We've all seen amazing photo's of the rainforest's abundance of life but to experience this everywhere you look really is almost to much to process. It took me about 3 days to adjust to the sensory overload one experiences upon arrival of such a place. For us it was a remote part of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica known as Matapalo:

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When an invitation was extended to visit “El Tumbu De Las Olas” (Owned by the Dorn family, who also own Dorn's Restaurant in Morro Bay) we jumped at the very kind offer. My sister, Kira & her husband Jeremy Wiggins had spent the last 8 months really learning the area, culture, language, locales as well as the necessary survival skills in this wild place:

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This is the back yard.

On this adventure my father Steve Dunlap, our good friend Mike Ramirez, my tournament-fishing partner, Ron Atwood & his 11-year-old son Charlie, accompanied me. At first we were concerned about the 5 hr. layover in San Jose but this beautiful city was a nice acclimation period:

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before our journey into the unknown via Sansa Airlines single engine plane:

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The Sansa Terminal of an otherwise very nice airport in San Jose

Despite what they tell you on the phone, no matter how many times you call this plane can't carry a 7' rod tube.

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Not quite your average flight (or airport), watching the kids playing and supermarket delivery guy's ride across the runway upon our approach was especially unnerving but our flight into Puerto Jimenez went without incident. Kira & Jeremy were a very welcome sight, as we hadn't seen them since they left for this amazing place 8 months prior:

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You can pretty much see the entire Puerto Jimenez aiport structure in the background :)

A couple of cabs (diesel Toyotas) were waiting to carry us to our final destination along with the ridiculous amount of fishing gear we brought. You couldn't help but feel we were slipping further back in time every inch of the 12-mile drive from Puerto Jimenez out to the Matapalo area of the Osa Peninsula. After numerous river crossings (a couple even had bridges) we pulled through the gates of “El Tumbu De Las Olas” in absolute awe:

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The open spacious layout of this gorgeous hide away is completely tucked into a lush green rainforest teeming with life like nothing I could ever imagine. A quick tour showed us we would be living in a modern, amazing structure without walls or windows; they're just not necessary considering the constant, mild climate, as we would soon learn. Unpacking took quite a while with the constant interruptions like “check out the spider monkeys”, “what is that”, “have you ever seen one of these?” or “Is this poisonous?” We eventually settled in for the list of “things to be aware of” as danger lurks everywhere but can easily be avoided with caution. We talked, ate, drank, caught up, late into the first night.

Each morning starts about 1/2 hr. before sunrise when the competing groups of Howler Monkeys begin their pre-dawn disputes:

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This morning we took it slow with an outstanding breakfast & a few more lessons on the workings of this completely different lifestyle. We all grabbed a kayak with my father & I in a 2 person, which proved to require more coordination to launch than either of us seemed capable of. The water, which rarely dips below 80 deg., felt like bath water, teeming with life:

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We saw lots of dolphins right outside the surf, sm. roosters:

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sierra & jacks working tiny baits that were a blast on the 8 lb. spinning gear. Small Krocodiles & Hopkins spoons did the job with 3” Big Hammers drawing lots of strikes but the sierra would make quick work of 'em. Dan got their 14' aluminum boat off the mooring & towed us out to the point where my Dad quickly got rocked twice on 25 lb. using MegaBait jigs. Each day on the water ended happily between 11:00 - 1:00 to begin the unwinding procedures poolside:

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with a great lunch usually incorporating the day's catch. I was amazed at what a good cook my sister is, accompanied by Maria, a local who would help out daily with the cooking/cleaning, topped off by Dan's culinary expertise, we ate like kings. Everything is either picked/grown by Kira/Jeremy, naturally exists in the forest or is bought fresh from a produce truck that came by twice a week. Red meat, crackers along with other staples had to be picked up in town, which is no easy task. None of us could help but feel that this is the way life is supposed to be lived; you work for & appreciate everything. As I write this every muscle in my body is sore, just from living their life style for a week. It took longer to get on the boat than it takes to get 2 mi. out to the fishing grounds. With the long sloping, rocky beaches:

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it is necessary to take a kayak out to the moored boats about a 1/2 mile out in only 35 ft. of water. Only bringing the boat in to about neck deep water with everyone swimming out his or her gear, ice chests, gas cans, battery, etc., then climbing aboard outside the surf line:

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Only after hearing the story of a week prior to our arrival a dolphin beaching itself. When a group of men tried to save the dolphin by pushing it back into the surf it was exploded on by a 9' Bull Shark. The dolphin head washed up on the beach the next day. 1/2 way through our trip while Capt. Ron & Jeremy where on the 14' boat out at the point on a good roosterfish bite one of the free-swimming 40 lb. roosters was nailed 15' off the bow of their boat by a Bull Shark in the same size range.

Offshore?
On our 2nd full day there Dan offered to take my father and I offshore in the 14 footer? We weren't 1.5 miles out when the water turned a deep blue:

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the first sailfish came as I was sliding back the 2nd jig resulting in the first of many double hook-ups on the sails:

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as well as being my fathers first billfish:

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A hr. into the day with 3 sails under our belt we switched to the sm. jethead feathers for YFT & dorado but received an instant wahoo rip that bit off eventually. While trolling we came across a floating foam container with bait that resulted in a double dodo hook-up with a follower inhaling a dropped back 6” Silver Bullet color Big Hammer:

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Having caught dinner we started working our way in playing with some big skippies, bonito & black tuna along the way before another sail came up on the little tuna jet head. This one was my 3rd for the young day but was acting very different, really kicking my ass? It sat down deep, almost impossible to raise on 30 lb. gear despite how hard I pulled. Dan & my father cleaned the dorado & cracked jokes as I sweated, pulling to the point of trying to break the Calstar 870 or my back. Finally we had the fish directly under the boat where it seemed content to stay, then we could see the lure hooked into the back of the fish just in front of the sail. We eventually got leader, releasing the fish that was enough for us. I was amazed to find out it wasn't noon yet when we arrived back at the casa.

Our Little Tournament Day!
Kira, Jeremy & I were lucky enough to be on neighbor Van's boat “Body Count”. Steve & Mike Ramirez were on the Alum. boat with Dan. Capt. Ron & his son Charlie were on a very nice local 24' Panga with “Calimon”. Shortly after lines in Jeremy hooked up his first sail but as I was winding in a jig that was wrapped on his fish, my jig gets blasted right off the back of the boat while still wrapped around Jeremy's line. We ended up managing both, jumping in the lead on the sailfish class. Not 10 minutes later we get another hookup with Kira's jig getting hit on the grind this time resulting in another double forcing the other 2 boats to give up on the sailfish class:

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We all headed a little further offshore to find the debris line that holds the dorado. Both Ron & my fathers boat got into dorado so we went on a hunch from Van that there would be Tuna a little further offshore. We passed through about 15 minutes of total downpour to find miles of breaking football YFT/skippies/birds on tiny 1” squid but they were more than eager to eat the little jet heads. At 14 mi. out & the furthest offshore we would fish the entire trip, loaded up on Sashimi & confident we had the tuna class we worked in searching for Dorado holding structure. Van spotted a huge tree, roots and all, loaded with very odd looking triggerfish, skippies, a couple sea snakes along with a few more YFT. We found out later that's where Ron had found the dorado class winner in the 30 lb. range.

The Jungle
We all took the following day off to relax, explore & just soak it all in. Kira teaches a yoga class at a “nearby” resort twice a week so the whole group of us tried to find our center, but mostly just made tools out of ourselves but all had a good time. Maria had set up an awesome spread for brunch before we met “Andy” our tour guide. This guy is the “Crocodile Hunter” of the Osa! Unbelievably entertaining, excitable & knowledgeable about everything in the jungle, he made the perfect guide. We hiked up river:

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to a huge waterfall called “King Luis” learning way too much all the way. Seeing Poison Dart Frogs, learning/witnessing their amazing reproduction habits:

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sloth:

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toucans, Macaws, parrots, iguana's, freshwater shrimp, vine snakes, 4 kinds of monkeys:

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along with an amazing array of valuable plants & insects. Finishing up at a huge strangler fig which we climbed repelling from 70ft:

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Sailfish Heaven
Mike, Jeremy & I spent the following day exploring the inshore riches of the surf line & rock outcroppings, donating jigs to strong fish on 8lb. spinning gear along the way. We did catch some sm. jacks a very tough blue crevelle:

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sm. rooster:

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& lots of sierra for lunch:

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We were searching for a snook holding river mouth but must have stopped short. Slow trolling outside the surf line, the ambient noise from the jungle growing right up to the beach would drown out the 25 hp outboard:

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Ron & Charlie aboard the “Body Count” had dinner covered by landing a big rooster:

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before heading slightly offshore to grab a wahoo & a very nice dorado along with Charlie's first billfish.

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Notice the Vultures waiting above their heads.

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Nothing goes to waste!

Friday was our last day of fishing with my father, Mike R. & I fishing with the Calimon aboard his panga armed with some fresh ballyhoo to try our hand at some bait & switch on the sails using 25 lb. tackle:

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It took a little practice to get our system down but it wasn't long before Mike R. was tied into his first billfish:

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we ended the day with 5:

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along with some great video:

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Besides being the outstanding camera man Mike had been having some bad luck getting the sails to stick as well as losing both of the blue marlin we came across during the week. Part of the problem seemed to be the comstock rig that was behind a very hot med. size Sevenstrand pink feather. The fact that it was getting bit so well kept him encouraged in the lure, but it wasn't until we re-rigged it using a single offset Owner that fish started sticking to this little gem they had been swatting at for days. I had noticed similar problems with one of my med.-sized feathers rigged with a comstock. Even tuna seemed to just fall off right at the boat on a few occasions, all on the only feather I used with such a rig? Ron & Charlie fished inshore w/Jeremy managing to catch & release another 40 lb. class rooster on a Krocodile:

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Another fine fishing day & its only noon. The amount of fish inshore was impressive but didn't make them any easier to catch. You could mark a perfect structure covered with fish but until the tide started & current was running you couldn't buy a decent bite. Once that switch was flipped it was on until things shut off just as fast.

We can't thank the Dorn family enough for not only extending this very generous invitation to my family & friends but for treating us like family the entire time. Kira & Jeremy both worked like dogs to keep everything in order with constant entertainment & food. A huge thanks to both of them as well as their friends on the Osa that help make it such a special place.

It was the kind of trip dreams are made of but how do you leave such a place? Despite all of our best efforts none of us could come up with an excuse that would get any of our wives to “just send money”. It truly was one of those few life changing experiences & I seriously doubt any of us will ever be the same. I've returned to what now seems like a lazy, wasteful, spoiled existence with priorities completely out of whack. But that's just me?

Josh Dunlap

Dude, Awesome...and thats about all i can say!
Oh yeah, I am totally jelious!

Brian #2

I second that.

Great pics. Thanks for taking us along.

That give new meaning to the "WOW" factor!

Terry G.

Thanks for sharing the awesome photos and story :D :D :D

Josh
99.9% of us would call that a "trip of a lifetime".
Why do I have the feeling that this is just one of many in your future?
Great pictures and a wonderful report.

Fantastic. Terrific pictures.
December 2004. I went to Costa Rica with my highschool for 2 weeks and it was absolutely georgeous. Wasn't able to do any fishing, but I did do some kayaking and snorkeling. It's getting really late right now (12:23a due to homework ;( ) but I will post up some of my pictures tomorrow.

Aaron
Gimme

I second of what Wils said.
That's a "trip of a life time" of alot of fishermen .
I wish...

Those photos are incredible!!!!! It's a good feeling to know that there are still places like that in the world. Thanks for taking the time to share it all with us :)

Epic post, gracias-

WOW. I want to go there even more now. A place of dreams. My work has a lab there, I keep volunteering to go and do a photo shoot of the place. But, the boss' just keeps laughing.

Amish Ed
You can't catch it again if it's dead!

