Monday 28 March 2022
Monteverde
I was up early and had not ordered breakfast but went up for a cup of tea. One of the younger members of the tour wasn’t feeling the best and passed it off as having had some late nights in La Fortuna. He decided to stay behind and go to the medical clinic for some meds.
At eight, we drove the short distance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve to look for a specific bird that is known to inhabit the area. We started up one trail looking for any wildlife.
Leo pointed out a three hundred year old tree. He noted that the tree has other plants on it and that the plants don’t live off the tree but that the tree lives off the freeloaders.
Then he pointed out the longest plant species in the world. The mucuna is a vine and can travel quite some distance.
I needed to do a pano to get this one in the frame. And it’s only a fraction of the total length.
We took another trail looking for the bird and walked about two kilometres in a loop but never heard or saw the bird. We did find a hummingbird in a nest.
On our return, we went up to the Hummingbird Café for a tea and an attempt to photograph the hummingbirds, but they were too fast in the poor light.
Then someone said there were howler monkeys in the trees next to the parking lot. They were pretty high up but every time a loud vehicle would go by, they started howling.
They are the second loudest animal on the planet after the blue whale. When I first heard them in the jungle in Panama, I remember thinking that it must have been horrifying for the first Spaniards who showed up on the shores of Central America, watched their ships burn and then heard those ghastly howls echoing in the dark forest.
The bus was delayed but showed up at about eleven. We headed back to the hotel where we got ready for the zipline tour in the afternoon.
Then everything came to a screeching halt.
Just before departure, Leo called us together and told us the sick tourmate had tested positive for Covid and that we all had to get tested. The four of us over-50 agreed. The other eleven refused.
The four tests, including mine as well as Leo’s, came back positive. Given that two of the five had had symptoms for several days at that point, it meant the rest were likely positive as well.
After a marathon of phone calls with Intrepid, it was determined that the tour had been terminated and if anyone refused to be tested, they’d no longer be the responsibility of Intrepid. They agreed, hired a van and left for Manual Antonio knowing they were likely positive for Covid-19.
The three days in isolation were not that bad. The hotel staff, especially Gabriella, went above and beyond. I kept my original room which was quite large and the wifi was very fast (thanks to the cell tower about a hundred metres away).
We could order our meals on Whatsapp and get them delivered to our room. We could even order from a local Italian restaurant.
I asked for a tea pot and they delivered it as well as any toiletries that we needed.
My room was in the lower building with a garden below and some wildlife including a coati, a rabbit and the birds, of course. I could sit out and photograph the wildlife.
I spotted a gorgeous emerald toucanet.
And had nice sunsets.
I spent my time working on the photos and communicating with the others as we got our questions answered. Intrepid issued me a letter indicating how much the remainder of the tour cost. I could submit that along with my hotel, food and transport costs to my insurance. I had purchased the Covid Package from Manulife and that covered all quarantine costs. (Not all insurers offer a Covid package. For the sake of $84, it was well worth it for me, however, they did not cover the unused portion).
There was a lot of conflicting information coming out of the Costa Rican government, and with a recent rule change, they couldn’t make up their mind how long we needed to stay in isolation. The young man who tested positive first was told seven days from onset of symptoms which was the previous Thursday/Friday. The Ministry of Health issued us Health Orders saying we had to stay until Monday – seven days from the positive tests.
Outside of some basic allergy congestion that I always get when I visit the jungle, I had no symptoms. If I had to pick a symptom that was a little different, I had a slight sinus headache right behind my eyes which I don’t usually get, but it wasn’t even bad enough to take anything for.
Of the other five, the two with symptoms had them resolve fairly quickly, and the others, including Leo and an 81 year old man, had no symptoms. We were all vaccinated.
By Thursday, we were told we could return to San Jose on Friday and fly out on Saturday as per normal. I packed my bag expecting that.
But as they say, expect the unexpected.
Go to Day Ten
Go to Table of Contents