ORIGINAL JOURNAL

Rio Celeste - May 15, 2009

"Rio Celeste is located around the Alejuela area in Costa Rica. The easiest way to access rio celeste is through the tiny somewhat indigenous city of San Rafael de Guatuso. I have to say that it was a pretty stressful weekend trying to get by, because when me and my buddy Kohei decided to take on this adventure, it was thursday afternoon. We needed to leave friday morning. It all worked out too because we finished our test in Intermediate II and booked it home to pack for a weekend. This was our plan:

Friday: 
11:30am............ bus from SJ to Guatuso

6:30pm.............. arrive in Guatuso (Long bus ride wow!)

7:00pm............... FIND a place to sleep. (true, we had no lodging.)

8:00pm.............. Eat something then sleep

Saturday:
7:00am...............Wake and Eat

8:00am..............Find a taxi to Parke Nacional De Volcan Tonorio

9:30am - 4:00pm..Hike Rio Celeste

5:00pm..............Call taxi to take us home

7:00...................Eat then head to Logde

Sunday
8:00am...............Bus from Guatuso to SJ

1:30pm...............Arrive in SJ

This is basically what we did for the weekend. The tricky part about Rio Celeste is that it is very hard to access. This is another reason why a lot of foreign travelers and tourist don't plan of this trip, because it is very difficult not only to reach the access road to the National park, but also to Rio Celeste itself. If you ask me this trip was well worth every second and I plan on heading back up to this region to do some fishing.

During my stay in the hotel, (which was 10$ a night btw) I managed to make friends with the family that were also the owners. We sat and talked saturday night for a few hours, (yes in spanish) and they told me about everything that i hadn't seen in the area, such a the lake with crazy fish in it. So i decided to make another trip to fish here sometime, maybe after a relaxing weekend. That same night the family kept bringing me these very strange fruits, some I have neverseen or heard of before, such as the Guaba fruit, or the "manzana de augua" -their version of the apple, it was delicious.

Tell me if this isn't the craziest thing you have ever heard, the owner of the hotel, the mother has an uncle that lived in Portland, Oregon. She had visted the place during last years intense snow storm! The even crazier thing was that she had a sister in NEWBERG! so she had also been there as well! I couldn't believe it when she told me and then she showed me some pictures and by god, she had been there.

The thing I think I like most about traveling is that when the other people here at Veritas university travel, they always go to beaches. I don't believe that much can be learned from going to tourist playas and getting a tanning with other Americans. I find trips like the one I just took to be way more authentic, because I find myself in so many situations when i'm directly interacting with the culture. This is were the true lessons can be learned. The moments where I find myself eating strange fruits with people in a place where I have no idea is on a map, talking and learning their prospectives about the world and even the outside look of Americans. This town was not big, it was not pretty, it was not clean or fancy, but I realized that night that sometimes, no matter where you are, you should just take the time to stop, and just take a breath. The culture of these people is so relaxed, and they enjoy the moments they have with each other. One thing that this woman, Gladys told me was:

"No me gusta los Estados unidos por causa de esto; por que los personas no tienen tiempo para hablar. Los Estadounidenses son occupados cada monento del dia que no toman el tiempo para relajar y hablar con uno a otro."

This I believe to be true, and even myself who is not always a busy person had to agree with her in this case. The culture of this whole society is much more calm. I'm not sure if it is a good thing or a bad this, but its different.

All in all this trip was great. We managed to find lodging no problem, and there is nothing like six hours on a bus following a truck full of fresh pineapples, filling the air with the sweetest scent. Not to mention that so far in my life, nothing compares to the adventure we had on Saturday. I had never seen such lush vegetation and so a vibrant rainforest, nor ants bigger than my thumb. Make you you look at my pictures because words can't describe the beauty of Rio Celeste. The best part was easily los Termales. In which hot water from below ground warmed by the Volcano Tonorio, mixed with the fresh running water of the amazing blue river. I decided after an hour there that these Termales were going to be my new happy place.

Then again, I am a sucker for nature. "

Critique
------------------------

So this Rio Celeste adventure definitely has a few ups and downs. I guess I should start with the negative things that seemed to arise from this trip, since those are the hard ones to spot. To find the things that I could have done better, a strict critique is required. For example, the cabinas that I stayed in were not CST certified, nor did they have any leaves, however, they were locally owned and operated, and for this the rating stays at 7. Transport also receives a 7 because yes I did suffer through the Costa Rican Public Transport service, but to access the park, a taxi was utilized and that's a very individualistic approach to travel. One thing I did not notice either was a more widespread indigenous division of labor between men and women. I remember walking through the town and only noticing men in the streets and waiting tables. I noticed women shopping at the markets and I assume they had been at home caring for families.

On the positive side, the adventure to Rio Celeste might be one of the most "Hard-Core" ecotourism experience I have had. The destination gets a perfect 10 because the area was not adapted to make money, and in no way had anything been done to make it more tourist accessible. I had to put in a big effort to see this garden of eden. Indigenous involvement also receives a 1o as well because the town of Guatuso was only indigenous people. I recall when me and Kohei were walking through the town, I could not help to notice that we were the only extranjeros in the whole place. It was completely run and sustained by Costaricense.

EVALUATION:
-----------------------------------

Transport: (bus transport) 7
Food: (local soda) 8
Housing: (local cabinas) 7
Destination: Rio Celeste 10
Cultural Experience: 8
Education: 8
Environmental Impact: 8
Division of Labor: 7
Human Rights: 8
Indigenous Involvement: 10

Total Points: 81/100

Ecotourist Impact:
Hard-Core Tourist rating B-