Fixed?

I may or may not have fixed the last blog entry which for whatever reason had some weird HTML deal going on in it. Currently I am on one of the workers iPhones and being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
I hope the blog post is working. Ojala.

Sanctuario Silvestre Update

Sorry I haven't been able to post in the past few days...well actually I'm still not able to post. :-( I'm writing this in a word document once again. Also a short heads up that I have A LOT to say and it might not come out in a completely orderly fashion. I also will not be able to include everything I'd like to or I might be sitting here for longer than I have.

I promise I'm not really this white. It is pretty bright right now although I am in the shade. And this webcam isn't the best. To my left is a semi-friend of mine. More-so an acquaintance. He hangs out in the cocina a lot and gets fed a fair share of sunflower seeds. He also gets a fair share of towels thrown at him because he can be a bit of a pest to the workers in the kitchen or he chews on something of which he is not supposed to. But he's pretty cool. This is the first time I've seen him up at my cabin. I actually haven't spent that much time up here besides at night. There is usually something going on or somebody to sit and talk to in the main building. I'm not work work working all the time, but quite often there is something or other to do. I just got back from going along on a tour with Carol and Earl who are the owners of Sanctuario Silvestre. The tour was for the owner of a large tour agency who is interested in offering tours of this rehabilitation operation. I had thought about going swimming, but I really need to recount the last few days and such before it gets even more jumbled in my head. Where I am is pretty much on the Pacific Coast. To be more specific it is on the Golfe Dulce, which is the body of water between mainland Costa Rica and the Osa Peninsula. So maybe 50 or 75 yards away from me is a little beach and beautiful water. I've only been swimming once. It was just about perfect though as long as I don't get conked in the head by a falling coconut or stung by an hilo de oro (strand of gold). I believe they are basically like jellyfish, but very small and like a single strand of gold string.

Alright. Lets start to recount more. I left Orosi on Friday. Already feels like ages ago. I flew on into Puerto Jimenez on a very small little plane. Maybe 25 seats? And these seats were tiny! Three per row and sure to cause back problems if used for extended periods of time.

The plane I flew in on. Nature Air.

Inside shot of the plane.

Saw a rainbow! Made a circle around the plane.

I was met by *music starts to play in background* a girl named Maria. She took me to a taxi and we went down the the marina which was about a 2 minute drive from the one runway, shack-like building which is labeled on the map as an airport. I was slightly confused as to what was all going on. No one spoke any english and all I knew was that I was being met and taken to the sanctuary by boat. I was instructed to get into a boat with three people of who I do not know nor have been introduced to and full of groceries. Groceries like crates of bananas and boxes of eggs. Maria says “Hasta Manana” and I'm thinking, “hmm, is she coming to the sanctuary tomorrow? Why not come now?, etc.”. The one person I have had any interaction with is now leaving me?! I learned later that evening that Maria was coming the next day. She had a conservation biology exam to take later that day. She is 24 and lives in San Jose. She frequently comes out here for a few days at a time. She just left this morning.

In general, this place is incredible. So full of color and life. There are animals pretty much every way you look. Look a little harder and you'll see even more.

Just got a yell from the kitchen stating “ALMUERZO!”

Hasta luego.

11/25/09

Good news.

Carol said earlier last night that she would like me to go into town on Friday with her to get a hang of the ropes so that I will be able to do that in the future. Going into town means that I will be able to get internet access somewhere or another. Score!

I think I'm going to just post one blog whenever I go into town with multiple days entries in a similar format to this post.

I was just reading yesterday's post and realized I forgot to mention the internet situation. So yes, obviously I don't have internet here. There used to be internet, but it no longer exists. I believe it was an experimental deal, but it provided great high-speed internet up until the modem fried. The word was that the phone company was going to come yesterday...they called yesterday afternoon and said that it would probably by at least another month until they could come out. So that explains my excitement about going into town.

So, as of now a regular day consists of:

Getting up in time to get ready and be at the kitchen by 6:00 am.

At 6 I'm doing one of two things. I'm either on the other side of the sanctuary helping the workers prepare breakfast for the animals, get it in dishes, and deliver it to them. The other thing is preparing breakfast for a select few animals in the main kitchen. Most of these breakfasts are like nutritional milk supplements, some with medicines and some without. These animals include two anteaters, an agouti, a spider monkey, another monkey (I'm embarrassed that I can't remember the type of the top of my head), and a baby hawk of some sort.

