Day 10 - Guanacaste to San Jose

It is hard to believe that this is our last day. This morning we got up early and climbed the hill behind the hotel to watch the sun rise behind the mountains to our east. On the way up the hill I heard a curious combination of comments. Katie is so excited to go home, Tyler was so tired and Marc doesn´t want to leave. I am, as usual, not ready to leave this country and already thinking about returning.

The sunrise behind the mountains was beautiful. We sat in the dirt and watched as the stars disappeared, the oranges and pinks overtook our view and eventually faded away to soft, pale blues. Meg and Jessi we laughing about something and I said, ¨Shhh! I want my peaceful, contemplative moment¨. Meg replied, ¨Then you should have brought someone else¨! We have all laughed a lot together.

After the sunrise almost everyone went back to bed and they are still sleeping. By 8am we will be packed up, head to breakfast and load on the bus one more time. Today we will take the 4 hour drive to San Jose and stop a few times along the way to buy souvenirs. I hope to have time in San Jose to see a little of the city that we missed on our first afternoon in the country. We will all go out for a nice dinner together tonight and then pack up for our trip home. We leave for the airport tomorrow at 4:30 am (which thanks to me waking everyone up early all the time shouldn´t feel as early as it could).

I´ll try to add pictures of the sunrise before we hit the road.

All the best - Judy

Day 9 - Rincon de la Vieja

Today we were off to Rincon de la Vieja, a National Park north of here that contains two volcanoes: Rincon de la Vieja and Santa Maria Volcano. We were on the bus by 8am and arrived at the park just before 10 am. The drive includes a 16 km stretch across a gravel road that bisects a private ranch. Of course the ranch collects an entry fee as well as the park! What a riot.

We chose to take the longer of the two hiking options and set out to see all that we could. Our guide today was Tyler who has taken his job VERY seriously staying up last night to make lists of plants and animals we might see. Our first real spot was a Long-tailed Manakin. That´s right, for all you bird folks out there reading this, a Long-tailed Manakin. Pretty impressive find.

Next we hiked on and saw a red tanager that we have been unable to identify as of yet. Of course, I am not going to give up looking for information. Next we stopped at a huge, beautiful waterfall where we lined up for a great picture that I will try to load tonight. Most of us are lined up on a log that is hanging over a pool at the bottom of the waterfall. The boys spotted a long aquatic worm and of course extracted it to inspect further... it really was rather large (maybe 7 inches and very, very thin).

Moving on we saw our first sulfur vents (funeroles), this volcano is very active and many of the geological features have encouraged comparisons to Yellowstone. It was as you might imagine: hot, steamy and very strongly smelling of sulfur. Shortly thereafter we saw a Coatimundi up close!! What a great mammal to watch hunting around for food and totally unconcerned about us. Continuing on we spotted a Great Curassow, a turkey-like bird even larger than the Black Guan we saw in Monteverde. The male curassow has a huge crest on his head and a very yellow beak. Also on our hike we saw bubbling mud pots and sulfur springs that looked like they were hot enough to cook our dinner.

We saw an Acacia tree, one that is covered in huge thorns that house ants. The acacia also feeds the ants a sweet sap. In exchange for room and board the ants defend the acacia against predators. Very cool mutualistic realtionship! Finally we stopped to take some more data, finding it rather dry in the park and then headed back to the bus. After crossing the fabulous suspension bridge across the river we saw a Harlequin Beetle that had been found by Alvaro, our guide. They are huge and truly beautiful.

We returned to the hotel for a late lunch and then headed out to do our last set of data measuring just outside the developed portion of the grounds. Very dry (roughly 40% humidity) and very hot. At this moment we are all recouping a little bit before dinner. Tomorrow we leave for San Jose and hope to see the city on our last afternoon here. It has been a wonderful trip and although I know we all miss you I´m not sure any of us are ready to come home.

Oh, on the note of my electronics that so many of you have wished well, the cell phone is fine. Despite my best efforts I have been unable to resuscitate the camera. Alas, I feel the fool for having trusted the snorkel guide. Perhaps a good lesson for me. I hope that I can figure something out with it when I get home. I will try to load old pictures and Bob Ulrich´s pictures later although this computer may not be able to do that for us.

