Vistas of Playa Las Ventanas
Tranquilo in the hostel, Uvita
Crossing a mangrove on a sketchy concrete bridge
Playa Dominical
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
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Vistas of Playa Las Ventanas
Tranquilo in the hostel, Uvita Crossing a mangrove on a sketchy concrete bridgePlaya Dominical
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Dario, our host brother
Inside the cabina at the tica farm
¡Pájaros!
One of the waterfalls in Providencia
buena vista
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The little tica house in Providencia
Coffee: before & after
El pueblito de Providencia
Sunrise from our first cabin atop the hill
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A brief glimpse of life in Providencia
(Please note: story begins below, see previous posts. Also, internet is too slow and expensive for photos so you will have to wait)
After our first day hiking into Providencia, life became pretty good. We worked the next day on the school under construction which is a wood framed building from materials harvested in the area right next to the roaring stream. It´s a cool building, creatively built though certainly not up to the standards of construction that we´re used to. There is also a small bouldering wall inside the main room, and we had a good time climbing around on the handmade wooden holds that Eric and his daughter have made. Mostly our work over the next several days was mixing concrete with shovels on the ground. Not the most pleasant stuff in the world. Then we would build walls of rock and concrete in wooden forms. At least the days weren´t too long.
After one day of work, however, Saturday arrived, which is the day off for Eric and Ying because they are 7th Day Adventist. It was a good, long, tiring day. Most of the late morning & early afternoon we spent trying to boulder on this rock they dubbed the Puma Boulder. It was fun, although the routes were challenging. After a few hours we went to what´s called a Strangler Fig tree. It´s a type of tree that starts growing on another tree, eventually killing the original tree and continuing to grow more like a vine then a tree. The original tree dies and the network of the vine-like trunk stays alive and flourishes. When the original tree rots, the inside of the Strangler Fig is hollow. So picture a tree that is
The following week was more of the same, work on the school, eat good food, put up with the annoying quirks of our hosts, all in all content. After a little more than a week, we moved to another house, which was truly a special experience. Our new hosts were a Tico family who have owned a farm in Providencia for 30 years. They have coffee, grenadillas (a wierd fruit related to the Passion Flower vine), avocadoes, bananas, and a small veggie garden. We stayed for 5 or 6 nights with them, helping on the farm in the morning and walking an hour to the school to help out a bit in the afternoon. In those few days, our Spanish improved (because we were actually using it), we picked coffee one morning for several hours, weeded a flower garden another morning, and hiked up the mountain road to collect wood on a another morning. They also roast their own coffee in a metal bowl on their wood fire stove. The cabin we stayed in was rustic with a toilet, and the family was so wonderful. We may try to go back at some point, without the commitment to the school. But we shall see.
Our last day we woke up at 4 am, at 5 am started walking to the center, arriving at 6. We began our walk at dark and the duration provided us beautiful vistas of the dawn and the subsequent sunrise, arriving at our destination in full light. From there we rode in the back of truck with buckets of blackberries for an hour up the mountain to Ojo de Agua, where we caught the bus to San Isidro del General. After a few hours, we then took a bus to Dominical, a very chill beach town where the Pacific is warm, the sand hot, and there are more tourists than locals. It is very tranquilo and beautiful, but I must say it is a bit of a shock after being in a rural village with only Ticos and a few unique gringos. But swimming in the ocean is so wonderful, and so here we are for the next few days. Adios.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Onward from the Mountains to the Beach
We've been off the charts in the tiny village of Provedencia de Dota, nestled in the mountains of the Quetzales National Park, named after a fabulous scissor-tailed bird of wonder. This place is only accessible by hiking down a steep dirt road for 11 km or riding on the back of a fruit and vegetable delivery truck for an hour, both of which we did on separate occasions. Both have thier benefits and pains... for instance, sitting on buckets of blackberries at a 30 degree angle is not the most pleasant ride but we didn't have to hike with our backpacks for 4 hours, so that is a plus. Also, on the ride out this morning, a beautiful Quetzal bird graced us with its presence as it landed on a branch just above our heads.
