Laguna- The Arrival

Brenda & I were sorry to say goodbye to La Selva, our little room & all the great people we met there. Time to move on the next stage of the journey, we had been there for a while by now, but bittersweet to say goodbye I think. I do hope to be back someday...

I am currently sitting on the lovely veranda of Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, not really that far from La Selva, as the crow flies (maybe 60km I heard today?), but as it turns out at least an 8 hour journey for us yesterday- actually from San Jose but back to that story at another time & post.

So I am in heaven- I have seen about a thousand different chestnut mandibled & keel-billed toucans by this point our travels, about the same number of Montezuma’s oropendulas (related to the Oriole with super cool hanging nest baskets), but not like this. Sitting in a real chair in the shade, under a fan, with no ants crawling on me, no spiders, mites, chiggers etc, not even any mosquitos right now (okay so I did just have to remove a spider form arm, but really this is nothing), with coffee & water at hand, not 1, but 2 pairs of binocs & the BIG Costa Rica bird guide- no little dog-eared book that will fit in the ever-present fanny pack. The positioning of this veranda is relatively high on a hill so the crowns of the trees are pretty much right in front of us, so here I sit, observing the details of the oropendula’s orange tipped beak & pink facial skin- like I said, heaven.

I know that many of you have not caught the bird enthusiasm bug & will not understand my previous plight but I am going to tell you about it anyway. La Selva is an amazing place, with an incredible amount of variety in the birds & other wildlife, maybe in reality more than here, but the whole time I was there I just wanted to pull up a chair in the big clearing between the labs & housing & grab my water & coffee & bird book & take the time to look the freaking birds up in the book, since I am a bird-watching newbie. But this dream was just not realistic, as the ants would have started crawling up my chair a long time ago & probably would have actually carried me away by now, among other problems. I can’t wait to see the macaws- both the Scarlet & Green.

Brenda & I had a sweet paddle through one of the lagoons after breakfast, just sat out in the beautiful hot weather until it got to be too much. Now, towards the end of this journey, I have my first jungle sunburn, not much sun makes it through the clouds & to the jungle floors of La Selva.

Tortugero & the Journey

We (me, Brenda & Shea- let’s call it a haphazardly assembled trio- full of contradiction) arrived here yesterday evening after a semi-insane day of bus travel. Brenda & I started the day, after a little coffee & cake that is, at the Jade Museum, where we proceeded to get jaded out, a good thing of course.

We had arrived in San Jose after a lovely visit to Tortugero, where many tourists come to watch the Green sea turtles nesting. The park has worked out a pretty efficient & relatively low impact way for tourists to observe the actual nesting, park scouts are posted on the beach with their red lights, they locate the turtles & then radio guides from the town who are in charge of getting the tourists to the turtles in a polite & safe manner. The turtles will turn around & not lay their eggs if they are confronted with lights, they will also not bury the eggs well if they are interrupted in the nesting process, but they go into some kind of a trance when they are actually laying the eggs & people are generally able to gather around the “business end” without causing problems.

These turtles were pretty amazing, I think the holes that they dig impressed me the most, they are just about Volkswagen bug sized, dug with flippers that obviously (well obvious when your are watching the process) are much better suited to the sea than the land.

Brenda & I discussed the ethics of this turtle watching phenomena, as we both had some mixed feelings of a sort of invasive voyeurism etc. But these turtles were facing extinction without a different understanding & interpretation of them & their importance in the world- by Ticos & foreigners alike. They have always been important to the native people but in order to preserve the species it has been necessary to perceive the significance of & challenges to their long-term survival. In a way, the turtles support Tortugero & Tortugero supports the turtles. This is not to say that I don’t have concerns about this tiny town on the canal & it’s impacts, with the heavy tourist traffic. Two-stroke engines abound on the canals & I don’t feel too assured that the sewage treatment facilities of this narrow strip of land are equipped for the amount of traffic present. But this is all constantly a work in progress & Costa Rica & its people have shown an amazing concern & ability to adapt & work in order to protect its amazing natural wealth.

