La Orquidea Locos (Those Crazy Orchid People in Costa Rica)

This trip began as a taunt: ''Well Tom, you are always talking about organizing a trip to Costa Rica and you are always talking about the orchids there. Why don't you just do it?'' And Tom hooked up with Adventure Life, and sent an email to a few friends and acquaintances and within a very short time, with the help of Adventure Life, a trip was born: ''Orchids of Costa Rica.'' Months later, ''La Orquidea Locos'' would come to be and an adventure of a lifetime begun. From here and there, we gathered in San Jose. Most of us only knew the person who sent the email - Tom. Yet all of us were called to the challenge. After all, us ''Crazy Orchid People'' share a passion in common: all things orchids whether it be growing, photographing, judging, learning, exploring, and learning. A group of strangers with a single passion, with a dash of a challenge in a promising location - what could be better? It turns out - not much! In a word, the trip was fantastic. The first day, we all arrived from various points in the United States to Hotel LeBergerac, in San Jose, Costa Rica - a quaint and lovely spot with touches of Spanish influence in its courtyards. The staff was gracious (a trait that we would encounter throughout Costa Rica) and welcomed us warmly.

Early the next morning, the group assembled in the lobby; some of us meeting for the first time. By that evening- we were thoroughly enjoying the camaraderie of our first dinner together joyfully sharing the events of the day! You see, we started our tour at Lankaster Gardens - a mecca for any devoted orchid lover and there, a virtual rock star of the orchid world - Robert Dressler - happened to stop by and join our group for a few precious hours. Amidst the acclaims of: “Look at this” in the orchid collection and in the beautiful gardens, our group started bonding together. The Lanskester Orchid House boasts thousands of orchids of all sorts. Pluerothallids as big as beach balls foretold the marvels we were to see on our trip. And if that wasn't enough for a day's travels, after a wonderful lunch (one of many) with the natural fruit drinks, rice and beans, fresh fish and other offerings, we headed to Tapanti National Park to get our first real taste of the central volcanic valley rain forests. Lepanthes at the water's edge - ferns bigger than our imagination (or so we thought at the time) and epiphytes dripping off every tree! It was like walking in an enchanted forest as the day waned. At sunset, with dusk cast over the hillside of Turriabla Volcano, we arrived at Guayabo Lodge with its own orchid garden and huge hedges of hydrangeas along the walk-ways. It rained overnight and at dawn, the gardens glistened with diffuse light playing off of the early morning mist.

The next morning, we were off to CATIE Botanical Gardens. Marco, a CATIE guide and a student there greeted us with a flower and fruit snack. CATIE's mission is to protect and develop the many agricultural resources of Costa Rica including coffee, hearts of palm, and cocoa among other plants of commercial value and utilitarian use Marco gave a presentation explaining many of the important crops in Costa Rica with examples of the fruits on a demonstration table. Did you know that the red color in lipstick comes from the berries of a tree? Bixa orellena and our resident cosmetic sales rep tried it out for us. And did you know Toucans love cacao beans? We saw for ourselves as they flew – almost top heavy with their large bills in the grove of cocoa trees. But as we toured the gardens, a transformation took place. Slowly but surely, we turned our guide into another La Orquidea Locos! One by one, we started pointing out each and every orchid on the orange trees, the coffee branches, nestled in the star-fruit bush. There was even an orchid seedling on his demonstration table attached to a coffee branch. Soon we knew we had made a convert and I would not be surprised to learn that his future tours include many of the orchids in the agricultural preserve. Upon the return to Guayabo Lodge- were we done? Of course not! More orchids spotted on the driveway to the Lodge sent us scurrying to take more photos. Clusters of Epidendrum trialatum (as per Lankester) on a tree in a cow field.

