Esquipulas – Quepos (27km). Actual 14.3 miles. 840 feet elevation gain. Camino de Costa Rica -stage 16
Summary
We spent the night at Rainforest Esquipulas in tents that were pitched under a large pavilion that was next to a creek. We went to sleep to the sound of rain on the roof and woke to the sounds of the creek. Our wake time was an hour earlier than normal (4:30, breakfast at 5:00 and leaving as close to 5:30 as possible) in order to finish today’s walk by noon or so. It was a pretty easy day walking, though it got hot and boring as we walked through palm oil plantations and the outskirts and industrial portion of Quepos. It was Sunday and there were two other groups that were completing the last segment of the Camino (locals often do the Camino in segments on the weekends) so it was a little busy and chaotic at the finish.
Details
The rain stopped part way through the night. We had a goal of 5:30am breakfast and 6:00am depart time, but didn’t end up leaving until 6:25 am.
It was pretty easy walking, with just a few short uphill sections. We saw many birds in the morning including several toucans. The air was very humid after all the recent rain.
As we made our way down to the coastal plane we passed a small group of trees that contained 20-30 squirrel monkeys. They were great fun to watch but hard to photograph with my phone.
We were also treated to a view of a stick bird. A nocturnal bird that returns to the same place to sleep each day. It was a regular occupant of a particular fence post such that an area around the fence post had been fenced off to ensure that birdwatchers gave the bird adequate space.
As we neared the end of our walk, we walked through miles of palm oil plantation before entering the industrial part of Quepos and finally arrived at the final marker next to the town sign. We took a few pictures then gathered in an nearby restaurant to have lunch. We then returned to the sign for a group photo before saying goodbye to most of the group that was returning to San Jose that afternoon. Four of us were staying in the area and tried to get Ubers to our respective lodging only to learn that Uber doesn’t work in Quepos so we shared a taxi. Allan and I made our way to the Airbnb I had reserved closer to Manuel Antonio park where we welcomed air conditioning, hot water showers, and an a washer and dryer.
Track
