then there it was. Not very wide, lots and lots of rocks. It looked like any riverbed in Maine except we weren't in Maine any more.
The guys started looking in the water for shrimp with their lights then headed upriver for deeper (and wider) water.
Here we were – at least an hour and a half from the nearest hospital – walking along a river probably infested with snakes (definitely infested with spiders – one was about as big as my hand) in the dead leaf litter everywhere – and off we headed up the river.
At one point I told the Saint's young son to be careful (he was only eight or nine years old, after, all, and was poking about in the leaf litter with a stick). I told him their might be serpientes (snakes). His respectful and brave reply? “Not if I kill them, there won't be!”
Then, what does the Saint's brother-in-law do but get IN the water (caimans, alligators, snakes?) and, using an underwater light, starts swimming around looking for shrimp. He found a few within minutes and asked for Frank's bucket. This same guy got 300 shrimp one night recently and 100 the next night. His friend followed along with the bucket and the brother-in-law speared shrimp while rarely leaving the water. He had a snorkel. They kept getting a few, walking upriver, getting a few more, and moving on. We had all we could do to keep up with them while we walked along looking from above the water all the while.
At one point I jumped in (down river from them) and gave it a try but without an underwater light and no snorkel it sucked. Besides it was COLD. The night was really warm but the water was cold. We went upriver following these guys for what (we later found out) was over three hours! Up, over lots of giant boulders, leaf littler, river, etc. hearing “strange things in the jungle” the entire way.
After awhile when the guys were resting for a minute, I heard a commotion and asked what was going on. The Saint said they had just seen something (agouti? - I couldn't really hear him well and was unfamiliar with the Spanish name he hollered back to me). He said it had jumped into the river and was headed downstream toward Frank (who was at the edge of the river looking for shrimp). When I asked him how big it was he said about the size of a small to medium dog. Then he said it is like a pig! Wild boar?? Who to hell knows, but I let Frank know that whatever it was it was headed his way and that they wanted him to spear it if he could. He never did see it or any shrimp for that matter. Neither did I.
The brother-in-law got about 20 big shrimp and they gave them to Frank. After three hours up the river we had no idea where we were or what to expect next. We figured we had at least another three hours going back downriver to where we had started. Then this one guy heads up over the banking (actually pretty much the side of what looked like a small MOUNTAIN) and told us to follow him. He said it was a shortcut to the road.
There was no path, just thick brush, forest, tall grass, rocks, thorns, straight up, up, up, until I thought it would never end. I grabbed a spine from a Pechote tree and drove it home into my thumb. I almost grabbed a branch full of fire ants, and finally I could see the sky. I thought we were at the road – but no – only a field of grass about up to my waste. Snake City. We trudged on, flashlights at the ready, trying to follow exactly in the footsteps of those ahead. And then finally, a road. Then only another half a mile and back to the cemetery and the truck.
Wet, tired, having caught no shrimp, but suffering no snake bites either, and none the worse for wear, I must say it would have been easier to go to Eugenia's for shrimp, but not nearly as adventurous.
Fried up the shrimp the Saint's brother in law gave us for Frank last night and he loved them. Gave the Saint's family some, too. Also made New England fish chowder from the Dorado that Frank caught while fishing with Capt. Rob.
The boat is almost done.
The monkeys were here today and I watched them for about an hour with binoculars I got in Nicoya for about $16 dollars. They would have cost me at least $50 in the states.
Talked to Zack online and on the phone Friday. He wants to come to see us and bring a friend but no one has a passport except him. I am expecting him to ask me if his girlfriend Anna can come (she has a passport and has been here before on vacation with her parents). I think they're getting serious.
Have been studying Spanish and can now read the newspaper. Frank loves it when I translate it for him and there is a lot more news than one would find in an any newspaper in the U.S. Very interesting to get another perspective on world events. More later.