The first time we took the ferry was fun, Max loved it. By the 8th time, I was so ready to say goodbye to the peninsula forever. That trip is just too long! It takes 5 or 6 hours to get from San Jose to Montezuma.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The Ferry
The Ferry runs from Puntarenas across the Gulf of Nicoya, to the Nicoya Peninsula. There is a vendor outside whose shish kabobs are famously delicious. Or so I'm told.
Off to the peninsula
We headed back to Puntarenas to catch a ferry to the peninsula. Back to Montezuma to move out of our apt. Here are some photos taken on the way.
We had 2 movies on our MP3. By the end of the summer I'm sure Max had them memorized.
Walmart
I didn't know there was a walmart in Costa Rica until we were driving through Cartago, and low and behold, there it was. I was pretty grossed out as I am not a walmart fan, yet strangely drawn. Curiousity got the best of me and insisted we stop. It was like stepping through a portal back into the united states. Inside it looked almost just like the walmarts here! Except the prices are in Colones.
The Grasshopper
Okay, so after we high tailed it out of Parisminas, we looked for somewhere to eat breakfast. I don't remember what town we stopped in, but I can't forget who we met after breakfast. Right outside the soda, sitting there on a plant we encountered, The Grasshopper, the biggest grasshopper I have ever seen. At first I thought it was fake, like a toy or a lawn ornament or something, except that it was so detailed, I knew that no one in Costa Rica would leave a trinket like that sitting outside because it would get stolen. Karina was of course very excited about our new little friend, and we decided it ought to join our road trip ...if we could get it off the leaf it firmly clung to! Fortunately we had an empty food tupper which became it's temporary home during the drive.
The Grasshopper was an integral part of this trip. You could basically define the trip in 2 parts. Before The Grasshopper, and After The Grasshopper. Haha :)
She was really quit beautiful too.
Thus Karina began plotting how to get this little specimen home with her. Unfortunately that mean it had to be dead, so into the freezer it went. The final specimen turned out beautiful, but I have to say she was quite prettier alive.
We discussed different ideas for smuggling the thing, such as stuffing it in her suitcase, putting it on a string and wearing it as a necklace. Passing it off as a "toy". It probably would have been far too risky. But then magical things started happening and in the few days she was there, Karina actually found this licensed bug collector guy who was able to expedite a drying/pinning/framing for her and she was able to bring it home legally, yay! I will have to ask her for a pic of it pinned and framed, it has some pretty red wings.
The Grasshopper was an integral part of this trip. You could basically define the trip in 2 parts. Before The Grasshopper, and After The Grasshopper. Haha :)
She was really quit beautiful too.
We discussed different ideas for smuggling the thing, such as stuffing it in her suitcase, putting it on a string and wearing it as a necklace. Passing it off as a "toy". It probably would have been far too risky. But then magical things started happening and in the few days she was there, Karina actually found this licensed bug collector guy who was able to expedite a drying/pinning/framing for her and she was able to bring it home legally, yay! I will have to ask her for a pic of it pinned and framed, it has some pretty red wings.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Parismina
So after Paos, we went here. If you have heard of Tortuguero it is pretty much the same thing only a little smaller. Parismina is a small remote beach village that is only accessible by boat because there are no roads through the jungle to get there. We had to drive for hours down a terrible dirt road past miles of banana farms.
We were in a rental SUV, but in the future I would probably just take the bus. Then we parked the car in a secure lot and took a boat the last 15 minutes to Parisminas. We barely caught the last shuttle. It was a wide river with some pretty birds along the shore and you could hear monkeys in the trees.
Once we got there we looked for somewhere to eat and then somewhere to sleep. There was really only one small "restaurant", and the fast food options were unimpressive. Burgers, fries, chicken fingers, etc.
There were several different hostels there. They were all about the same, a simple room with a bed and a fan for $10 per person. No hot water, not that we needed it, it was hot enough. This is what our room looked like.
After we checked in we strolled through the small village to check out the beach real quick in the daytime. We'd be seeing plenty of the beach later that night.
