Tortuguero to Cahuita

Friends,

The last week has been amazing. In only one day we went from watching the lava flow at sunrise to reaching one of the farthest reaches of Costa Rican civilization, Tortuguero National Park. In less than 24 hours we went from seeing the lava flow to watching giant green turtles laying eggs at midnight.

The adventure began at 8.30 am with a 4 hour drive to Cariari, a small backwater town in the middle of banana plantations owned by huge us interests. If you saw what i saw, you would only eat organic bananas from now on. Massive pesticide use.

At Cariari we boarded a bus for another 1.5 hour drive down a dirt road to the canal. After much pushing and shoving we began the long boat ride to Tortuguero. We saw many birds, including blue herons. The boat ride was another 3.5 hours to Tortuguero village, through the most incredible river i have ever seen, you might as well have been in the Amazon, the forest was so thick and huge. We also saw some of the biggest spiders ever, shudder>>>> Not only that, we saw caiman alligators and monkeys, etc, etc, the list goes on. Think Amazon.

Reaching Tortuguero, a small village of 600, there are no roads, no cars, no internet. The only way to this village is by boat or plane, no roads. Tortuguero sits at the edge of the northern border, on the Caribbean ocean. After finding a good meal of Comidas tipicas *typical CR food, beans and rice etc* , we went on the turtle hike, seeing 3 turtles, one laying eggs, and on our hike back, saw dozens of baby turtles returning to the sea. Awesome.

The next day we visited the national park for a hike alone. We saw more wildlife here than anywhere else. In one hour we saw:

Land crabs
Lizards
A huge tree snake going for a bird,
Monkeys
Leaf cutter ants
Giant butterflies
Birds
Parrots

And who knows what else we didn't see. After we saw a beautiful Tiger Heron, a large tiger striped Heron the size of a great blue heron. Beautiful.

After a dinner of pizza and drinks, the next day we set off for a 4 hour boat ride south to Moin, where we saw more wildlife like giant sloth's, more Caiman and crocodiles.

Reaching Moin, we took a taxi to Cahuita, where we are now, a sleepy little village with no paved streets and a decidedly Caribbean atmosphere. It would be easy to think we were in Jamaica. We even met "jimmy cliff", a colorful local character who shared his coconut milk with us.

we had dinner last night at "Miss Ediths", a genuine Creole restaurant, where we had mixed seafood, mine was jerke style, *wow, spicy, even for me* , absolutely wonderful. Emily wanted to adopt miss Edith, i think.

Today we went for another hike, where we saw the best white faced monkeys so far. They were used to being fed, so they came within arms reach, which was cool until they realized we weren't going to feed them. Every time I reached into my bag for a lens, they came closer, which became scary when I tried to scare them away. The male wouldn't have any of that and began to show his choppers, which scared Emily to bits and we beat a hasty retreat back into the forest, with the male following us. Those monkeys went form being cute little Disney characters to actual, wild animals. We were quickly reminded this was the real deal. Our advice after that was *what would the croc hunter do* and do exactly the opposite.

The forest by the Caribbean was very windy and more than once branches and coconuts fell within feet and sometimes inches of us, so we headed back. At the park entrance there were locals selling yummy homemade Pattis *think empanadas* and wonderful banana bread.

Tonight we again eat Creole and tomorrow we take off further south towards more azure seas to Puerto Viejo and Playa cocles. Our potential plan is to go back early to San Jose and check out Volcan Poaz before returning.

And Dad, I'm getting your emails just fine.

Good to hear from all of you, good luck in the elections,

k

One Week In

We have officially been here one week so far in Costa Rica. Yesterday we checked into the swankiest hotel yet, Los Lagos (The Lakes). Our room is the closest to the volcano, in the best area to see the flows.

After checking in, we were relaxing in our room, air conditioner blasting, when we heard a horrific explosion. We both jumped about 3 feet high and ran to the window, expecting to see a massive lava avalanche headed our way. Nothing. Scared us to death. We have since learned the Volcano burps all the time, but still it is slightly unnerving. We are placed directly in the path if the mountain blows, with no chance of escaping 130 mph pyroclastic flows if it so desires. I wish I could share with you the sound of the giant boulders crunching and exploding as they are spit out of the top. Volcan Arenal is the third most active volcano in the world, after kilauaea and Aetna.