All the best to you, thank you for reading and writing us back!

Judy

Day 8 - Beach day

Finally the kids thought that we were going to get some rest and relaxation... of course that is not on my schedule. We were up at 6am to walk the grounds and see some birds and boy oh boy did it pay off. We saw White-winged Doves, Inca Doves, White-throated Magpie Jays, Rufous-naped Wrens (cool), Turquoise-browed Motmots (look this one up, it is stunning), Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures and two animals from my home state of Oklahoma: the state bird, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and an insect I grew up playing with, Ant lions. As I understand it Ohio is not filled with as many Ant lions (or doodle bugs as we called them) as Oklahoma. They are an ant predator that builds an inverted cone shaped trap in the dirt for ants that fall in and become lunch quickly. We fed a few and tried our hands at luring them out with twigs... I felt like I was a little girl again. We also hiked up the hill behind our hotel where we have decided to view the sunrise together on our last morning here.

After our birds came breakfast and then off to the beach. We started our beach trip at Playa Panama, a lovely, isolated beach that we were about to rent kayaks at when a problem arose. There were a lot of thimble jellyfish in the water and the other group decided that we were moving to a new beach. Grumble. The thing about the jellies is that they are everywhere and when the tide changes they move on, but the other group insisted and I hate to put up a stink so we abandoned our kayak plans to go to a new beach.

Our next beach was Playa del Coco, a rather urban beach in the town of Coco. It is loud and full or boats waiting to take out snorkelers, fishermen and anyone else looking for an adventure. The students immediately set out for the water and I to the town in search of an afternoon excursion.

What we ended up with was remarkable!! After a short morning at the beach and a boxed lunch from the hotel we went on a three hour guided snorkeling tour for $15 each (WOW!!). What a great trip with a boat ride past the very high dollar Four Seasons here, around ¨Monkey Head¨ island and over to Playa Huevos (Beach of eggs, formerly a turtle nesting beach). We all snorkeled, many for the first time and saw Parrot fish, Coronet Fish, Wrasses, Trigger fish, Stingrays, Octopus and so many more that I could´t possibly identify. I really need to work on my tropical fish knowledge... At any rate this beach was beautiful and we also walked there to a gorgeous overlook and to see a sea cave complete with raging ocean waters. What a great time that included a raucous sand fight... I will be shaking sand out of my hair for days.

The only real damper on our afternoon involved a large quantity of water... the sea spray was wild on the ride in and the ¨dry compartment¨ that the guide had promised us was literally filled with water. My camera and cellphone were floating. I have been told to dry everything thoroughly after rinsing it all with freshwater to remove the corrosive salt... we will see in the next day or two if anything works. I am upset about the camera... and really hope that it is okay, but I have no one but myself to blame. I am so vigilant about the student´s stuff and so lax with my own... I even had a plastic bag, but I took what he said about the compartment at face value. I feel like a fool... Meg´s ipod was also a casualty of the trip (she says it is okay, she´ll just get her Mom to buy her a new one... hmmmm...). So, I can´t upload any photos until the camera is dry... or at least the card reader is functional... we shall see.

We had another great dinner tonight and a presentation about mangroves courtesy of Bob Ulrich and now we are all off to bed. Tomorrow promises more hiking in a new park, Rincon de la Vieja (Corner of the old woman) where Tyler has been promoted to tour guide status as the park is new to our tour director. He is taking his role very seriously and spent quite some time doing more research tonight...

All my best - Judy

Day 7 - Monteverde to Guanacaste... I love the bus...

What a long day... We started early at 5 am with a bird walk with Alvaro, our guide. The first half hour or so was not too bird filled and I thought that I might have a mutiny on my hands soon with all the grumpy and sleepy faces. But, as the birds warmed up so did we and the hike around the area was a great success. We saw the Magenta-throated Woodstar (a tiny, tiny hummingbird), loads of Emerald Toucanets (yippee!!), A Black Guan (a huge turkey-like bird), a Blue-crowned Motmot, Short-billed Pigeons, Great-tailed Grackles, Brown Jays, Varigated Squirrels and more... it was a good time and a good walk up a big hill to start our day.

