To drive to the Osa Peninsula from San Jose is more than seven hours. In a small plane, it is 50 minutes. Our flight landed on the short gravel strip around 1:30 in the afternoon, and 1 hour later, over a very rocky and bumpy “road”, we were on the southern tip of the peninsula, where the Golfo de Dulce meets the Pacific Ocean. Here
was the ocean version of La Fortuna, and one comes here to experience adventure travel, nature and wildlife. We rented a small house that was
part of the Bosque del Cabo resort; our home for four days was Casa Teca, a 10 minute stroll through the jungle from the main part of the resort, across our own hanging bridge. Upon arriving, we rested the balance of the day, and my family takes over the story from there starting the next day, Sunday.
Hike and the Castle
Carson E. Tuttle
Today we went on a long, tiring walk. At the beginning of the walk, we saw a group of howling Howler Monkeys. When you first hear them you either think it’s a dog, a lion’s roar, or a dinosaur. The noise makes you feel frightened at first. When we were walking, their screams stopped us in our paths. Their howl was all up in our ears as close as you could imagine. We looked up and a bundle of black was hanging in the tree. It was a Howler Monkey far away from us in the trees.
Later on in the trail we saw another monkey. This monkey was called a spider monkey. Half of its body was tan and the other bottom half was brown. It jumped tree to tree until it met another monkey up in a tree. They looked like they were having fun.
When we got to the ocean’s edge we found a good spot and sat down and ate a marvelous lunch of sandwiches and pineapple. We all loved the picnic. After lunch, we found a spot to swim. We swam for a while and then we started to build a sand castle. First we built the castle and mote around with a bridge. Lastly, we put rocks in front of it for extra protection. We hope it will stay up for at least 24 hours.
We also met a dog that we named Fred (see photo). Wherever we threw a rock, she would dig it out of the sand like a ball. We gave her the crust of our sandwiches and she would find a place to bury it for later. She was our dog for the day.
I thought today was a great and exhausting day but at the same time very fun and exiting.
Surfing
Scott Tuttle
Later that afternoon we took a surfing lesson. I came back with rashes on my arms and a headache, but it was still fun. Now whenever Uncle Frank goes surfing, I want to go with him.
The first thing we did was learn how to start and stand up on the board the “easy way”. Note that I put “easy”. You start by lying down on your belly while gripping the board. Once you have a good wave, you get into down dog, but your bottom isn’t as high. Next, you bring your back foot (left or right) up on the board. Right after that you swing your front foot around. It was really easy on land. The instructor said it was a lot harder in the water.
Our first test was to paddle out to the boat so we could ride to the place with good waves. That part was easy since the waves weren’t so big.
Once we rode to the spot we hopped out. I was the second to last since I was second in boat. My Mom was first to ride the wave. When she stood up and got going she tensed up and fell off. Next it was my turn. Our instructor gave me a good push to get started. As soon as I got going, I got scared and forgot the steps. I tried to get up, but failed miserably. Instead, I got on my knees and wobbled off the board.
Surfing was really exciting and scary sometimes. I finally got it after a while. Surely I am going with Uncle Frank next time.
Animal Sanctuary
Scott Tuttle
The next day we went to the animal sanctuary. We rode back into town and took a boat across the Gulf. They had loads of monkeys there. Howler Monkeys, Spider Monkeys and Whitefaced Monkeys. My favorite monkey was a Howler named LuLu. She and a Spider Monkey wrestled at my feet and used me as a tree. LuLu gave me a few affectionate nips on the hand. The monkey she was wrestling was named
Winky. She was 18 months old. Winky always liked to be the center of attention. When we went to see the sloth she was right there beside it (showing off on the bar). When we went to see the Whitefaced Monkey cage, Winky went away since Whitefaced Monkeys are Omnivores. The sanctuary had one that caught a basilisk lizard, bit its head off and shoved it through the cage to the babies inside. I see why Winky was scared.
When we were about to leave, I saw LuLu under a nearby bush. I walked over to her and stuck my arm out. She crawled on to my head and hugged it. Good ole LuLu.
The Animal Sanctuary was awesome. They are thinking about making a camp for kids, so I am going to try to go.
Fishing
Claire
The following day, Scott and I had a half day fishing adventure. We had to leave at 7 am for the guide’s home where we would swim out to the boat (saving us a 45 minute bumpy ride into town).
