colibri

I've been corresponding with Selva Verde and asked about the rebuilding of the bridge over the Sarapiqui River that leads to their private nature reserve. They have said they will be rebuilding it within the next month and will definitely be finished by fall. The bridge was destroyed with the January earthquake and subsequent landslides/flooding. Once the reserve reopens it will be as before - you must be accompanied by a guide.

They also confirmed that La Paz Waterfall Garden is now open, but is limited to only a few waterfalls and trails as they continue to rebuild.

The government is planning to move the road between Selva Verde and Varablanca to another location and start entirely from scratch. That will be a long time coming, I think!

volcanogirl

That's good news. We're going to go rafting on the Sarapiqui while we're in Arenal. I'll be curious to see how things look.

Moving the road sounds like quite a project!

costaricaguide

volcanogirl,
Did they reopen the Sarapiqui to rafting?

As recently as two weeks ago the official word was still that because of the danger posed by the potential for ongoing landslides on upstream devegetated slopes it would be at least a year before they allowed the outfitters back.

volcanogirl

That's interesting crg; when I called to book it, they said they had been using an alternate river, the Rio Toro I believe, but now they were going back to the Sarapiqui and that's what we'd be going on. I'll let you know how it pans out.

costaricaguide

You're right there are some boats back on the Sarapiqui although word from one of the operators who hasn't restarted is "now that the water is higher and you can't see the roots and tree branches sticking up as much a few are running, although many of our freelance guides refuse to work the river because they are afraid of the strainers. If a client falls out and gets trapped in the underwater branches, etc., it can be really dangerous."

Apparently the government's concerns about mini-floods or debris surges from upstream landslides have expired.

Curious to hear how it is when you go.

Curious about the rerouted road too. Seems like the old roadway could turn into a great mountain biking, horseback or hiking route since the public right of way is already there.