going to get literary.

Costa Rica.  This unique and highly visited country in Central America conjures bold images for backpackers and desk job day-dreamers alike.  Visions a person sitting, plotting, planning or just daydreaming in an air conditioned office may have – particularly while reading blogs in such an office – may be a few of the most common images shown in your favorite travel magazine.  Perhaps jungle and a river-cut landscape?  If that is the case, let your mind wander to a place where the typical is spectacular.

Come with me to Sarapiqui, and see what it is that surrounds my office.  For here the forest is full of trees whose leafy appendages greatly exceed the size of my very tall three year old niece.  Some are round, and in their gigantic flatness seem as though they could be the shadow of the greatest pumpkin you have ever seen.    Increasing the overwhelming area of foliage are the epiphytes, which grow high in the leaf litter that has accumulated along the heavy branches of the lower canopy.  There are as many lively plants perched on the branches of the trees as there are shades of brilliant green.   Some, like the strangler fig are hemi-epiphytes and throw their roots down to the ground, taking nutrients from the earth.   The vine-like roots of the strangler fig will eventually kill its host tree through strangulation, called girdling, or simply out compete it for sunlight. 

And what is there to be expected of night?  When you contemplate closing your eyes or walking down the path with a headlamp, what is there to hear after dark when the howler monkeys have gone quiet and put themselves to bed?   The screeching sounds of night are owned by insects and amphibians.  The high pitched, pulsating sound made by the cicadas and tiny frogs (among a myriad of other creatures I have yet to know) compete with what I expect… the dreamer has yet to imagine.  The carretera.  Even in the night cars and freight trucks rip down the narrow two lane highway that divides the selva. 

It is this reaching highway which allows the jungle to also be a neighborhood.  It enables Sarapiqui to be easily and safely accessible, uniquely Costa Rica.  The rumbling carretera, with its rapid 18-wheeled trucks and narrow shoulder, is the only true danger in Sarapiqui. 

Far less frightening is the ever evolving river at out backdoor.  The Sarapiqui ranges from class I – class V, depending on time and location, however behind us it is the changing face of a class II / III.  I have seen it run a turbid brown after heavy rains, and listened to the calm ripples call to me on a hot day.  It is olive green to sky blue, and almost always chopped with white ripples which expose rocks or debris.  Just as the guide books say, it is fast, delivers adventure, and on the river the guides are trust worthy and skilled. 

Many people travel to Costa Rica for the outdoors; the lush, easily accessible jungles, navigable rivers, and with luck a zipline view of the tropics.  If this is your desktop image of Costa Rica, I wonder, do you also fantasize about the food?

Are images of rice and beans and plentiful plantains dancing through your head?  Does your mouth water, or do you wonder how many granola bar wrappers line my waste-paper bin?  Maybe you’d pack a pizza, because in this quaint bit of jungle, carved out only by river and carretera, there are no fast food joints.

Think again.  Go onto the patio and fill it with a rudimentary but highly functional kitchen.  Fridge, sink, stove, and countertops meant to be labored on.  This is Doña Hilda’s kitchen and where the Sarapiqui cooking classes are held.  Technically it does not belong to Doña Hilda, but to me it holds the fascination, danger and amoré of a grandmother’s kitchen.  Meet a broad and grinning woman who feeds worthy visitors not with gnocchi, but with sizzling patacones, empanadas, and delicious guacamole.   Think of tasting freshly strained juice, the watermelon so sweet, and the cook so giving that you are whisked from stress, technical difficulties and mosquitoes, to a place of calm, of home, and of family.

In Sarapiqui mighty appetites are satiated – for a little while.

bugs lives

My camera has a less than spectacular zoom.  I mean it is effective enough at getting the point across, but it that is all it can muster.  It can not make the mico go macro.  This grasshopper was never a creature to be eaten in one bite.  To dip him on chocolate, you would have to double dip.  I of course, stood, staired, and was suddenly reminded of the 1980's red and black leather jackets.  It was as though at any moment a time machine would drop down and I would be visited by a black Michael Jackson.

Place of work and life

The question is, will i ever not have an outdoor kitchen in Latin America?  This is our Work cocina and where I am babied by Dona Hilda - a woman who cooks and feeds me like a grandmother, and who helps my Spanish by almost never speaking English.

Peace Yo.  This is not the view from my porta-pit-potty.  This is what the balcony of our office faces - the Sarapiqui River.

but this is where i spend most the of the day.  Yup, on Outlook!

Our library.... with mostly English books that volunteers have left behind.  We have a program which asks tourists coming down from the States to bring Spanish books with them as gifts because shipping to Costa Rica is so expensive.  Right Mom...

Therefore, when all ya'll come down and visit me... bring some books for the Ticans!!  And dark chocolate!

