2018/02 Costa Rica - Villa Blanca |
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City roads and traffic were similar to southern Europe’s but the drivers seemed to be casual about lanes and parking. San José only has about two million people; the whole country about 5 million. The country is about the size of Ireland, with a spine of mountains and volcanoes separating the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Our three destinations were all on the Pacific side.
We had an hour and a half drive to our first stop, up in the mountains. We passed fields of sugar and bananas and then coffee as we got higher. Sugar was being burned and then harvested with machetes. Houses were decorated with bougainvillea and yellow-flowered corteza trees. With the line of green mountains along the horizon, the countryside looked much like Queensland’s.
For a while we were driving on the Pan American Highway, the road that connects the USA with Panama, but we turned off at San Ramon. The town’s main street was a chaotic mess of cars, buses, trucks, and bikes, but somehow everything worked out. Costa Rica’s favourite saying is “Pura Vida”, literally “pure life”, but used for everything from “Hello” to “Goodbye” to “No worries”.
The road became narrower and occasionally paved with gravel as we climbed. Our surroundings were rural, mostly small farms and cabins. Fields were fenced with tree branches and wire. Almost all the branches had taken root and were growing into spindly trees, so the farmers had to occasionally trim them at head height to keep control. Our driver said that the rich volcanic soils will grow just about anything well, with the notable exceptions of apples, pears, peaches, and grapes. Costa Rica is not noted for its wine.
We climbed up to about 4000 feet and were now in cloud forest, often wet and windy according to our driver but warm and sunny for 
us. We were staying in El Silencio de Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve at the Villa Blanca lodge. The lodge was originally built by President Rodrigo Carazo Odio, but eventually it became an experiment in sustainable eco-tourism. Now the villa houses the office and lounge and restaurant, while guests stay in casitas, cabins with massive oven-like fireplaces and balconies looking out on the forest. The picture of the villa also gives an idea of the garden that surrounds it.