Yogi Bear Rocks

This Time Last Year

I was up before breakfast to take photographs of the moon and the sunrise.

Today we have a rest day at the hotel to get our bearings.



However we decided to stretch our legs by doing a walk up to the 'Yogi bear' rocks which overlook the ranch. Their was no trail up through the bush but it was easy enough to find our way to the look out point. Fabulous views. We searched in vain for a way to do a circular walk and bring us down another way, but we couldn't so we returned the same way.

After lunch I went for another walk down the local stream. Not many butterflies or dragonflies about.



I got back at 3pm and found that everyone else had left for a drive to the outlook over Copper Canyon and a preview of where we will hike. Never mind. I spent the afternoon sitting in the sun and chatting to a couple of guests from California.



Dinner in the evening was very pleasant as other guests had arrived on the train that day.

This Time in 2007

Up again at 7.30am for breakfast in the local cafe. Our hotel doesn't do food, but this cafe is great and offers all sorts of fresh fruit, eggs and amazing juices with water or milk.

Today we paddle on the Rio Arenal though this comes in to the Rio San Carlos and we go downstream from there, past where the Rio Penas Blancas enters for our take-out further downstream.



This river flows through agricultural land and has huge banks which are almost 2m cliffs. It also has a lot of fallen trees in it and a couple of places where the river narrows and flows faster. I paddled with May in my bow again and, as usual, we had a couple of capsizes. Donna and Ellen went over and then later Josh and David went over too. They had to swim for a while before we could get them to shore and I had to rescue a paddle too.

We stopped on a beach for lunch. Later at a rather sharp corner Amy and I got around but all the other boats when straight into the bushes. It took a little while to extricate everyone. Because of all the excitement the paddle ended up being longer than usual. It was 3pm before we came to the take-out. At this place you also have to carry the boats a long way to the van.

From here we drove to Cano Negra, the last hour of which is along a bumpy dusty road. It was just getting dark when we arrived. I did the washing up from the picnic in the swimming-pool bar whilst the guest relaxed in the pool.

All the guest had dinner at the hotel but the four of us, me, Luis, Carlos and Florence walked into the village and had a home-cooked dinner at Maria's place. We will be having breakfast here too tomorrow.

A Train journey on the El Chepe

This Time Last Year

Woke at 5am, got myself packed and was out the door at 6.15am. I jumped a taxi to the Mirador to take some shots. Amazingly James was already there. He'd jogged (or run!). I missed the sunrise but I still got a few shots of the distant mountains.



James jogged back to the hotel and I took the taxi down to the station to wait for the others to walk down

The El Chepe train was only 15 minutes late and we piled on-board to have breakfast in the restaurant car.



We all relax and enjoy the views. It's a spectacular ride. At Divisadero the train stops for 15 minutes so we can get out and enjoy the view over Copper Canyon.


We arrive at Bahuichivo and our hosts at the Rancho del Oso (or Hotel Paraiso del Oso) are their to meet us. It's about a forty minute ride along the bumpy road to the hotel. We checked in and then later had our welcome Margaritas before dinner.

This Time in 2007

We were all up for breakfast at the cafe for 7am. Four of the group are going horseback riding today and will also ride a zip-line through the canopy later. The rest of us are going for a hike through the Arenal National Park.

Our planned through walk had to be abandoned however as some people who own the access have closed the entrance off. Instead we went to the main entrance and hiked in and back, with a loop in the middle. It was a very hot morning and the birdlife was very quiet. We did a toucan and we did hear a Bell Bird though we couldn't locate it. For a change the weather was clear and we had a great view from the lava flows across the lake to the volcano.



We arrived back at the hotel about 1pm and decided to have a picnic lunch in the hotel gardens. The others arrived shortly after.

When lunch was finished we all piled into the bus to return to the Rio Penas Blanca. We would start todays paddle from where we left off yesterday. It wasn;t long after we;d started that Amy and David were once again in the water! We'd even give them special lessons before we started! In fact they came a cropper at exactly the same place where Harry and Cathy wrapped a boat around a tree-stunp on our last trip! Although the boat did sink this time it didn't get pinned. We let the boat go whilst we dealt with them and finally got them to shore at a small beach.

We then got them to sit in 3's in two other boats whilst Carlos and I went to find the lost boat. It was caught under a branch but we were able to empty it and rescue it.

At this point we decided that it would perhasp be best if we split the pair up! I took Amy and Carlos took David and Florence had to try and get on solo - a first for her!

Again the river was very quiet in terms of bird-life. We did however see a couple of troops of Howler Monkeys and an Iguana.

We pulled up on the beach at the confluence of the Rio Penas Blanca and the Rio San Carlos just to stretch our legs before paddling the last few hundred metres to the take-out. It's always a long way to carry the canoes at this take-out.

On the way back ti the hotel we stopped at the Iguana Bridge for an ice-cream.

Back at the hotel we had a very speedy 5 minute turn-around before driving to the Baldi Hot Spings. We stayed here a couple of hours and enjoyed ourselves immensely in the warm waters. I even discovered so more springs higher up the mountain.

Then we jumped back in the bus and shot back to the hotel for another quick turn-around before walking into Fortuna for dinner at a local cantina.