The Long Wet Adventure...

(this is a long blog, please use it as an intermittent study break)

I am back in Monteverde now after a 2 week long class field trip that took me all along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. The educational theme for this trip was food production, and although it did have a large focus on food, I think it should have just been called the “Long Wet Adventure.” Just to clarify, it didn’t really even rain… so what them am I talking about?

We started out on Sunday the 11^th of April heading north to Nicaragua and the town of El Castillo. But there are minimal roads in that NE part of Costa Rica so of course we decided to take a boat. We floated down the San Carlos River (crossing into Nicaragua along the way) to Lake Nicaragua (the same lake that holds a double volcano island, remember?). We checked into immigration along the shore there and then we were off again by boat down the Rio San Juan.

This is the immigration dock... just pull right up and check in.

This was the beautiful sunset as we first got into El Castillo by boat.

The first morning was very foggy, especially down by the river, you can barely see across.

This is the fort and town on either side... looking from the far side of the rapids.

El Castillo is a small town located around a historic Spanish fort that protected the Rio San Juan and Lake Nicaragua from pirates. I liked El Castillo because there were zero cars… I counted. It had narrow street and quaint houses along the river, all built up on posts. The fort was also pretty sweet. Sitting up on top of the bluff it had the perfect vantage point for both up river and down river defense. I am guessing it would be impossible to get past, not to mention the rapids along the river at the base of the fort that you have to be very careful to navigate. I can see a boat providing great slow moving target practice.

I have you in my sights now... ready... aim... shoot a picture.

Down river we found our first swimming hole. I can’t remember how many times we went there as a group but I am thinking I was there three times overall in just a few short days. One of those times was for some night swimming which is kind of creepy when you know that there are crocodiles downriver.

We saw this little guy in a national park near El Castillo.

Even thought El Castillo was a wonderful little town, we did have to leave… of course by boat, but not before we went to the nearby protected area to check out some native flora and fauna, as well as talking to a few people about the history of Nicaragua and especially the Rio San Juan, which was once proposed to be what is now the Panama Canal.

Our next stop after a long boat ride back to C.R. was an organic Dole pineapple plantation. I don’t have much to say about this other than it definitely reminded me of the Midwest.

It isn’t that hard to substitute in your mind corn in for pineapple. But we did get to go on a hayrack ride through the farm and see the production plant. Dole doesn’t have the best practices, but they are trying to decrease environmental degradation thank goodness.

Then we stayed at a place called “Giovanni’s Lodge” for 3 days in the middle of nowhere. In fact we had to travel by tractor just to get there. Giovanni owns this lodge of course. He is a quite, environmentally minded Tico who has decided to put his land into forestry and reforestation instead of producing crops on it. Here is the main lodge we stayed in… the kitchen living area is the dirt first floor, and then there was space for all 16 of us upstairs in open bunkhouses. We brought our own mosquito nets thank goodness.

On Giovanni’s farm is where we found our second swimming hole.

This was even better than the previous because it was cool and refreshing. We did find a ledge to jump from and made a rope swing to drop into a deep (12’) pool. Giovanni’s place was gorgeous.

Kevin and I have been playing Frisbee a lot this trip and the entire time while in Costa Rica. He brought down an official Ultimate Frisbee Disc from the states. The problem is that we continually find every post, tree, wall, etc. to hit (this is not on purpose). Thus after two months of abuse this Frisbee decided to express its pain by means of a growing crack along one edge. We tried to patch it with Duck Tape before we knew it, this crack was over 2 inches long and was threatening this frisbee’s stability. So what do you do about that?

Kevin and I had to begin surgery. So while a Giovanni’s we took some frayed nylon rope and a lighter and began to weld the crack back together. Surprisingly it worked, and although it looks darn ugly I think we did a good job.

It worked that is until we were playing with it a day later in the water and it busted wide open again. Fortunately it still flies straight, although not as far, so we are not out of luck… but we are looking for a replacement. You would think that C.R. might have a Frisbee somewhere, but after checking in over 10 sporting goods stores, and elsewhere, even in San Jose (the capital), we have not found anything close.

Ok back to the trip now… we did have to leave Giovanni’s as well, although we didn’t want to. Our next stop you already know about, Cahuitas, a beach and protected National Park, with coral reefs. This was our third swimming hole. Check the previous blog for more about this. I did want to mention though, a couple of the animals we saw.

