This trip just keeps getting better and better! I thought rafting the Pacuare was going to be my favorite thing about the program, but Cabo Blanco has taken the number one spot! I was extremely nervous that we were spending 8 days at Cabo Blanco, but now I feel like we should have stayed for 14! I really could stay at Cabo Blanco for my entire life! There is so much I have to say about this amazing place, let's hope I can get it all out!
We left San Luis early on the morning of the 7th. Diana and Milton Lieberman accompanied us on our trip. They actually started the Eco Lodge in San Luis, and are the current Directors of Cabo Blanco. It was really fun to have them there with us because between the two of them they seriously know everything there is to know about Costa Rica. We drove for about two hours on the bus until we arrived in the city of Punatrenas. Once we arrived there we had a little over an hour to chill before we boarded the ferry. We walked around the town a little bit and decided we should buy some sunscreen. It was $12!!! But we really needed it! We got on the 12 o'clock ferry. The ferry took us from Puntarenas and across the gulf of Nicoya. It was a beautiful ride that was a little over an hour. Once on the other side we got back on the bus and drove for about another hour and a half until we made it to Malpais. Once in Malpais we left the bus behind, loaded our belongings into the pack of a pick up, and hiked for about 45 minutes into Cabo Blanco.
I guess I should take a little bit of time and explain exactly what Cabo Blanco is. Cabo Blanco was the first Absolute Natural Reserve in Costa Rica. It was formed in 1963 by Nicolas Weissberg, who I believe was from Norway and Karen Mogelson, who I think was from Sweden. The two moved to Costa Rica and lived here for several years and basically started the movement for the creation of the National Park Service in Costa Rica. Once the began living in Malpais they discovered the land that is now Cabo Blanco and decided it needed to be a protected area. They tons of letters to the president of Costa Rica and after a tireless fight finally got rights to establish the land as an Absolute Private reserve which meant it was completely closed to the public. It was closed to the public for 22 years, but eventually opened half of the park to the public solely for day visits. Unfortunately Nicolas was murdered in 1975 when the government asked him to look for more places to make reserves. After Karen's passing the government of Costa Rica asked the Lieberman's to be the directors of Cabo Blanco. At this time they decided to establish the private part of the park as a Biological Research station. Before 1992 no one was allowed in this part of the park and also no research was allowed. Now, they only allow around 14 groups to visit the park each year, and usually the groups are only allowed to stay for about 3 or 4 days. It was a true honor the be able to stay at Cabo Blanco for such a long time. Since it has been opened to groups only about 1,200 people have had the pleasure of staying there. We were truly lucky.
After we arrived in the park we were able to see why Nicolas and Karen wanted it to be protected. It is breathtaking. We saw Howler monkeys on our walk in and White faced Capuchins. We had small dorms that were basically like screened cabins, and each had three sets of bunk beds, which we never used. Every single night we took our mattresses off of our beds and put them on what we called our sleeping porch. We were only about 30 meters from the ocean and could hear it every night. We lined our mattresses up in a row and it was the most amazing experience sleeping outside every night. Our first night we saw the biggest spider I have ever seen in my entire life! Cabo Blanco made me realize the spiders are not scary, and after living there for 8 days the only thing I'm kind of scared of are crabs, but I'll get to that later...
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