Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/68789
(both pages, clockwise from below) Zip-lining over dense forest near Pacuare River Lodge; a mantled howler monkey, a common sight (and sound) in Costa Rica; a tasty bounty at Pacuare Lodge; rafting the Pacuare River; a honeymoon suite at Pacuare Lodge; scarlet macaws, which inhabit the country's forests; the pool area at Nayara Hotel Spa and Gardens. I 'VE STAYED IN MY FAIR SHARE OF hotels around the world, but I've never needed a life jacket, helmet or paddle to get to a check-in desk before. But travelling via raft on the whitewater Pacuare River is the only way for guests of remote Pacuare Lodge to reach their destination. My guide Jorge assures me that if the raft fl ips, there will be no reason for panic (easy for him to say), and then we push off from the polished-pebble bank. "This is no ordinary river," he informs me proudly. "It's one of the great rafting rivers on earth." And with that, we venture into the heart of Costa Rica, one of the last great wild places on the planet. Not only is this country stunning – as I'm able to discern once our group of three gets the hang of navigating the rapids – it's also one of the most conservation-oriented in the world. With good reason: while Costa Rica is a mere speck of land, covering only 0.03 per cent of the earth's surface, more than 500,000 unique plant and animal spe- cies (that's four per cent of all life) are found 22 WESTWORLD >> JUNE 2012 here. In addition to Caribbean and Pacifi c coastlines, and a spine of tall mountains, the country's borders harbour more than 70 liz- ard, 120 snake and 890 bird species, along with crocodiles, vampire bats and monkeys – and (though more diffi cult to spot) tapirs, deer and jaguars. It's no wonder this is an eco-tourism hot spot. And while the rest of the world is struggling just to recycle bottles, Costa Rica is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2021. With 80 per cent of its elec- tricity already originating from sustainable sources, it's well on track. There are four popular eco-tourist areas in the country, mostly preserved through splendid isolation. Tortuguero National Park, on the far-north Caribbean coast and home to thousands of endangered turtles, can be reached only by small boat. Monte- verde Cloud Forest (famous for strange orchids and stranger birds) is perched high among the cumulonimbi in the northwest and accessed by four-wheel drive. The third, the Arenal Volcano, in the northern low- lands, is accessible by car. The fourth, of course, is the Pacuare River. "Left, back!" shouts Jorge. It's my cue to paddle backward to prevent us from broad- siding a slab of rock. We careen past tower- ing, moss-softened canyons, as unseen monkeys screech from the treetops. After a few more hours of spray-soaked, rock-dodg- ing fun, we arrive at Pacuare Lodge, my home for the next three days. The resort lies beyond the rain shadow of the Cordillera de Talamanca mountains, east of the capital, San José, toward the Caribbean coast. The hub of the resort is a two-storey restaurant and lounge overlooking the river. A smattering of private villas is scattered among the trees, through which floats a (rafting, honeymoon suite) courtesy Pacuare River Lodge, (monkey) iStock, (zip-lining) Steve Bly/All Canada Photos