In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle, Where Everything is Supersized

Samasati Ecolodge (Caribbean Coast), COSTA RICA
Feb.3-10, 2015
[MAP II]

Actually, apparently I'm not really in the jungle, but rather the 'tropical rainforest'.  Jungles have thick undergrowth, while the rainforests and cloudforests have little undergrowth due to very limited sunlight getting through the tree canopy above.  So, there are no lions sleeping tonight.

However, there are ridiculously cute sloths, monkeys, toucans, all kinds of other screeching and tweeting birds, zippy little lizards and geckos, iguanas, snakes, itty bitty poisonous frogs, Very Big creepy crawlies, and armies and armies of ants.  And fantasic vibrant flowers.

I spent a week high up in the rainforest mountains on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, attending a writing seminar at an 'eco lodge'.  Hot, often wet during the day, and cool,

My room for the week

often wet during the night.  If you ask google "what is an eco lodge", it says:  a type of tourist accommodation designed to have the least possible impact on the natural environment in which it is situated.  I would add to that: "while creating a positive social and economic impact for the local people in the area".

In this relatively small lodge in the big rainforest, the creatures outnumber the humans probably a million to one.

It's a leaf... It's a bug...!

I only saw him because he moved...

My buddy Morton's coming for your food!  hisssssss!!

D'oh, Morton you idiot, you dropped it!

This fellow was perched a short distance outside my cabin almost the entire week I was there - this is pretty much exactly what I saw the whole time - a ball of fur:

Sleeping sloth

Stretching sloth

You can imagine the excitement and awe when one afternoon, he moved!  When these guys move, it is a sloooow stretch, a slooooow scratch.  They spend half their day sleeping, only come down from the trees once a week to go to the bathroom, and their fur is an entire ecosystem unto itself (often having a bit of a green tinge).  On my last morning, when I woke up and went onto the balcony to check on him, he was gone.

The howler monkeys wake up around 5am.  I know this because that's when I start to hear their other-worldly growls, howls and barking, which, upon hearing, you would think came from an enormous monster-like creature of your imagination's scariest creation.  It is rare to catch a glimpse of them, which makes it all the worse for your head.  In fact, they are just little black monkeys with very big lungs.

I only left the area once during my week there, for a morning guided walk down on the coast in Cahuita National Park.  Here, the rainforest meets the ocean directly - imagine walking in the forest, where only a couple metres of beach separate you from the ocean...  I had no idea iguanas hung out in trees, and would never have noticed if our guide hadn't pointed them out.  Our guide was a local indigenous lady (Bribri), and her description of plant uses - cooking, medicinal, internal, external - made me want to start my own rainforest back garden when I get home.

The writing retreat was run by two woman who make their living writing - Jeannie is from Canada, Leigh is from the US - Jeannie lives in Panama (for now), Leigh and her family live in Argentina.  Hmmmmm...

During an otherwise perfectly happy, hard-working, and extremely relaxing week, my only hour of angst came after a particular workshop discussing motivation and goals.  Leigh talked about her path towards becoming recognized as an expert in her field of writing, taking on speaking engagements, traveling to workshops and seminars around the world.

Wait a minute - that's where I was heading in my current job.  What the hell was I doing in the rainforest peacefully hanging with the animals, eating great wholesome food, sleeping like a baby in my simple cedar cabin, with a group of 10 lovely and inspiring women writers?!?!!!!!  How many hours, years, braincells, sleepless nights had I put towards my work, the people and relationships, the papers, the conference presentations???  You don't just casually walk away from all that, and go hang out in the jungle!  ...or do you?

Somehow, hanging out with the animals is soothing, relaxing.  They go about their business, inevitably interacting, the more complex ones finding moments of pleasure (although I do continue to wonder if insects or small amphibians do too).  And when another dead leaf falls from the canopy of the mighty jungle/rainforest, which they regularly do, it simply falls to the ground.

