CLOSE CALL AT CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK

Costa Rica Cost of Living Update: Two AA batteries that were dead on arrival- $1.50

“Does anyone know when high tide is?” I ask as we walk across a dry riverbed.
“Maybe dinner time…I’m really not sure,” my girlfriend says. This is bad. We are hiking into the jungle, on a little worn path, and no one knows when high tide is. It can rise up quickly, unexpectedly, and with dire consequences. Once again, I am ill prepared for what was supposed to be a fun hike into the rain forest.

My husband doesn’t say a word. He’s  great if you need your alternator changed or something heavy moved. But he is not the go-to guy for predicting when a flood is headed your way. In fact, when we first got to the park and hiked to the ranger station, all he was concerned about was asking where to buy batteries for our camera. He walked up to a woman bent over holding her stomach; she drank river water in the jungle and was at the beginning of what I suspect was a long and uncomfortable intestinal calamity. Having some guy come up and complain he has no batteries for his camera did not go over well. Let’s just say, Rob didn’t make a friend that morning.

As we walk over another dry river bed, I can hear water in the distance. We cross quickly and hike up the trail to higher ground. Five minutes later the tide rolls in, a force so strong it pushes logs and brush out of its way. We find a clearing and watch the water roar through.

“I don’t know what you were so worried about, at least we can all swim, what’s the worse that could happen?” my husband says. And at that moment we see a crocodile float down the river…a crocodile I would have been face to face with.

I’m all for a hike in a park. I can even get behind running across a dry river bed with water at my heels. But never, ever do I want to get into a wrestling match with a crocodile.

I’d rather drink river water.

By | 2018-04-15T18:19:56-04:00 March 14th, 2011|Categories: Nature|Tags: , , |7 Comments

About the Author:

Nadine is the author of the best-selling series, Happier Than A Billionaire. Join her as she navigates living as an expat in the sometimes confusing, always beautiful, country of Costa Rica.

7 Comments

  1. Island Hopping in Costa Rica July 17, 2016 at 10:51 am - Reply

    […] Renting a kayak ranges from $10-$20 an hour, so we’ve been keeping an eye out for an affordable used pair. And boy did we score. A dive shop was selling a fleet of nine, which of course makes my husband consider his next business venture: Rob’s Kayaking Tours. Because on vacation, who wouldn’t want a guy originally from Brooklyn touring them around an estuary saying phrases like, “You want to see a  howler monkey? Fuh-ged-about-it.” Or my favorite, “Don’t be a doo-ta-doo and paddle into a crocodile.” […]

  2. Kirsten|Four Winds March 20, 2011 at 1:09 pm - Reply

    My husband and I came face to face with one swimming across the Tamarindo estuary last year at high tide!!! Have you seen the cartoon Roadrunner?

    • admin March 21, 2011 at 7:35 am - Reply

      I bet you did. This was my second close encounter with one, and I really don’t want a third.

  3. jose batalla March 18, 2011 at 10:12 am - Reply

    river water here in rincon de la vieja is good to drink

    • admin March 21, 2011 at 7:37 am - Reply

      I didn’t ask her why she felt the need to drink the river water, especially if she is just on a hike. Rincon de la viega looks lovely, can’t wait to head up that way.

  4. Elaine March 15, 2011 at 5:35 pm - Reply

    Wow

    Is this the place where everyone was sick and
    looked like#*?&%^$##@$%%>???

    • admin March 21, 2011 at 7:38 am - Reply

      Yes, everyone looked like a zombie. We walked around thinking we were in the middle of a horror movie. I think everyone just got back from a 7 or 8 hour hike in the jungle. It was really creepy.

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