May 10th - Rafiki Safari Lodge

While walking around the park at Manuel Antonio we stopped to rest and got to talking to a women who was an obvious non-local. During the course of conversation she told us about a place further south that I had a vague rembrance of reading about. Tourists stayed in tents built on stilts or something like that., She couldn't quite remember the name but after a review of her guide book she found it. It was Rafiki. She explained her being in Costa Rica was of a two fold purpose. She and her husband were teachers living with local families were students was trying to improve their command of English. So they taught and travelled on a budget.

She had tried to convince her husband to make a sidetrip to Rafiki but he said they couldn't afford the rates these folks charged. All meals were included as the place was out in nomans land where only nature prevailed. My kind of place. So we were off to find www.rafikisafari.com

As usual the ride starts out nicely  but sooner or later one has to get off the main highway and get on the dirt roads. It was only 30 kilometers from Quepos but 20 of these were over sticks and stones without street signs or many signs of life. Mostly we travelled through oil palm plantations were sacks of palm nuts were placed along the road for pickup at some point. We felt sorry for the people who picked these seeds and then carried them from deep within the palm forest to the road. It was hot and muggy out.

Rafiki was built by a couple from South Africa in the middle of the rain forest within the pristine Savegre River Valley. Whenever we thought we are surely lost, we found a sign that claimed we were still on track. Still, when we finally found a little village with a store (about 6 houses and called Santo Domingo), we stopped and

if they had ever heard of Rafiki. Hands and arms pointed us in the direction we were going and then we saw a sign 3KM to Rafiki. They always put the signs were you have no choice but to keep going, never on the intersection of roads. Anyway, we arrive and seemingly are the only guests. The hosts are the son and wife of the founding couple. They live there and employ most of the village up the road. For them a trip to the store for supplies is just about an all day affair. Being that we showed up out of the blue they had to go to town the next day. They did wonder though, how we found them and what made us come there. Most guests are group tourists who show up in taxis from the last hotel. All the hotels seem to have transfer packages and readily available vans for this purpose. So we are assigned our 'cabin'. 

As the evening approaches we are told that dinner will be at 7PM. A bit late for us but we use the time to look around the place. Noises, all kinds of noises reach us from the surrounding mountains. Howler monkeys make a racket and never seem to stop calling to each other. I guess it's some kind of langauge they understand. The sky takes on different colors every minute or so. I snap picture after picture knowing full well in the end they will all look alike.