Sunrise - from my balcony

Sunset - from my balcony

Refreshments

Central Valley, COSTA RICA
Jan.31-Feb.2, 2015

Would you believe I just ate a whole lemon?!  Sweet, like an orange, right off the tree in the yard.  And then, apparently the big orange tree a few metres away produces sour oranges, like lemons, good for cooking only (ie. marinades).  Go figure.  There are also bananas, plantains, mangoes, papaya, coconut, guava, avocado, guanabana, yucca, beans, aloe vera...  Unfortunately I'm a bit early for most - due at the end of summer season in March-ish, other than the bananas.  And the early lemons.

Leo & Shelley's back garden

An over-ripe banana is a fantastic tool for bird watching - all kinds of birds seem to love the pungent sugary fruit.  In the mornings it's a constant parade of different bright-coloured happy birdies having their turn at the bananas - mesmerizing.

Leo is generous with his garden/orchard - after surviving the sweet lemon, over the course of the next few days he brought me a plantain - which I first tried raw, then properly fried with a dollop of sour cream on the side (so good), guanabana - a big prickly pear-like fruit which he sticks in a blender and then freezes in lumps, making for a hot afternoon cold treat, and my first Costa Rican cerveza - Imperial.  I shared my first Costa Rican wine with him - it was a very sweet, more fitting for a dessert wine.  I think I'll stick with Argentinian and Chilean.

First thing I do in the morning is grab my glass for a slug of water.  This morning, my eyes still half closed, I had the glass at my lips and was about to tip the water in.  Suddenly, my subconciousness registered a dark and scary object and I shrieked.

I managed to dump the water and save him.

Besides eating, I spent the rest of my time in the Central Valley doing what I want when I want:  reading, writing, doing some yoga on the grass outside, going for a couple runs (eeeeeearly morning - otherwise, you die), walking the 25 minutes to town for food, and sleeping NINE hours a night.

Costa Rica has waterfalls, and it's interesting: people love to go see waterfalls.  Insightful entrepreneurs the world over have figured this out, and have generated revenue - to protect the waterfalls, for profit, maybe a bit of both - charging people to go see waterfalls.  So what's the attraction?

Leo insisted on taking my photograph

They are big - far bigger than us, and they carry a lot of power.  That combination tends to evoke a sense of awe, along with a reminder that us mortals are but mere mortals.  It instils fear and a gut feel of danger - which attracts some, and repels others.

I went for a cool swim under the falls - glorious after the hot hike in, and gave myself a nice neck and shoulder massage.  Poking around the waters under Leo's guidance, there was an even bigger set of falls (which I only observed from a comfortable distance), and a line of gentle massages.

Little massage waterfalls

On the way back from the falls, Leo stopped off in town and picked up some ceviche for his family.  Inspired, I got some too - fresh fish "cooked" in cool lime juice with fresh herbs.

...refreshments come in many forms.

Looking the Volcano in the Eye

Poas Volcano, COSTA RICA
Jan.30, 2015

The little casita in Leo & Shelly's back garden is out in the country, amid farms, coffee and sugarcane plantations.

Coffee trees!

It would be utterly peaceful if it weren't for Leo & Shelly's five dogs.  The ringleader - the smallest dog of the bunch - barks incoherently whenever I am in its site, or it thinks I might be in its site, which sets off the other four dogs, and then all the dogs in the valley.  He's a "big" bully with nothing to say who stalks around the yard barking loudly (ie. beating his chest) to hide the fact he has nothing to say.  Reminds me of work.

However, I will easily settle for nearly utterly peaceful.

My Spanish impoves daily, thanks to nice Costa Ricans, my Spanish-English travel dictionary, and Duolingo [1].  However, the ability to catch what's being said, at 20 words/second, in response to my stuttering Spanish utterings needs work.  I wasn't sure if the fellow who gave me a lift back down the volcano mountain said:
a) when your boyfriend shows up, give me a call and my wife and I will take you guys to the best beach in Costa Rica,
b) if your boyfriend doesn't show up, give me a call and I'll make you my wife and take you to the beach,
or
c) none of the above.