Humming birds and calla lilles are out of control here, in a good way of course. I picked coffee beans for 6 hours one day and now have a whole new appreciation for delicious drink, especially after getting stung twice by a bizarre-featured caterpillar that was sneakily hidng under the leaves. All was fine, though, because the daughter of my host family rubbed a plant on it to soothe the sting.
The environment is so lush and orchids grow everywhere on decaying trees... every afternoon around 3 or so the clouds roll in from the pacific and its siesta time for the village. The air is obscured and the clouds are so thick as they roll past that you can taste them when you breathe in. It has been a magical adventure so far. Hopefully pictures tomorrow because now the afternoon is swiftly waning for us to catch a but to Dominical.
Adios, shannon
Humming birds and calla lilles are out of control here, in a good way of course. I picked coffee beans for 6 hours one day and now have a whole new appreciation for delicious drink, especially after getting stung twice by a bizarre-featured caterpillar that was sneakily hidng under the leaves. All was fine, though, because the daughter of my host family rubbed a plant on it to soothe the sting.
The environment is so lush and orchids grow everywhere on decaying trees... every afternoon around 3 or so the clouds roll in from the pacific and its siesta time for the village. The air is obscured and the clouds are so thick as they roll past that you can taste them when you breathe in. It has been a magical adventure so far. Hopefully pictures tomorrow because now the afternoon is swiftly waning for us to catch a but to Dominical.
Adios, shannon
finally out of the pueblito
¿Qué pasó con Michael y Shannon? Bueno, we arrived in Costa Rica January 6, shedding our layers of Chicago clothing to adjust to the San Jose wall of humidity. From the airport, we took a bus into the city, took a taxi to another bus station, and then took another bus to Cartago in order to flee the capital. Turns out Cartago is pretty ugly and uninteresting, so don´t go there. However, our experience was good and largely uneventful. We really went there as a place to adjust to being in a new country before we headed on to our primary destination, a supposed farm/school/climbing team in the middle of nowhere at which we planned to volunteer. We thought we could go to Cartago, and from there catch a bus heading in the direction of our destination. Well, of course there was not a bus, so we rode an early morning bus on the 8 of January back to San Jose, ate breakfast, took a taxi to an altogether different bus station, and from there hopped onto our desired bus by about 8:30 am. Bueno.
While riding the bus, I had to ask the driver to let us off at a place called Ojo de Agua, which is about halfway, basically a little rest stop on the highway, about 3000 meters elevation, next to Parque Nacional de los Quetzales. After an hour and a half on the bus, we get to Ojo de Agua. From there the idea is, according to directions provided by the host of the place to which we are going, we must walk about 11 km (the sign said 13 km, all in all is about 7 miles) down into the valley to a village called Providencia. And thus we do. It really was a beautiful walk, mostly downhill, with stunning views of steep green mountains and high elevation forests. Finally, we get to the bottom of the descent and start walking along a beautiful stream with boulders strewn throughout and callalilys growing along the bank. A gorgeous natural area indeed. And we continue on.
Finally we see a woman and a child, and so I ask, - ¿Donde está la casa de Eric? (pronounced Ehreek, Eric is the host). The answer is to continue to the center and then go up and to the right. Ok. So after another 1-2 km, we finally come to the center of Providencia, which consists of two small stores (tiendas), some houses, a school, a church, and (as a later found out) about 400 people in the whole village, which covers many km2. So again, I ask my question, this time to an older woman, - ¿Donde está la casa de Eric? - Va por esta calle arriba. (go up that road). Okay, so we go up. Then a couple young guys walking down the hill. I repeat my question. The answer: - más arriba. Then another guy, after walking a few more minutes, with the same answer: - más arriba. Then we see a little garden and think maybe this is the house. Of course it was not, but the owner pops his head up and so I repeat the question to him. His answer was: - más arriba and the third house on the right. Well at least we got a little more clarity that time. Third house on the right, no problem. Nearly another km later up the steep hill, we arrive at our destination, tired, hungry with no food, thirsty but with a bit of water left, and relieved. Only to find out that no one was home. ¡Qué pena!
