Andrea Survives Tent Life in Sarapiqui, Costa Rica

It was a wet morning when we left La Fortuna. We got all our luggage in the bus and started the journey to Sarapiqui. On the way, we stopped at Mi Cafecito Coffee Cooperative to have a tour of their small coffee plantation. We had a very kind and knowledgeable guide who walked us through the steps of growing and harvesting coffee. While I expected to taste coffee during the tour, we instead tasted alcohol. Twice. I wasn’t complaining, but it definitely wasn’t expected.

After the tour they served us a traditional lunch of rice, beans, and chicken. I enjoyed the nice view of the rain forest where I could see monkeys in the trees. After we finished lunch, we were finally served coffee. I was surprised to hear that two of the people on my tour had NEVER tried coffee before. They both gave it a sip and were not impressed. Black coffee doesn’t do it for me either. I need my creamer. With the taste of bitter coffee on our tongues, we continued our journey to Sarapiqui. 

When we arrived in Sarapiqui, we were greeted by monkeys playing in the treetops, an orange cat, and glamping tents. I had been glamping once before in Sri Lanka, and the daddy long legs living in the shower prevented me from showering. I didn’t want to invade their home. Now I wondered (and worried) what adventure was awaiting for me here. After they gave me the key, I walked down the dirt path in search of my tent. It was the second to the last one. My friend Cori had the last one. I walked up the few steps to my porch which had two chairs, a small table, and a ceiling fan and went inside.

There were two queen size beds with pink comforters, a small fan, and a blue jean frog. What’s a blue jean frog you ask? Well, it’s a very poisonous frog that I did NOT want in my tent. It was sitting in the doorway between the bedroom and bathroom (yes, this tent had a bathroom). As soon as I noticed the frog, it jumped into the bathroom, and I jumped outside of the tent as far away from it as possible. I walked over to Cori’s tent and asked her to come look for the frog. She obliged and found nothing. This did not make me feel better. We had just arrived in Sarapiqui, and there was possibly a poisonous frog hiding in the place where I would be sleeping. I was ready to take my bags and leave, but that wasn’t an option.

I decided to just try to enjoy the beauty of my surroundings so I sat on my porch and listened to music and enjoyed the view of the trees and birds. At 5 pm we were meeting to go for another night walk. We had to go a little early because there was another tour group staying at the same place, and we had to share the guide. I guess they won the coin toss and got to go when it was actually dark. Night walks are usually more interesting at night as that is when all the critters come alive. 

For this night walk, we had to wear rubber boots provided by the facility. You never know what insect or snake might find your foot or leg tasty when you’re on these night walks. The walk started off really close to the tents. Our guide found some frogs, including a blue jean frog. Yes, I don’t mind them when they are outside where they are supposed to be! We also saw a frog with a tadpole on its back.

At this point in the walk, it started to finally get dark. I’m talking pitch black dark. Our guide then led us down a path in search of other nocturnal animals and insects. As we walked deeper and deeper into the forest, we were comforted knowing the resident cat was keeping watch from the back. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we didn’t see anything besides frogs. If you love frogs, Costa Rica is the place to be. We made it back to the dining hall, removed our boots, and then had dinner. 

After dinner we played a few card games and then went to bed. Going to bed was what I was dreading. Being alone in my tent with a frog was not something I was looking forward to. Cori kindly offered to give my tent a quick look through to make sure there wasn’t anything there. Upon inspection, she noticed a tail coming out of a gap between the floor and wall in the bathroom. She told me it could be a snake or rat, and that I probably shouldn’t look. This was not comforting. Being the daredevil she is, she got flat on the floor to give it a better look and discover it was just a lizard. Thank goodness! Lizards I can do.

There was nothing else in the tent so we said goodnight, and she left me. I brushed my teeth and was about to climb into my bed (fully clothed – seemed safer) when I saw what looked like a bullet ant on my pillow. While I remembered our guide Danny saying something about them, I didn’t really remember when he said. I knew however I did not want any ant, small or bullet (which is HUGE) on my pillow. So I bravely took my pillow and went outside to shake it off. I then crawled into bed, kept the lights on (that would surely keep the insects away) and… counted the hours until it was time to leave the tent for an early morning of birding. Anything sounded better than being in that tent. Even birding at 6 am!

5:45 am came slowly, and I was happily out of my tent enjoying a quick cup of coffee. I had survived my first night in Sarapiqui. With my binoculars around my neck, I was ready for two hours of bird watching. This was an optional activity with a few people opting to sleep in and not participate. My expectations were low, but I actually found the experience enjoyable. It became a game to me. Binoculars pressed to my face, I was trying to find a bird we hadn’t seen before to see if I could describe it so our guide Danny could name it. Of course he could, and of course I had no idea if he was right or not. However, I was always impressed.

Two hours and about fifty birds later, it was time for breakfast. Breakfast posed a new challenge, eat before a fly lands on your breakfast. The sweetness of the passion fruit juice and the jam for the bread attracted a swarm of flies. Trying to prevent them from landing on our food, we put a plate of jam in the middle of the table just for the flies and covered our juice with napkins. It didn’t work. Everyone ate and ran. 

That day in Sarapiqui we took a short walk and hike to a beautiful waterfall. On the hike down, Cori thought a bullet ant stung her. The pain was immediate and was slowly spreading throughout her hand. The pain is said to last for about 8 hours. I immediately thought of the previous night when there was a bullet ant on my pillow! Our guide wasn’t convinced it was a bullet ant that stung her as the pain would be worse than what she was experiencing. Rather, he thought it was a different type of ant. Luckily the pain went away after a few hours, but my anxiety didn’t! The dread of sleeping in the tent another night was getting worse.

After swimming at the waterfall, we had lunch and then made empanadas. As the sun was setting and bed time approaching, I decided that perhaps I’d be more comfortable sleeping in Cori’s tent. Safety in numbers. I went to her tent to discuss this arrangement and while using her bathroom, I spotted a massive spider in her shower. I pointed it out to her, and she responded with a scream. Change of plans; Cori would sleep in my tent. The next morning couldn’t come soon enough. 

Bags packed and breakfast eaten without juice or jam (trying to keep the flies away), we were leaving Sarapiqui and heading to our next destination (a sigh of relief). A few hours into the drive, the bus came to a complete stop. All we could see was another bus in front of us. Danny got out to check on the situation. A few minutes later, I decided to go see for myself what was going on. Well, there was an accident about 5 vehicles in front of us.

It seems a large tour bus was crossing a small bridge and crashed into the car on the other side. The small bridges in the rural areas are usually single lane with only room for one vehicle at a time. The bus refused to move until the police and insurance company showed up. Given we were in a rural area, this was expected to take a couple of hours. Unhappy with the idea of waiting two hours, Danny told us to get off the bus in the rain, get our luggage, and start walking. What was his plan and where were we going? Find out next week!

{Are you enjoying reading about Andrea’s adventure in Costa Rica? Be sure to let her know your thoughts or questions in the comment box below. Also be sure to subscribe if you haven’t done so already to read about future adventures.}