Golfito

     When I first arrived in Golfito via a old boxcar plane delivering supplies as well as tourists, I was stunned by the giant trees. These forest giants had been saved because of the shade they provided. Their arbol was so vast it would cover a full city block in the states.  There was only one place to stay for travelers on a budget. That was the old Delfino Hotel that was built nearly a century ago to house canal workers.  It was huge.   It was also in decline. There were many women of the evening who used it as a base for their schemes with fishermen.  You looked the other way for the most part.  It also had a fish cleaning site which is a natural thing with fishermen overhanging the little bay.

      The smell was pernicious. The hotel was built on pilings next to the sickly debris filled bay.  It attracted many predators including sharks and dolphins, thus the name Delfino.  I stayed there simply because it was the closest to the launches going to Puerto Jimenez.
       I looked for the old hotel on my last visit. The Delfino burned down one night.  It must have been a splendid blaze that could be seen for miles. All that history was gone in a evening of carelessness with the smokers in bed. The hotel was owned by a Chinese family who sheltered many travelers to Golfito. I met the owner in Puerto Jimenez who retired into the dry goods business.  

      His sons were buying the fish from the trawlers returning in the evening.  Golfito is a duty free zone where families buy imported washing machines and refrigerators. 

       The cars would line up early in the morning just for a chance to save a few dollars.  The children would have plenty of activities to entertain themselves for most of the day.  You could also find a family begging for a deformed child.  There were pictures that could make your heart bleed along with the collection can below.
       Soon you grow tired of all the heat in Golfito. Catching the launch to Puerto Jimenez is the way to go.  Jimenez is the staging area for the trip to Corcovado National Park and Cape Matapalo.  

     There are a number of cheap hostels there.  If you go to the outlying streets, you'll save more money. The absolute cheapest are the Pensiones.  Ask around and someone will direct you. I preferred to stay in a Costa Rican motel which is cheap by any standard. Cold water rules. There is no hot water to be had anywhere.  You learn to shower in the afternoon when it is hot. By then, you will need a shower because you will be sweating like a horse. Then it is hammock time.  

      The water wells are shallow affairs so don't trust the water except for bathing. There is no septic system so people have been defecating into holes in the ground for all these many years.  All that poop filters down to the water table.  Don't drink the well water or you will get sick. Coffee is made with boiling water which kills everything. I firmly believe this was the first use of coffee since the water must be boiled and how it became such a popular drink along with beer.
   If you get up early, you can see the iguanas making their way to a favorite sunning site. One morning, I saw the grand daddy of all iguanas crossing the road.   He must have been 7 ft and weighing in at 150 lbs.  The parrots roost in the village at night.  These are the wild pets for the villagers. The are like the city pigeons in San Jose except they are parrots. They come for no other reason except for the free food handed out to them.  By mid morning one heads to the beaches around the village.  You must cross the bay at low tide to get to the bug infested beach that is so stunningly beautiful.         It is way out of town on the other side of the airport.  One morning, we were swimming and sunning there at the point on the beach. A pilot whale surfaced close to shore. We jumped in, hoping to swim with this visitor but we were way too noisy. Without thinking Jerry dove in and promptly said he lost it.
  Jerry lost his key to the house he lived in.  It turned into a search for the lost key. We never found it.  I should have picked up on those clues that Jerry was someone I should back away from.  I did not realize until much later, he was a wanted for attaching a limpet mine to a New Zealand destroyer which killed two sailors in retaliation for the sinking of the First Rainbow Warrior.        These were the radical years of the Greenpeace movement. Jerry took his Greenpeace seriously. I found this out on another trip when Alberto told me what he had found out.