Up and coming:  biggest and coolest grasshopper yet.

These are children from our after school program.  This is also the river where I swim.

Note the children.  Note the river.  I play in the river.  I do not play with the children.

Or at least I don't HAVE to...

:)

Neighbor's backyard

I live in a community of about 2000 people.  there are three 'stores' ie, mini-marts / general stores / last out post you find on your way up to a mountain retreat kinda venues, two bars, and a rafting company.  Essentially, commercially speaking, you get it, there isn't much do do in the immediate vicinity. Wellll..... these are the hiking trails behind my neighbors ...um...eco-lodge.  Yes, in between the noisy, life threatening highway and the theoretically pristine Sarapiqui River are Eco-lodges, "eco-resorts", rafting companies, and us, the conservation learning center.  Anyways, i think i just wanted to show off my playground...   

I've stopped wearing the dorky hat... it is way too civilized here to emulate Indiana Jones!

On the docks of Santa Cruz

A few week ago I traveled around Isabella and Santa Cruz islands for about a week. With a population of 12,000, Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz seemed like a bustling city compared to San Cristobal's 7,000 people. The wildlife was quite lively as well. Here at the docks where fishermen cut up their fish and either fought off aggressive pelicans or tossed scraps to blue footed boobies - which they seemed to favor.

One juvenile sea lion has become their pet of sorts and waits patiently for scraps... others aren't quite so sly in their taming of the humans, they simply try to steal scraps from the cutting boards.

Mostly the birds are just loud and create an air of excitement, particularly if you aren't used to iguanas on the sidewalk, with pelicans, herons, boobies and bright red crabs all congregated in one very small area. Oh yes, and the sea lions...

Life Changes

Sometimes things that are good go bad, then they go really bad, and you question everything, like who you work for, if what your doing has value, if you are getting any return for the daily trial of working for someone you do not trust and who is not respected by the community. Then you leave, move to a place where it is either sunny or sunny and pick up work with people who almost scare you because of how interested they are in what you have to say.

This is the reality of my past week. To be honest, it started long before the reputable biologists of Charles Darwin dropped their ties with Hacienda Tranquila because of organization’s the lack of clear direction and volunteer guidance. No, I would say it started early on when I realized one of my primary job functions was to manage my manager - man whose primary interests in life are surfing and chasing women. His role as “Activities Coordinator” (and generally being in charge since the owner of Hacienda Tranquila is in AMERICA getting his Master´s degree) is pure nepotism. My role was to tell him what needed to be done and then tell him four more times.

It was a little hectic, somewhat interesting, biologically questionable, long term impacts completely unknown, and ultimately I had no power to make real improvements - other than sending emails and finding mini-solutions with the new volunteers… things that would likely end when I left.

Therefore when the biologists cut their ties I left too. While I believe in change from the inside out, I wasn’t going to waste anymore time trying to fix an organization that didn’t want to be repaired. Now I am literally basking in the sun’s rays and spend lunches at the beach.

I moved into the cutest apartment house / hotel called Casa De Nellie where many of my other volunteer friends live, it reminds me of Melrose Place but without the pool or drama. The upstairs terrace is fabulous!!

I picked up some projects with the Charles Darwin Foundation, who have several members that are fascinated by permaculture and are interested in my input. There is a small university here and I am also helping with some field studies. Looking for whales (from shore), counting sea lions (we have a very healthy population!!) and snorkeling with sea turtles (no joke!) are the three projects I’ll be helping with. Basically I am doing a range of legitimate, worthwhile and WICKED COOL stuff for the next month and a half.

I am pretty sure this is what they call “living the dream”.

Photos: New home, old boss standing proud with lichens on his face. Insert cus words here.

Prickly y Duro

Being from the Pacific Northwest i am not accustom to the priceless of cactus's. They actually are quite sharp - and can stick in one's fingers much like you would see in a cartoon. I was given the opportunity to play with cactus needles, thread mangrove leaves like sewing satin, and pull needles as fine as hair from my fingers (I could barely feel their presence) on a hike I took to what is called the "Wall of Tears". THe Wall of tears is wall constructed of volcanic rocks. It is 7 meters tall and once spanned 100 meters. It was not constructed to separate groups or prevent warfare, but rather as a punishment. From 1946-1959 the Island of Isabella was a prison colony and the prisoners were forced to spend their time building a huge cumbersome structure. The wall has no concrete or mortar, just rough lava rocks with pebbles to keep the larger stones in place. It is unknown exactly how many men died in the construction of this unfinished structure.

Get ready for volcanic rock pics - hikes a volcan yeasterday and that is next!

daily life.

Some of these pics include:

Amazing view point close to the Hacienda where I... live. It was as close as we get to a clear day - even on half clear days the view is spectacular.