Mom and dad -
I managed to look over the edge into the smouldering crator of a volcano without falling in.

I was pretty fortunate - to see it, not to not fall in.  The crazy storms hitting the eastern coast are being felt here too, with raging winds and cloudage.  And the clouds unfortunately all get stuck on the highest peaks, ie. the volcanos.  Poas Volcano is in a national park which also has cloud forest and some trails for local flora and fauna sightings.

I wonder why it's called cloud forest:

Halfway up the road to the volcano, and I find my head
in the clouds

I was begrudgingly trying to muster enthusiasm for the cloud forest trails after arriving at the volcano crator lookout and seeing:

Volcano Poas viewpoint

...when it felt like somebody suddenly turned the lights up.  The clouds parted, the angels sang and I ran (literally) a km back along the path to the lookout to see this:

Poas Volcano - main crater

I had walked 3km from my casita to the nearby village, ridden the public bus up the windy road for 45 minutes (think: yellow school bus with exactly that kind of (non)cushioning), walked another 10km up the volcano, and paid my two bits to see a smouldering crator...

The parting of the clouds lasted only about 10 minutes, but wow.

And yes, that's real smouldering (not clouds) coming from the lake.

Afterwards, I went back to the (super-sized) flora and (sadly lacking) fauna of the cloud forest with great enthusiasm.

Costa Rican fungus?

Moth or butterfly with translucent wings

Supersized fern

Poor Man's Umbrella

Poor Man's Umbrella - with watch placed on top of leaf (left side) for scale

My only disappointment of the day was not seeing the infamous resplendent quetzal birds.  Or any small untamed felines.

The stars are out now (the sun gets up at about 6:00am, the sun goes down at about 5:40pm. 11:35 hours of daylight at winter solstice, 12:40 hours of daylight at summer solstice), the dogs have finally shut up (first time!!  they must be starting to like me), the crickets are cricketing, there's a warm breeze, and my glass of Costa Rican wine needs refilling.

Pura Vida

Alajuela & San Pedro de Poas, COSTA RICA
Jan.29, 2015

From the book Colin is reading - Tim Cope's "Off the Rails"

So here I am, landed in Costa Rica [MAP - Leg II].  I am on my own, as Colin couldn't get the time off work - he will instead take some of his vacation in a month or so, and catch up with me then.

I'm starting off in this town called Alajuela - definitely not a tourist spot, but, close to the San Jose airport for my late evening arrival, and a heck of a lot cheaper than San Jose, the capital.  I'm in a B&B with a fantastic breakfast - none of this continental breakfast sugar pile of bread and jam, instead Costa Rican style rice and beans, eggs, bacon, fried caramelized plantains, coffee, fresh squeezed juice of some fruit or other...  After that, I can face anything.

Some people think of traveling solo as a Scary Thing.  It is, to start off with.  You basically show up knowing only what you've read (if you've had any time), what you've heard from other people, and hopefully with a place to stay for at least the first night or two.  But you have no idea if the people bite, if what you learned is in fact the language they speak, where is the bank, how to get food, what to do first, what to do next...

But, if I could deal with my IT department at work without getting fired, I could certainly navigate day to day life in central Costa Rica.  As with anything anywhere, pants on one leg at time, then set off one step at a time.

It becomes a series of small accomplishments and victories, maybe an occasional setback or two.  Finding the bank.  Finding food.  Finding the bus station and how to get around on local transport.  I find I become friends with a place only once I've walked around, got to know it a bit.  Because fear comes mainly from not knowing.

No lingering in Alajuela - after a day of taming the masses, I left for San Pedro de Poas on the bus, barely more than a school bus.  I rehearsed and used my best ever Spanish to ask the nice lady sitting in front of me about the place I wanted to get off - "get off by the yellow sign for Finca Nazareno" were my instructions, a farm about 2km outside of San Pedro.  Once off the bus I asked any local soul who would talk to me where Leo's place was, and was sent first in one direction, then in the other.  That's OK - I'm missing most of ski season this year, so wandering the road with my pack, Big Bertha, made my ski legs feel better.