We had a choice of dates for this trip. March or the end of December/beginning of January. Since March is jammed pack with orchid shows for most of us - of course we picked the holidays! What better way to begin the New Year than in horticultural Disneyland? Our New Year’s destination was very special. To get there, we had to travel through the central volcanic valley where the acute valley hillsides along the highway were layered with ferns. It was like being inside a terrarium! The trip was long- but worthwhile. Besides stopping to see a few iguanas, we had the experience of seeing a recent landslide scar and appreciating for ourselves, the effect of severe land clearing on steep, unstable volcanic hillsides. Quite dramatic. But our fearless and expert bus driver, Dieder rose to the task and brought us to the sanctuary of Basque de Paz, our New Year’s destination, intact and in awe. Dieder is the best! Basque de Paz is in a primary forest areas. Unfortunately, there are not many of these left. While the countryside has recovered and the secondary forests themselves are impressive, Basque de Paz (Forest of Peace) was truly a special sanctuary of primal forest. The love for the land of the owners of Bosque de Paz is evident. They developed their own living fence maze orchid garden. It was wonderful to leisurely explore hundreds of orchid species in the garden. Bosque de Paz also hosted several hiking trails through the forest along the stream with its crystal sparkling water and along the hills looking into the canopy of the lower forest levels. Amazing. A Trogon posed for us as an omen of a great start to the New Year! For our New Year Celebration, our hosts and hostesses graciously made us feel like family as we welcomed the New Year in peace and serenity nestled in the virgin forest.

After an early morning walk through the forest and a sighting of Miltonia powellii in bloom, we embarked for Arenal Volcano and environs. Soon, we would take on the challenge of the Rio Celeste hike. Along the way, we stopped at La Fortuna, a small town on the outskirts of Arenal and spent some time in the town square with the local church and many souvenir shops ready for those orchid hunters eager to spend some colons on new treasures (and orchid books!). After lunch, we arrived at our hotel, Lomas del Volcan, taking much more time than needed to drive there as we had Diedir stop the bus several times to view the orchids along the roadside trees and living fences that span the countryside. But what fun to be able to say: “Stop the bus” and jump out and explore just what may be growing on that tree. Some of us added a trip to the 1968 Arneal Lava Flow Trail and we were not disappointed! New orchids such as Cynoches warscewiczii, to see as well as birds and monkeys! Everyone loves to see the monkeys. We came to recognize monkey signs of fallen bromeliad leaves along the trail signaling that a troupe had passed by. Good thing they were not eating orchids! The hotel was lovely and accommodating as we had come to expect in this hospitable country. A tree frog graced our cottage though attempts to find and see it left us unfulfilled but its intermittent chorus assured us it was there! A private sitting porch in the back of the cottage allowed a great view into the adjoining forest and abundant birdlife.

This was the granddaddy of trails we had been training for! Though we probably should have taken to the ski slopes instead of treadmills to train. We arrived and the trail was muddy. Not just a little muddy - but VERY muddy. And steep. I think we did more skiing and sliding than hiking at times. But it turns out, that slow and steady wins the race and each of us had an experience on that trail that bonded us even more to each other and to Costa Rica and its riches. It was the penultimate treasure of self -discovery and conquest! I am being a little melodramatic here - I admit it. But it was the most challenging trail we hiked. Anticipating the challenge, only part of the group went - the others went on a boat ride and saw all sorts of wildlife – monkeys, sloths, even snakes. We sweated, slipped and even fell a few times. But we proved ourselves and saw orchids, hot springs and mineral pools, volcanic vents, butterfly conventions and fern covered hillsides. At times it rained and at times the sun came out forming a light rainbow tinged cloud mist across the trail. Sublime. Coming off of the trail - we all made it - we shared a late lunch with a beer - one of those beers you might have in life that never tasted so good before. Exhausted but sated, we slept all the way back to the hotel on the bus. Upon our return, our bodies would soon feel the relief of hot springs at the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort for dinner and night of relaxing. It is good to challenge yourself now and again...and reap the reward!

