Vendors on the Road/Market place

One thing I have not mentioned in any blogs are the people selling things on the side of the road or even to people who are stuck in traffic.  One of the main things I have seen on the carts on the side of the road are bananas of course.  However there are many other fruits too.  I do not see how people make a living by selling single rapped bananas or other small objects to people who are stuck in traffic.  The first time one of these people came up to the window I was sitting at it kind of startled me, but now I am used to it.   

Today we went to the market which is really a pretty cool place.  It is fun to look at all of the stuff the vendors are offering and even more fun to barter for lower prices.  It was about a twenty minute walk away from the school but it was worth it.  The first time I went there there was a big group but today it was a smaller group.  We also stopped in a gun shop on the way today and JC and Bob went ahead and purchased security gaurd hats...rediculus...kind of wish I would have gotten one though.  

Final trips

We went to the Poas volcano and La Paz waterfall yesterday.  It was really interesting.  The best part was all of the animals that they had in cages for us to see.  It is not the same as seeing them in the wild but we saw snakes, monkeys, frogs, tons of birds, and some other stuff too.  Actually the best part was the lunch.  They had some North American food and we all stuffed ourself with hotdogs, pizza, and french fries.  The water falls were really pretty and we got to see the crater of the volcano.  It was a pretty good last day trip with everyone. 

Today Sam, Beth, JC, Matt, Diane, Steph, Chase, and I went bungee jumping.  Absolutly the best thing we did on the trip and probably one of the coolest things I have ever done.  The drop was 265 feet and I can not even explain how fun it was.  We had some really fun moments including shouting things before we jumped off, talking about how stupid we are for jumping off of a bridge on friday the 13, and even getting Diane to shout a very bad word at me which she NEVER does.  We had a great time and it was the best way possible to end the trip.  After the jump some of us hit up a local market for some shopping.  Good day all together.   

Tonight we have an oriental dinner and tomorrow we leave the school at 5.  

Ecotourism guides

A final thought about all the awesome guides we have had on this trip.  I still dont understand how they spot some of the stuff that they do. 

The guide at the Monte Verde night hike found about ten bugs in the first two minutes and if he would not have stopped showing us every bug he saw the hike would have taken 4 hours in stead of two.  

The next morning at the bird watching hike we went to two locations to see birds that were usually there but on the way our guide found about 10 birds and probably 7 or 8 of them  never would have seen.   

The guide at La Selva did the same thing.  Before we started he asked if anyone saw any birds and when we said no he pointed out three from right where we were standing that no one had noticed and two of them were pretty big.

Finally I just want to mention the guide we had at the Osa.  He was pretty good at finding things and he walked around with no shoes the whole time.  He was walking by craps, through sharp rocks, through tall grass, through the woods, and even looking for snakes and spiders and never had shoes on the whole time.  

These guides and many I failed to mention here made our ecotourism experience much better than it would have been had they not been around.  I saw thigs that I never would have seen and even if I would have seen it I would not have known what half of it was.  For example...the biggest trees we saw actually forms from a fig growing from the top of the tree down and strangling the host tree.  They are pretty cool and I am glad I know what they actually are; without the guides I would have been clueless. 

Quick shoutout to Roberto, Collon, and Laura for all the help they gave us.

And lets not forget Ronald...the best driver ever.  He made this trip so much better than it would have been had we not had him as a driver.  

And of course Luis...who planned everything for us.  

Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Before May 17 the only other country I had visited was Canada and the only reason I went there was to go to the casino and have a good time with my friends.  

The beauty in Costa Rica amazes me to say the least.  Some of the things we have seen just make you feel like a tiny person.  The rafting trip, the rain-forests, the beaches, all of it just makes a person stop and stare.  I have recently found myself looking at things that would have amazed me 4 weeks ago and just not appreciating their beauty now because we have seen so many things that are that much better.  A perfect example is after the bus got stuck on the Osa trip we traveled through something that looked like a palm tree farm with tons of trees that were awesome and in perfect rows and I didn't even look at them twice until someone said, "how cool would this have been to us a month ago?".  Another example is the mountains in San Jose.  I took tons of pictures the first week we were here of the mountains around San Jose and now that I have seen some of the other stuff we have seen, specifically the volcano, I just don't look twice at them as I walk home or to school.  Even something as small as a simple rain storm is just amazing here. 

The fact that we have gotten to see the country would be enough but we have gotten to take guided tours and walks just to look closer at all of the things that Costa Rica has to offer.  We got to interact and live in the midst of all of the beauty in Costa Rica and it truly was the experience of a lifetime.  Everyone I talk to plans on coming back here at one point in their lives.  We truly have gotten the ecotourism experience during our time in Costa Rica. Pura Vida!    

