First Night in Chilamate

When you travel abroad great things are always waiting for you around the corner - after a 30 hour trip from Toronto through San Salvador and then into San Jose we arrived at the Chilamate Eco-Resort at 8:00 pm to be greeted by owners Meghan and Davis. A veritable cornucopia of local culinary delights awaited us. The sounds of the birds, insects, the Sarapuqui River and early morning (5:00 am) Howler monkeys immediately made us realize that we were no longer in Canada but nestled in the Costa Rican rainforest. The Howler monkeys - all two and a half feet of them regaled us in the morning with their tribal banter and cacophony of gutteral sounds - their communication methods reminded me of an 8:00 am Grade 12 economics class. Breakfast is about to be served on the spacious grounds of Chilamate as the Sarapuqui River serenades us gently in the background. No sounds of traffic or construction - we have found our Shangra La. We are off for a hike this morning after breakfast into the Rainforest before heading off to our host families this afternoon. Day One has started with an exclamation mark!