Trip to Tortuguero!

As our time in Costa Rica is winding down, we were thinking of the places we really wanted to visit before leaving. Tortuguero is a small village on the northern Caribbean coast. This national park is a really unique part of Costa Rica.  Besides being one of the most humid, rainy areas (there is no dry season), it is surrounded by lagoons that are connected by many canals.  Parque Nacional Tortuguero is undoubtedly one of Costa Rica's top wildlife destinations.  The main draw being the turtles.  It is where the turtle conservation movement started. Of the worlds' 8 species of sea turtles, 4 lay there eggs on the beaches of Tortuguero (which funny enough, means 'turtle village' in Spanish)  The Caribbean Conservation Corporation implemented the first program of its kind in the world and has been monitoring turtles here since 1955. I had been under the impression that is was difficult to get there.   The whole village is completely surrounded by protected forrest and is only accessible by boat or plane. The journey though was quite easy (and enjoyable). We took a bus from San Joses’ Caribbean bus station to Cariari (one hour and 40 min) connected to Pavona (one hour) then climbed in a water taxi (40 min) to Tortuguero Village.Cruising through banana plantations and the jungle was so cool. I thought, this must be what it's like floating down the Amazon.
When the driver pointed out a few crocs, I reconsidered our plans of kayaking through the canals. This isn't the best pic, but you can see this crocodile is pretty big, and has his mouth open. I turned into a total scaredy-cat!
When we arrived to the village, it reminded me a bit of my Bocas del Toro trip, with the houses on/over the water, only I knew my toilet wasn't going to flush into the water.  One of the great things about Costa Rica is that [most of] their sanitation/water system is good!

Tortuguero is pretty small as you can see on the map, which was right at the boat dock.  We stopped to look at our options for hotel. Reservations? ha!
We had met a guy named Adolfo at the bus station in Cariari. He was working in a tour office and was really informative (he ended up being our guide for the park, I wish I had his contact info). He recommended that we stay at Cabinas Icaco.  It was great suggestion…clean room, warm-ish water, located right on the beach with a balcony and the bedroom was painted turquoise! Here is Ernesto standing in the breeze on the balcony. (actually I think he was looking for a wi-fi connection on his itouch. ha!)There are over 300 species of birds in this area, and I had my [I mean Kate's] binoculars ready. This gorgeous bird, a blue tanager, was enjoying a banana at the market. That afternoon we covered the whole town on foot. (in about 15 minutes) The houses were all bright colors, I especially liked this one. This bike caught my eye in front of a yellow house.
We walked to the entrance of the national park read all the info about the turtles. We passed Ernesto Tours! (sorry, I cant really recommend them, but I do like the name)We ate dinner at the Buda Café, a spot that is so welcoming with their new age music spilling out onto the dirt road. The ambiance was so cool and unexpected in a town of many Soda’s (ie:mom & pop kitchens). It had red paper lanterns, decorative touches like candles and handmade placemats. There was also a lounge area where you were able to enjoy a coffee, which we did several times while it rained outside.

This huge parrot was in the middle of a little park, we sat at a nearby table to enjoy the changing colors in the sky.

At 530 the next morning we met Adolfo at the Soda right by the boat dock for a coffee. (this place doesn't look like much but the food here was delicious and cheap).

We arranged our canal tour early, it's the best time to go (or after a rain, as the animals come out to dry) His boat was a large canoa (canoe) with no motor, and he paddled us through the many canals for almost 4 hours.  He was wonderful!  He pointed out wildlife that Im sure we would have missed. This is why I recommend that you spend the $15 per person for a guide (and Lonely planet does too). It was worth it. He knew the names of all the birds we saw:  toucans, kingfishers, and many different herons. We could hear the howler monkeys the whole time. Their noise carries for up to 3 miles!   I don’t think there is any way we would have spotted this without him:

Do you see them? Do you see the baby Caymans? (crocodile family) Mama was nearby.

Not surprisingly, it was raining for most of the canal tour, but we came prepared (I know, its something new for us) with ponchos.

Going on a night turtle walk is a must in Tortuguero.   Because there is a problem with poaching, it is required that you are with a licensed guide and that you have paid the park entrance fee that day ($10).

Unfortunately, May is not a high season for turtle nesting, but since the Leatherback turtles nesting season is in April, we had about a 50% chance to see some stragglers.  We were not lucky.  We did get to see a couple rastras in the sand because 2 turtles were spotted the night before.  These imprints last in the sand for about 3 days and are enormous. 

This picture is from the Endangered Wildlife Trust website, so I have no idea who that man is but he gives you a good reference of just how huge these turtles are. 

