Rio Pacuare

We flew into San Jose 2:35 on the 18th. Once the bus dropped us off in San Jose from the airport we realized our Turriabla bus was 20 blocks away. Since our funds are limited we started walking. A good while after dark us and our 80 plus pound boats finally reached the station, and away to Turrialba we went. Once there it took four tries to find a suitable hostel as our barganing skills are not so hot yet. Next morning we wake up exchange some money buy some bags of beans and off we go to the source of the Pacuare. Still keeping our funds in mind we have decided to link the pacuare into a multiday trip, saving expensive shuttle costs. Also keeping the funds in mind we decided to go with human power to get our boats from the furthest point a truck could make and on to the river. Unfortunatly this means traveling over an extremely steep and muddy mountain pass. We had heard two hours via horse along with someone saying only 45 minutes of steeps. We stared at 1pm, and again it was not until dark did we finally arrive at the river. We quickly ate our rations of food that were not even close to filling set up the hammocks and went to bed. Sleeping in a healthy amount after the not so restful, but lesson filled first night in the jungle we put on late the next morning. The late start was not helped either when my largest dry bag split along the seam. After lots of rearranging and a random local kid happy to have a nice new bag we finally set off on our first tropical river.

Here is a short update brought to you from the heart of the Upper pacuare gorge just after blood hydrolica day two of four:






Our camp sites for the evenings have been everywhere from relaxing and senic to a constant soaking and bug infested. We float by a spot that looks inviting and beach our boats. There is not much time before it gets dark so we set up the tarp and hammocks fast. Even so we still have time for the constant repair of gear, or the eternal search for exotic and delisious tropical fruits. It rains every night, but thankfully we keep mostly dry. For a little bit a least.
This morning we woke up to our last day on the Pacuare. Took off around twelve and spent the next few hours getting to Turriabla for some food, and dry bed. Tomorrow we head out for San Isildo where we will try and run the Charripo Pacifico and possibly Naranjillo section of the Naranjo.