We were surprised to see Fred, our dog friend from the beach, at the guide’s house. Fred is actually Bolinta (a girl)(oops!) and seems to be quite popular in the Osa Peninsula with visitors (hence her rotund figure).
Scott describes the fishing below (which was exciting) and the fresh fish was delicious (once the restaurant found it and was able to prepare it).
The highlight for me was the sea turtle visit while fishing. We all thought it was a coconut floating on the water and went to investigate. The turtle did not swim away, but hung around and let us touch her. Several times she would lift her head and open her mouth, as if to greet us. She was so tranquil and graceful in the water. We loved watching her as she gently swam away from us after her little visit.
After we returned to the lodge, the kids and I took a short hike (almost stepping on a bright green snake) and found a small waterfall and pool to play around in. We were getting quite comfortable hanging around in the rainforest (or jungle) until that night when some animal attacked something in the trees on our long hike back to the cabin. Its screams sounded horrifying. We all screamed as well and hurried as fast as we could back to the cabin only to later have the lights go out on us while crossing the hanging bridge (which already made me nervous in broad daylight).
Reeling in the “Big One”
Scott Tuttle
Today we went fishing, just my Mom and me. We ended up catching 3 fish, all Dorado (the Costa Rican name for Mahi Mahi), and kept one, which was 3 ½ to 4 feet and weighed about 30 pounds.
We started off by swimming to the boat in between waves crashing against giant rocks. It was too shallow and dangerous for the boat to come in. Once we were in the boat we rode near a rock sticking out of the water. The captain put four lines out to troll. As soon as they were all out, BAM!! The line on the far right pole was spinning very fast. I grabbed the pole and started to reel it in. The fish jumped. It was a huge Dorado, a Bull, and was the biggest fish I’ve ever had on a line. I kept on cranking for 20 minutes until finally the captain hooked it into the boat.
Catching that fish was the best thing that happened all week. The hotel said they would cook it for us for dinner. When dinner came, NO FISH! We were afraid it was in the spicy mix of fish because it was Mahi Mahi that night for everyone else in the restaurant. Finally, they found my fish in the fridge and cooked it up. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm good.
A couple of other thoughts on Osa:
- The landscape is beautiful, rugged and undeveloped. There is great verticality right near the shore. Even though we were on the water, the closest beach was a 45 minute hike. An island off shore is where they filmed “Jurassic Park”, so you can get a picture of the topography and greenery.
- Transportation here is different. There was a town, just across the Gulf called Golfito. You could see it: 45 minutes by boat, 9 hours by car
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I almost forgot the Leaf Cutters. Way back in London, when we visited the London Zoo, we saw this colony of very industrious ants called Leaf Cutters. In Osa, they were everywhere, carrying leaves, insects, etc. many times their size back to tremendous ant housing developments; we saw one that was probably a few hundred square feet.
- The wildlife is really why you come here. On our last day, we went on an early nature hike. Simply walking and looking, we saw monkeys, too many birds to describe, a poisonous toad, a sloth, butterflies, etc.
We packed up after our walk, headed back into town, and began a 24 hour journey to a place that is less than 100 miles as the crow would fly. Such is travel in rural Central America.
There is not much to report on our language school other than we went to school. It was a fabulous learning experience for all of us, but without many exciting details.
Upon arriving back in San José the evening of the 13th, we were collected and taken to the home of Carmen and Ivan, grandparents of eight who live in the small town of Santa Ana, 15 minutes west of San José. We arrived right in the middle of a friends and family Christmas Holiday celebration (they continue celebrations until February 2nd) of probably 100 people; there we were trudging through the middle of the party in our hiking clothes, with wonderfully nice strangers lugging our bags.
Conversa Language School started the next day, and every day followed the same routine:
· Up at 6:30
· Breakfast #1 at 7:30
· Walk or ride on the bus to school (campus was tucked way up in the hills)
· Class #1 at 8:30
· Breakfast #2 at 10:30
· Class #2 at 11:00
· Lunch at 1:00
· Class #3 for Randall at 2:00 (with other homework/relaxing for the rest of the family)
· Leave school at 3:30; play with Otto the dog or neighborhood kids back at the house
· Dinner before 6:00
· No English anywhere in Carmen’s house (!), so in our room by 8:00 (Spanish homework and/or reading). Also Carmen’s favorite novella came on at 8:00 so she was in her room to watch it without our distractions.