Parismina and Tortuguero are both part of a turtle protection program. It is a national park and no one is allowed on the beach without a guide, also there is an entrance fee which goes toward helping fund the program. Sea turtles are in danger because of poachers who steal the eggs, but the program also protects the eggs from dogs and other predators that would eat the babies/eggs. Every night volunteers go out and patrol the beach. When they find a mother laying they wait for her to leave then they take the eggs and bring them back the to hatchery.
We joined a patrol shift that night. I think it was about 10:00 pm when we headed out for turtle watch. We knew our chances for seeing turtles were good because it was a full moon. It was a beautiful night. Max was asleep in the carrier on Ivan's back. Within 30 minutes we came across a trail and sure enough there was a mama turtle up on the beach digging her hole. The guide asked us to give her some space while she prepared the hole then he came and got us. There were about 10 of us in the group. We gathered quietly around the big beautiful mama turtle, careful not to startle her, and watched as she laid 97 eggs. It takes so much strength for a creature of that size and build to drag herself up onto the shore, across the beach and dig a hole with her fins, you could feel her power and determination. I bet she was exhausted when she finally made it back to the sea, as a fellow mother I know how she must have felt. It was incredible and spiritual in the quiet moonlight looking into her face. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I found some that look pretty much how I remember it, only it was night time.
By this time I was ready to put my pregnant but to bed and Ivan was not sure he could go another 2 hours with Max on his back (who had slept through the entire thing, despite my best efforts to wake him) So I headed back to my room and Erik carried Max for me. Ivan and Karina continued on with the group and when they found another batch of eggs the guide let the hold and tough the ones that were already dead. Karina said they felt leathery.
It was a quick stay in Parisminas and we were in the 5:00 am ferry back to the car.
We were in a rental SUV, but in the future I would probably just take the bus. Then we parked the car in a secure lot and took a boat the last 15 minutes to Parisminas. We barely caught the last shuttle. It was a wide river with some pretty birds along the shore and you could hear monkeys in the trees.
There were several different hostels there. They were all about the same, a simple room with a bed and a fan for $10 per person. No hot water, not that we needed it, it was hot enough. This is what our room looked like.
After we checked in we strolled through the small village to check out the beach real quick in the daytime. We'd be seeing plenty of the beach later that night.
Parismina and Tortuguero are both part of a turtle protection program. It is a national park and no one is allowed on the beach without a guide, also there is an entrance fee which goes toward helping fund the program. Sea turtles are in danger because of poachers who steal the eggs, but the program also protects the eggs from dogs and other predators that would eat the babies/eggs. Every night volunteers go out and patrol the beach. When they find a mother laying they wait for her to leave then they take the eggs and bring them back the to hatchery.
We joined a patrol shift that night. I think it was about 10:00 pm when we headed out for turtle watch. We knew our chances for seeing turtles were good because it was a full moon. It was a beautiful night. Max was asleep in the carrier on Ivan's back. Within 30 minutes we came across a trail and sure enough there was a mama turtle up on the beach digging her hole. The guide asked us to give her some space while she prepared the hole then he came and got us. There were about 10 of us in the group. We gathered quietly around the big beautiful mama turtle, careful not to startle her, and watched as she laid 97 eggs. It takes so much strength for a creature of that size and build to drag herself up onto the shore, across the beach and dig a hole with her fins, you could feel her power and determination. I bet she was exhausted when she finally made it back to the sea, as a fellow mother I know how she must have felt. It was incredible and spiritual in the quiet moonlight looking into her face. We weren't allowed to take pictures but I found some that look pretty much how I remember it, only it was night time.
By this time I was ready to put my pregnant but to bed and Ivan was not sure he could go another 2 hours with Max on his back (who had slept through the entire thing, despite my best efforts to wake him) So I headed back to my room and Erik carried Max for me. Ivan and Karina continued on with the group and when they found another batch of eggs the guide let the hold and tough the ones that were already dead. Karina said they felt leathery.
It was a quick stay in Parisminas and we were in the 5:00 am ferry back to the car.
The drive
I think I mentioned this earlier, but of all the areas of Costa Rica we saw, the areas I fell in love with the most were the volcano towns. The areas around the volcanoes are so lush and green and a lot cooler than the sweltering beaches and desert area. There are tons of rivers, waterfalls and wildlife. The drive down off Paos is breathtaking. Three times we saw a blue morpheous flying around free.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)