At 8:30 everyone convenes at the main kitchen and breakfast is served. Almost always consists of beans, rice, homemade tortillas, and to drink we have Tang (or as Carol calls it, Shitty Sugar).

At 9 everyone goes off again and so far I have tagged along for tours that Carol or Earl give. Tours are the largest source of income for this sanctuary. I get to look forward to giving tours at some point in the future. Lots to learn first!

At 12 the workers are off for lunch and Carol, Earl, and I usually make up something. We eat and play dominos. Then there is often some free time.

Workers return at 1 and evening meals are prepared. Very similar to the 6 am schedule.

At 3 workers are off for the rest of the day and Carol, Earl and I finish up for the day and have dinner.

Usually by 6 I'm up in the cabin because it is almost completely dark.

The bugs are also very bad at this time of year. It is just in the transition between the rainy season and the dry season. I've got my handy mosquito net in which I hide under except for the few nights that Maria was here and I would just use my Herbal Armor bug spray and we would sit out on the porch to play cards or talk. But I really dislike the feeling of laying in bed with bug spray on my skin.

Tear jerker time. The day I arrived or the day before I arrived, They had just gotten a baby sloth in. Maybe a week old and seemed to have been dropped by the mother. So being a baby, it needed to be fed quite often. After I completed a successful sloth enema on Saturday I was given the responsibility of this baby. I was to make his feeding schedule and such. I also had to keep him in my cabin Saturday and Sunday night...and wake up every three hours to give him his syringe of goat milk. I was able to talk Maria into switching off with me each shift of the night. Monday morning at about 9 Carol noticed him sort of wheezing when he inhaled. I sat around and kept and eye on him for the rest of the morning. Carol and I both figured it to be Aspiration Pneumonia. It fit the symptoms to the dot. At about 12:30ish I look up and notice he isn't breathing heavily. Upon closer examination, I find that he had died. Apparently three-toed sloths are hard to raise when babies. This is the 4^th one that hasn't made it.

Interesting little tid-bit: In Spanish sloths are called “perezosos”. This translates to Lazies.

List of animals that reside here that I can remember off the top of my head: Anteaters, Kinkajous (Martillas), Spider Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, hawk, Scarlet Macaws (Lapas), Tayra, Capuchos, Parrots (Loras), Parakeets, Two-toed and three-toed sloths, Agouti, Jaguarundis, various other felines, Javelina or Collared Peccary, Toucan, and probably a few others.

I think I'm going to stop here for today.

Hasta el proximo vez.

11/26/09

Feliz Dia de Gracias!

Yay! I'm quite excited for my morning on the town tomorrow. I have lots of pictures and I hope to have time to upload most of them to this blog. I'm also sure I'll have loads of e-mails to go through.

So a new task I've been assigned is to be in charge of the camera traps. They own 6 camera traps, but have never used them. The hope is to catch pictures of predators and released animals. I've been charging batteries for the past couple days and reading about the cameras. The cameras have a sensor that is triggered when an animal passes and it snaps a photo. Earl and I went out earlier and walked some trails to get some ideas of where to set them up. A big goal is to catch some pictures of a jaguar. Paw prints have been spotted multiple times.

Right. I'm back to cold as ice showers. They would feel great in the middle of the day, but I'm taking them after dark and it is quite bone-chilling. A very quick affair.

I really can't think of anything else terribly noteworthy at this moment. I'll add anything more I think of tomorrow.

Buenas Noches.

PICTURES!

Her name is Sweetie. She's got a nice sore on her leg from a spider bite. She loves to show it off.

Scarlett Macaws

This birds name is Abogado. It means 'lawer in spanish'. He used to fly into a bar and then scream "I want my lawer" or "Quiero mi abogado".

This is Goots. He is an Agouti.

Sunsets.

I must go now. We must head back to the sanctuary.

Pura Vida!