And so we plop down onto the ground with our bags and wait. The location is beautiful, high mountains, basically a cloud forest. After sitting on the ground for about an hour, the clouds rolled in, and then a little bit of rain, so we took cover under the porch of the little cabin, and waited some more. Finally, after about another hour, some people show up. I had previously looked into another small cabin and saw some sleeping bags and backpacks, so I assumed that there must be some more volunteers here. When the people walked up, we met the 17 year old daughter of the hosts (Canadian) and two Americans with backpacks. Shortly thereafter we met the two other volunteers (also Americans) who had already been living there. In short, Shannon and I arrived on the same day as two other volunteers, altogether making six Americans volunteering for a Canadian family, staying on mountainside above the village of Providencia. I think weird is a word.
The hosts were apparently in a meeting, so the six of us took over the house (the daughter went off to some other town I think for the evening). The two people who had been there were in charge of making dinner, so we helped as well as we could, but it was a very awkward feeling to be cooking and eating dinner in a house of hosts who were not there and we had not yet met. After having eaten, the hosts finally show up, and of course had no idea we were there due to their lack of internet and phone connections. They were surprised, no doubt, but took it well. They had an idea we were coming but did not know when. Turns out they needed people anyway for trying to finish the construction of their school (more on that later). The hosts are an American turned Canadian Yukon naturalist guy who is also an obsessive rock and tree climber named Eric, and a Chinese turned Canadian former dental therapist woman who likes to cook named Ying. Their daughter is home schooled and loves to climb as well named Sierra, and they spend 6 months living in the Yukon and 6 months living in rural Costa Rica. Oh yeah, and they are strict 7th Day Adventist Christians, who do not partake of meat, alcohol, or caffeine of any sort. By the end of the first day, my mind was fairly blown.
While riding the bus, I had to ask the driver to let us off at a place called Ojo de Agua, which is about halfway, basically a little rest stop on the highway, about 3000 meters elevation, next to Parque Nacional de los Quetzales. After an hour and a half on the bus, we get to Ojo de Agua. From there the idea is, according to directions provided by the host of the place to which we are going, we must walk about 11 km (the sign said 13 km, all in all is about 7 miles) down into the valley to a village called Providencia. And thus we do. It really was a beautiful walk, mostly downhill, with stunning views of steep green mountains and high elevation forests. Finally, we get to the bottom of the descent and start walking along a beautiful stream with boulders strewn throughout and callalilys growing along the bank. A gorgeous natural area indeed. And we continue on.
Finally we see a woman and a child, and so I ask, - ¿Donde está la casa de Eric? (pronounced Ehreek, Eric is the host). The answer is to continue to the center and then go up and to the right. Ok. So after another 1-2 km, we finally come to the center of Providencia, which consists of two small stores (tiendas), some houses, a school, a church, and (as a later found out) about 400 people in the whole village, which covers many km2. So again, I ask my question, this time to an older woman, - ¿Donde está la casa de Eric? - Va por esta calle arriba. (go up that road). Okay, so we go up. Then a couple young guys walking down the hill. I repeat my question. The answer: - más arriba. Then another guy, after walking a few more minutes, with the same answer: - más arriba. Then we see a little garden and think maybe this is the house. Of course it was not, but the owner pops his head up and so I repeat the question to him. His answer was: - más arriba and the third house on the right. Well at least we got a little more clarity that time. Third house on the right, no problem. Nearly another km later up the steep hill, we arrive at our destination, tired, hungry with no food, thirsty but with a bit of water left, and relieved. Only to find out that no one was home. ¡Qué pena!
And so we plop down onto the ground with our bags and wait. The location is beautiful, high mountains, basically a cloud forest. After sitting on the ground for about an hour, the clouds rolled in, and then a little bit of rain, so we took cover under the porch of the little cabin, and waited some more. Finally, after about another hour, some people show up. I had previously looked into another small cabin and saw some sleeping bags and backpacks, so I assumed that there must be some more volunteers here. When the people walked up, we met the 17 year old daughter of the hosts (Canadian) and two Americans with backpacks. Shortly thereafter we met the two other volunteers (also Americans) who had already been living there. In short, Shannon and I arrived on the same day as two other volunteers, altogether making six Americans volunteering for a Canadian family, staying on mountainside above the village of Providencia. I think weird is a word.
