An Afternoon in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica
Ever since I was a kid, Costa Rica has always been on my dream list of countries to visit. Last year when I graduated, I took a somewhat impromptu trip to the country to celebrate earning my bachelor’s. I went to three areas of the country: urban Alajuela, mountainous Monteverde and Puerto Jimenez — near Corcovado National Park (the most anticipated part of my trip and one of the most bio-diverse areas in the entire world). I flew into Puerto Jimenez on a tiny plane that only fit about 15 people and within 10 minutes of arriving where I was staying, I was astonished to see a pair of scarlet macaws land in a tree about 10 feet from where I was sitting!
The entrance of Corcovado National Park is about a two-hour drive from Puerto Jimenez (the closest town) and since I flew in during the afternoon, I wasn’t able to go to the park my first day. But I wasn’t about to waste an entire afternoon without exploring! I asked my host for a recommendation on how to spend my afternoon, and he suggested walking down the coastline. I was told that I would be able to see some alligators if I walked down toward the lagoon, so I packed my camera and an afternoon bag and went to find some wild alligators (seriously)!
It was about a 20 minute walk or so until I saw a stream that seemed to head back into a lagoon… Unfortunately, the tide was high and the only way to get back to the lagoon was through the water — and I wasn’t about to go swimming with the alligators, so I opted to just continue to walk down the coast and see what I could find. Within a minute or so, I stumbled upon a group of four children playing on the coastline, which was really more like a giant playground of mud and sand. I quickly spotted who I assumed was their mother, and I asked (badly) in Spanish if I could take their photos. The children laughed at my accent; their mom said yes. The kids kept playing in the mud, but I could tell they were watching me. After I was done, I could tell that one little boy in particular was interested in my camera, so I motioned if they wanted to see their photographs. He ran up and I snapped one more, which ended up being what is probably my favorite photo of the whole trip:
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