No Guide Needed

Today Ryan and I returned to the Manuel Antonio National Park to sit at a table and distribute information about the seven reasons not to feed the monkeys. We had a very eventful day and saw a ton of animals, even without a guide. On our way into the park we were able to see two agoutis which were roaming around near the trail. In the area where we set up our table of information there was a boa constrictor nearby. It was incredible and huge! We are guessing that he was probably around six or seven feet long. In a tree just above our table, there were eleven bats sleeping. They would move every now and then, but mostly just clung to the tree. Later in the morning I ventured down the trail to use the restroom only to discover three white-faced capuchin monkeys playing just above me. I watched them for about thirty minutes swinging from tree to tree. Then at one point, one of the monkeys was in a tree when I saw an arm move….the arm of a very large sloth! What a picture that would have been. A sloth and a monkey about a foot apart. Needless to say, we were very pleased with all the animals we saw today.

In addition to seeing all the wonderful animals, we were very fortunate to meet several very interesting people today. Just before lunch we met a woman named Arella (I´m guessing how to spell it) who was visiting Costa Rica for ten days. She told us she was happy to find someone to speak English with. She was with a very large group of Costa Ricans (and she appeared to be a Tica herself) so we were very surprised when she began speaking perfect English to us. She sat down with us and began telling us her life story. She was born and raised in Costa Rica, but was taken from her mother when she was eight years old. She was adopted by an American, only to be left again at the age of 15. She pretty much raised herself after that. She was trying to get a job as a firefighter in Miami, FL (where she now lives) and they wanted proof of her citizenship. It was then she found out that she wasn´t an American citizen and that she was actually a citizen of Costa Rica. She starting digging for information and eventually found out who her mother was and where she lived. She got a plane ticket and arrived in Costa Rica a few days ago, reuniting with her family after 23 years! She told us that her mom had about 20 kids and she has about 100 cousins, many of whom she has been meeting since her arrival. She was shocked to find how destitute her mother is. She is living in a shack in San Jose that is made of cardboard and tin and she is barely able to feed her family most months. We could tell you a ton more, but this post would be way too long. We´ll just leave it at this and let you know that hearing this woman´s story greatly enhanced our lives.

We also met a Tico who is a guide for the park. We learned that he could speak six languages!!! Very unusal for a Tico. We also met two very nice couples from Atlanta, GA who were very interested in our travels. Ryan exchanged emails with one of them who was interested in taking Spanish classes in Nicaragua. We really enjoyed talking to them.

Thanks to all who are posting comments. Uncle Mike, we enjoyed your story about Joe. Kay, sorry to hear about your friend, Renia. Also, is Gloria feeling better? Oh, by the way, we have decided to leave here on Saturday and head to Dominical. From there, we will start heading to Granada, Nicaragua for our Spanish lessons. There´s still time for those of you who want to enroll! Pura Vida!

Spanish School Anyone?

So your interested in learning Spanish are you? Well then, come study with us. For less than $1000 (including roundtrip airfare from Nashville, Atlanta, or Cincinnati) you can study Spanish with Ryan and Jeanna in beautiful Grenada, Nicaragua. To my recollection, I have been in Grenada once. When I was young, I think my uncle Jim and Judy had a white Ford Grenada. I’m sure I rode in it at least once.
Back to the topic at hand. We are seriously considering leaving the place we are now and going to Grenada, Nicaragua for a couple of weeks to study Spanish. Because we will need to leave Costa Rica for 72 hours at some point anyway (to renew our 90-day visas) we thought this would be a great opportunity to practice our Spanish as well – since language courses are so much cheaper in Nicaragua. It breaks down like this (these are the prices we’re negotiating for anyway). Four hours of class, five days per week = $90 per week. A place to sleep (with a local family) and three meals per day = $60 per week. Total = $150 per week x 2 weeks x 2 people = $600.
Our budget for 2 weeks is $420 so simple arithmetic tells you that we would be $180 over budget. The good news is that as of today we are $173 UNDER budget to this point in the trip. I’m sure we could make up the difference in cost somewhere along the way, even if it means living on peanut butter sandwiches for a week (for the record I’ve survived on them much longer).
I was only joking a little bit about you coming to study with us. You would get to . . .

1. Spend 2 weeks in beautiful Grenada, which was, at one time, the richest city in Central America.
2. Learn the language of legendary artists like Shakira, Ricky Martin, and Gloria Estefan.
3. Ask the Nicaraguans what they really think about Noriega.
4. Hang out with your 2 smelliest friends (Ryan & Jeanna).

You really should consider it. Here are a few more things you should know . . . (a). this is the school we’re considering. (b). we are serious about this (c). if you learn Spanish, you may be able to understand what all those Mexicans in Wal-Mart are saying behind your back – $1000 is a small price to pay for that, right?

