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| July 30 | Palo Verde, Hell!
How could this be? We woke with no scorpions in our beds or misconceptions of our present location. David was alive with a new sense of vibrance leading the group in an early morning round of stretching and calisthenics. As we set out on our journey to see the dry forest, we were bombarded with rain and waves of mosquitoes. Still nothing could obstruct the unwavering determination of group #2 . There were groans and falls, as weak sore joints and muscles abound. Yet everyone reached the summit of the mountain and the reward was the spectacular view of Palo Verde. Hell! How could this be? Now I know why shaman and wisemen through time have gone to the mountains. There the trade winds tell the stories of all time for those brave enough to listen. Truly “ Pura Vida” , what a beautiful world. The limestone cliffs which like cathedral walls harness the emotion of this fabulous place. As howler monkeys bark out orders, the birds become Mercury’s messengers spreading the good news through this enchanted kingdom. The tiger heron shares tales of the wetlands while the Caracara’s keen red eye watches over the forest and campsite. And at night when things start to get quiet the aguila negra, Black Eagle, starts to share its jokes and riddles. This is what the eagle said; There were three men in an airplane. One was a Frenchman, one
an American, and one a Tico. The Frenchman stuck his hand out the window
and said, “We must be in Paris, for I can touch the Eiffel Tower.” A little
later the American stuck his hand out the window and said, “We must be
in New York because I can touch the Statue of Liberty.”
Gracias Fernando, te recordaremos siempre como nuestro amigo.
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| July 31 | Oh what a day at Palo Verde Heaven! We rose out of our mosquito nets
to the sound of howler monkeys.
The sky was a beautiful turquoise blue as we headed out to the marsh by horseback. The bird list was extended by seeing jabaros, green parakeets, vultures, and ibis. A tree covered with white storks gave us a great Kodak moment! The horses left us with a peaceful feeling as they gracefully galloped past gigantic trees in the primary forest. After lunch, a relaxing river ride on the Rio Tempisque enlightened our knowledge even more. The crocodile were abundant and we were amazed at how close we were to them. The expertise of Phillipe was amazing as he showed us the red and white mangroves along the river. He daringly stood on the bow to grab a red heart shaped mangrove fruit. He sliced it open so the pink flamingo was exposed. He told us about secret plans for a perfume if the research on the mangroves didn’t work out. The mangroves were a beautiful contrast to the colorful iguanas. The howler and white-faced monkeys entertained us along the way. I especially enjoyed my sunny 270-degree seat on the bow. It was truly a tourist’s dream day!! But, it didn’t end here. One of the most remarkable events of our trip happened later in the afternoon. One of the lab groups responded to a howler monkey call. They dropped their lab materials and went towards a nearby tree. Twenty monkeys gave quite a show. We all gathered for photo opportunities and laughs. It was truly a tourist’s dream day!! |
| August 1 | Palo Verde
Some of us took a two- hour boat ride on the Tempisque River.
The river drains into the Gulf of Nicoya, and has a tidal bore that makes
the water brackish. Mangrove trees line the river on both sides.
It was low tide for us, so we saw mangrove roots and mud flats. The high
tide mark is around one meter higher than it is at low tide. The
river was chocolate colored – carrying a load of sediment. We saw
several very large crocodiles basking in the mud. When we circled
closer, they slipped into the water and submerged. This was sort of creepy
– you don’t know where the crocodile is, and you’re in a boat about the
same size as the crocodile. We saw a variety of waterfowl: graceful storks,
ibis, and herons. We spotted three howler monkeys in a tree near
the bank. We had very relaxing, lazy trip down the river. The
current in the river was changing direction from the tide as our boat ride
came to an end.