After breakfast we were on the bus for a long ride down the mountains to the west. We did see Black Spiny Tailed Iguanas and David saw a snake that he identified later (sorry I don´t have the name right now). I´d like to saw the ride was great but really it was just long. I took pictures of the crew sleeping our day away and making up for the rest we didn´t get during the bird walk.

We stopped for lunch at a place on the Panamerican Highway (Central America Highway 1) which is fortunately paved and in good shape right now. At our lunch stop there were amazing animals that the owners keep including 4 Scarlet Macaws (native to SW CR), two Blue and Yellow Macaws (from Brazil) and deer that they apparently keep for meat as they were loading a dead one onto the trunk while we were there (or maybe that was lunch?).

Back on the road for about 1.5 hours we finally arrived at our hotel and settled in with more space that we have had, most are in rooms of two for the first time. The kids played a heated game of girls (33) against boys (5) pool basketball. You can guess the girls won the game but I wasn´t under the impression that the boys were interested in the score.

Today being Easter Sunday and this being Latin America the thing to do tonight was go to mass in the village. All of us went to be a part of this religious and cultural experience and I think that everyone enjoyed really being among the people. Mass in Spanish is remarkably similar to English and some of us were able to follow along decently.

After we returned we were all truly beat and went off to bed in anticipation of the next day at the beach.

More to come... Judy

Day 6 - Monteverde fantastic

Again, I must apologize that this took so long. I´ll see how much I can get in tonight.

Our first full day in Monteverde was amazing and incredibly filled with adventures. We started our day with a visit to The Children´s Eternal Cloudforest Reserve where we hiked for about two hours. The cloudforest is cooler than anywhere else we have been and our hiking was pleasant with many lovely mountain vista views. We walked quietly through the forest, eyes and ears alert to all around us... and it paid off. Soon enough we saw an Orange-bellied Trogon, a truly spectacular bird, perched on a branch right next to the trail. And then we heard the Three-wattled Bellbird, a truly distinctive sound similar to a gate squeaking open. Dan was able to play the call for us on his phone where he had the recording for his bird presentation. The bird seemed interested in having a conversation with Dan´s phone so we were able to get a look at it and listen to it for a long time.

We continued on our hike and stopped at two outstanding overlooks, tried to get a view of the Brown Jay (very common in Monteverde) and did eventually get a look at a beautiful Euphonia. Blue, green, yellow and positively delightful the bird waited for us all to have a good look. We took more data here so that we are able to specifically define the differences in climate we feel from Tortuguero. Sure enough, it is cooler and less humid.

After our hike we were off to the zipline. I really wish I could upload pictures right now so that you could see the looks of excitement on all our faces captured by Bob Ulrich as the kids zoomed along through the canopy. We had a great time and I hope to add the student comments I collected about the trip soon so that you can feel the enthusiasm they all had for this experience. Many of us also did a short rappel and jumped off the ¨Tarzan Swing¨, a 50 foot drop from a platform that leaves you swinging through the canopy. I swore I would never do that again after last year (I was petrified), but in the end I couldn´t refuse the requests from the students to jump. I am such a pushover.

We had lunch at the hotel and packed up to go the the local high school where we were a part of a tree-planting project. Each of us planted a tree near the school in a forest that is currently dominated by cipress, a non-native species that outcompetes the local plants by secreting some secondary defense compound in the area around it. I was thrilled that we were able to plant a tree and rather excited that it all tied into ecological concepts to neatly.

We left the high school a little muddier and drove to Monteverde Centro to visit the coffee packing shop (i.e. your souvenirs) and the CASEM Coop a remarkable place where local women are able to sell their artwork and crafts for a fair price that goes directly to the artist. It was really my dream to visit there again (the coffee is great) and I´m glad the students were able to experience the coop and give them a little business that does so much good.

