Oooooh! Oooooh! Oooooh! The sun is shining…! After days of seeing only clouds, fog and rain I am happy! So I lace my hiking boots and stroll to Cloudbridge!
Of course I also could hike the Mt Chirripó. I COULD. But today I don’t feel like it to overcome the 3820 m (12,533 feet) and herewith highest mountain Costa Ricas.
Ordinary mortals need between six and eleven hours to get to the refuge, then a overnight stop bevore they make the last 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the top. After another overnight stay they descend.
My families son-in-law only needs for and a half hours for the 15 kilometers (9,3 miles) and nearly 2000 meter (6500 feet) elevation gain – but he is used to it. He hikes this mountains three times a week as he carries uphill the tourists luggage. Then he gets a cup of coffee and afterwards he descends downhill – again carrying luggage. At 11 am it’s home time…
But like I said, no, today I just don’t feel like hiking Mt Chirripó 😉 I prefer strolling in Cloudbridge. I was told it is beautiful and not that strenuous!
Off we goooo!
I start walking. After twenty minutes I realize: it is hiking – it is just so steep! After 45 minutes I reach Cloudbridge an am already exhausted 😉 But NOW I can stroll a little bit.
No, I can’t. Here as well it is steep, steeper, steepest! But beautiful!
A great forest…
…nice flowers…
…a gigantic waterfall…
…and even more forest!
And then suddenly someone is complaining: “It’s steep, so steep! Please go back!” Who is it? Oh, it’s my Achilles tendon. Well, okay then. I reverse and determine: I need to hike more; can’t be that a gadfly is stronger than me…
So I only hiked one third of Cloudbridge – but I have another two months to explore the rest!
On my way back I meet Estéfanny – a girl from the neighbour village. We chat a little bit.
Estéfanny tells me, that she is a student who gets the scholarship money from the organization, Proyecto San Gerardo, for which I work here. Because she likes to study and therefore needs a graduation.
But, she is from a family with seven children and their father died eight years ago – the oldest child fourteen, the youngest only a few month old. So their mother had to go to work now and the older siblings took care of the younger ones. And money for school? No, that was not possible.
So Estéfanny applied for the scholarship money at Proyecto San Gerardo and since then gets financial support, so she could study…
We talk nearly one hour – really nice and in Spanish!
Then I hike back home.
On my way I meet this pretty wall: there are bottles walled in – a great idea!
And right before rain returns I am back for lunch. But I only get some rice and cooked vegetables as the greasy and salty food here offended my stomach. So since three days I only eat light diet – and few of it…
But no worries, I “only” have the feeling of having a dozen stones in my stomach and feel a little, little nauseous, but otherwise I am well!
- Hiking in San Gerardo de Rivas, Costa Rica: Cloudbridge. Part 2.
- Hiking in San Gerardo de Rivas, Costa Rica: Cloudbridge. Part 3.