After dinner last night (where Emily says she had the best Caesar salad in her life, watch out dad), we hiked up a very steep road to the lookout point, the absolute closest anyone can get to the flow. Our spot overlooks a lake, with the mountain spewing above it. About every two minutes an impressive flow tumbles down the mountain. One of the most beautiful experiences is to see the flow reflected in the lake below and listening to the crunch crunch of the boulders tumbling and exploding.

Although our room is quite nice, the resort itself is like a Mexican Disneyland on crack. Gaudy waterslides and concrete volcanoes abound, with the requisite swim-up bar in the pool. The resort also comes complete with crocodile pool (where I won 1000 colones ( two bucks) from Emily for grabbing the tail of a small crocodile) and butterfly farm.

Tomorrow we depart for the east coast, Tortuguero, where we hope to see some baby turtles heading for the open sea. We are thrilled.

We have also reached rice and beans capacity, I think.

klaus

ps -- after performing spell check, the blog wanted to replace Arenal with Urinal. Funny. I thought I´d pass it on.

klaus

La Fortuna Part 2

This morning I awoke at about 5 am to witness a beautiful sunrise over Volcan Arenal. The sky was clear and blue, with a large puffy white smokestack of steam arising from the crater. Sometimes I wonder when how many pictures are enough to capture the beauty.

Yesterday afternoon we took a hike down to the Catarata, or waterfalls. this protected area is in primary rainforest and meets all definitions of "tropical". The steam was full of what looked like trout, and the waterfall, at a height of about 150 feet, was stunning. Again, too many pictures were taken. Emily as usual was patient and gave me the time to go photo crazy.

Tonight we are changing our arrangements and staying at the Los Lagos Lodge, directly at the bottom of the lava flow. We are hoping to see some really fabulous lava flows tonight. We have bottle of Ravenswood wine we have carried this far and expect to enjoy it under the glow of the volcano.

Tomorrow--no plans. Stay tuned,

klaus

La Fortuna -- Volcan Arenal

Friends,

Well, we didn´t go ziplining but we did go on the Sky Bridge tour, which is a series of suspension cable walkways across 200 foot-deep gorges above the primeval forest. Some bridges were over 500 feet long, and had quite a sway to them. Got some great photos and can´t wait to share them with you. It´s amazing to see the forest from directly above-- the canopy cover is absulutely complete and you cannot see the ground, only treetops.

The weather in Santa Elena was totally mild and nice, and after the walkway tour we went to the local cheese factory, built by the Quakers in 1952. The cheese from this area is legendary, and I can attest to that! They also make homemade Ice cream. I had the coffee ice cream, which is made, of course, with local excellent coffee and fresh cream. I have never had frsher food than here in Costa Rica (more on that later).

After Ice cream we went to the frog exhibit and saw beautiful frogs, many endangered. Learned more about frogs than i ever wanted to know. Very cool.

We decided we had had enough of Santa elena and it was time to move on. We got a mini bus ride to Lake Arenal and took the ferry across. As we neared the shore, Volcan Arenal loomed above, shrouded in fog at its upper reaches. Very impressive so far. We caught a ride into town and now are staying at a nice hotel which overlooks the volcano.

I have to spend a moment to talk about possibly the best meal i have ever had. First of all, anyone that says Costa rican food is bland or poor is totally nuts. At a Tico bbq joint we had a giant platter of the following:

2 large lobsters
2 pork tenderloins
2 sirloin steaks
bbq chicken
6 giant shrimp
Fresh grilled fish (possibly sea bass)
veggies, all grilled to perfection

-- all for 34 bucks ( yes, 17 dollars each).

Even this morning, the local Gallo Pinto (rica and beans with meat) had local fresh cheese, the coffee has fresh cream, the milk is straight from the cow, really fresh eggs, and excellent coffee.

Simple, yes, but the freshest, tastiest simple food I have ever had. Move over, Thailand!

Last night we took a guided night hike to a vista point which gave us absolutely impressive views of the lava flow-- giant, i mean giant flaming boulders tumbling down the mountain, colliding and exploding into thousands of mini fireballs. Since we were hiking through the rainforest, it didn´t fail to rain hard on us, so hard it impeded visibility to about 30 feet. I was worried about my camera, but luckily the inner garbage bag saved the day. All other pockets were swimming in water.

After a most impressive display of Lava (my right arm for a 600 mm lens!), we were taken to the Baldi thermal hot springs, a resort-like place, complete with 6 different temperature hot springs and swim up bar. We relaxed in the hot water, sipping drinks and watching the lava tumble down the mountain. An unreal experience.