We just didn´t waste a minute today. We were back at the hotel, changed and on the bus for a night walk so fast I had to run. On our night walk we saw several sleeping birds including Brown Jays and a Swainson´s Thrush. We also saw amazing glowing insects, remarkably huge spiders (including an Orange-kneed Tarantula), leaf cutter ants, a huge hollow strangler fig, various katydids, a deadly night shade flower (which smells amazing) and the clearest view of the stars I´ve seen in ages.

All in all, this day was just amazing and we were all truly exhausted... as I write this it hasn´t really worn off. Hope you all are rested and warm back home.

Judy

Day 5 - Fortuna - Monteverde/Santa Elena

Our hotel has been without internet until this moment, I apologize for my absence! I also can not add pictures right now, but I hope to tonight or tomorrow.

And so our day of travel was a bit exhausting but filled with highlights. We left Fortuna early and were a little disappointed to not be able to see the Arenal Volcano as was covered in clouds. We began a beautiful drive around Lake Arenal, a man made lake that produces a large amount of hydropower for the country. During our drive John told us all about power generation in Costa Rica and how the vast majority of it is remnewable. They use a lot of hydropower, some wind and a fair bit of geothermal energy generated from the volcanically active region. We were also able to see a vast wind farm on the shores of the lake.

We made a stop in the mountain village of Tiluran for a snack and bathroom break. Just as we emerged from the bus we were fortunate enough to view a Good Friday ¨parade¨. The village walks through town going through the stations of the cross as it stops along the way. There are people dressed as Jesus, carrying a cross, Mary, Mary Magdalene, shephards, children that appeared to be wearing alter boy type clothing and so much more. My limited Spanish prevents me from understanding more but suffice to say it was a great opportunity to experience the culture.

We continued on the bus to Cabaceras Nuboso, or the Cloud School, not a school of meterology but an elementary school that is in the cloud forest. There the students were able to meet the 21 kids that attend the very, very basic school. The children sang the Costa Rican National Anthem and did several beautiful traditional dances for us. It was a very touching experience for our students to see these bright, energetic children that were so happy we were at their school especially when the school was so bare. Coming here makes us all thankful for the amazing facilities we have and more conscious of how difficult it is in other places. The students are already talking about raising money for this tiny, one room school.

We continued on to our hotel in Santa Elena, a town in the cloudforest near Monteverde Reserve. We changed quickly and headed out to go on a horseback ride through the forest. What a great time we all had! Some of the students had never been on a horse before and they were elated by the experience. There were a lot of laughs and smiles as we rode through the stunning scenery.

That afternoon we visited town where we saw another Good Friday service and procession and had local cheese and coffee. Later we were off the see the Ranario, a local frog zoo. We had a gret time there and learned a lot about the local amphibians.

I´m sorry to end abruptly and with a whole day not yet entered, but the bus is leaving to take us to a Butterfly Garden andInsectarium before we continue on our drive to the Pacific in Guanacaste Province. Thank you for your comments, we all appreciate them so much.

Day 4 - Tortuguero - Fortuna

It was with heavy hearts that we loaded up the boat this morning to leave Tortuguero. We had rose early again to test water samples from the canal, had a great breakfast and a night of well deserved rest by the time we had to say goodbye to this remarkable place.

One more long boat ride where we saw many more birds (including a King Vulture and a beautiful Osprey) and we were back at the boat dock filing in the bus. This was a day of travel and we take our travel seriously. We really loved our boat driver, who is deaf and perhaps as a result spots everything. Katie has been practicing her sign language with him and serving as our translator (how cool!).

We were on the road for a short while before we stopped to view a banana packing facility. This being the week before Easter the plant was closed so we couldn't see it in action. However, the advantage to seeing an unmanned facility is that we were able to get up close with the plants and view the conveyor belts that carry bananas in from the fields up close. A nice stop where we also say a Scarlet-Rumped Tanager.

Back on the bus for a bumpy, bumpy ride down the gravel roads for quite a while before we made it on to pavement again (what a relief). Then we were on the road for another age before we stopped for a 2pm lunch in Sarapiqui. The food was great - I'll try to upload a picture of our lunch.