The hosts were apparently in a meeting, so the six of us took over the house (the daughter went off to some other town I think for the evening). The two people who had been there were in charge of making dinner, so we helped as well as we could, but it was a very awkward feeling to be cooking and eating dinner in a house of hosts who were not there and we had not yet met. After having eaten, the hosts finally show up, and of course had no idea we were there due to their lack of internet and phone connections. They were surprised, no doubt, but took it well. They had an idea we were coming but did not know when. Turns out they needed people anyway for trying to finish the construction of their school (more on that later). The hosts are an American turned Canadian Yukon naturalist guy who is also an obsessive rock and tree climber named Eric, and a Chinese turned Canadian former dental therapist woman who likes to cook named Ying. Their daughter is home schooled and loves to climb as well named Sierra, and they spend 6 months living in the Yukon and 6 months living in rural Costa Rica. Oh yeah, and they are strict 7th Day Adventist Christians, who do not partake of meat, alcohol, or caffeine of any sort. By the end of the first day, my mind was fairly blown.
Monday, January 5, 2009
more chicago phots
Skyline view along the Chicago River
The brand new Trump Tower, still under construction
ahh, well, more Chicago architecture (note the bottom floors are for parking)
The brand new Trump Tower, still under construction
ahh, well, more Chicago architecture (note the bottom floors are for parking)
A skyline view from Millennium Park
The infamous beans (or as we like to call it, the silver buttocks)
See if you can make out this image
The infamous beans (or as we like to call it, the silver buttocks)
See if you can make out this image
The Concrete Jungle
Chicago in January is cold, really cold. Cold enough to make my eyes feel hot when I walk inside somewhere after being blasted by constant icy winds. We saw a lot of things one should see in Chicago, including Navy Pier, Millennium Park and Grant Park, the icy shore of Lake Michigan.
So far we've had two very different Chicago-style experiences -- stayed in a large apartment under construction (it looked abandoned from the outside) in Wicker Park, inches from the El (which actually makes a pleasant waterfall-like white noise as it shoots past). The 5 (+ or -) inhabitants are musicians, both in the real world and in video game world, and led mostly nocturnal, beer-themed lives. We had a good time with them.
We moved on to our next host when my friends Allison and Chris (our road-trip buddies) made their way back to Fayetteville. I sent back my cold weather clothes with them and am now bundled in layers upon layers and my friend Martin's old coats. Martin, a friend from years back, lives in a high-rise studio apartment just one block from the lake. His place is tiny, but perfect for the three of us.
Here he is showing us where he lives (the taller one with the "x" on it):
And where do you work, Martin??
He is a generous and entertaining host who works at the Shakespeare theater on Navy Pier. Yesterday we walked around the lakefront, Michigan Ave., and the pier and he gave us an informal tour of the theater. I was fascinated by the ice on the water, Michael enjoyed the giant fan in the quasi-conservatory (we all did, the thing was huge) as well as the "architectural and artistic oddities of Millennium Park", and Martin, who sees this stuff all the time, was most interested in the NPR radio news story of Bill Richardson's withdraw from the Secretary of Commerce projecting loudly on the street.
Giant fan (its hard to capture the scale):
Classic Chicago skyline shot:
We all saw through the far-seer to see what we could see:
And what did we saw??.....
A lighthouse!!
The bean makes people want to do silly things:
A face...
But don't be fooled! This is all it was close-up:
So I'm not at all so great about retelling things in a linear fashion, so all I can give you is little snapshots.
We had lunch at this fantastic cheese shop where a nice and funny woman let us sample the finest cheeses I've ever, ever had, then educated us on each one. This place blew me away (though the wind in Chicago is doing a good job at that too), and the sandwiches were too tasty to comprehend or even describe. Ah, cities. Michael had a sandwich with cured ham that came from a pig in Spain that was only allowed to eat acorns, so you can imagine the flavor.... or maybe you can't, its pretty random.
Anyhow, its hard to imagine we'll be in 80 degree tropical weather tomorrow.
One other thing... I was walking around the big bean again today to admire the Chicago skyline in all its warped splendor when I ran into someone I take classes with in Fayetteville!! How is that for serendipity?! It seems whenever I'm in big cities they work their magic like this to bring things back down to a human scale.
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