Like this viper… I guess it is pretty dangerous.

Oh yes and there was a sloth that climbed through our restaurant as we were waiting for our food. No joke… it wasn’t even staged. It just entered in one side and out the other. I guess things like that just happen around here.

After Cahuitas, we headed to the border of Panama and Costa Rica… our final destination… Yorkin, an BriBri indigenous community up in the Talamanca Mountain Range that stretches across the international border. But of course we had to go by boat. Not just any boat either… we went by dugout canoes with little outboard motors on the back.

You could say this journey was perilous, and I wasn’t even sure if we were going to make it, since we had to go up rapids in this very tippy canoe. At times we were having to jump out to be able to push the canoe up the rapids or across a shallow gravel bar. But after an hour or two we found ourselves debarking and hiking along the river. We passed the public schools (that serve both Costa Rican and Panamanian children) and some beautiful huts. Our lodge/hut barely had enough beds for all of us, but it was very cozy and once again there were mosquito nets.

Do you like this sink? I do. Everything there is made of wood or stone, very vernacular!

This community doesn’t have cars either, nor roads. So we found ourselves winding along on paths through the Cacao mixed agro forestry plantations. Below is the main social gathering area that is organized by a local women’s cooperative called “Stibrawpa.”

So who reading this likes Chocolate? Of course everyone likes chocolate. But where does chocolate come from. Well the Talamanca region of Central America is a good place to look. We learned all about Cacao production from growing it on the tree, harvesting it from the pods, crushing the pods, sifting the shaft out, and then we even got to grid/press our own cacao.

Yes I keep saying cacao, which is also known as cocoa when we cook with it in the states. Chocolate is sweetened cacao. And my goodness, when you see it come from the tree all the way to your plate it is the most delicious thing you may ever taste. Many of you know me to be a hot chocolate lover… so guess what? I am already declaring an official organic, BriBri hot chocolate party in May when return to Ames, so get your mugs and taste buds ready… I bought a bunch of cacao to share!

Yorkin is also where we found our fourth, last and best swimming hole. It was along the Rio Skuy, the most refreshing and inviting river I have ever had the opportunity to swim in. I think after 3 days in Yorkin I was in that river on average twice a day. There were swimming holes, ledges to jump from and rapids that felt like a cold massaging Jacuzzi. This is where my toe-ed shoes came in handy, because the river was so rocky. With a thick sole, I was able to swim everywhere and even go rapids surfing and body kayaking down a kilometer long stretch of river.

I did not ever want to leave Yorkin, and I am already planning my return upriver, where life still echoes the sound of rushing, crisp and cool mountain water.

On Friday we navigate the dugouts, regretfully but safely back down the rapids and jumped back into the bus to head to San Jose. Along the way we stopped a Dole Banana plantation, which was pretty ugly… I am glad that I don’t like to eat bananas much. The harvesting and processing is pretty interesting though. There are overhead tracks that run into all the fields for bananas, similar to a hanging railroad (coincidence, the first banana plantations in C.R. were designed and built by a railroad engineer who built C.R.’s first railroad). These over head tracks keep the bananas form being bruised in transit.

The change from and indigenous BriBri community to a hotel in San Jose was quite a shock, although I will not complain about taking a hot shower and sleeping in a comfortable bed. This change helped me to appreciate what modern society provides, although I am not sure if I really need everything that modernity brings… just a thought for you to ponder on.

This was one of our lunch stops... pizza on the side of the road

This was a extraordinary view that we had from our 3^rd floor room. The National Theatre is at the left. Oh, I also went hammock shopping again, at my favorite hammock market… I even found new, smaller, making camping sized hammock.

The bus ride back to Monteverde on Saturday was pretty quite. I am thinking that we all are happy to return, but miss the extraordinary places we have been over the last 2 weeks. It was a very long and pleasantly wet trip. Returning to Monteverde also means that we have less than a month before we are done here in C.R.

YIKES!!!

I pray that all you students who are beginning with your dead weeks and finals weeks are graces with peace and a comprehensive understanding of the semester’s materials. I hope you can use this blog as a nice break from studying. If you are going to be in Ames over the summer, let me know… I look forward to hanging out once I am back.