We still had miles (or rather kilometers) to go so we were in the bus again until about 4:45pm when we arrived at Baldi Hot Springs outside of La Fortuna. This is a developed hot springs that is filled with natural hot spring water that is heated deep in the Earth in this highly volcanic region that boasts the second most active volcano in the world, Arenal.

The hot springs are of varying temperatures of fabulous and after our quick hot springs tutorial courtesy of David we were off to soak. All was well until Joey came jogging up looking for me to tell me that David had split his chin open on the water slide. I don't think I have recovered from the shock yet. After much hemming, hawing and inspecting his chin Mr. Ulrich (the nurse) and Maggie (another adult leader and former pediatrician) used butterfly closures to seal up the clean split. He really is fine but will have to keep his chin dry until it heals. I'll try and get a picture of the carnage tomorrow.

After some time recovering from the ordeal in the hot springs we were off to our hotel for the night where Mackenzie promptly fell and skinned her knee pretty well. She is a tough girl and says it doesn't hurt at all. At any rate, I am starting to feel like we are a little accident prone. Add to that Meg who is constantly tripping or like today watching as something falls onto her head from the overhead compartment and we are looking a little rough. Nothing a little rest won't cure.

On that note I am exhausted and must go get some sleep. We are all thinking of you and the weather at home; I wish we could have brought you with us. I should be able to update daily now, tomorrow may be another late entry. All the best and keep the comments coming...

Judy

Day 3 - Tortuguero extreme

If you thought that yesterday was packed, today was twice as full.

After coffee and cookies we climbed in boats at 6am to tour the canals of Tortuguero National Park in search of wildlife. We saw:

Howler Monkey
Anhinga
Green-backed Heron
Bare-throated Tiger Heron
Rufescent Tiger Heron
Little Blue Heron
Boat-Billed Heron
Northern Jacana
Keel-billed (or Rainbow) Toucan
Collared Aracari
Green Iguana
Spectacled Caiman
Emerald Basalisk
Mealy Parrot
Red-lored Parrot
Montezuma Oropendola
Short-billed Pigeon

After a quick breakfast we left for a hike in the pouring rain. (It was AWESOME!!!!) We literally soaked up the rainforest experience, down to the mud ground into our socks. Meg nearly had her boot sucked off her foot by mud several times, Mackenzie took a fall in the mud and Brittany was bit by a bullet ant (which is a strong bite, she was a real trooper and is totally fine).

Hike list:
Fer-de Lance (The Lancehead Viper, Bothrops asper) (Which David pursued extremely zealously… launching himself right at the snake to get a good video of it!!!!!)
Bullet ant
Blue jean frog
Monkey Comb (a tree)
Walking Palm
Amazing Daddy Long Legs
Termites
(Unidentified lizard)

After our hike we cleaned up, ate lunch and played a game with the other group we are traveling with. I think the kids enjoyed it and we seem to know each other better.

In the late afternoon we got down to business taking soil, weather, canopy and forest classification data. I will try to update this with one of the students’ data later. Later on we had some free time and saw so much more…

Late afternoon:
Summer Tanager
Spider Monkey
Pygmy Rainfrog
Freshwater Crab
Golden Orb Spider
Glass frog
Flowers at the Samoa Lodge

At 5:30 there was a Latin dance party hosted by Sylvia, the leader of the other group who teaches Spanish and is from Columbia. There were some truly priceless moments that were caught on film, I’ll add them ASAP.

At 9:30 tonight we took a trip to the beach to try to find sea turtles… I wrote this when I returned, exhausted at 1am.

Tonight has been one of the most amazing nights of my life, I mean this whole-heartedly. We hiked on the beach for 3 hours looking for sea turtles and for the first time in my life we saw one. A Leatherback Sea Turtle laying her eggs on the beach in Tortuguero National Park. The Leatherback is highly endangered, extraordinarily enormous and beyond remarkable to see. Watching her bury her eggs and walk back to the ocean was one of the most moving experiences of my life. Beyond my own feelings, the students were touched, crying and speechless. Although it was only by chance that we saw her and I can never guarantee more students will have this opportunity I feel that for these 13 young people this experience alone makes the efforts to offer this class worthwhile.

