Clash of the Consciences

When on holiday at the end of April/beginning of May 2022 in tropical Costa Rica, someone asked me via social media if I was having a good time.?Enjoying myself??My holidays (expeditions) are like hard jobs; one doesn’t look forward to them – one just does them.?After paying a little over my budget for a lodge like chalet in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica (to be at the epicentre of the native wildlife) yours truly would be tested to the limit.?I’ve never had to move hotel before in all my life and believe me there have been some run ins with proprietors of below standard accommodation.?Besides, seven nights had been paid for in advance after reading a series of ‘Glowing Reviews’ about the property.?

On the first morning at 4 am (after experiencing my first tropical storm a few hours before), a loud, piercing rooster squeal woke me up.?The shrill screams originated from an adjacent holding.?The crowing noise came every few minutes and went on for hours. There had been no prior warning about this rooster aggravation which would have enabled me to make an informed choice. In effect, I was misled by false advertising.??A staff member of the hotel then recommended ear plugs. Thereafter, having witnessed a hummingbird, large rodents (Agouti paca) and ants carrying leaves like on those wildlife programmes, with my ear plugs fastened in, I bedded down for the night. The very next morning, as soon as the cock crowed so to speak, fleeing to the beach to get out of the way of the annoying poultry sounds was my only recourse, but on my return, the rooster was still squawking.?It was then decided that there was no other option for me other than to move out and go through the expense of paying for another hotel.?If this avenue was not pursued, there was a good chance that after a week of the rooster screeches it would be going over the edge time for me personally. Cock a doodle doo, the rooster had won.

The battle may have been lost, but to put this negative experience into context, we, as human beings, must first face up to some brutal facts: how can any human being, anywhere, be controlled by a rooster??In essence, on a daily basis, a domestic bird was and is telling everyone in the immediate area when to wake up. Talk about ‘Clash of the Species’. Well, this great ape was having none of it. Meanwhile, the middleman booking agent who the hotel had been booked with, notified that same establishment that their customer (me) was cancelling the booking to which they replied:

“I’m sorry but domesticated as well as wild animals are an integral part of the Costa Rica culture and experience.”

How insulting, in other words no refund was coming my way even though I had moved out and there was another five days paid for and pending at that same hotel.?This means that when things go wrong (as seen in this case) loyal customers have no redress because the hotel proprietors in question have already taken payment in advance. Packing up in the searing heat is no easy chore when one is bereft of a proper night’s sleep. The heat in Costa Rica (located between Nicaragua and Panama, Central America) is jungle hot. ?The fact that my unfortunate experience would be publicly reviewed galvanised me through the inconvenience – this just wasn’t right. After a short taxi ride, I arrived at another holiday faculty (after a staff member from the previous hotel had telephoned to enquire if there were any roosters in the vicinity).

At his juncture, lets pause for a minute and analyse the review culture: hotels, when taking monies for a poor service, don’t seem to be bothered that their poor service could materialise into a poor review by the disgruntled customer do they? For all intents and purposes, do reviews really matter?

Firstly, with regard to reviews in general, there has to be a sizeable section of false reviews doing the rounds.?But then again, all the reviews aren't fake so what is going on??Does it all boil down to ego, in that people are loath to disclose that they have had a bad time at a hotel they had paid hard-earned money for. In addition, people like to convey that they have had a fabulous time on vacation, and they are a great judge of hotel etiquette, in that: how could they be so stupid as to book a poor hotel and get ripped off – they only stay at the best. What else could it be??Every traveller has seen all the ten out of tens on middleman websites given to mediocre hotel complexes.?In fact, I have stayed at the exact same hotel they have reviewed and would only mark it a six or a seven at best.??Are some reviewers dumb, or do they have delusions of grandeur? ??The Ritz at a grand a night could not score ten out of ten – there is always room for improvement.

Turning back to the second hotel, yours truly was greeted with visions of half-naked youngsters. Some would imagine this a paradise, but loud music all day and cramped rooms at night soon counteracted the visuals.? Having seen the infamous hallucinogenic Cane Toad hop around the complex, wanting to see the Poison Dart Frog in its natural environment was top of my agenda. So imagine my delight when another English tourist disclosed that they had seen many of the Turquoise and Black variety in the humid jungle reserve behind the resort and would show me where they had been spotted.?Yes, it was fascinating to see the small amphibians in the flesh – and the one personally spotted started to climb a tree.

There were other pluses for my new hotel. Early in the morning instead of the protracted noise pollution from the dreaded rooster, a strange eerie sound emanated the surrounding jungle which reminded of a roaring lion (the Howler Monkey).?It was unnervingly exciting going for your first brew of the day with this cacophony of natural jungle hum in one’s ears, even though the communal dining area (first thing) looked like a bomb had hit it due to the young chimps gorging on their supermarket bought scran the night before.

Talking of monkeys, one jungle day tour in Manuel Antonio National Park was undertaken, as was two jungle night tours (one to the Mangrove where the animal life would have been imperceptible but for the flashlight and one near to the national park).?On the day tour everybody marvelled at the monkeys as we paused for a break at a rest area (where we were served delicious freshly squeezed mango juice). Nonetheless, in general (except for the Howlers), I find monkeys nasty and spiteful – just like their distant cousins (us). There was also a special plant pointed out previous by the guide, a shrub which recoiled when you touched it. Did this mean that plants can think? Also, on the day tour, the Sloth, the Toucan and beautiful butterflies were seen even though they were mostly located by the tour guides telescopic apparatus (let’s face it; wild creatures are not going to come out of the jungle to say hello to the most dangerous animal in the world, are they?). What's more, Macaws were identified on a visit to Quepos.?On the night tours we got up close to the tarantula, a scorpion, the Blue Net Spider (who casts its net over potential prey), frogs, bats, snakes and most of all, the immobile Green Kingfisher.?This small Green Kingfisher would just stay silent and still all night (unmoving being its camouflage) hoping it would be missed by predators (snakes) and last until the morning.?Was this creature permanently living in a nightly heightened state of fear?

On the return boat ride from the Mangrove, as lightening flashed overhead in the peaceful night sky, I wrestled not with notions of roosters and reviews but with the conscience of the superior force.

What sort of God would preside over such a distressing order of things, where dog eats dog (literally) in order to survive?