Livin’ La Carara Vida Loca,

I have been in Costa Rica now for four days after a surprisingly easy day of travel. I am currently at the Parque Nacional Carara at a service station that I am pretty sure is only used and taken care of by these annual Western Rica trips. So as you can guess when we arrived it was a bit shocking, we had to clear the rooms of the compound of tarantulas, frog, geckos, lizards, and other creatures before we could set up our cots, and beat the bugs and dust out of our overused under cared for mattresses. We have electricity and a few fans to combat the heat which at times can feel overwhelming, but it seems now I am starting to acclimate. We lack hot water, but we can take showers, but the rain preferable because it’s quite a bit warmer. It has rained everyday but it usually last no more than an hour probably less time, but when it does rain it pours. We are surrounded by the jungle where you can hear the bellow of howler monkeys, the buzz of cicadas, the call of frogs, and so many different bird sounds you cannot classify them with anyone noise. The bugs are everywhere they definitely own the forest, but I feel like we are living in harmony as long as we give up a little blood everyday. We have made many treks into the jungles and I have already seen many plants, insects, mammals, and birds of Costa Rica, but I know it is only the tip of the Iceberg. In the jungle you cannot help but be astounded almost every inch is covered by some sort of vegetation and the trees shoot into the sky harboring a whole new world of life. It’s a world full of niches and all of them are filled. The trees are covered with epiphytes (plants that grow on other trees), many of which are orchids, vines also hang everywhere it’s truly a spectacular place. It’s not only the naturaleza that is great about Costa Rica, but also the people everyone has been wonderful and even the Spanish they speak is more polite than the Spanish I learned in school referring to everyone with the reverence of Usted, disregarding the informal tu. We have not only been in Carara though we spent a day in a Hotel at San Jose which is what you would expect, but we spent a day at the University of Georgia campus near Monteverde. Here were excellent facilities compared to our compound, it seemed like high class safari lodging. The area is beautiful I saw some giant toads, a coatimundi, some white faced capuchin, and many birds, as well as the complex behavior of leaf cutter ants. I spend most days with at least one hike through the forest identifying birds, trees, plants, and whatever else we can find. After UGA we went the Monteverde private reserve an excellent park, where our wonderful guide Giovanni led us on a three hour hike introducing us to all of his “bebes” which were insects and birds he studied with a real love for the forest and animals, here you see the difference of a native guide compared to our gringo guide at UGA. We were lucky enough to see two Resplendent Quetzals, an endangered bird that is brilliantly colored (you should google it). There were also many humming birds buzzing around, and saw all kinds of bugs. This is a cloud forest so at times the clouds come down and touch the mountains creating a fog so thick you cannot see 8 feet in front of you according to Giovanni. This allows epiphytes to dominate this forest almost every inch of trees are covered; reminding me of the Hoh rainforest. After this we headed for Carara where I am now. Last night we had Salsa lessons that turned into an informal party on the veranda with pouring rain and thunder and lightning in the background. Today we went to the Tranopy where we rode a tram to the top of hill sighting toucans and sloth, then coming down the hill on series of 10 ziplines one of which reaches 30mph. At the bottom we had a wonderful meal and went to the serpentarium. That leads me to where I am now at the Carara Ranger station using their internet to blog, and resting before going to the Disco and putting my Salsa skills, or lack thereof, to use.

Con Mucho Gusto,
Atticus

(There are more photos on my facebook if you have such privileges)