I truly feel at this moment that my existence on this Earth is justified because I have helped students see this. If I have done nothing else of value, I have brought them to this place, this time, this moment.

Because we were in the National Park and the turtles are confused and disrupted by lights we were not allowed to video or photograph the turtles at all. In fact, we were not even allowed to bring our cameras with Theus into the park. Because of this, what follows are the accounts, comments and thoughts of the students in description of this once in a lifetime experience.

In all honesty, I didn't expect to see a sea turtle on our two hour walk along the beach of Tortuguero National Park. I knew that regardless it would be a great experience, but possibly just a hot walk on a long beach. When we came upon the red lights of the CCC’s researchers, I had a feeling of excitement and hope that our goal of seeing a sea turtle laying eggs would be accomplished. After pleading with the scientists we were finally able to witness the elegance and beauty of the amazing Leatherback Sea Turtle. We watched as the volunteers took measurements and tagged their first find of the season. We all sat in awe as the magnificent creature buried its recently laid eggs and began it’s journey back to the waters from which it came. Seeing this animal was an incredible event in our journey through Costa Rica and I know that I will never forget it.
-Marc Case-

The chances one in a million, the sights indescribable, the experience priceless. It started with a boat ride at 10:00 pm from Samoa Lodge to Tortuguero National Park. The boat ride was quick and a little wet thanks to Mrs. Sudomir. When we arrived on shore we were told the rules of the walk; no flashlights, no cameras or video cameras, and single file lines when told so by the tour guide Mauricio. Walking through the little town of Tortuguero we were told that the conditions were in our favor, but the chances were slim. It was a breezy overcast night with the moon hidden behind the clouds. The beach was beautiful with the black volcanic sand and the breeze off the Caribbean Ocean. The walk started off with much excitement for me. I had seen turtles hatch in Florida a few years ago, and was dying to see a female laying eggs. We walked down the beach for what seemed like a couple miles. About an hour into the walk I saw a few red lights in the distance which got me excited. As we got closer I could make out a few people huddling around what looked like a huge rock. When we got close enough to the action we were stopped by members of the CCC. They did not want us to see the turtles for what ever reason. Mauricio and a few of the members of the CCC were talking to each other but they talked too fast for me to translate. It may have had to due with the fact that we were kids. Mauricio convinced them to let us see the marvelous sight. The female had just finished laying her eggs and began to cover the nest back up. The sight was unimaginable and I did not expect to see a Leatherback turtle. It is truly something I will remember for the rest of my life.

-David Doria



Last night when we first started walking on the beach I was very excited. I was like “ this is going to be sweet walking on the beach at night looking for turtles,
Sweet!” Then after about ten minutes I was saying “ I paid for this?” I kept thinking we were going to walk all night, and not be able to see anything!! I also thought that my feet were definitely going to be bleeding. After walking for what seemed like three hours, we stopped to take a break and that was when we saw the red lights. Just about two minutes from where we had stopped there was a group of CCC staff and volunteers. They were all around a Leatherback turtle who had just finished laying her eggs. So after some persuading they allowed our group to take a closer look. We got up right behind her and watched her as she covered her nest up. Then they tagged and measured her. By this point we were all pretty quiet and in shock. We could not believe we actually got to see a turtle. After we watched her swim back into the ocean we started walking back and again there I was talking to myself saying this time “that was sweet, totally worth the money and the fifty hour walk”.
-Meg Sullivan

Day 2 - San Jose - Tortuguero

I must begin for apologizing for the lengthy absence of our blog. After our arrival in Tortuguero I found that I would be unable to post to the site while we are here. That said, I hope you are hungry for news of us.

Wow, what a day for our first full one in Costa Rica. It all started at 5am, we were showered, packed and in the lobby at 5:45 am, had breakfast and left the city by 6:30 am.