Peace and Blessings!

Just so you know...

Flashing back to the 10th of April....

My shoes and toes have been reunited once more… but not without a fight. A fight that that took me from 1400m elevation all the way down to sea level and lasted 3.5 hours to complete (one way). The return, fortunately, was with assistance. Let me tell you about this grand rescue.

Starting at 7am, I went up to the Hotel Viandante to pick up a mountain bike. Then rode that down to the local farmer’s market to pick up some energy food for the trip… a delicious Banana/Rasin/ChocoChip bread loaf. So very good, as I figured out later. Then I hit the road, through Santa Elena and started down the long hill.

And as I said before, this hill is enormous. In fact it is a mountain range in the middle of Costa Rica. This trip would have been crazy even without the mountain, or maybe even more-so, just because 75% of the way down I did not have to pedal (thus reducing energy consumption). There were quite a few unexpected up hills though, and those were extremely hard because I am out of shape. The hardest and most exhausting part though was just the fact of having to stand up on the bike, and grip the handle bars while breaking for almost 3.5 hours straight. This was harder than any pedaling due to the shear need for endurance. I have always taken pride in my endurance, mostly during cross-country, but this was a serious test of skillful endurance in both mind and body.

This was one of the views on the way down... those are the tops of clouds falling over the Continental Divide up by Monteverde.

Here is one of the vistas from high on the mountain. You can see the gravel road snaking down, as well as the Gulf of Nicoya (my final destination) at the very back.

The gravel road down is pretty much a string of potholes that cut along ridgelines with steep drop offs and rocky embankments. Not to mention it is practically 1 lane, so all traffic had to deal with me. Not a very hospitable place for a biker. I went through the towns of Guacimal, Sarmiento, Colinas and Judas on my way to Punta Morales (were the shoes were left over 5 weeks before). I would like to clarify too though that these road offered me some of the most beautiful scenery and vistas yet on the trip… especially all the quaint little, no-name aldeas that I went through.

This is the soccer field in the town of Colinas. Anyone want to play... we might have to pick up a few cow pies first.

I also had to cross the Pan-american Highway too, at the town of Judas, and then the homestretch was a 13km sprint, on asphalt, to the biological station at Punta Morales. It was late morning by this time, and after dropping nearly 1400 meters in elevation, I realized that it is a lot hotter in the dry lowlands than up in the cloud forest. Who would have thought? I must confess that I did end up losing control and crashing the bike on this stretch, just from sheer exhaustion and heat rising from the black pavement.

But I did make it… after those 3.5 hours and probably 50+ kilometers (I don’t have a good scaled map), and one fall; to reunite with my toe-ed shoes. It was beautiful. We sat on the beach and ate lunch (I was very hungry, the shoes just sat there… on my feet). Then I dipped my front tire in the ocean. It was a glorious reunion!

Now, you are thinking to yourself, “if it took Cody 3.5 hrs. to get down to the beach, how in the world could he get back up the mountain in time for dinner?” We’ll here is the secret… I didn’t do it on my own. First of all, I was too darn tired and not crazy enough to attempt a climb after such a difficult descent. So I took the bus! Of course, public transport will take you anywhere down here… you just have to be patient. I waited at the bus stop for 3 hours for the bus to Monteverde, and then another 2 hour bus ride up the mountain, but it was well worth it. I would probably will be on the ascent up if I hadn’t taken the bus. So I cheated partly, but it was a realistic decision so I feel good about it. And yes the bus let me bring the rented bike to. I got home at 6 or so, exhausted. But then I had to get ready for the field trip departure at 7:30am on Sunday… oh what a life.

So, just so you know, the universe is back in balance. Peace and freedom to all your toes!

On the road again...

Jumping ahead to the last week and a half or so...

So I am back on the road again, and this time I have very little time to blog unfortunately. Also, I am having a hard time with my camera and batteries, so I will have to give you more pictures later. Right now I am working off of other peoples pictures, which are still really good so I hope you enjoy.

To start, we went to Nicaragua, took a boat ride of 3 hrs down the Rio San Juan (which was and still is a possible Trans-Oceanic canal route (like the Panama Canal), to the town of El Castillo. The Spanish built a fort here to control the river from English pirates in the 1600’s or something like that. Very remote, I mean where in the US do you have to travel 3 hrs by boat to get to a place? This was very cool, but no pictures to share yet, so I just wanted to mention it.