Estupido Gringo Tourist Moment

That said, let us talk about the Haphazardly Assembled Trio’s most really stupid tourist moment. After a long morning of travel northwest from La Selva to Tortugero, actually about 9 hours including bus wait times etc, we checked out the town a bit & walked on the lovely beach, chilaxed in general & then returned to the beach- after dark. Recall the bit about the turtles turning around in the face of light & disturbance. Yes, this trio of environmental science/ study students was actually kicked off the beach- by a park employee- while in the process of trying to disturb an endangered species.

Of course (I first thought this was in our defense but in actuality screams Foreign Tourist) we have a very Estados Unidos perception of National Parks. Both Shea & I were convinced that the beach directly in front of the town would not be part of the protected area & turtles wouldn’t be using it much due to the level of disturbance present- WRONG- fortunately this entire beach is actually off limits to everyone that is not under direct park supervision during turtle season- way to go Costa Rica, bad us! Live & learn. (For the record we did have our lights off & Brenda was not convinced of the legality of our actions).

Boca- The Journey

The trip from La Selva to Tortugero did require 9hrs, 3 buses & a boat ride, but it still didn’t quite compare to the trip from San Jose to Laguna. In general we did pretty well navigating the bus system, Brenda did an awesome job researching the numerous buses required & we pooled our espanol words whenever we needed to ask for information. The public transportation here rocks, by the way, you can get just about anywhere by bus.

After 2 nights at Tortugero we headed to San Jose bright & early (0600) & made it to San Jose smoothly by ~1130. We stayed 1 night at Hostel Pangaea in San Jose, pretty cool place, mostly full of Europeans, North Americans & some Canadians, nice bar on the roof- a bit noisy but I was too exhausted to care. After hitting a couple of museums & a market Sun pm & Mon am we hit the road again. There may have been a way to get from Tortugero to Boca without hitting San Jose, but it is much easier & sometimes only possible to locate the buses to the big city.

This leg of the journey was to be one of highs & lows/ ups & downs (literally & figuratively). We were off to a pretty good start after getting pointed in the right direction & walking to the bus station from the hostel, we did manage to hit a pretty gritty part of town on our way to the bus stop that serves Cuidad Casada (aka San Carlos) but arrived without incident. This is a pretty town & a pretty bus ride through higher elevations. I made a friend on the bus, with my poor Spanish & his poor English the precise details of the conversation are a little sketchy but I am hoping to practice my Spanish & fill in the details via email. I am fairly certain he was a DJ for a local radio station.

Things started to get a little trickier after this point. This is the stage of the journey in which the buses began to be particularly crowded & we had to stand much of the time, while dealing with our backpacks. There was a little confusion regarding whether or not we were actually on the bus headed to Pital, as a kindly gentlemen was trying to explain to us (in espanol of course) that there was actually a large rock slide running thru the middle of the street & we would have to change buses at this point. The bus just went to the end of the line at the rockslide; we walked across & got on the bus waiting on the other side. Well somewhere in all this madness I managed to part with all of my cash- around 35,000 colones/ $70. I am not sure what happened, but I know that I wasn’t paying attention by then (& had already left the infamous fanny pack open at one point), I am not convinced that I actually lost it, I think it had some help disappearing, but I certainly wasn’t keeping tabs.

So I was pretty pissed off at myself/ my carelessness by this point & the bus station in Pital was an experience. We were faced with a 2hr + wait here, as these buses running to progressively smaller towns don’t run as often. There were a few sketchy characters just hanging out at the bus stop so we eventually decided to just head for a beer. The crowd on our return looked much more legitimate & we garnered the attention of the entire throng with more English/ Spanish attempts to make sure we were getting on the right bus- amarillo grande- aka big yellow school bus. We met several more people that were genuinely concerned that we arrive at the right place, the owners of the great little bar/ restaurant in Pital- where we also had some totally delicious Sopa Marisco- let us use their cell phone to call the lodge to let them know we were headed in on the bus. (We were a little confused when the person on the other end of the line told Brenda that they would be there at between 7 & 8, didn’t realize it would actually take that long to cover the distance).