We passed through some truly outstanding scenery in Braulio Carrillo National Park. The mountains were cloud enshrouded, lush with vegetation and filled with tiny waterfalls and streams around every bend. We noted the enormous, durable “Poorman’s Umbrella” plant that grows in the highlands all over the side of the road, the beautiful mountain Impatiens in full flower and I even spotted a Black Guan! We passed over the Rio Sucio (“dirty river”) where two rivers come together. One is mountain drainage that is very clear; the other is volcanic drainage that is very muddy. Their confluence is truly striking and we heard many “oooos” and “ahhhs” from the students at this glorious site.

After some time in the mountains we emerged into the tropical lowlands and made several remarkable stops. The first stop was to view Montezuma Oropendolas nesting together in their amazing woven hanging baskets in the trees. We also saw Great Kiskadees, a flycatcher, on the power lines there. Both are beautiful birds and ones that we had studied before arriving. I was just thrilled that the students could identify them.

Our next stop was absolutely fantastic; our driver spotted three 3-Toed Tree Sloths in a Cecropia tree. I was so proud that the students could identify not only the animal but also the tree it inhabits. The sloths were so cooperative, seemingly posing for the camera and far more active than I have seen then before.

We had one more very unexpected stop by the side of the road that turned out to be a real experience. There was a truck accident ahead of us and we were held up for a while in stand still traffic. Fortunately in Costa Rica all stops provide learning opportunities. Growing next to the road was a Cashew tree that was in full fruit. We were able to, with the help of the bus driver and friends, sample cashew fruits. It is both sweet and bitter and many of us found it made our mouths numb. I guess I didn’t really like it very much. As it turns out the plant is related to poision ivy in some way and won’t be in my smoothie any time soon.

At this same stop we saw termites in an impressive termite nest and a Sensitive plant. These plants are able to physically respond to touch by closing up their leaflets as a defense mechanism. What a great spot by Robb, one of the adults from the Rhode Island group. Check out the video of this incredible plant.

Shortly after the traffic started rolling we made our way to a lovely butterfly garden and second breakfast (yeah!!). At the garden we were able to see so many amazing flowers that our plant species list is overflowing. We also saw Morpho butterflies in the garden and a chrysalis hatchery where some were emerging right then. Possibly most exciting were the Blue Jean Frogs that are all over the garden. At the restaurant they also had a beautiful Mealy Parrot, roosters and a Guinea chicken that was very, very nervy.

On our way to catch the boat to Tortuguero we saw a Scarlet-Rumped Tanager which I am told has been renamed Passerini’s Tanager. Crazy ornithologists and their name changes. We made one more stop and while the boat was loaded we picked up snacks and drank the juice of fresh cold coconuts right out of the coconut. For one dollar the vendor will use a machete to cut off the top and supply you with a straw. What fun.

We climbed on for a long boat ride to Samoa Lodge. On the ride we saw Black-necked Stilts, Snowy Egrets, Anhingas, Social Flycathers, Turkey Vultures, Black vultures, amazing floating plants and outstanding landscapes of dense vegetation. The boat ride left us all sapped of energy but fortunately for us the cold juice drinks were waiting at the lodge. We settled in, took a dip in the pool and headed into town to see Tortuguero Village.

We all walked together through the village, which is small, isolated and comparatively poor to the affluent area of San Jose we left this morning. We headed out to the beach and took a long walk north in the surf. There is no swimming allowed here as the beach has a serious rip tide and is patrolled by shark searching for turtle meat that might just settle for GlenOak student. So, we just got our feet wet.

On the beach we saw marked turtle nests that are mapped and tracked by the Caribbean Conservation Corps, a non-profit organization that studies and preserves turtles. We stopped in their museum and watched a turtle conservation film. We picked up our boat ride back to the lodge and on the way added a few more sites: White-faced Capuchin Monkey, Howler Monkey, Osprey and a Little Hermit Hummingbird. I was a little overly enthusiastic about calling out to the howler (the students think my imitation of the monkey call is a riot); I now sound like Kathleen Turner and can hardly talk. Amusing the students does apparently have a price.

After we returned to the hotel Tyler knocked on my door excitedly to tell me that, “David caught a turtle”! Needless to say, I got moving right away. What follows is David’s account of the great capture.