Today we are on our way to La Catarata, the local waterfall. I´m hoping to get some good photos of that. I am speeding through my memory cards way too fast. Hoping some dull stuff will happen so i can save my cards :)

My spanish is improving daily, I can´t wait to learn more!

Hasta luego,

klaus

In Country

Quick note to those sending me comments> thank you. Also, be sure to click on the comment link, not the email icon to leave comments. thanks, keep em coming...

In short, we're here and loving it.

Longer version follows >

After a stopover in Houston and another 3 hour flight, we landed safely in Costa Rica. My spanish was put immediately to the test securing a ride into Alajuela, where we stayed our first night at Vida Tropical. A very nice place with a resident capuchin monkey, George *get it, as in curious..

Spent the afternoon walking around the small town, actually the second largest in CR. We went straight to the mercado central, or central market to have a look around. The market is the hub of activity in most latin american countries. We spied the usual meat and veggies for sale, then decided it was time to eat.

We went local and stopped at a Soda, or small diner, where you can have the plate of the day, with a side order and something to drink. I had the meat dish and Emily had the Chicken. The typical plate has rice, beans, a meat, and in our case, some tuna salad. I've read a lot about Costa Rican Cuisine, or the lack of it, but I must say it was delicious. Simple, but delicious, and filling too. Did I mention about two dollars? We walked off our meal by the old church and headed to a bakery where we had dessert, coffee and some sort of torta. Again, delicious.

Th weather was a bit warm but mild, definitely not the oppressive heat of, say, Thailand. The skies darkened so we headed back to our place for a nap. Since we are so close to the equator, the day begins and ends at about 5>30. When we awoke, it was getting dark and emily was so disoriented she thought it was the next day!

I convinced her to get up for another meal. At this point I will not be cheated of any meal in Costa Rica! We found a great Peruvian restaurant that serves Ceviche..a lime-infused raw seafood dish. Absolutely delicious.

This morning we woke up early to catch the local bus to where I am writing now- a little town called Santa Elena, very close to the Monteverde rain forest. This is the backpackers' haven for tours around the area. After thinking we had successfully escaped the tourist trail, it has converged on us here. But, No me importa, the weather here is even milder, feels a lot like Mill Valley, actually. The mornings are generally clear and warm, then in the afternoon the clouds move in and downpours take over.

We found a nice room in a hotel with Tico owners, which is nice, 20 bucks a day, warm running water and everything. It's the little things.

A word about the language and my fears. I had an epiphany on the 4 hour bus ride here today. The key to language is letting go of fear. Fear paralyzes and prevents the mind from fully opening. When you let go of fear the mind opens and the possibilities widen. As I suspected, I am getting along better than i expected with the language, and have had some nice, albeit short, conversations, but the cool thing is understanding more than i thought i would. Of course, its all about context, but when you realize its ok to not understand, the stress disappears and you are more likely TO understand. Me entiendes?

Ok, probabably enough for today. My thanks if you have gotten this far, I'm no Steinbeck, so thanks for listening.

Tomorrow-Zip lining across 120 foot chasms in the rainforest. Stay Tuned.
k

The Plan

So here's the plan:

There is no plan.

We have our first night covered, but that's it. After that, an extremely loose set of ideas of which one is for sure:

We travel to the town of La Fortuna, where we see the majestic Mt. Arenal. Arenal is an active, yes, active volcano which spews and rumbles and belches fire. At La Fortuna we make a base of operations to go hiking, horseback riding, night hiking, possibly river rafting, and more hiking. They say you can feel and hear the rumbling all the time--I am trying to imagine that. There are lodges which overlook the lava flowing down the mountain. Then, trekking high above the canopy in suspension bridges in Santa Elena.

the possible next idea is to go to the east, to a river-town called Puerto Viejo de Sarapaqui, and take a riverboat to the east coast. The Rio Sarapaqui goes north and skirts Nicaragua, dropping down on the farthest north on the Caribbean, to the town of Tortuguero, where we may see Giant Sea Turtles nesting.

Then...?

Maybe Panama. The North of Panama has a small Island chain called Bocas del Toro, but i don't think we have time for that.

Stay tuned....Next post: Costa Rica.

