GEO Adventure Magazine Dec. 2014 | Page 22

E very adventure has its charm, its characters, its lesson, its imprint ... and this time it also had very particular sounds, colors, scents and sensations: the greatness of a volcano and a landscape full of valleys and mountains which degrade its greenery over rivers and waterfalls that blend into the blue of the celestial dome. Added to that, a transcendent power that is perceived as we venture into the jungle, where spaces were once shelter to ancient civilizations and even today they surprise us with their great structures, organization and functional capacity. We invite you to join us through the gallery of images that illustrate this section dedicated to those splendid "green roads" of Costa Rica, in this opportunity, we rode along the sides of the South Pacific and through the center region of this incredibly bio diverse Central American country which we just begin to know. Flights and jungle adventures at Corcovado National Park This adventure begins its journey from the Juan Santa Maria International Airport, with a group of journalists, photographers, cameramen and representatives of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) who, together with the local guides were the best company to guide and assist us in our mission of turning this trip into stories and images that invite us to "Travel through Costa Rica." Our group had to board a Nature Air aircraft; their particular size and colorful design accentuates that you're about to go and see new places; a euphoric anxiety becomes present to give access to this new life journey... The expeditionary feeling makes adrenaline start its dosage as if it were administered with a "micro drip". 22 Geo Adventure Magazine The flying time to Puerto Jimenez (Province of Puntarenas) was brief and interesting because of the landscapes and the outstanding visibility we had from above that splendid morning. Puerto Jimenez is located in a place that could be defined as the entrance to Dulce Gulf; it was formerly (1970’s) the center of extraction of auriferous mineral. It currently offers various services such as financial institutions, restaurants, a hospital, hotels and supermarkets, among others; also the small airport by which we arrived to visit the Corcovado National Park. From there we continued our journey through roads-in a van that we had to leave behind and hop onto “small trucks” conditioned to transport people. The other stage of the journey had, as a arrival and departure point, an even smaller track located right next to the Costa Rican Pacific coast, on the side of the same road to Carate, a small populated place we didn’t get to visit, but after some internet research, will be-for sure-a place where we will go sometime in the near future, because of this fact we found on the net: “Carate is known as the best kept secret in Costa Rica. This is the reason why not many people come here on vacation...” And what adventurer does not like to reveal or visit secret places...? At Playa Carate’s airdrome, located on the Osa Peninsula, the “micro drip” feeling began all over again, but with more intensity this time. And boy! We had more than one reason! We made a short flight in groups of 4 people each (7 minutes approximately) up to the Sirena Park Ranger’s Station, located at the heart of the Corcovado National Park; Covered the distance on a small plane, a Cessna 206, classified by the experts as the “air SUV”. After this spectacular flying experience we can only qualify with no reservation, how appropriate this categorization is. To that quality of the aircraft, we