The female turtle digs a cavity in the sand with her flippers and lays anywhere from 80-120 eggs before heading back to sea, leaving the eggs on there own to hatch 45 to 70 days later.  Sometimes they will even lay a "false batch" to confuse predators.  The whole process is so amazing, I was really disappointed that we weren't able to see it.   You aren't permitted to have flashlights or cameras on the night walk, and we had to wear dark clothing.  From 10p to midnight we walked the beach.  Nothing.  At one point the guide said, "oh, I have seen jaguars a couple times here.  If we see one tonight, don't act scared because they sense fear.  Just face the cat and walk backwards into the ocean.  They don't like salt water."  What?? I was scared. 

Although no turtles were spotted, I think it was one of my favorite trips I have taken in Costa Rica.  Like no other place here.   We are planning one more trip here before we are off to the good ol' US of A.  Decisions, decisions!

Zoo Ave

We had gone to the entrance of Zoo Ave in the past, but they wanted us to pay the "tourist price" of $18pp to enter. The deciding factor if I would pay the steep entrance fee to this bird park:

"do I get to touch any of the birds?" I asked

"no" she said

Then no. And we drove away.

But I reeeeeeeeeally wanted to get into that park. You know how I love birds, don't you? I don't have a driver's license in Costa Rica, so I needed to show something establishing residency or at least that i was in the process.

How about my Habitat work ID and the internet bill for our apartment? Yes, it worked. We were in for $9 each. (still not cheap by Tico standards, but half price from tourist)

As soon as we entered we were greeted by the most beautiful bird ever, el pavo real. Guys, I am mesmerized by the beauty of this bird. I took so many pictures of him. I just can't get over the colors of his feathers.

He is such a proud peacock, so graceful, never skiddish, even when kids were annoying him.

Look at me! I'm a peacock too!

I later found out that our steep entrance fee, not only helps with park maintenance , but it also helps to run a huge in-house reproduction center for Lapas (Scarlet Macaws), who are Costa Rican natives. I felt good about that! They are such beautiful birds, and I did seen them flying around wild when I was at the beach.

As a matter of fact, all of the birds in the park are either rescues being rehabilitated to live in the wild again, or are species close to extinction There are over 50 species of birds and other animals native to Costa Rica being born in the park, all with the goal re-populating their natural habitat. I found it very interesting. We saw a big-ass crocodile, coatis, tapirs (rhinoceroses family) and lots of monkeys. big monkeys, small monkeys and really silly monkeys...

good trip. good trip.

Updates and Celebrating Labor Day!

So, what do you think?  What are your opinions on my new design for Viva Cindy?

(If you are receiving this via email, please click here to see my new design at the top of the site)

I bought these letters in a market in Nicaragua, I love all the bright colors with the white background. 

I do have a "comments" area at the bottom of each post....I would love to hear your thoughts! 

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Today is "El Dia de Trabajador" thats Spanish for "Day of the Worker"  ok really it is just Labor Day, but doesn't 'Day of the Worker' sound better?  If you are anywhere in Latin America they are celebrating it on the first Friday of May, which is TODAY!  I didn't know this until I went to work yesterday.  Ahhhh, there is nothing better than an unexpected long weekend.   I wanted to follow the tradition of "no labor" today, but I did start to pack a little bit.  You would be surprised in how much stuff I accumulated over the last year.  (or maybe you're not surprised?!)

My time with Habitat is coming to an end here in Costa Rica.  Actually, we will be leaving Costa Rica in a few weeks, and leaving our apartment even sooner than that.  I will be sad to leave, but we have so many exciting things coming up in the next few months, I can't be too sad.

1.  Our last 2 weeks in Costa Rica will be spent traveling to a few places we MUST see before our departure. 

2.  I will still be a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, at least until I hire my replacement.  If you or someone you know would be interested in volunteering for a great organization and living the latin life as I have done the last year. Please check out the job description here and send me an email if you are interested.  (wink wink)

3.  First stop in the US? The ATL baby!  We will be staying with Smita for a week while Ernesto completes a lighting job.  If you are in need of some landscape lighting this summer  just contact  him.   If you are in need of seeing your friend Cindy, just contact me:)  It will be a short window! 

4.  On June 7, my niece Kelli is GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL!!! OMG!  Im so proud of her!  She will be heading off to my alma-mater, The Ohio State University in the fall!  Im sure she will be successful wherever her big heart takes her.  She already has a list of successes a mile long.  One being her shop on Etsy.  Check it out!  Anyway, I will be with my family in Ohio for a couple weeks and life will be so good!  I can't wait to hang out with my siblings, hit some yard sales, ride bikes with my dad and "tour the estate" with my mom! This is what I call it when we walk through her huge, beautiful garden and talk about all the flowers and plants.  She is an amazing gardener and a constant inspiration.  