The jam packed bus headed out we hit the gravel road that we were to travel on for the next almost 3hrs. It started pouring rain as darkness fell & the thunder & lightening hit. Once the bus started to get stuck going up a hill & had to back down & try again- with success! Brenda spent much of the ride with her arm extended upward in order to keep the window up & prevent getting soaked. By this time my sense of humor had returned, mostly thanks to all the kind, helpful & laughing people on the bus- including my awesome traveling companions Shea & Brenda who were both very sympathetic regarding my cash woes. Lesson learned I hope!

Confession

Side note here- I have to admit something that some of you will be really disappointed in- I AM ADDICTED TO DEET. I like to live & breathe it on a daily basis. Okay, I've said it, say & think what you will. I know that the bugs could be a lot worse, I actually expected them to be a lot worse. But keep in mind that I spent my entire youth covered in itchy red scabbed spots & scars. I still get chewed up at home & have become covered in bites once again here in Costa Rica. I obviously just taste really sweet (or I just stink). So I get up, spray on the DEET, spray on some DEET, go to dinner, then roll around in bed with it at night & as god is my witness it has helped!

My ankles have been swollen to an unhealthy size from ant bites and I look like I am suffering from the worse case of adult chicken pox you have ever seen. So what do I do? I get up, spray on the DEET, brush my teeth with DEET, spray on some more DEET, go to dinner, wash my bed sheets in the DEET, spray on even more DEET and slip in between the saturated sheets for a night of DEET filled dreams & as god as my witness it is working!!!!!

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Capuchan Scorned

Thinking about us

Mood is changing...

No, not into the intruders

Ok- so I concentrated on the happy parts of the Osa Peninsula trip- now I have to fessup & admit that the trip was not without a couple of bumps in the road to heaven. I tried to attach some video of the tail end of the monkey attack (almost) event in question, but it won't upload. Anyway it politely missed the part where the monkey came flying out of the tree & rushed me, whereupon I proceeded to let out a shreak & start to run the other direction. Next came a thought something like "don't show fear" & I began my monkey whisperer "tranquilo, tranquilo" talk while it glared at me & gnashed it's surprisingly vampire like fangs. It is amazing how easy it is to read the facial expressions of these little primates. I think that I came very close to adding some nasty monkey bites to my poor ant & mosquito bitten legs (or elsewheres). For the record it was not my idea to get that close!

This is the rushing event- even tho the quality isn't the best it captures the moment

Photo credits go to Justin (who is now dearly missed at La Selva after his return to LA) & blog title cred goes to miss Brenda C!

Whirlwind Whale Weekend to the Osa Peninsula

1st Night at the Hostel

Justin & "the ladies"

La Playa
We- Brenda, Shea & myself along with new friends Justin, Taryn, Christian, Kenneth & little brother, & Octavio - took the weekend off to experience some sweet sights & smells on & around the Osa Peninsula (southern peninsula on the Pacific side of Costa Rica). The stated goal was whale watching but this was just to be the icing on the cake of a superb weekend in a sunny tropical paradise. We spent the first & third/last night at a nice hostel in San Jose & the night on the tour at "Poor Man's Paradise" (http://www.poormansparadiseresort.com/wildlife.html - fortunately included in the tour price as in looking at the website the poor man part of the title is comparatively questionable if you don't have a larger party).

The 5 hour bus ride over the mountains & down to the peninsula was beautiful, the mountains were amazingly chilly after our ascension from the jungle, but incredibly lovely. All the information was relayed in Spanish- I listened to the introduction information on the bus but only caught a small percentage of it, good practice tho. Fortunately Justin speaks fluent Spanish & Christian, Kenneth & Octavio are all guides at La Selva- the tour guide was also an old friend of Christian's.

The baby humpback whale & presumed mama were amazing, well worth some waiting on the boat, the boat ride itself was actually pretty incredible but I think that the beach that runs along south of Drake Bay & in front of the hotel has to be the highlight. We had time for hours of swimming/ body surfing- not so much for me with my incredible sense of timing- but I sense progress. Some truly heavenly beach walks complete with the warmest seawater I have ever had the pleasure to experience, sand, palm trees & coconuts, several lightning storms in the distance on night walks, a bar & restaurant- & lest I forget the most awesome presumably fresh caught white fish (of unknown species) for the "vegetarianos" Brenda & Mel (term is used loosely of course :) & lastly some of the most charming company one could ask for.

