Friday, January 1, 2010

Day 1: Getting to the Middle of Nowhere

On December 23, we flew from LAX to meet our friends in Denver, where we continued together to Costa Rica. They are getting married here tomorrow!

When we landed, they proceeded to the resort town that will host their nuptials, while we boarded a tiny plane to somewhere far more remote.
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Our van picked us up at the just-as-tiny Aeropuerto de Palmar Sur.

We deboarded in the village of Sierpe and hopped on a small motor boat.
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We passed popular resorts in Drake Bay. We passed all the people. We passed other boats. We rode our boat for an hour and 25 minutes. Then we were there.

The middle of nowhere.

The middle of nowhere is called the Drake Bay Rainforest Chalet. Located on the northernmost point of the Osa Peninsula, it is beyond isolated. We saw only four other people during our entire stay -- our hosts Tracie and Gianfranco (whose home is nearby) and their assistants Alexis and Edward, whom Mr. Monkey lovingly called our sherpas.

Upon landing, we were greeted by all four of these wonderful people and hiked 15 minutes through the rainforest to our chalet.

Can you believe this was what we found in the middle of nowhere?
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As you can see, all the "walls" were actually windows. You can do that when there is nobody else around.

At this point, I'd like to say that Tracie and Gianfranco may possibly be the two nicest people in the world. I will talk about them at length in a later post, but our first glimpse of their hospitality extended beyond their warm welcome on the beach -- Gianfranco cooked a complete meal for us to enjoy as we walked into our bucolic oasis. A glorious aroma filled our kitchen, and we noshed without lifting a finger.

Not far from our chalet were a waterfall and a river. We took advantage of both after our long journey to the middle of nowhere.
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Aside from the bugs (hey, we were in the middle of nowhere after all), we slept really well our first night in Costa Rica. Just hiking to our chalet made me tired.

Next: Scoping out the animals in El Parque Nacional Corcovado.

29 comments:

kim said...

Just incredible.

Emily said...

That place looks amazing! I'm excited for all the Costa Rica posts to come.

Jessica said...

OMG! That place looks amazing!

A Feminist Gold Digger said...

You had to HIKE to get to your room??? [giggling]

alyssa said...

Amazing!!! Can't wait to hear more about it!

Ann Marie said...

Simply amazing.

dapotato said...

i seriously need to hire mr. monkey as my travel agent for our next trip.

Jen said...

o
m
g

I have been looking forward to the Costa Rica posts!! What an amazingly gorgeous place!!

Winnie said...

Hee, I have already browsed through all of your Costa Rica pictures on Flickr :) Can't wait to read more about your trip!

The Peanut said...

you guys went to drake bay too! awesome! although your accommodations were definitely nicer than ours!!! haha. amazing. happy new year, weemo! (did you also go see tracie the bug lady?)

amber said...

Dude! That place looks amazing!!

Da Fashionista said...

i looove your travel photography. especially in brown countries :)

Gastronomer said...

What a great way to spend the holiday! Can't wait to read more more more.

Wandering Chopsticks said...

Perfect! My cousin is planning a trip to Costa Rica soon so she can just follow your lead. :)

Tameka said...

Looks like the travel time to get to the middle of nowhere is well worth it! It is now my dream to take a pic lying on a rock in the middle of paradise!

wan said...

that is too fabulous for words. what a gorgeous place to stay "in the middle of nowhere"!

Kay said...

what a great life you have, this is what i'm talking about!! beautiful

Julie Q said...

That Chalet looks like Swiss Family Robinson for the Hiltons!!! What a vision. Can't wait to see the rest of the pix

Claire said...

WOW. Just...wow.

Gina said...

The place looks amazing.... Can't wait to see the rest. BTW, love the photos of Mr. Monkey enjoying the river and waterfall!

Exile Kiss said...

Hi weezermonkey,

Gorgeous pictures (again)! :) Beautiful locales, and it must've been fun in Costa Rica. :) Thanks for brightening up the day~.

ssinca said...

I'm way late but it looks like you had a fantastic time!

California Girl said...

OK, your pictures from the hotel are SICK! Gorgeous! I need to go there.

Nanette said...

Chiming in late, but I love this. Simply amazing!

Aline said...

I want to go there! I WANT I WANT! Ok I'm stopping this comment to go catch up on day two.

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

The hotel looks amazing. Sometimes the prettiest places take so much effort to get to.

10yearstogether said...

I would have never expected to find THAT room in such a remote place! That looks absolutely fantastic.

harp said...

amazing!

{grace} said...

My jaw dropped while looking at your pics. Look at those blue skies!

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