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
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
5 comments:
Hi Judy:
Sorry about your camera; hope it mends, not least because this tropical biology narrative of yours is terrific and the pictures are a great bonus. Can't wait to tell Patrick about the Tarzan thing--his ropes course at school has a zip line, but alas, it overlooks Pine and Sheridan (White River Fish Market, if one knows where to look), not the rain forest!
Hello, Judy, Bob, and the Gang,
Ouch about the camera and phone. Hope they dry out OK. I am exhausted reading all of the activities. Seems like twice as much as last year! I have fond memories of the zip line. Did you caution the children to have a change of underwear in their backpacks?
Ah! Ocean and pool duty. Remember them well.
Just a few more days left. They seem to have gone by as quickly reading your blog as they did being there. Your attention to detail makes it all real for us in the tundra :-) Take care.
Mike
Judy - hope everything turns out ok with your camera and cell.
It's been wonderful reading your entries! It's very educational for those of us who are stuck here at home!
It was great talking to David last night - he sounded a bit tired...but that's good! You are really keeping all of them on their toes!
Enjoy the last few days in Costa Rica...and David, please stay away from the snakes!!
Love and miss you,
Mom
Tell Jessey (Notch) that i said hi and that i hope she's haveing a good time.
Emily
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