Strange Creatures
I have made my way back from the Pacific Coast into the center of Costa Rica. The climate up here is a lot nicer, and I like the view of the mountains and the light breeze. Yesterday I wore real shoes for the first time in weeks - before that it was just flip flops. Today I am wearing jeans again, which I had stashed away 5 weeks ago. After 5 weeks - change is good.
Right now I am sitting in the Intenet section of a B&B close to the airport, where I had to convince the owner to let me hook up my own laptop instead of using the archaic PI machines they use to provide internet access (often the problem here isn't as much in the connection speed, but rather lies in the fact that the computers can't handle running IE and Messenger at the same time).
A lot of things have happened since I last updated the blog. The time to go to Monteverde came and passed.... like so often you meet people and decide to alter your travel plans. I may have to come back to CR so that I can see the rain forest as well.
Also two of the more memorable moments I'll take away from Costa Ricahaveoccurredd over the last weeks as well:
Last week on Friday night we went to watch the giant turtles (leatherback turtles), which lay their eggs at the Playa Grande, just north of Tamarindo. There used to be dozens of turtles arriving every night during the right season, but apparently their number has become less and less so that today a tourist can consider himself happy if a turtle arrives during the night.
They don't let the tourists loose on the turtles without any preparation, so once you get there you either chose to follow a short presentation in Spanish that is supported by 15 year-old overhead projector slides, or you watch a fancy movie for the English speaking tourists. Of course we chose Spanish - and barely understood a word.
After that the fun starts. Waiting. And waiting a bit more. Since the park rangers have no idea when a turtle will show up, they have a few spotters on the beach that radio in when one shows up. But that can be at any time during the night. To cut the long story short, we were sitting there from about 9pm until 2am in the morning until a turtle decided to show up and lay some eggs. In a few buses we rushed to the right beach access and then marched in double file (like kindergarten) to the turtle. Apparently these (5-feet-long) beast are very sensitive to their surroundings - so you aren't allowed to take any pictures - with flash or without - but they don't really seem to mind 30 people standing behind them, looking up their butt, watching them dig a hole.
I have to admit - it was a fascinating event. I was probably most surprised by the precision with which the turtle could dig a deep hole in the sand. I'd want to hire one of them for my next sandcastle project. Once the hole is big enough the turtle pops about 30-40 eggs in there and closes the hole again. The hole thing doesn't take more than an hour. While I appreciate the effort the volunteers are doing in helping preserve the turtles, we couldn't help but mocking those that tried to help the turtle dig the hole. The turtle's been doing that for 1000s of years. I thought she'd do just fine without a guy with a flashlight behind them, moving away the loose sand.
The second spectacular encounter happened while diving offshore at the Catalinas. Diving here is definitely different than at the Great Barrier Reef. It turns out the whole thing out there is a little bit more dangerous, because there is a strong surge that pulls and pushes divers around quite a bit. I got caught in one of those surges once and pulled right from 40ft all the way up to the surface in front of the rocks. Not funny, but an adventure nonetheless. Also the visibility is significantly less - around 15ft is all there is to be had at most times.
What makes the diving here an exciting experience nevertheless is the chance of seeing big marine life quite often - and that's what happened to us on our second dive. A giant Manta Ray made his rounds directly above us. Looking up towards the surface, he was nothing but a giantsilhouettee the first time, slowly and majestic gliding through the water. When he passed the second time I had ascended a bit, so I was at about the same depth as he was - and it was simply amazing. He must have had a wingspan of at least 8ft, with the tip of his "wing" passing me by at arms reach. Had I extended my arms I could have touched him. But he was a bit too big, I didn't think it would have been a good idea...
4am tomorrow I'll make my way to the airport. The era of studying Spanish is over, now I have to start using it a lot more. I am amazed though, how much easier a lot of the conversations and readings have been since. A few months here and I should be in business of speaking Spanish....
Other things...
As good americans we have celebrated the superbowl where of course Seattle kicked some butt!
Tamarindo is entirely too touristy.