The first time I rode a horse solo... well that isn´t here, but it happened later in the day. In this picture i am suppose to making a child feel secure on a horse! Yikes!!

Moving earth for soil. Ummm.....so this s environmentally REALLY BAD. Digging up ground for your garden. Cuz the invassive aren´t gonna take over? OMG!!!! We are creating a compost adject to the chicken coop later in the week to help create soil. I could not believe this and just about died.

getting milk - not at the store. And no, I did not buy the cow dinner first or take her to breakfast after. Well, I didn´t have the 'handling skills' to get to breakfast. The cow responded to my lack of abilities by swatting me with her tail and taking a crap.

crab shell in the sand... I love shell photos. In fact I almost did not see the sea lion charging at me while a was positioning it in the sand. Barely getting away, the sea lion camped out next to my sandals (which I had not been wearing) for the next 10 minutes while I waited for it to... just go.... anywhere else. Finally she moved the two meters so i could dash in and snatch my goods.

obscene tourists looking like the animals they photograph. Maybe I am pixelated on someone´s memory stick somewhere being chased by a sea lion.

Tortuga gigantica... or big something like that. In 2001 there were only 1,150 tortoises left here. Friends ans I toured a breading facility and got to check them out. Yes, I have met nice people here.

The last is a nice little field pic of me not hurting myself. We were planting endemic Scalesia trees. This was not the day I machetied my own leg.

Marine Iguangas are like Oysters

There will be lots of them sitting on a rock - and all you will see is black volcanic mass rising violently along the shoreline. THen your eye focuses on one scalely black reptile, and it is not until after you have snapped the picture that you relize it was laying accross a rock, but rather another - much larger - iguana. Than a third spits with a hiss... and suddenly you see them all draped across and possessing the rocks. 10, 13,15...

Unlike oysters in the San Juan Islands, I did not harvest and eat any Marine Iguanas.

Culture Shock - or something like it...

So there is something I haven’t been telling you. I did not initially go to the dairy farm, rather I stayed at that lovely beach cabin / office / whatever – now I am at Hacienda Tranquila. The dairy farm. It is a drive from anything. Living in cell block A, I call it that because my room is the length of a bunk-bed squared. I have two shelves. The floor is concrete.

Interestingly, the accommodations are in many ways much nicer than many I have had previously. Indoor plumbing. Primarily warm shower, warm night, indoor plumbing, and constant electricity are all very pleasant things. However this place is pretty sparse and I have seen garages that are homier.

On an off-beat note, we have a feral cat (if it is ours, is it feral??) that I am starting to grow fond of. This is largely strange because I am in the Galapagos, and cats are highly invasive here. They really do a number on the endemic bird and lizard populations… I saw the cat with a little bird in its mouth earlier today. He/she/it was under the kitchen table. (The kitchen table and chairs are our only furniture other that a hammock…)

So I am growing to like an invasive animal that eats MY FOOD out of MY FOOD box, brings dead endemic birds into the house and then jumps onto the table and again tries to eat my food. The Hacienda must be starving me of some very basic needs...

That or the cat just can’t help being a cat.

Day 1

Finally made it! After an overnight in Quito and three plane rides I am finally laying in a hammock overlooking the shores of Isle de San Cristobal. I am in complete disbelief at the cactuses and lava rock that surround me. Even though I read about the barren vegetation, the lava rock landscaping came as a surprise – something I’d expect to see in AZ perhaps. If it were not for the beaches it would seem more prickly and brown here than the lush green of mainland Ecuador I am familiar with.

However there are the beaches.

And even the very, very public beach next to our office has a pack of seal lions (not sure what you call a grouping of seal lions…) sunning on the beach. They seem little disturbed by the hordes of people playing in the sand and water all around them. Several of the seal lions were playing in the water like children, rolling in the waves while little boys skim boarded barely 15 feet away. Neither seemed phased by the other.

Sea lions and people continued...

The only altercation seemed to be when young tourists started trying to take buddy shots with the sea lions. (I hate to say it, but it was the classic stereo type of pretty girls in sun dresses and bikini’s who believe they can get away with anything…and sometimes can…). Signs say you should stay about 2 meters from the wildlife – these girls were closer to two feet! One of the girls happened to be skittish, but a local was quick to yank her hand and pull her closer to the sea lions than any of her friends had been. She thanks him with a beautiful Vana White pose. A crowd had gathered and sea lions barked with agitation at the close range models. A few looked like they might momentarily charge. Some of the younger sea lions who had been wandering on the perimeter were now very close to what I assume would be a mother. Fewer were in the water.

Authorities were also present - standing silently amongst the crowd. Watching the hot chicks disturb the sea lions but not saying anything. Men.