We did cut Class #3 one afternoon to go with Carmen and Ivan’s daughter and some grandkids to a children’s museum in San José, and we ventured out one evening to the MultiPlaza for a food court dinner and the “Golden Compass” (“El Brujillo Dorado”). Otherwise, it was very much a homebody life with warm hospitality from our hosts. It was great to spend time with a family in a different country with a different culture, and to be immersed in the language we are all trying to learn. And we did make strides, although the journey to fluency will be a long one. I did find that there is no worse confidence killer than trying to order fast food at the mall; speaking slooooowly is not in the fast food culture.
There were probably 40-50 students at school during our week, over half of whom were Jan Term students from Samford University in Birmingham. Scott especially enjoyed hanging with the college students, and we all enjoyed making friends with others practicing their Spanglish, uh, Spanish. Most of the adults at the school were there for a three week stint, and our kids were the only students younger than college freshmen.
Saturday morning we enjoyed a little quiet time around the casa before heading to the airport, and our flight to the remotest part of Costa R
After arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica very late on the 10th, we stayed overnight at an airport hotel. The next morning, after renting possibly the smallest 4WD made (but we fit perfectly), we headed out for the 3 hour drive to the most active volcano in Central America: Volcan Arenal. The volcano is located a few kilometers away from the village of La Fortuna, which had the company of other villages until 1968, when the volcano blew after 400 years of dormancy, covering most everything except for La Fortuna. We stayed at a resort that was in the 1968 eruption path, and is close enough to have numerous volcano-provided hot springs that they have shaped into pools and gentle waterfalls.
Our weekend was one of enjoying some of the many eco-tourist activities of the area. Costa Rica has built a tourism brand based around adventure travel, and the La Fortuna area is one of the epicenters of this visitor business. Upon arriving Friday afternoon, we spent the rest of the day hiking the Hanging Bridges of Arenal Park. With surprisingly long and high suspension foot bridges, the path and bridges wind you around a
beautiful rain forest, and was a great introduction to the area.
The next morning was a blast, as we headed for our first ever canopy tour. Touring the tree canopies of a steep, tall and majestic rain forest, the “tour” was really just an excuse for an exciting zip line ride. After taking a “vertico” or sky tram up about 4,000 feet, we were trained on how to ride the zip line and then set loose. There were three others in our group, plus two guides; the rides were up to 750 meters long, and over 100+ meters hei
ght above the ground (seven zips in total). Please check out Carson’s video of her first ride on YouTube at the following link (I'll post the link in a day or so) (the other voice you here is Delroy, one of the guides with whom she is riding (because she isn’t heavy enough to make it completely across by herself)). Also, as posted earlier, Claire turned into the Most Brave Sky
Babe (although we did hear her screaming over one of the radios as she began her first ride).
After arriving back at the base camp and heading back to the hotel, we spent the afternoon in the aforementioned hot springs. That evening we drove around to the northern side of the volcano, and watched the periodic volcanic belches shower red lava and rocks down the sides of the mountain. I didn’t realize that our world has volcanoes that explode every few minutes, continually, and it was fascinating to see it at night (the same thing occurs throughout the day, but you can’t see the “red”).
Sunday morning we headed out early (for us J) at 7 AM for another kind of adventure, whose name says it all: waterfall repelling. Our group this time comprised 11 people counting us, plus 4 guides, and we were driven up into the mountains with all the requisite climbing gear (which was similar to our zip gear).
After hiking down a few hundred meters, we came to the first of five repels, and as fate would have it, it was the biggest: 150 feet straight down. After an extensive, say, 2 minutes of “how-to-repel” (preceded by of course the legal document that absolved them of any liability), over the cliff we went. Although the rest of the repels were not as big as the first one, our guides did find a way of insuring that we repelled through a waterfall whenever possible. The kids, of course, loved it, especially the drenching.
We quickly changed into dry clothes and tried to fit in a hike around the volcano. Although we only had an hour or so before having to head for San José, we did make it to the 1992 lava field, which was a stark contrast to the green forest through which we hiked to get there. As with Saturday night, the volcano rumbled and belched every few minutes, which certainly captured our attention as we were at its base (the sign in the parking lot requiring us to park facing outward also got our attention).