I need a bigger beach towel.
Costa Ricans don't believe in addresses. Instead they believe in directions from - sometimes obsolete - landmarks...
Right now I am sitting in the Intenet section of a B&B close to the airport, where I had to convince the owner to let me hook up my own laptop instead of using the archaic PI machines they use to provide internet access (often the problem here isn't as much in the connection speed, but rather lies in the fact that the computers can't handle running IE and Messenger at the same time).
A lot of things have happened since I last updated the blog. The time to go to Monteverde came and passed.... like so often you meet people and decide to alter your travel plans. I may have to come back to CR so that I can see the rain forest as well.
Also two of the more memorable moments I'll take away from Costa Ricahaveoccurredd over the last weeks as well:
Last week on Friday night we went to watch the giant turtles (leatherback turtles), which lay their eggs at the Playa Grande, just north of Tamarindo. There used to be dozens of turtles arriving every night during the right season, but apparently their number has become less and less so that today a tourist can consider himself happy if a turtle arrives during the night.
They don't let the tourists loose on the turtles without any preparation, so once you get there you either chose to follow a short presentation in Spanish that is supported by 15 year-old overhead projector slides, or you watch a fancy movie for the English speaking tourists. Of course we chose Spanish - and barely understood a word.
After that the fun starts. Waiting. And waiting a bit more. Since the park rangers have no idea when a turtle will show up, they have a few spotters on the beach that radio in when one shows up. But that can be at any time during the night. To cut the long story short, we were sitting there from about 9pm until 2am in the morning until a turtle decided to show up and lay some eggs. In a few buses we rushed to the right beach access and then marched in double file (like kindergarten) to the turtle. Apparently these (5-feet-long) beast are very sensitive to their surroundings - so you aren't allowed to take any pictures - with flash or without - but they don't really seem to mind 30 people standing behind them, looking up their butt, watching them dig a hole.
I have to admit - it was a fascinating event. I was probably most surprised by the precision with which the turtle could dig a deep hole in the sand. I'd want to hire one of them for my next sandcastle project. Once the hole is big enough the turtle pops about 30-40 eggs in there and closes the hole again. The hole thing doesn't take more than an hour. While I appreciate the effort the volunteers are doing in helping preserve the turtles, we couldn't help but mocking those that tried to help the turtle dig the hole. The turtle's been doing that for 1000s of years. I thought she'd do just fine without a guy with a flashlight behind them, moving away the loose sand.
The second spectacular encounter happened while diving offshore at the Catalinas. Diving here is definitely different than at the Great Barrier Reef. It turns out the whole thing out there is a little bit more dangerous, because there is a strong surge that pulls and pushes divers around quite a bit. I got caught in one of those surges once and pulled right from 40ft all the way up to the surface in front of the rocks. Not funny, but an adventure nonetheless. Also the visibility is significantly less - around 15ft is all there is to be had at most times.
What makes the diving here an exciting experience nevertheless is the chance of seeing big marine life quite often - and that's what happened to us on our second dive. A giant Manta Ray made his rounds directly above us. Looking up towards the surface, he was nothing but a giantsilhouettee the first time, slowly and majestic gliding through the water. When he passed the second time I had ascended a bit, so I was at about the same depth as he was - and it was simply amazing. He must have had a wingspan of at least 8ft, with the tip of his "wing" passing me by at arms reach. Had I extended my arms I could have touched him. But he was a bit too big, I didn't think it would have been a good idea...
4am tomorrow I'll make my way to the airport. The era of studying Spanish is over, now I have to start using it a lot more. I am amazed though, how much easier a lot of the conversations and readings have been since. A few months here and I should be in business of speaking Spanish....
Other things...
As good americans we have celebrated the superbowl where of course Seattle kicked some butt!
Tamarindo is entirely too touristy.
I need a bigger beach towel.
Costa Ricans don't believe in addresses. Instead they believe in directions from - sometimes obsolete - landmarks...
posted by Mark Peters @ 11:34 PM
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