Stage 2

I leave tomorrow for Osa Wildlife Sanctuary. I really hope they have reasonable internet. Even here it has been pretty flaky these past couple of days. My plane leaves at 11:30 tomorrow morning. Luis, the taxi driver, is picking me up at a quarter to 8. The airline is called NatureAir. They say that they are the first carbon-neutral airline. Probably some small little plane. I'm intrigued to see.
Nothing else really new though.

Frolicking through a crater.
Adam, Carrie, and Celine
A view on our way up to Volcan Irazu.
Adam and Dave.
Scott, Jonas, and Adam playing jenga/ram toy truck into blocks violently.

Montana Linda.
INTENSE.

Chao!

0-1

11/15/09



Today was Volcan Irazu and miscellaneous tour. Pretty much only 40 dollars. $30 to the driver, Luis, and a $10 entrance fee to the park. Luis picked the three of us up at 7 this morning. It took maybe 30-45 minutes to get from Orosi to the Volcano. The top of the volcano was at an altitude of about 3,200 meters. We drove up passing various vegetable fields and vendors. Also passed many cows just kicking it on the side of the road. There are two main craters atop Irazu and multiple smaller ones. At first it didn't seem as if we would be able to see very much of the craters due to all the clouds. After snapping quite a few worthless pictures of clouded craters, the clouds blew past and we had a clear view. Twas amazing!
Welcome sign outside of the park.

The second largest main crater.

Crater Diego de la Haya

The largest crater.

Crater Principal



More shot of Crater Principal

A map of the park.

Girls in a crater.


Coatimundi. This little fella showed up while we were eating lunch.I almost took him home.
Luis, our driver/guide.



Dropped in on Sunday Mass at the Basilica de Los Angeles in Cartago. It was packed to people standing in the doorways...mind you this was no small church.




This is the dam that generates all the electricity for Orosi and the small surrounding towns.
It was HUGE.

I think that ought to be enough pictures for one day.

Yesterday was a dreary day and was primarily spent around the hostel. Went for lunch at a Soda called Soda Luz. Had Gallo Pinto con Huevo(egg) and a refresca de Piña. The fruits here are nothing like the ones that you get in the States. These are so fresh. Muy rica. Very flavorful. Sweet and juicy. At about 6:30 we went to Reventazon which is a restaurant/bar. We chose this place because they have two televisions and there was going to be a BIG game on at 8. Futbol game between Costa Rica and Uruguay. This game was played in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The next one will be on Wednesday in Montevideo. These two games will determine who gets the seat in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. So we got food and drinks and waited until 8. The place slowly filled up with prospectors. The game was pretty good. Sadly, Costa Rica lost 0-1. The word is that they will likely lose in Montevideo as well because it is a very difficult stadium to play at.

I start back with Spanish classes tomorrow. Same 3-6 time frame as last week.

I won't be posting this until tomorrow because Otiac is filled with music, people and balloons. I know, I know. Why am I not in there with all that fun stuff? I think there was a birthday party or something along those lines.

Hasta luego.

Una semana pasada...

...I was sitting at my gate at Charlotte-Douglas International. I've been here for a week now. Time has definitely flown by. Good thing? Bad? At least it means I'm not having a horrible time, but it means that this trip will be over before I know it.

Another rainy morning...
Woke up at about 6:50 and it hasn't stopped raining thus far. It had better clear up by tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow is Volcan Irazú ( I wish there was a simple way of putting characters with accents and such in!). Irazú is the tallest volcano in Costa Rica. The tour is about 6 hours. There are three of us going on it. Myself, Carrie, and a new very nice French woman named Celine. Celine just got in yesterday afternoon. There are other stops along the tour, but I cannot remember what they all are. One is a tour of a coffee factory, but it is seasonal and I haven't a clue if it is in season or not.

In big news, I had my first HOT shower this morning. Many many times better than the past ones i've taken. There are 4 different bathrooms. There are two right outside my door, which I've always just used because...well I guess just habit. I decided to take an extra couple steps this morning and check out a different bathroom. Best decision ever. The end.

In other possibly bigger news, I experienced my first earthquake yesterday. Solo un temblor. I was in spanish class and reading off my homework to my teacher and it was quite something else. She thought I was shaking the table at first. but seriously everything was shaking from side to side. It wasn't anything large. Only lasted a few seconds, but hot damn was it exciting! Apparently in the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose, it rated a 5.0. Manuel Antonio, another city, I heard was the epicenter of the quake. It rated a 5.2.
So yes, this was quite an experience.