After a repeat 3 hour drive back to the San José airport, we were picked up by our language school representative, and taken to the family with whom we are staying in the small town of Santa Ana. Our schooling is going well, but we will save those stories for next time.
¡Adiós muchachos!
The mom formerly known as Nervous Nellie turns into ....... SKY BABE!!!!!
Check out her zip line ride videos!
Prepare to be overdosed with butterflies, Monarch butterflies to be precise! As we headed south from Houston Sunday night to Morelia, MX, I reflected that we were going a long way just to see some butterflies. It would be our only time in Mexico; would it be worth it? Suffice to say, I shouldn’t have worried.
Morelia is a few hundred kilometers west of Mexico City, in the state of Michoacán. On our first day in this city
of +/- 1 million, we did the typical tourist thing of visiting the main cathedral, walking around town, and visiting yet another very interesting market (Claire learned that “puerco” means “pig or porcuipine”, and that its head was on sale for $100 pesos)(+/- $9 US). That evening, we had a mean game of Spades overlooking the city from our hotel bar.
On Tuesday the 7th, our guide Luis Miguel picked us up and we started on a three hour journey to the northeastern mountains of Michoacán. Along the way, Luis Miguel exhibited his great gift of story-telling, as we learned about the history of Mexico, the state of Michoacán, the lands and villages through which we journeyed, and most of all, the fascinating story of the Monarchs.
They have been coming to this region for 30,000 years. And yet (and I find this fascinating), not until 1976 did researchers discover their wintering grounds. A Canadian entomologist named Fred Urquhart noticed that every autumn, the Monarchs in Canada went away. For 38 years he tried to discover where they went, and not until placing an ad in 1975 throughout the newspapers of Mexico did he realize his quest.
Eight weeks ago, the Monarchs that we were getting ready to see were spread across lower Canada and the U.S. Midwest (an area of over 2.5 million square kilometers). 4,000 kilometers later, all of them, hundreds of millions of them, had migrated to these wintering grounds of not more than 40 acres! Concentrated in a few mountains in this part of Mexico, the Monarch preserves and nuclei are all at an elevations of approximately 10,000 feet.
The questions that this migration poses are staggering, and include all the inquisitives of how, why, when, what, where, etc.
We arrived at our first preserve, El Rosario, in early afternoon. We were lucky for two reasons. First, the day was beautiful, and as we would learn, the Monarchs only fly when it’s sunny. Second, at this more developed preserve that may see thousands of visitors on a weekend day, on this day the tourist count would stay in the double digits. Climbing up and back, we would stop at Señora Chaba’s small shack for fresh blue corn quesadillas and fried cactus – delicious. As we headed up to the nuclei, Luis Miguel continued to lead us into our understanding of these creatures, doing so in an excruciatingly slow manner as if unfolding a riddle. We discussed the Monarch life cycles, and how the Monarchs that we were about to see would live for 8 months (the Methuselah generation), while the other generations in a given year would only live 6-8 weeks. We learned about the importance of milkweed as a food source and larva host, but that because milkweed is toxic to other animals, many ranchers are killing the milkweed and endangering the Monarch’s survival. We learned about hibernation, and how only with the winter sun heating the wings of the butterflies do they become active and fly (think of reptiles needing the sun to become active). We learned how the Monarch females progress north (the males die immediately after mating), looking for milkweed on which to lay eggs, and how the next generations continue the northward march (seeking newly germinating milkweed) until the Methuselah generation is born in September and heads back to the south.
Luis Miguel was not afraid of building up the excitement, of over-promising. We learned many more Monarch things as we walked through the Meadow of Rabbits and began to see our first butterflies.
How much does a butterfly weigh? What do you think? A feather? How many feathers would cause a gigantic tree limb to sag to vertical? It was quite awe-inspiring to walk through a river of Monarchs, and to gaze at once upon millions of them.
Carson writes:
“My surroundings were beautiful, fluttery and fly. All my eyes could see were butterflies up on the treetops and flying through the sky. Oh, oh what a beautiful sight upon my head. I felt I could fly.