When finally I set my pack down in my own little casita in Leo's back garden, I was elatedly proud.  Not necessarily on the edge of dangerous trouble, but, I wasn't sleeping in the ditch tonight.

As they like to say here in Costa Rica, Pura Vida...  Life is good.

Does Beauty Matter?

Paris, FRANCE
Jan.3-6, 2015

In Paris, you walk.  Architecture, cafes, narrow streets that lead to a surprise - little or large, smartly-dressed women, sharp-looking men, art and good food.

The Montmatre Cemetary from our hotel window

Gargoyles under the moon watching over the narrow
alleys of the Latin Quarter

Not sure what this is

Sucre Daddy sugar

The Sacre Coeur Basilica from the
Boulevard de Rochechouart

L'Arc de Triomphe (Colin's photo)

.

Stairway to the top (Colin's photo)

The Arc de Triomphe is in the centre of a roundabout from which 12 streets radiate (including Les Champs Elysees).  Colin, much more camera savvy than I, managed to get a full 360 degree panarama.

Whether you are religious, atheist, spiritual, agnostic, a combination of all or none of the above, you can't help but wonder at what inspired humans to build such magnificent and beautiful structures to the gods throughout civilization...

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral - right arch

Notre Dame - from the back

Mmmmmmm, cheesy raclette...

With Colin's bro Andrew, mom & dad

Can never have too many...

Walking in Paris, it just naturally makes you happy.  How could I help but compare its charm and beauty to the relative ugliness that had become my day-to-day back at home.  My work location was moved out of downtown to the southeast industrial lands of Calgary.  This cost me not only the interaction with the vitality of downtown life and activity, but my daily walks to and from work, my lunch time runs along the Bow River, the down-to-earth yoga instructors at the studio nearby, and the opportunities for planned and unplanned run-ins with friends during lunch or after work.

It wasn't all bad.  While I talk of missing my interaction with "the industry" railroad folks the most , I do not want to detract from the people with whom I worked directly over the last seven years of my career.  Prior to that, I never had a job for more than two years at a time before I got antsy and wanted to move on to something new.  Coming into this current department, Mechanical Reliability - which I never knew existed in the railroad until I was picked up when sitting an interview for a different job - there suddenly presented an opportunity to use a multiple of my collection of skills, and I really really enjoyed it.

It was a joint Mechanical Engineering-IT project - mechanical data-based processes for derailment prevention and proactive railcar maintenance, developed into an IT system to manage the data and automate the processes.   All of us directly involved in the design and building of this new system took much pride in this thing we were birthing, putting the best of our engineering and IT skills into it.  It was a thing of beauty.  But then, something happened.  Not all at once, but gradually.

Things became a constant battle about deadlines, paperwork, bureaucracy, who screwed up.  Those directly doing the work still wanted to do the work, but the energy and passion was no longer poured into our system.  It was instead split between meeting deadlines even if that meant with only a half-baked product, choosing which paperwork had to be kept up with and which could be left by the wayside, managing bureaucracy, defending oneself - and only then, if there was anything left, enhancing the actual system.

I can't put my finger on a single thing that caused the above and led to the elimination of satisfaction and enjoyment - I can speculate and pontificate on a mix of reasons.  At the end of the work day, I came home not as a useful member or participant in something bigger and better than myself, but simply as a tool for someone else's bigger and better.  And I had no idea what that was.

Walking in Paris, this kind of beauty could not have been manifested by angry, demoralized, embittered people.

But nothing is all good either.  I was surprised (a gut-sickening kind of surprise) at the number of men in uniform with big guns walking among the crowds in Paris - at train stations, at the popular tourist spots, walking down the streets.  We left Paris the night of January 6 on the Chunnel train back to London.  The following morning, terrorists shot the employees at Charlie Hebdo magazine headquarters.