January 2nd, 2019 – Brasilito, Costa Rica to Brasilito, Costa Rica: 0 trip miles
Did you miss Day 3? Vy and I get some dirt in and see our first wildlife.
The many kilometers on dirt yesterday did a number on my laptop. I woke up hoping to get a little bit of work done, only to find that my screen was dead. While I had some tools on the GS, nothing was small enough for the tiny screws holding my laptop together. Thankfully, our host had an appropriate screwdriver and I was able to determine that the ribbon cable for the monitor had come loose.
With our extra day in Brasilito, our host Tim gave us two options – private surf lessons with his company (Mojo Surf Adventures) or a tour of a sloth sanctuary. The idea of learning how to surf was appealing, but I figured I could do that back home in Los Angeles. We had to go see some sloths, because Vy is absolutely obsessed with them.
This photo is from our last trip to Costa Rica, and it’s Vy’s favorite photo that she’s ever taken.
She also loves dogs, which is why she enjoyed some time with this cutie at Tim’s place.
Our guide (a gentleman named Marizio Silva) who runs a company called Authentico Tours picked us up in the morning in his Daihatsu Terios and we headed out to the sloth sanctuary.
The drive was over 2 hours each way, so he had a couple of stops planned to break up the drive. The first was a waterfall hike, but Vy had to drag me out of the parking lot to actually start the hike because I was in love with the plethora of FJ40 Land Cruisers strewn about.
It was a beautiful sight, but before we took a dip our guide asked if we wanted to hike to the top. Sure, why not?
After our hike, we were rewarded with a dip in the water.
We made one more stop on the road – lunch at a small restaurant that had a bird feeder set up. This little blue guy posed for a photo.
It was during this lunch that I discovered Lizano salsa. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very delicious.
Katana – not just a Suzuki product, apparently.
Eventually we arrived at Bijagua Ranas, a private ranch that offers sloth tours. We have what feels like 40,000 sloth photos, so I’ll just share a couple.
Vy and I ended up seeing between 15-20 sloths on our walk – I was impressed by how well the employee could find these things in the canopies, though I guess that’s part of her job. The cutest of the sloths by far was this baby, which was snacking.
Vy doesn’t just love sloths, she basically loves all animals. Here’s a resident parrot at the sanctuary who’s quite friendly.
I saw a bunch of these Honda XR150s, and they seem like a perfect motorcycle for the country.
I’m sure we overpaid a small bit as tourists for the tour guide and the sloth sanctuary, but it ended up being a good call – more on that on a future day in the story! Our drive back was uneventful, though the guide had lots of opinions on foreigners who were coming and buying up coastal properties. We were back well in time for dinner, so Vy and I hopped on the bike and rode into the closest town. We set up at the bar and I was amused by the “Adultos” channel.
Our lodging was in a rural area and it required some time on dirt roads in the dark to get to. I was glad the GS had some excellent headlights.
With a functional computer, I was able to look up some notes that Chris from Elephant Moto had sent me. I was very impressed with Chris’ thoughtfulness when it came to route planning and support while we were on our trip. I’m generally cheap so Vy and I try to plan our trips ourselves, but it was a revelation having a local expert take the lead. That sounds a bit obvious, but Chris’ service truly deserves special mention.
Tomorrow we get back on the bike and head inland!