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| August 2 | Palo Verde
When we arrived at Palo Verde many of us were dismayed at the bugs, heat, and primitive conditions. Some had a countdown—How many days left until we could leave? Would we make it? However, for many of us, this experience was the best. What will we miss most? The cold showers, the threat of Africanized bees, the scorpion checks before we got into bed or put on our shoes, or the mosquitoes that carried the eggs of the botflies? None of the above. The last day brought many wonderful experiences for us all. Amy and Mike followed a troupe of spider monkeys, catching their antics on film as they swung through the trees, hung from their tails, peeked through the leaves to figure out who was watching them (Amy and Mike, not the monkeys!) Noel and Suzanne walked down the road to the library, as we watched and were watched by many pairs of glowing disembodied eyes in the darkness. Some spent an enjoyable two hours in the saddle, returning with saddle sores. Paco saved Christa from a downhill somersault off her horse. As they passed through the swamp a flock of jacanas flew up filling the sky with their yellow-green wings. Paco cut flowers for all the girls. What a caballero! Rachelle’s and Noel’s morning walk along the rice fields had them poring over the Birds of Costa Rica book trying to identify the multitude of birds they saw. Prize views were the roseate spoonbill, stilts, egrets talking to each other, and sheer numbers of birds. They were chased back by a bee! After the final push to get our research projects finished and our web pages turned in (whew!), we had a party! Fernando was the man of the day at the party, dancing with everyone and enjoying our attention. Philippe clowned around dancing with a fan, Ticos and gringos danced together, and finally Mary tried to reenact Don Quixote tilting against the windmills, in this case a ceiling fan. She lost the battle, but like Don Quixote, survived with a few stitches and bumps. The best part of Palo Verde for many of us was the wonderful people there. The cooks and rangers did their utmost to make our stay pleasant and cooked amazing food, especially under the rather primitive conditions. The recipes the cooks gave us had one ingredient in common: love. As we thanked them for everything, they apologized for their shortcomings and told us that we were now a part of the Palo Verde family. They will be waiting for us the next time we come. Philippe certainly shared his “calor humano” (human warmth) with all, Ticos and gringos. His caring and thoughtfulness, his easygoing nature (except on our research projects, when he definitely worked us hard!) and his sensitivity in helping us understand the feelings of the Ticos at Palo Verde made our stay at Palo Verde unforgettable. MUCHAS GRACIAS, PHILIPPE, for ice-cream socials, shopping errands, trips to the hospital, and everything else. |
| August 3 | August 3 On the Road for the Last Time—Almost! Christa and Noel
The last bird walk for Palo Verde—we saw the elusive Jabaru, symbol of the successful efforts at regeneration of wetlands. We packed up once again, and everyone at the station came to say goodbye. They were genuinely sad to see us go, again apologizing for any shortcomings of the experience (there were none!). As we departed, the refrain of “Pura Vida!” could be heard in the air. We began our last long bus ride, back to San Jose and the end of our excellent expedition. It was almost the end of more than that! The majority of the drive was uneventful, alternating between rain and pouring rain, probably the most rain we’ve seen on the entire trip. A couple of hours short of San Jose, on a narrow, winding, mountain stretch of highway between Esparza and San Jose, Fernando, our trusted chauffeur, was cut off by another vehicle. The bus slid off the highway into the very soft, wet, muddy shoulder, finally coming to rest in the ditch at a 30 degree angle, mired into the sticky, gooey mud. Most immediately exited the bus, to stand in the teeming rain with no umbrella. The few on the bus threw umbrellas out the window to the already-soaked drowned rats outside. Philippe, the quick-thinking hero, sprinted down the road, machete in hand. “What the heck is he doing?” asked the group. Of course, he was to going to chop some branches to put in the highway, thus alerting any oncoming HUGE trucks to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting us. There was much confusion as Fernando yelled in Spanish at his English-speaking passengers (Maria and Noel had exited the bus) to stay on the bus, Philippe said in his soft voice, to get off the bus, and all other members of our party yelled loudly “GET OFF THE BUS!” The men were trying to push the bus from behind as Fernando did his best to get the bus out of the ditch, resulting only in further miring into the mud. We were getting worried! Finally, a huge truck stopped in the middle of the highway and offered to help. As the traffic sped by, passing each other in the one remaining lane, Fernando and the trucker discussed what to do. The next thing we saw was a chain being connected from the truck to the bus. Inside the bus, Christa, Kathi, and Rachelle figured out from Fernando’s sign language that he wanted them to sit on the high side of the bus for ballast. The truck began to pull. The spectators (the rest of the team) held our breath and screamed with terror as we watched the topheavy bus teeter precariously as Fernando turned the wheel as hard as he could. We could see how deeply mired the tires were in the mud, and the angle at which the bus was tilted. The truck appeared to be pulling the bus sideways through the mud. We all heaved a sigh of relief as we saw the bus finally get all four wheels onto the pavement once again. Back on the bus, a cheer went up for Fernando, as wet clothes came off those who’d been outside watching. There is definitely no modesty left among the group. Once we’d begun to breathe again and saw San Jose in the distance, we felt we were home free. Michael (who else!) remarked, “Well, you know it’s not too late for us to get hit by a bus.” Seconds later, Fernando missed a turn in the heavy traffic near the hotel, and chose to stop and back up into rush hour traffic to regain the turn. Once again, communication was at it’s lowest. The people in the back of the bus yelled at Fernando, “No, there’s a car coming! You’re going to hit that car!” and other warnings, forgetting that Fernando speaks no English! As we got off the bus in front of the hotel, we were happy to have survived the highways and byways of Costa Rica with only a big scare and nothing worse. We tearfully said goodbye to Fernando, whose cheerfulness and patience were certainly one of the best things about the trip. |
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July 16 - July 22 |
July 23 - July 29 |
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