Well,
Last night I promised to post up some(lots) pics from my high school trip to Costa Rica. So here they are.
It was a 10 day trip leaving the freezing LAX on Dec. 7th at 12:30am with a group of 23 awesome people including 3 chaperones. Destination: San Jose, Costa Rica arriving around 6:00a.m. or so in 75-80F humid temps.

We were still in the air when the warm sunlight peeked. At first I was wondering what the heck was the purple line out of the dark. 15 mins. later:
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First day, we spent touring the capital, San Jose. Very busy and beautiful city.
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Next day we spent traveling to "Tortugero"(Turtle Beach). Costa Rica's wetland. We traveled through the REALLY FOGGY and rainy "Cloud Forest" which has the highest elevation in Costa Rica. As we get closer to "Tortugero," we began to see miles of Banana Fields.
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We came upon a large banana production house which belong to Monte.
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We made a pit-stop to have some delicious lunch and around the corner was a natural pond; stocked with talipia and "rainbow bass."
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Finally we arrived at the suuuuper humid "Tortugero." VERY beautiful place. Here's a cool pic of an old boat that was once used to tons and tons of goods.
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We loaded ourselves and luggage on these flat bottom boats that will take us on a 2 hour boat ride to the deserted yet ironically most beautiful "Turtle Beach Lodge."
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Suzuki FOUR STROKE!!!
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On our voyage through the wild wetlands, our goal was to spot out as many wildlife as we can. First one was a smaller model croc; camoflauging on a floating log.
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Here are some pictures taken on the boat ride:
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Once we got off the boat at the lodge, we were immediately greeted with the great people serving us the best fruit mix drink I've ever had. We shared little cabins and the backyard would be the Caribbean Sea.
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We spent couple of days at the lodge and would wake up early in the morning to do a boat ride around the area to search for animals. We'd do hiking in super muddy trails and spot wildlife in the area.
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We also saw Poison Dart Frogs. Tour guide was god-like spotting out tiny creatures.
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Not sure if this one is the same one as earlier, but we did see a couple. Primarily juvinilles.
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On boat rides, we would come across some fishing lodges that take people to fish the Caribbean for tarpoon sailfish, etc.
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Unfortunately, we had to leave "Tortugero" for our next destination-"Monteverde" which is located in the middle of Costa Rica. Very beautiful place. Acres of coffee fields that gets harvested and shipped right to the U.S.; into our neighborhood Starbucks!

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Spotted lots of animals through hikes, horseback riding, bus rides, more boat rides, etc.

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Did my part as a tree hugger and planted some new trees to rebuild a forest that was once destroyed due to deforestation for farming and ranching

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We also spent a couple of days in "Monteverde" and took off to visit our final destination: My favorite of em' all "Guanacaste Beach"
I was literally in heaven. Great food, incredibly mellow people, Bob Marley music in the background, beautiful yacht, clear warm sea water, white sand, georgeous sunset, snorkeling in an aquarium with millions of colorful fishies!
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Another villa we stayed in:
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I spent most of my time with my buddies kayaking around the islands, walking deserted beaches, picking up some shells and all, just having the time of our lives.
There was one day when we were at a very nice beach, swimming body surfing, getting tossed around etc. when some baitfish started boiling right next to us. I would try to dive right in the middle and see if I can see anything "special." Once in a while I would see something about the size of a keyboard zip right under me or by me. They had a yellowish color and I thought I was crazy when I suspected Dorado until I read Josh's post. "We saw lots of dolphins right outside the surf, sm. roosters"

The stupidest mistake I ever made was not bringing a rod with me. I had the perfect travel setup. Small 2 piece Shimano spinning outfit with 6lb test and I'm still kicking myself in the butt for not bringing it. It could'vr made the trip EVEN BETTER!

It's funny because when people ask me how my trip was. I couldn't even explain how "great" the experience was. All I could say was, "It was really really nice."

Costa Rica was an experience of a lifetime and were definately going back the end of our senior year. AND THIS TIME, I'M FISHING!

Hope ya'll enjoyed the photos

Aaron
Gimme