Rivers Run

What a difference a day makes!  One day the river’s up and the next it’s back down.  It’s the rainy season in Costa Rica and this year that means it rains every day but not all day.  We can still fit in a beach walk with the dog but we’re not doing much work outside. Throughout the tropics, the rains and thunder storms are heavier in the afternoon and at night – that’s why the small commuter airlines don’t fly after 2PM in the rainy season. In Samara, it rained all night Sunday and the Mala Noche River rose over the banks at the El Torito bridge.  But then, Monday there was a little reprieve and the flood receded.

The mountains – the source of the rivers – are within a couple of kilometers of the outflow to the ocean, so the rivers around here rise and fall quickly.  This is compounded close to the beach with incoming tides.  Since many of the rios and quebradas don’t have bridges, it’s important to know that when the rain starts, you have about two hours before the stream will be impassable.  You can see the workers at construction sites watching the time and in about 1 ½ hours they pack up their tools and disappear down the road on their motorbikes, crossing the creek before they’re trapped for the night.  But tomorrow, the creek may be down and they’ll be back.