Upon the treetops the butterflies were dangling. All the millions of butterflies were like some piles and piles of old leaves; they would fall from the treetops and land on the ground. Sometimes a little butterfly friend would drop on your shoulder for a little chat.
Find a group of butterflies, lower your hand, and you’ll find a surprise. Blow a little, hold out your hand, and there they go, one by one like a flower blooms. The most amazing thing you’ll see.”
After staying at the wonderful Rancho San Cayetano in Zitacuero, the next day we headed for the preserve at Cerro Pelon. The hike up to 10,000 feet was much more strenuous, and
we had horses along to ride when necessary. Although the nucleus was smaller, the sight was just as beautiful. Once a few other visitors left the nucleus, we were alone with the Monarchs. We lay on the ground and looked up at a beautiful blue sky filled with the whirr of the gold and black (below right is my view looking up).
Carson was inspired again:
“Wow, look at that sky! Isn’t it just gorgeous!? If you looked at the sky, what a beautiful sight you would see. Butterflies in the air, shifting by your face, tricking you every time pretending they are about to land on you.
The sky was like a dream you could see, but much more than that. The sky was like fish jumping from the lake and then diving back in. It felt like you were on an ocean and listening to the sea. The wings of the butterflies would make a beautiful sound like the roar of a cat purr-singing to you all day long”.
Carson was right --- we could hear the butterflies, as well as see, touch and feel their presence. Click the video to below get a small feel of the whirr.
We picnicked on the top of a small outcrop, and then headed back down the mountain, and added the monarch butterflies to our list of wonderful and memorable experiences. On the way back to San Cayetano, we stopped by a church school, and Carson jumped rope with some local school girls.
Today was a travel day --- car and planes. We are now on our way to Costa Rica, where after spending a few days in the mountains, we will begin a week of immersion language school (you know, no English, at all).
¡Adiós, amigos! Hasta luego!
Phase three began on Friday with the ever-wonderful Susie Andrus ride to the airport (but we missed the hugs from Whit as he was on a fun field trip). Our first stop was Houston, to visit friends that we made while living there a few years ago. As you may recall, we had planned on flying our plane on this phase of the trip, and Houston was a great first stop. We got so attached to the idea of seeing our friends again that we still wanted to go, even though we flew commercially (it was just a two day layover!).
Other than lots of rip sticking, zip lining, the Wii, ping pong, hide and seek, and other all around fun, there is not much to report. We had a fantastic time. We really enjoyed staying with the McNulty’s (below), and seeing the Brittain's and the Rome's (to the right) (and are sorry that the Brittain's got away before we remembered to take some photos). Thanks to all of our Houston friends for your hospitality and your friendship.
Happy 2008 to all of you! We have enjoyed the brief holidays at home, and it has certainly been a pleasure to catch up with some of our friends and family in W-S. Speaking of which, I must begin 2008 with a mea culpa. Cheryl Schrillo was quick to point out that I am NOT married to a "Nervous Nellie", as this blog has sometimes referenced my better half. I wholeheartedly agree --- a nervous nellie would not be leading her family on a trip around the world, kayaking through caves, and scaling rock-strewn tombs. Claire is anything but a nervous nellie, although the maternal tendencies do pop up from time to time.
However, for a 2008 resolution, I will not use that moniker anymore (but would appreciate some ideas from you on a better name)(Cheryl's suggestion is "most courageous and adventurous mother", but I think that's just a little too much J).
We head out again on Friday, January 4, 2008. After a quick stopover in Houston, we head to Central and South America.
Our itinerary is as follows:
HEADING OUT
4 January 2008, Houston, Texas
MEXICO
6 January 2008, Morelia
8 January 2008, Rancho San Cayetano (Monarch Butterflies)
COSTA RICA
10 January 2008, San Jose
11 January 2008, Arenal
13 January – 19 January 2008, Language School, San Jose
19 January 2008, Oso Peninsula
PANAMA
23 January 2008, Panama City
24 January 2008, Boquete
27 January 2008, Panama City
ECUADOR
29 January 2008, Quito
30 January 2008, Hacienda San Augustin de Callo
3 February 2008, Galapagos Islands
PERU
10 February 2008, Lima
12 February 2008, Sacred Valley
13 February 2008, Machu Picchu
16 February 2008, Cuzco
HEADING HOME
18 February 2008, Miami
19 February 2008, W-S
