Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [455]
Migración (immigration) is near the small wooden dock, sometimes avoided by visiting Nicaraguans who share the river with local fishers and visiting bird-watchers. Adventure-seekers can still travel down the Sarapiquí in motorized dugout canoes.
There is no dry season, but from late January to early May is the ‘less wet’ season. On the upside, when it rains here there are fewer mosquitoes.
Banco Popular (2766-6815) has an ATM and changes money. Banco de Costa Rica at the entrance of town also has an ATM. Cruz Roja (2766-6212) provides medical care. Of the many internet cafes in town, Gecko.Net (2766-7007; per hr ₡400; 8:30am-7pm Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm Sun), across from Cruz Roja, is the newest and fastest game in town.
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Activities
Grassroots environmental activity is strong in this area. Local guide Alex Martínez (owner of the Posada Andrea Cristina B&B), who speaks excellent English, maintains an ecotourism center (2766-6265; 8am-3pm), which focuses on conservation activities and wilderness tours – bird-watching trips in particular. You can also arrange transportation and make other reservations here, as well as learn about worthwhile volunteer opportunities in the region. Alex arrived here 40 years ago as a tough young hunter exploring what was virgin forest, and saw the jungle’s rapid destruction at the hands of humankind. He changed his philosophy and is now a volunteer game warden – who will abandon a Saturday-night soccer match to chase down poachers on the river. He helped found Asociación para el Bienestar Ambiental de Sarapiquí (Abas), a local environmental-protection and education agency, and can tell you as much as you want to know about environmental issues in the area. One of his latest projects involves identifying nesting sites of breeding green macaw, and purchasing living almendro trees from property owners, who are then honor-bound to protect the trees.
If you’re looking to organize a rafting or kayaking trip, a branch of Aguas Bravas (2292-2072; www.aguas-bravas.co.cr) is across the road from the bank. You can also try Costa Rica Fun Adventures (2290-6015; www.crfunadventures.com), which is 2km north of town and offers a good variety of guided hiking and horseback-riding trips.
Taking the launch trip from Puerto Viejo to the Trinidad Lodge, at the confluence of the Ríos Sarapiquí and San Juan, provides a rich opportunity to see crocodiles, sloths, birds, monkeys and iguanas sunning themselves on the muddy riverbanks or gathering in the trees. This river system is a historically important gateway from the Caribbean into the heart of Central America, and it’s still off the beaten tourist track, giving a glimpse of rainforest and ranches, wildlife and old war zones, deforested pastureland and protected areas.
A FAMILY AFFAIR ON THE RÍO SARAPIQUí
Sarapiquí native Davis Azofeifa and his Irish-Canadian wife Meghan Casey are the founders of Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat and actively involved in the local community.
How and why did you create Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat? Davis: We were interested in doing something that would allow us to live simple and well, while also assisting the community, generating quality jobs and helping reduce the devastation of development. We were originally looking for a farm when, by chance, we stumbled on Chilamate jungle with its beautiful forest, river and, most importantly, a great community. It was love at first sight. With much passion and love of nature, we began Chilamate Rainforest Retreat, which has become a sustainable, forward-looking project and a living example of the future.
Meghan: Davis and I are both passionate nature-lovers. Now that we have children, we are especially worried about problems of deforestation and loss of biodiversity and habitat. Our dream was to start a family