5.  Onward to San Diego! Yes, the next month or two will be spent with Ernesto's family, and Im really looking forward to it! (no really, I love love love my in-laws)  We are going to really dig deep into San Diego and try to do new things.  Not that the "old things" aren't fun.  Mexican food, family and beach!  Ernesto is already searching on Craigslist for our beach cruisers!  Look at the one he found for me here! Yes please! I know the perfect basket for this bike!  

6.  Ernesto and I will start a project together.  I'll give you a hint: it has to do with Mexican food and blogging! That's right, Viva La Cocina will come alive and we are going to kick it off by testing the recipes in his mothers [hand written] recipe book!  Oh my!  (this still needs to be approved by his mother)

7.  The most exciting news of the summer is happening in Wooster, Ohio on (or around) August 10.  My brother Bill and his wife Barbie are having their first baby!  They have been together something like 14 years?! They are going to be such great parents. 

8.  That leaves us about 2 months before we have to be in Atlanta again for Ernesto’s Xmas lighting season.  Our plan (although subject to change) is to go to Mexico. Stupid Swine Flu!  Ernesto is planning to take some Mexican cooking classes.  I would like to take jewelry (metal smith) classes and also take a photography class.  I need to learn how to use my camera better. If money doesn’t permit us both taking classes, I will sacrifice and just work on my own.  We are considering San Miguel de Allende, which is 4 hours north west of Mexico City.  It is a gorgeous colonial city and has a huge artist community. (although muchos gringosL)  Very picturesque.

9.  By mid October Ernesto's business will be in full swing in Atlanta. I have committed to helping Ernesto grow his business this year by marketing to commercial properties and of course using the blogging community to get the word out.  Im sure it will be his most successful year yet! 

By January 2010, we will have to be decided on where we are going to live. By then, I know, I will be dying for a house!  Ok, truth be told, I am already dying for a house.  Maybe I will have found a job by then.  The hunt begins in October when we are back in Atlanta, unless a I stumble across my dream job before then.  You understand that it wouldn’t make sense for me to look for a job now, right?  All of the above “plans” would be out the window, and it just sounds like to good of a summer to mess with, agreed? Agreed.

Ok, back to our Labor-less day yesterday.  For the past week, we have been kitty sitting for Kate, who is in Bolivia.  We have her car, which gives life here in San Jose a different spin.  During the week, we still walked to the grocery store, and to the gym (which is all we do) but yesterday, since I had the day off, we went for a “Sunday drive.”  We didn’t have a destination, but ended up in Santa Ana, which is a beautiful little town built into the mountainside.  The streets are really cute and a lot of trees are blooming. 

We also cruised up into the mountains of Escazu, and found this beautiful cemetery

 and some gorgeous houses...

We also came accoss  a restaurant called Valle Azul, which I had heard of before.  It’s a fine dining Italian restaurant with killer views of the whole city, this is a corner of the dining room.

it was a bit hazy , but the manager promised us that watching the sunset and  then the city lighting up was not to be missed.  We believed him.  We made plans to eat there for Enresto’s birthday… which is right around the corner!  When I got home I looked up a picture for the view at night from Valle Azul and here is what I found on someone's Flickr ... I can't wait!

Even the Mannequins....

I had to laugh (and stop to take a picture) the other night when I was walking downtown and saw this mannequin in the window. Have you ever seen a mannequin with a boob job?

I can honestly say that I have never seen as much cleavage as I have this year in San Jose. 

I Met my friend Ana from my "knitting club" downtown  the other night at Regis, a fabric store.  Yes, I have a new hobby!  I have been inspired by Ana, she is sewing up so many cute things for her new label UrbanaWear.  Plus all the blogs I read are promoting artists (mostly on Etsy)  and I keep thinking, I can do that!  I need to stop saying that, I know.  I have so many ideas in my head, its hard to get it straight what my next project will be.  All I know is that I have so much inspiration in me that I could burst at any moment.  Im going to buy a sewing machine as soon as I get to the states!  The material is cheap here and I saw some fun prints that I couldn't resist buying. Look how cute! For some reason I keep thinking of aprons.

What projects or hobbies are you feeling inspired to start in the future??

PS.  I don't know how I will get all my stuff on an airplane?!  (oh wait!  yes I do...$$$...BUT  if any of my Delta friends would like to come here in late May to check a couple bags for me, that would be greatly appreciated!  I promise to show you a good time for the favor!)

