carl

Hot Springs and Elephant Towels

Jan 022009

The last stop of the day was at the some hot springs. The spot is a popular hangout for locals and tourists alike and is fed by water naturally heated by the volcano. There are a number of pools, and as you go higher up the hill the pools get hotter. We were imaging a spa-like experience of relaxing mineral pools, but instead it was very commercialized with tiled pools featuring loud 80’s rock blasting out over the in-pool bars (“wet bars”, vs. the “dry bar” near the entrance where you can sit at a table). We toured all the pools, spending most of the time in one with waterfalls and in a cooler pool below it. Interesting, but not a highlight of the trip.

Much more interesting were the elephant towels on our bed when we got back to the hotel. Towel animals showed up at a number of our hotels, but the elephants were far and away the coolest. Each one is made of a bath towel for the legs and a hand towel for the head and ears.

Elephant Towels

Pura Vida

Costa Rica '08, Jan 02 '09

Jan 022009

True.

“Pura Vida” is a common phrase in Costa Rica. Literally “Pure Life,” it is used to express happiness, approval, friendliness, and a reflection of a culture that loves life and the beautiful gifts of Costa Rica. We were taught the phrase on the first morning of the trip, and it was used liberally throughout the rest of the days (and not just by us tourists!).

This image is a time exposure painted with a Maglite flashlight.

Zarcero

Costa Rica '08, Jan 03 '09

Jan 032009

Today was another day of mostly travel, we went from Fortuna to Puntarenas on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The normal route that the tour uses wasn’t available because of a “problem with the bridge,” so we had to take a longer way around. We had a few stops along the way, the first at 9:30 in the town of Zarcero to stretch our legs after an hour and a half drive. Zarcero is famous for the topiaries in the park, which were nice but didn’t really bowl me over.

Much better was getting an ice cream fix at 9:45am.

Topiaries

Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve

Costa Rica '08, Jan 03 '09

Jan 032009

Another 45 minutes of travel and we stopped at the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve where we had a 45 walk with a naturalist through the cloud forest. More leaf cutter ants(!) and some beautiful birds were the most visible wildlife, plus we learned more about the flora of a cloud forest.

Oliver, our naturalist guide.

Cloud forest, and me.

More leaf cutter ants! The worker ant has cut the leaf and is carrying it back to the nest. The smaller ant you see on the leaf is a nurse – she’s cleaning the leaf and will help grow fungus on the leaves inside the nest.

This leaf cutter ant nest is over 10 years old. What you see here is about 8 feet in diameter, and very fragile. If you were to step on it it could collapse.

Built on the bottom of a giant leaf, this nest is home to either bees or wasps – I didn’t stick around to find out.

One of the many beautiful birds we saw in the cloud forest.

Twenty minutes of the drive to and from the cloud forest was along a twisty two way, one lane, road. Normally not that unique or interesting, unless you’re doing it in a tour bus with small trucks coming the other way. Marcos proved his skills.

A half an hour further down the road and we stopped for lunch, then on to Doubletree in Puntarenas for the next two nights.

Puntarenas

Costa Rica '08, Jan 03 '09

Jan 032009

The Doubletree is a resort-type hotel right on the beach. After checking in around 4pm we went for a walk along the beach – enjoying the beautiful weather and watching some of the locals net fishing. We followed that with a drink on the pier while watching the sun set.

Puntarenas has a gorgeous beach.

And I have a gorgeous wife.

Net fisherman.

Beach, pier, and a very bright sun.

Sunset and a cocktail.

After dinner we relaxed for a bit, then Eric and I went for a walk back out the pier. Once at the beach we saw that there was an algae bloom happening of phosphorescent algae that I’ve seen in Southern California before. When the algae get churned up they glow blue. We first saw breaking waves lighting up as if they were being hit with a spot light, then we realized what was happening. We continued out to the end of the pier, where the pilings would cause the water to light up every time a wave came by. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we started noticing bursts of blue underwater, presumably made by darting fish. Then we noticed splashes near the surface where fish would rise to eat smaller fish, then a blue streak would shoot back down deep – they looked like meteors under water. This submerged fireworks display was dazzling, and we enjoyed it for about half an hour before heading back in, sad that for the first time on the whole trip neither one of us had a camera with us.

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