Unbelieveable Heat

As I type, I am sitting here sweating like I never knew I could. It is an unbelieveably hot day here. I’m guessing the temperature is around 95 degrees with 100% humidity. It is absolutely miserable. Ryan says it could always be worse…he could be driving his Taurus to Middlesboro. I guess that’s true. I could be sitting through a lecture about transfer protocols in computer networking with a foreign professor whom I can’t understand a word of what he says. Yeah, life is good, just hot.
Chris (Brinson), I am so bummed that Amazing Race is going to KY. I can’t believe it. I’ve been dying to be on that show forever and as soon as we leave, they decide to visit an hour from where we were. Ryan and I even checked the website before we left to see if we could submit a tape before leaving the country. It said they weren’t accepting any at the time. Oh well, I guess things happen for a reason. Like you said, maybe they’ll have a casting call somewhere we can be. Stranger things have happened.

Ryan and I both held a sloth for the first time this past Wednesday. They are amazing animals. I never would have thought that I would be so fascinated by them, but they are truly incredible. I am convinced that they talk to you. If you blink your eyes, they blink back. If you wink, they even wink back. It is the neatest thing. There are three sloths here now that are being rehabilitated. They are all females and their names are Rebecca, Sunshine and Jose Maria. We walked into the outdoor room where they are living the other night and one of the sloths (Jose Maria, I think) was hanging upside down from a rail eating. She was completely upside down. It boggled my mind how they can even do that. She just looked so at home. One thing that really surprised me is how soft their fur is. It looks rather coarse and somewhat rough, but it is very soft. It almost feels like angora. We are hoping to learn more about them and be able to start taking them for “walks” soon.

We won´t be posting something everyday while we´re here, simply because we haven´t had a whole lot of adventures to share. Plus, we´ve gotten more comments on old posts since we haven´t written and enjoy reading them. We figure maybe if we keep our readers waiting, they will write more. Thanks to everyone who has made a post. It really makes us smile.

Apologies

Please accept my apology for not posting last night. I just got lazy and didn´t feel like writing. I must say too, that this is the main reason we have not put up any photos since we´ve been at our new place (obviously, I didn´t take the one above). I just haven´t taken the time to try and figure it out. I promise I will do it soon.
We went to Manuel Antonio National Park(pictured above) today to set up and work an informational booth educating park visitors on the seven reasons not to feed the monkeys. Basically, all we did was sit at a picnic table beside one of the most beautiful beaches you´ve ever seen and give out flyers to people if they visited our table. Here are the Seven Reasons Not to Feed the Monkeys . . .

1. Monkeys are highly susceptible to diseases from human hands. They can die from bacteria transferred off your hands that have no ill effect on you.
2. Migration to human populated areas to be fed increases the risk of dog attacks and road accidents.
3. A regular feeding leads to an agressive behavior towards humans and other species.
4. Contrary to the stereotype, bananas are not the preferred food of monkeys in the wild.
5. Feeding creates a dangerous dependency on humans that diminishes the monkeys´survival abilities.
6. Feeding interferes with the monkeys´ natural habits and upsets the balance of their lifestyle centered on eating wild fruits, seeds, small animals, and insects.
7. Contact with humans facilitates poaching and the trade in illegal wildlife.

After lunch we hiked out to Cathedral Point for a view of the Pacific Ocean. We did see a bit of wildlife today – a snake, several iguanas, and a two toed sloth. We also heard some howler monkeys but didn´t spot any. Sorry nothing more exciting to report. Tomorrow we will probably take the sloths for a walk. Now that´s the kind of work the beach puts me in the mood for.

New Experiences

Our new home at Mono Azul is definately full of new experiences for us. As Ryan told you yesterday, we had only been here a few hours before I had the opportunity to bottle fed a baby raccoon. There are three crab eating raccoons here, all of whom are being rehabilitated in hopes of eventually releasing them back into the wild. Ryan and I are helping to feed Clifford, a four month old raccoon with a very vivacious personality. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be bottle feeding a raccoon. Costa Rica is definately the place to come for new experiences.
This morning Ryan and I slept in until about 8am. We then got up, had some breakfast and headed to the beach for a couple of hours. It was definately as beautiful as we remembered. There were much more people than the last time we visited, but since it was Sunday, there were also a lot of locals out enjoying the weather.
Our new hosts are very welcoming and enthusiastic people. I think we are really going to enjoy volunteering here just as long as we can stand the heat. I don’t know what the temperature was today, but we’re guessing it was around 85 degrees with high humidity. The tropical sun is definately more dangerous so we were both careful to stay in the shade as much as possible. Most of you know I never tan and usually burn within a few minutes, so I’ve been loading up on the sunscreen and keeping cool as best I can.
As of now, we are still unable to upload pictures. I know that Ryan will eventually think of something (he always does), so we’ll be sure to share the beauty of the area with you as soon as we can. We are thinking of you all, especially here because we now have access to many American amenities such as cable tv (in English), English speaking hosts and all the Coca-cola we care to drink. We hope you all are well!