Costa Rica has been under the throes of a heat wave and San Isidro General (or Perez Zeledon, or PZ) has not been excepted.  In fact, of all the great things I can say (and have said) about good ole PZ, from 11:00 to 3:30, it is friggin hot.  But with mountains on both sides that are only a 30 minute or so drive away, beating the heat is not that difficult.  For the past couple days, we have been doing just that and “chillin” in San Gerardo de Dota.

I have written about this remarkable place before (see Previous Post).  As that post proclaimed, San Gerardo de Dota is the best location in the country for getting a look at the Resplendant Quetzal, one of the most colorful and timid tropical forest dwelling birds.  But San Gerardo is also one of the most beautiful places on earth (or at least as far as my eyes have had the pleasure of seeing).  You get there by driving along the Pan American Highway either from Cartago towards San Isidro, or vice versa.  Once you reach the highest point of Cero de la Muerte (around 11,000 feet), you take a turn and drive about 20 minutes down into the narrow gorge cut by the rio Savegre.  There you will find the little village known as San Gerardo de Dota.  This place is becoming the new Monteverde and the last two days that we were there it was as crowded with tourists as I have ever seen it.  That is both good and bad.  Good is the sense that it is receiving long overdue recognition.  Bad in the sense that more tourists always bring secondary negative effects such as garbage.  It is simply unfathomable to me that people can be so “un-impact-mindful” as to leave behind their garbage in such a pristine and naturally pure place.

I have been a fan of San Gerardo for  many years.  One of the really cool things to do there is take a hike to the largest waterfall in the area. Along the trail you pass a smaller fall.  There you can squeeze yourself under a large boulder and enter a cave-like opening where you can view the crashing water from a really cool perspective.  However, a disturbing development has been the localization of a trout farm just upstream from the fall.  Trout farming is one of the main occupations of the residents of San Gerardo, with others being small farmers who sell the fish by the kilo and utilize them in small restaurants that cater to the tourists.  This operation is different as it’s main objectivity is exportation to other countries.  And they are polluting the river downstream.  How they were able to get permission to do this is beyond me.  Sebas and I took a horseback ride to the fall and our guide told me that it was all about the money.  But money for whom?  My guide did not seem at all too pleased with the situation and I would imagine that sentiment is pretty common among the locals.  That seems to always be the case with big business that benefits a few at the expense of the many, now doesn’t it?

Despite that disturbing development, San Gerardo remains one of my favorite places in Costa Rica.  I arose early yesterday morning to do my meditation on top of a large boulder by the river that was covered with a yellow moss that felt like carpet.  Needless to say, that was 15 minutes of meditation in which mindfulness was made easy.  I have been amiss lately to write about the thing that inspired me to launch this blog many years ago, Costa Rica, and my love for it.  San Gerardo reminded me of that.

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