Then we re-entered Costa Rica and stayed a few nights at a private lodge in the middle of protected forest (remember I am in class this whole time). We could only access this place by means of 20 minute tractor ride… kind of different and ironically remote again. I liked this place a lot… picture coming soon.

So for the last couple of days I have been in Cahuitas, Costa Rica; a little seaside village on the Caribbean coast, right next to a national park call “Cahuitas.” This park is 90% coral reef, so guess what I did…

Of course I went snorkeling (for class) for the first time in my life. Oh and by the way... toe-ed shoes are great for snorkeling! Very fun. I saw many fish, including lion fish, and a sting ray. The water was very clear and warm. All in all it was a wonderful day in the pool.

We ate lunch on the beach and wen’t swimming too, and then did some hiking. I loved every last minute of it… and hope I can come back here again sometime. Any takers on joining me?

Here was our guide... a crazy Jamaican (though totally Costa Rican) man named Roberto.

Sorry for the lack of blog, I will try hard to get you more up later… especially for all of you who will be starting your studying for finals soon and want a reason to procrastinate.

Peace Be With All of You!

Rising to the Challenge...

At the encouragement of my mentor I set out off of the beaten path to a fabled treasure hidden deep in the wet forests of this Green Mountain.

Up along the ridge I strode, confident, prideful, yearning and strong… following an ancient lineage of explorers and lovers of Mother Nature herself. The path was barely marked by decomposing steps, composed of trees long ago fallen and sculpted into a wondrous earth and vegetated staircase. I can feel with each step my heart beginning to beat ever more steadily in time with the pace of the wild green yonder.

Along the top of the ridgeline I spy a sentinel of living tissue, and beyond that an even larger monolith tower above the rest of the forest dwellers. These trees, without match in size or cunningness tell the story of years gone by in their mangled and contorted forms.

I am here to conquer this dangerous creature of years gone by. I am here to make my identity known to all who dwell above and below. I am here to rise to the challenge. Scoping out my opponent… choosing a starting point of advance… I begin my climb.

The first few lengths of this battle are swift movements on my part to gain ground quickly. In defense, my opponent impedes the way with a sheer face of brute strength, smooth and impassable. A serious challenge is presented before me, immediately as I realize the impatience of my advance. With a better understanding and appreciation for this tree I attempt a new tactic that I have never tried. I enter. Passing through the womb of destruction and life I can see the last remnants of my opponent’s previous victim, now hardly recognizable but for the gaping wound that it has left behind. My presence here is not well felt so I pass quickly back into the daylight to find myself staring up at the backside, now made front, of my challenge.

Now, with great caution and respect for this life form, I climb; but not as I had before. My movements are deliberate, methodical and conscientious of my opponents every twitch. I must find in myself true strength of agility, determination and endurance if I am to rise to the skill level of this tree. I must appreciate that which it provides me, and give back its due honor, just as a warrior is expected.

With every last ounce of this newfound and true strength I lunge upward, finding myself amidst my opponent, not having conquered nor been defeated. We each hold the other in a tight grasp as if frozen for time itself. Neither of us breathes nor flinches; both of us standing in wonder and awe.

Then off in the distance, through the lush, green canopy, a whisper upon a wind stirs and flows toward us. As its cool air refreshes both of our bodies we relax and release our grip, knowing that the Master of all has entered the arena. With a sense of peace, love and justice the Master speaks to us of our misunderstood struggle. No longer do we see ourselves as opponents on a battlefield, but now two beloved creatures in communion with each other in the presence of our Master and Lord.

In great joy and peace I now realize now that I can return to those of my race with my head held high, not in pride or superficial strength, but with a new veneration for all beings around me, as well as a greater reverence for our Master. As I descend my once opponent, now companion, guides me and holds me close as a brother and friend to frolic in his branches. Touching the earth, I am safe at last in my own world, but also one in a united world of creatures. Back along the trail of old I journey, now as one of the ancients who has left a mark of kinship, oneness in spirit, hope and love.

I have risen to the challenge…

“the first climb of a fig” - Interactive Field Study, Cody LeClaire, 4.4.10