Down the Caribbean Coast

Although we got a late start on the holiday weekend, we did finally get out of San Jose.  My idea was to go to Bocas del Toro, Panama.  Since my brother Brrrian was visiting we made a stop in Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica #1 to break up the trip, but #2 because I knew that Brrrian would really enjoy it. We have been there several times, it seems like the perfect spot to take visitors, because it is so different than the rest of Costa Rica. We did all the fun stuff, like rent bikes, eat seafood, drink organic coffee and eat homemade ice cream, salsa dance at Maritza, listen to reggae at Johnny's... The difference this time was the sheer amount of people due to Semana Santa (holy week).  My co-worker and fellow Habitat volunteer Bryan wanted to go too.  (Since there were 2 Brrrian's, Bryan picked a new name - it was Esteban...actually we all did- Brrrian became Ceasar, Neto was Bruno and I was Valentina) We piled into Esteban's suv and arrived in a few hours.  Of course we rolled into town with no reservations and the choices of accomodations were slim. We ended up at Coco Congo across from Playa Negra  because we really didn't have a choice.  (skip this place if at all possible) Here Esteban sits on the bed, which is separated from the bathroom by a thin piece of plywood... (I would dare to call Esteban  "high maintenance" and so...no,  he didn't last the night here)  What's important to me luckily, is not the room that I sleep, but what is on the other side of that door: 

I could sleep almost anywhere to wake up to this.  Here are some of my favorite pics:  

Brrrian jamming with Paul,  the owner of Caribbeans, a free trade organic coffee shop.  (click here to see what he was singing)   We wanted to take Brrrian to Maxi's in Manzanillo, a 45 min bike ride from Puerto Viejo. 

It is the best seafood/ribs place on the beach.  This was the 3rd time we had been there. De-lish and under $10!  

Manzanillo National Park is just a bit further down the road, and we had never been there, so we planned walk the trails after lunch.  It was so beautiful, I loved the rock  formations in the water.

Brrrian was amazed at the foliage walking through the jungle and took many great shots with his new camera, a Canon XT which is very similar to mine. (all these pics are a mix of his and mine) He gave me some great tips.

I was glad when we spotted the sloth so Brrrian could see some of the wildlife (hanging at the top..see it?) 

Brrrian brought a gnome traveling from San Francisco and is now  traveling the world.

Oh! and I don't want to forget the most enlightening part of PV.....we met the lead singer of the 80's band Twisted Sister.  He is now living in Costa Rica, hanging out at Caribbeans Coffee to tell its patrons about the poison the us government is spraying on us from airplanes to kill of 95% of the population. "Do you know the poison that you are breathing everyday, and that its going to kill you?"  This was his opening line and I had to reply by saying "Do you know how ridiculous you sound saying that while you are smoking a cigarette?"  Anyway, bottom line is that  he wants people to check out www.chemtrails.com (im not going to link to it)  and spread the word, he made a real impact on us - we were talking about him all week.  Mission accomplished! 

Next stop Bocas del Toro, Panama.  To be continued.... 

Parque Nacional Volcan Poas

Poas Volcano National Park is about 40k north of San Jose. It is the most visited national park in Costa Rica. Even though its last blowout was back in 1953, Poas is still an considered an active volcano. It was that year that an enormous crater formed. It's 1.3k across and 300 meters deep. There are two other craters, one is a lake. The fact that you can peer into an active volcano, without having to actually hike miles to get there must be attractive to the almost 300,000 people who visit annually.

I had been wanting to visit Poas all year. Im really facinated by volcanos, and its an easy day trip from San Jose. (Poas was actually the epicenter of the huge earthquake here on January 8th. I missed it by the skin of my teeth. I was in Atlanta and arrived that night, 6 hours afterwards)

My boss Steph asked if Ernesto would mind entertaining her sister and friend for a day while she was at work. (they are here visiting for spring break) When they decided to go visit Poas, I had to invite myself.

We used Steph's car and left as early as we could. (cough cough) There is a very strong smell of sulfur as soon as you enter the park. From the visitors center there is a short paved trail to the main crater. It was a bad sign that we could barely see the trail in front of us.

You really need to arrive early before the clouds come in at about 10am. Unfortunately, we arrived at 10:10am. So what was supposed to be a view like this

[pic from wikipedia] turned out to be a view like this: I took this picture. Really, all by myself.

ok, ok, we thought, even if we can't see down the crater, we still can hike the little trail in the dwarf cloud forest and enjoy the foliage right? We were surrounded by flowers, lichen, bromeliads, and moss covering curious shaped and twisted trees.

I finally broke out my new Canon XSi camera for a trip. I definitely need some classes, but Ill share my amtuer pics anyway. I love this one, but you can see that the focus is on the tree to the left, not Neto.

The 30 minute roundtrip trail called Sendero Botas leads to an extinct crater that has filled with cold water and is called Laguna Botas. The Volcano base is 8200 feet above sea level, and even though this was a wuss trail, I could feel that after one minute my breathing was strained. Come on, it's over 8000 feet! It was cold up there too, but "cold" for me now is low 60s.

At the top... Again Ugh!, nothing but clouds. But alas, after a few minutes the wind blew the clouds out of the way so we saw...something.

Ernesto tried to see what was over there in the clearing.

A minute later, we could see the marvilous lake. It made it all worthwhile. Can you believe this was a volcano?

We smiled for the obligatory pic. It a framer!