Tonight is a big futbol game. Costa Rica vs. Uruguay. It ought to be fun to see the scene here.

Thats it for now folks.

T.G.I.Viernes

It is about 10:30 my time. I'm writing this in a text document at Montana Linda (the hostel) because it is quite wet outside. I woke up at about 7:30 this morning (the latest I've slept in til thus far) to a cloudy sky and wet ground. I suspect that it rained all night. It began raining again maybe 45 minutes after I woke up. Hasn't ceased yet.

So as usual there are new people at the hostel. A dude named Scott got in Tuesday afternoon. He is from L.A. and I'm guessing that he is in his mid 20's? He has been fun to hang out with and talk to. Three American girls checked in yesterday evening. They are from Utah. Orosi is the last leg of their trip. They've been traveling around for about two weeks. Age-wise I suspect they are in their late 20's.
I also cannot believe that I failed to mention Guapo earlier in my stay. He is a dog that lives here at Montana Linda.

Quite a character he is.

Last night and Wednesday night we played Monopoly. Wednesday night was just 3 of us and last night was 4 of us. I can only describe both games with a simple phrase---”Veni, Vidi, Vici”. Possibly needless to say(?) the game was in Spanish. Made it a bit more of a Costa Rica experience. During the game last night we witnessed the largest toad that we'd ever seen. It was just short of a small dinner plate. By the time I had gotten my camera it had miraculously squeezed itself under the fridge. I could only expect to open the fridge this morning to retrieve my milk for my cereal to have a toad staring me back in the face. Alas I did not have this experience.
The allergies that I thought I had turned out to be a cold. I'm actually relieved that it was a cold. This means that once the cold passes by, I do not have to worry about controlling allergies for 4 and half more months. Yesterday morning was the worst of it. I woke up with a hacking cough and simply just feeling under the weather. But by that evening I was feeling 100%. I have a bit of a cough this morning, but nothing too horrible.
As a part of my expenses for staying here I had to pay $1 in order for me to have use of the kitchen, communal fridge, and fresh coffee all day. The coffee is pretty good. I think it is mostly due to it being incredibly fresh. Costa Rica grows A LOT of coffee, but the best of it is exported. Still though it is great having such fresh coffee.


Still doing all review stuff in class, but because it has been years since I used much of this it is still quite difficult to get all the rules back down. Yesterday we did the last of the 4 past tenses. Today I believe we are doing “por vs. para”. Like something else as well, but I'm not sure.
I also finally remembered to get a few picture of the hostel. Unfortunately it was cloudy when I snapped them, so they don't reflect the true beauty. I'll get more when the sun finally comes out...which at this point will very likely be at least tomorrow.








Ben- Q, Q, and Q in reference to the a fore mentioned.

El Fin.

Cock-a-doodle-doo

I wake up each morning to a barrage of roosters. I think they get some sick satisfaction out of this. It is the only explanation. Even sometimes in the middle of the night they decide to begin.
But other than that I'm having a great time. I really don't have much that is blogworthy. Each day is tranquil and easygoing. Today I have spanish class from 3-6. I now have homework. I'm waiting for a cloudless day in which I should be able to see Volcan Irazu. I've been told that you can see the smoke above it. It is still an active volcano. I really wish I could get some worthwhile pictures of things, but I will keep on trying.
As much as I am sure that I could survive alright without internet, it has been wonderful to have it available still.

Once I have a good adventure or something or the sort I will be sure to do a write up on it.

Chao!

Adventure Spanish

I just registered for my Spanish Language classes. 12-3 monday through friday.
Woke up this morning on my own accord at about 6:30. The sun was shining in and I definitely felt well rested. Went for a walk with Carrie down to the river after a little breakfast. Other than being a beautiful day I have nothing else really to write.
Feels like there is more, but alas I cannot think of anything. I'm also not sure if I'll be able to update later.

For now I'll just leave you with some pictures.

It uploaded in some wierd html things I can't read so I can't caption each photo.
The first three are from last night around the wood-fueled hot tub.
The last one is a picture of my dorm-style room from a bad angle.