Bye to Chris & Dwight

The team was so sorry to see Chris & Dwight head home yesterday. They fit right in with Team Eaton's Microbes & Team La Selva in general. Chris jumped right into the jungle yoga (which is awesome with those good warm muscles), adding some great energy to the whole deal. Time went too fast & they couldn't be convinced to change ticket dates to prior obligations, but Dwight got lots done, to our benefit & now we will be able to say something meaningful about all our hard work.

I was feeling a little wiped out today, especially after some drama in the lab over the past couple days, but went for a long jungle walk & saw a cool heron in the river & some a crazy troop of opossums (maybe?) & a good sized turtle or two in the river & also a monkey skull that some hardcore researchers had picked up- maggots & all.

& lastly the yoga was less painful on the bruises today! Progress!

The Story Behind the Wounds

So I never really finished recounting the details of my trip over the bicycle handlebars. Let me start by mentioning this is actually the 3rd accident that the particular vehicle has been involved with while under my watchful eye- I was only the driver for 2 of these incidents, the other was while the bike was under Shea’s care (there was some drunken debauchery here, I have no such excuse, for my bike accidents anyway). & back to Erin, I am certain she is really shocked to read these ramblings after watching me nearly run into a bright yellow pole that was directly in front of us in broad daylight, again totally sober, amongst several other peel outs & very close calls. You would think I was some kind of wild mountain biker or something, but no, these incidents generally occur on strait forward cement.

I had just finished a long day in the lab & was excitedly heading out on the bike for one of our perfect yoga sessions in the Swiss Family Robinson house. I was carrying several items & when attempting take off realized that I had better pack some stuff away first. So I put everything except my umbrella in my already heavy backpack & cheerfully headed down the trail towards the River Station where we live. I got about 20 meters down the trail & my mind had wandered away from the important matter at hand- riding the bike without injuring anyone- when I was surprised by a party of 3 heading towards me around the corner. I quickly squeezed the brake of the hand that not holding the umbrella. It had been raining heavily- a regular occurrence in the tropical rainforest- & since this bike had been sitting in the rain all day nothing really happened when the pressure was applied. I guess I panicked & squeezed the brake about as hard as I could, as it turns out this was the front brake & as best I can ascertain I was promptly thrown forward in a sort of a somersault fashion, with the bike, my huge backpack & myself kind of in a big pile left skidding across the cement. My tank top was pulled over or under, my bra was covered in dirt & both my body & my ego were severely scraped & bruised. It was pointed out to me that I was dripping blood & may need to seek medical attention- I limped the rest of the way to my room & found my roomie, Chris & friend Kellie chatting. I was kind of laughing hysterically by this time, mostly due to wounded pride, but after the blood was noted my emergency team sprung into action. Brenda came prepared with a well stocked first aid supplies (note to self: bring one!) & is not afraid of a little gore, Kellie has a background in Search & Rescue, & Chris provided a little ego first aid & valued friendship by complementing my tenacity, if not my grace. I was in good hands, especially when Emily joined the bathroom party to add some more humor & moral support.

I thought that I had some pretty good excuses/ reasons for these accidents, but after discussing the event with one of the party- Scott from Alabama- who I thought I nearly ran over, I am forced to seriously question my skills. He reports that I had a good 10 yards of stopping room when I took my tumble. Oh well.

So I thought I was up to some yoga today. Which was good, but I discovered that I had even more bruises than is obvious- when going into chataranga I found the mild roadrash across my left chest was accompanied by some deep bruising, on top of my obviously bruised left knee, inner right knee, right thigh & hip, right elbow, chin & right eye socket/ cheek. But in reality I am just really happy to have not knocked a tooth out here in the jungle & I know that this is all an important lesson in something- mindfulness I think…