Jimmy and Judy New were the best hosts!! My days in their home in Costa Rica were glorious! I was fed, fished, birded and dined in a beautiful place. I will always be grateful!
There are some interesting facts about that little country. It is mountainous and dense jungle. There aren’t a lot of flat spots. There are seven active volcanoes, and there is a guided tour out of San Jose to one of them. The entire coastline has been declared a protected area for 100 meters from high tide and belongs to “the people” and can’t be built on. It is the first country in the world to ban hunting. That saves some beautiful Pumas and jaguars. It has mosquitos and several poisonous snakes including Jimmy’s famous “2 step” snake—you take two steps and die if it bites you. There may be a more precise description. He hasn’t seen one yet.
The agriculture is interesting. Palm oil from those trees are the main export. A pod grows on those palms and is pressed for the oil. Ocean tankers come to Golfito to transport the oil which is used in face creams and such. There are miles and miles of those palms. Bananas used to be a huge industry. There are miles of abandoned rail road tracks that transported workers from rows of tiny homes to the fields and back. There are also huge pineapple and sugar cane fields. They also grow rice.
Golfito is a pretty coastal town and the News are a huge addition to that happy place. Their vehicle is a Ranger quad that is classified as a farm vehicle and legal on all the roads. The town is on a huge bay with a small opening out to the ocean. Columbus missed the opening and apparently landed in Panama which is 30 miles away. It seems that they know everyone in town and everyone waves to each other just like we do here in Kansas. I wonder if Jimmy started that fun 12 years ago when they matriculated from Russell. Ha!
I have a renewed appreciation for ceviche and fish. We took a red snapper that Jimmy caught over to the “Pig Bar” where they cooked it and sold us beverages. I had a nap in a hammock after lunch. Jimmy took his fly rod.
Here are some fish pictures. Pompano, Jack fish, Rooster fish and the lifetime thrill of a sail fish. We hooked him, backed the boat to him as he was jumping three times and got him to the boat for a quick photo and released him without ever being out of the water to run free again. Being able to share that event with such a magnificent creature, a very talented boat captain, and Jimmy New was a moment in time for my life.
I flew back to Kansas City and my car doors were frozen shut. What was I thinking?

Doctor Dan Witt is a retired physician and nature enthusiast.