World Wide Open

My backs are packed. I have come and gone from the relative calm of Hawaii. Now it is time to transport myself from the familiarity of Whidbey Island, depart from my current state of homelessness in Seattle, and nest like a boobie in the rare and treasured Galapagos Islands.


For the next three months I will be residing at Hacienda Tranquila – a 50 hectare dairy ranch in the highlands of San Cristobal Island. In addition to cows (which may or may not be a side note…) Hacienda Tranquila’s main purpose is community tourism and volunteer work. Their activities focus on the people of San Crisobal Island (there are 7,000 residents) rather than the endemic wildlife which gets so much play. After all, did any of you imagine I’d be staying on an anthropogenic dairy farm while in the Galapagos??


While it is true that I recently found out the specifics (dairy ranch and highlands rather than the beach for instance) this position puts me exactly where I want to be. Which is organizing and supervising the ‘actual’ volunteers (cuz I’m getting paid??) and then reporting what they do. I basically inadvertently applied to a position that has set me up as a volunteer coordinator. Which is kinda what I wanted my ‘big girl’ job to be.


Also in this particular setting, I’ll probably get to play along with the volunteers by planting trees, growing seeds and maybe pop my head in some schools if I am lucky! So far I have been very, very lucky…


-Shala


PS, They also grow coffee on the ranch. Maybe this trip there will be something decent to drink in the mornings with my fresh and yummy milk… Please someone else want milk so I can reap the benefits without waking up at 4am.


Wish list: Either decent coffee and no milk, or milk to cover up the low-grade caffeine I have become accustom to in Ecuador.

seed harvest

Here is me Cutting into a Jack fruit with a machete.

After halfing or quartering it (depending on if you had let it rot or not . . .rotten fruit is like mush and doesn't require much work at all. The down side is that if you had let the fruit rot it a) has flies, b) is un-snackable during the cleaning process.) you then dig the seeds out with your hands. If they fruit wasn't rotten a pairing knife is handy. Seeds are about the size of acorns and to quote Julia Roberts, "Slippery little suckers".

They make a really good pattay but are otherwise pretty bland. High work to taste ratio but Jack fruit are easy to come by. . .so why not get some good starch from them?? Mimi and Jim are both great cooks and know how to make anything taste great!

Going rouge

Headed for the coast today. Sad to leave the farm - so many anyazing fruit, people experiences - can't even describe it in my t-30 seconds on the computer but fantastic it was!!!

Upon leaving the bridge flooded (night before) and I had to walk through rushing river water a foot+ deep as i crossed a foot bridge to get to my bus. It was very intense b/c apparently the water was rising again and all the men who had been laying on the bridge pulling drebris and logs out from under it during the morning were then yelling at me to hurry up and get going! (They were no longer on the bridge . . .) Three other people crossed with me and it was quite the exciting send off. As always, somehow I am never really alone.

Headed to see new territory. Couldn't resist the urge to see more.

So coming back.

part 2 - ecuador

Jungles here are green and lush.

I love it here. Right now I am adjactent to a computer so it is easy to say that. Being connected to the worled makes life easy.

When I arrived in country and took an open air bus 3 hours into nowhere I was in awe and trying to figure out how to stay forever. That night in alone in a screaned cabana, with sounds of night blasting lounder the the reggeatone of bastimentos, with no light other than a head lamp in an environment i knew nothing of - I was homesick for the first time since - not even sure.

Maybe it was the emotional distance of Jim the farmer, maybe it finally saying goodbye to Kevin, but in needing to turn on my headlamp and scibble in my journal - I realized there was a fist-sized spidar in my room! In that moment I did not like the jungle.

I woosed out and made Jim get rid of it. Forget pride - it was HUGE.

The farm is rad. I{ll try and talk about it later- they aren{t permaculturists which is a let down on the education end of things but it frees me up for other travels. (Hence coming 'to town' a 2.5 hour bus ride away to make contacts etc. There isn{t even phone reception on the site.

Sometimes we have power. . . it attracts the bugs though so I still stick to candles much of the time.

Gotta catch a bus back to simplicity.

part I

Panama was a Caribean paridise marded only by 2am reggae-tone blairing out of 8 foot tall speakers 100 meters from our island cabana. When it started again at 10am it was time to find a new island.

Small but fatal flaws (and simply tranversing a country) resulted in 6 habitacions in 9 nights.

I love waves and hamocks and learning to surf in warm waters. Ordering whole fish and rum drinks made with papayas or fresh but unknown fruit is decadent. Most travelers complain about how Bocas Del torro is discovered and developed - and maybe it is - but i felt away from the world. It was a motorboat skiff ride to privacy and paradise.

Little known fact to non-locals -Chinese run the show what in comes to general stores in bocas. Food, general stuff, they've got AT LEAST one store on all of the habitated islands and it is the only grocery or general store around. All the general stores are Chinese owned.