After the exploits of the day before, the day of travel to Monteverde, was welcomed. It was a rainy day - December is at the crossroads between the rainy and dry season so it was a good day to travel and see sights from the comfort of our bus. The road to Monteverde took us round the large lake that was formed when Arenal erupted in 1968. Along the way, the roadside was filed with Sobralias and other orchids. “Stop the bus” was a common outcry so we could explore further. And as we traveled, we were thinking of our next adventure along the way. We had ideas! As we got closer, rainbows began to appear and multiply in every direction. We arrived on a cool, rainy evening determined to work a canopy walk into our already packed schedule. The folks at the Cloudforest Lodge were willing to accommodate - little did we know they thought we wanted to do a Zip Line Tour of the Canopy - at night - in a driving rain! Opps! Not quite our speed though others might have enjoyed. No problem; a night tour of the forest was quickly substituted where the night's creatures - tarantulas, coati, frogs and even some orchids (a Telipogon no less!) were spotted.

The next day brought nicer weather and we filled the morning in what was the best orchid garden we had seen so far in Costa Rica. Not only were the owners sticklers for proper identification (they were right on top of the latest taxonomic nomenclature) but friendly and informative. There were Epidendrums, Lycaste, Coelogynes, Laelias, Pluerothallids, Sobralias, Gongoras, Zootrophions, Oncidiums, …need I go on? I really think they had representatives of every orchid of the region in their garden, all carefully marked and identified. A feast for the eyes for La Orquidea Locos. No converts here – the Owners and guides were already one of us! After another wonderful lunch, our plotting and planning brought us to the Hanging Bridge walk at Selvatura Park in San Elena Forest. Along suspension bridges across the valleys of the hills of the San Elena Cloud Forest, through the canopy we walked in the heavy mist. It is a completely different perspective from the treetops. The clouds and lists swirled amongst the trees laden with epiphytes, ferns and orchids. Thoroughly soaked, but with smiles on our faces, we gathered at Monteverde Lodge to enjoy the sunset afterwards.

We embark upon another full day; not to be outdone by the day before. We headed south and west leaving the rainbows of Monteverde behind, and traveled into the drier regions within sight of the Pacific Ocean. Cynoches took the place of Pluerothallids; Palms for Heliconias. Bougainvillea sprawled over rooftops and fences. Along the way, we stopped to stretch our legs and walk across a bridge to see huge crocodiles sunning themselves on the sand bars. Our next stop was at the Carara National Park to see orchids (of course) but also Macaws. Our guide took us along the path, pointing out various sights (and we pointed to the orchids). Carara was a great bird-watching spot and we saw a nesting Macaw in the hollow of a tree preening itself. Then, to the beach – la playa. After settling in our rooms, a sunset walk to the beach was in order. The deep hues of orange played with the contrasting deep blue of the water and flat black silhouettes of the rock outcroppings. The water of the Pacific was warmer than we expected and we vowed to return the next morning when we spotted pelicans roosting on the rocks and cowries and cone shells in the tidal pools. A quick stop on the way back to listen to a band at a local outdoor bistro and then a delicious dinner at Hotel La Playa Espandilla followed by an evening swim in the pool finished the day.

Our last National Park to visit on this trip. Our last full day of orchid hunting. And you know what they say - save the best for last! A short walk from the hotel to the gates of the Park, its popularity was evident by the number of people there to visit. Our guide, patient with our orchid hunting antics, was wealth of knowledge on the local flora and fauna. Turns out, she too had an interest in orchids and happily contributed to our search. Along the way, we also saw sloths, capuchin monkeys, iguanas, frogs and a variety of birds. But when we got to Playa Manuel. Antonio, we saw why the spot was so popular. Pristine white sands in a protected cove with gentle waves. Arching trees extending over the beach providing shade, laden with Brassavola nodosa, Cynoches and Epidendrums. And Capuchin monkeys carefully calculating how to steal some food from the visitors on the beach and entertaining everyone all the while. Of course, we thought they were really hunting more orchids for us to see!

The way back to San Jose, brought the opportunity to reflect and acknowledge the new friends we made, the new memories we have to cherish. So many more things to share about this wonderful trip than time or space allows on these pages. And we had so much fun! There is something magical, honest and gracious about Costa Rica. It shares its riches without hesitation. It opens the heart to receive them. La Pura Vida! Indeed.

Final farewells were said amongst new friends and off we went, back to our homes, laden with coffee, chocolate and memories of a lifetime.