Jitters Part 2

Almost exactly 11 hours before we leave. All the last-minute things to take care of are slowly getting done: Xeroxing passports, getting all the paperwork done. The back of my mind keeps egging me--what am I forgetting? Will we show up at the airport missing some crucially important document that will keep us from actually leaving? Of course not---but.

I think all those thoughts are really just a way to camouflage the real thoughts---Will I be able to communicate effectively, will we be able to get around no problem, what will the people be like?

Jitters.

I feel excitement at going to a new land, a whole new experience, but a little uneasy at throwing myself into a totally unknown place.

Funny thing is, I know that about 30 minutes after we land I'll be fine.

We leave at 12:40 AM to Houston, arrive at 6:00, leave Houston at 9:25 and arrive Costa Rica 12:00 noon. We have a place to stay the first night outside of the Capitol in Alajuela, Costa Rica's second largest city, yet only about 50,000 people.

Can't wait to:

Eat the food.

Check out the Mercado (central market area)

Experience the local charm.

By the way, the forecast calls for 7 days of thundershowers and 3 days of scattered thunderstorms. Average Temperature 87 degrees F.

We are bringing only sandals as footwear.

Check out the local forecast: Weather in Alajuela, Costa Rica, and have a good laugh. No wonder the tickets were so cheap?

This is the so-called "green" season. It used to be called the wet season until some tourist-marketing executive had a stroke of marketing savvy. We will be on the tail-end of it, before the hordes of tourists arrive, so we are hoping 1) It won't be too ridiculously wet, and 2) less crowded.

This about sums it up:

When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, and on most journeys you don't even understand the language people speak. So you are like a child just out of the womb. You begin to attach much more importance to the things around you because your survival depends on them. You begin to be more accessible to others because they may help you in difficult situations. And you accept any small favour from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life.

The Pilgrimage - Paul Coelho

Choices, Choices

All right, here is one of the biggest decisions to make about this trip:

Socks.

Socks suck. socks get stinky. You have to wash and dry socks all the time. On the go. When its raining. In or on your stinky pack. I have better things to do than wash socks half the trip.

In Tropical climates like southeast Asia, I only wore sandals and it was perfect. The second time I traveled to Thailand for 60 days I actually brought sandals and boots, and ended up wearing the boots 4 days and carrying them the other 56.

Here is a great quote National Geographic Conservation Fellow Mike Fay gives after 456 days and over 2,000 miles on foot across the central African rainforest:

"Don't bother with shoes or boots. Water and sand mix in shoes to turn feet into hamburger. I wore sport sandals every day -- and when needed some duct tape."

The reason to doubt this scenario this time is we will be in some serious mud and cold weather, as well as probably soaked to the bone on hikes. It may be nice to have the protection afforded by boots.

My current Sandals of choice are called Keen, which I like to call Tevas on crack:

Keen Sandals have extra heavy-duty foot protection for wet and disagreeable environments. The only drawback I have seen so far is its a little harder to remove debris that finds it way into them. I think I will also bring my old tevas as a backup, just in case.

I'm hoping the benefits will outweigh the pain of wet boots and socks.

Pre-trip Jitters -- Costa Rica

The weeks before a trip to another country are both exhilarating and very stressful. So many questions, so many unknowns. When you have never been to a certain country, the possibilities are truly endless; at least in your own mind. What will the people be like? Will I be able to communicate effectively? Will I get robbed/scammed/have the time of my life?

I think it's one thing when you go to a country where you aren't realistically expected to know the language; I.E. china or Indonesia. But for me the mindset changes a little when you go to a place where you could know the language, in this case Spanish. I think it puts a little more responsibility in your lap, but the benefits can be priceless--getting a little closer to the people of any country, to see the world a little from their eyes, that is the prize of traveling.

That being said, there is a little freak out going on. No matter how many packing lists I have generated over the years, each place is unique and tweaks need to be made. This trip is a little more tricky, than, say, Thailand, where 2 pairs of shorts and tevas are almost all you need. This time its cloud forests (read: rain forests) that get 300 inches of rain a year, down to the Caribbean coast of teva fame. If there is one thing I hate its packing too many clothes.

The purpose of these "pre-trip" blogs is to document my hopes and fears, misgivings and theories, so I can compare them to the reality of the experience later. This way I can see how "right" or "wrong" my preconceptions were, so that on future trips I can see how silly / stupid / right / wrong I was. And maybe help out others with the same fears and phobias.