“It all started as Marc, Tyler, and I were headed to the pool. When crossing the bridge, we spotted a turtle in the stream. Having a love for turtles, I wanted to examine it closer. Tyler remained on the bridge as a spotter as Marc and I walked to the stream’s edge. Seeing that the turtle was in the middle of the stream, I waited patiently to see where it would go. For some reason it headed towards the bank where Marc and I were standing. As it swam closer and closer, I got more interested and wanted to capture it. It swam right up to the bank and I knew it was the perfect time to catch it. With excitement pumping through my blood I reached my hand into the water and grabbed him, but he swam away. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by, so I felt around for it and grabbed him. I pulled him out of the water and ran to Mrs. Sudomir to show her. We identified it and then took it around to show everyone else. It was something that I will remember for the rest of my life.”

The turtle was a White-lipped Mud Turtle, and David has earned the name “Turtle Catcher” from the students. This very impressive catch taught me to keep my eye on David who seems to have no reservations about grabbing any animal within his reach. What he calls feeling around for the turtle was more like an unrestrained drive into a muddy tropical stream, hand and foot first.

After some rest and time off we had a dinner of beet and potato salad, rolls, rice, vegetables and chicken. After dinner we caught up with our presentations, Tyler teaching us about Tortuguero National Park and David presenting the Caribbean Conservation Corps.

On our first evening in Tortuguero we broke into 4 groups and patrolled the gardens of the hotel in search of night animals. We saw many fascinating spiders, leaf-cutter ants and quite a variety of frogs. Bufo marinus, the marine toad, the Pygmy Rainfrog, Fitzinger’s Rainfrog, the Smoky Jungle Frog and another Rainfrog. We had a great time hiking around at night.

What an amazing day in Costa Rica. I can’t wait to see what Tortuguero brings us tomorrow.

Day One

Nearing the end of our first day with just a few minutes to check in with all of you.  The day has been long and we are all tired.  Marc made our flight, thanks to nothing short of a driving miracle on the part of his parents. 

We all arrived at about noon to stand in the longest, hottest, most humid customs line ever. A lot of sweat and a fair few minutes later we were on the bus with the other group we are traveling with. They are a group of 25 girls and 4 adults from Rhode Island and everyone seems to be getting along very well. 

A short bus ride later and we arrived at our hotel where we settled in, took a dip in the pool, napped, drank a lot of water and generally tried to make ourselves feel human again. Later this afternoon we walked down to a local supermarket to try some Tico food. We sampled Pineapple and Coconut juices, fruit punch, fresh fruits, plantain chips, yucca chips, local tortilla chips, pejibaye (a tasty starchy fruit), chocolate covered coffee beans and more.

We enjoyed sharing our snacks while Jessica gave us a nice introduction to San Jose facts. Since, the students took on the mission of photographing tropical plants around the gardens that we are going to identify very soon. We have dinner at 8pm (10 pm at home), a presentation by Marc on Braulio Carillo National Park, a presentation by Rachel on banana plantations and a little time together to work on our journals. 

Tomorrow will start very early at 5am and we will be on the road to Tortuguero before we know it. I'll try to get back with all of you tomorrow night, but Tortuguero is by far the most remote place we go and I am not certain the connection will be very fast. Hope you are all enjoying hearing from us. 

All the best,

Judy

Well, we are at the gate waiting to board our flight to Atlanta. At least, almost all of us are. Marc forgot his passport and we are crossing our fingers that his Mom makes it here in time for him to get on the flight. I am a nervous wreck about this, I really hope he makes it. If he doesn't we will fly separate and meet up with him in Costa Rica, but I don't like that idea at all. 

Everyone is excited, talking, checking their gear, listening to ipods. We can't wait to get there but we are all hoping we get there at the same time as Marc!

Hello to all my students back home, be nice to my substitute and have a great week. You'll be hearing more from me really soon.

6 days left in Ohio

In one week we will have been in Costa Rica for about 6 hours. How very exciting! The storm this weekend reminded me why I am looking forward to flying out on Monday. Here's hoping the weather cooperates and we get out of Cleveland on time.