Why Bananas and Coffee

I would say that in Costa Rica neither banana or coffee production is really sustainable. 

I always thought that bananas were native to central America but this is not the case.  Bananas "the worlds largest herb" came from and is native to Asia.  They first came to Costa Rica in the late 1800's and then the railways of America made it possible to export bananas all over and Costa Rica eventually started growing bananas in mass quantities.

My question is why bananas.  There is a good amount of sun and water here but the only way that bananas survive is by dumping tons of herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and many other chemicals on them.  It seems to me that bananas are not the most sustainable export for Costa Rica.  There has to be something to grow and sell without harming the environment and the people around the banana plantations.  

Coffee is not really sustainable either.  How do they grow coffee.  Well the first thing that is needed is clear land whether it be in a valley, a field, or on a mountain.  The only way to get this clear land if it is not already clear is to cut down all of the trees and clear out all the brush and destroy the natural environment for many species of animals and bugs.  

Neither plant is terrible in and of itself because the soil is rich and they don't deplete its nutrients but there are other ways they are hurting the environment and neither is very sustainable in my opinion.       

Steph and Morell are dumb

the soul purpose of this blog is to show Steph and Morell how to add a label to a blog

Puerto Viejo Part 2

The remainder of the trip went pretty quick. This could be because we were watching movies. On the entire trip from San Jose to La Selva and then to Puerto Viejo we watched the entire Bourne trilogy. A couple of interesting facts…1.) I never sleep on buses 2.) I have seen the first and third Bourne movie but not the second…on this trip I finally slept on a bus and it happened to be while the second Bourne movie was playing, oh well. When we got to Puerto Viejo we checked into our hotel immediately. I roomed with Marty and Bob. We had a pretty sweet room and the guys next to us Plump, Peter, and big John had what we called the honeymoon suite. It was amazing with a master bed then a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a second bedroom. The biggest room anyone had on the trip hands down. Several of us took time before dinner to explore town with g-money. The coolest part of town was little shops along the beach where vendors sold lots of cool souvenirs. Some people bought stuff here but I thought I would save my money for the market in San Jose which has similar stuff for cheaper. Puerto Viejo is a nice little town but I like to call it “Jamaica Jr.” There was Rastafarian stuff everywhere, and if I were counting on my fingers and toes how many times I was offered drugs I would have ran out in a few hours. My favorite encounter came in a small shop and it involved Bob, Matt, and myself. We were looking at the guys stuff and a huge “piece pipe” caught my eye so I picked it up. He said it cost 45 dollars but for us it would be 35…this is what all the vendors do to make tourists feel special…he then proceeded to tell me he had the best weed to. Then he also offered us cocaine. Then Bob in all his infinite wisdom told the man that his hats were stupid. This is a bit of an exaggeration. Bob actually said the hats would look stupid on us because we were white, but in any case I felt it was the wrong thing to say at the time. We left shortly after that and never returned to that shop. We had a so so dinner at a place in town and did some more shopping then it was time to check out the night life. We all hung out in the honey moon suite for a bit playing games and watching bad music videos then we made our way to a karaoke bar. We sang some song from a limited selection and had a few drinks then we decided to find a good reggae bar. We never found the one we were looking for but in our search we heard loud base and followed it to club roots. This was a typical bar that played lots of techno, rap, and local music and it was very fun. Once again every time someone went to the bathroom we had to fight off the drug dealers. We all some great fun drinking, dancing, and watching the late night entertainment and also watching people light every time the fog machine turned on. I have never seen so many people smoking weed in public before. One really cool thing is that the bar was on the water so some of us hung out by the water for a while. It was really cool when the lightning in the distance lit up the whole sky…even though Stephanie never seemed to see it despite me telling here when and where to look several times. We made our way back to the hotel in waves and pretty much everyone was asleep by 3 or 4 and we had some fun taking picture of certain people in their various states.
The next morning we had some serious breakfast before we left for the other place we were staying Manzanillo (spelling?). This place was amazing. The resort we stayed at was called Las Palmas and it was the best place yet hands down. I stayed with Marty and Bob again and our room was awesome. The shower was huge, we each had our own big bed, the t.v. which we rarely used was nice, and basically you had to see it to believe it. Las Palmas had a really nice pool which we utilized to the fullest and a solid beach which we also use quite a bit. The food here was amazing and everyone had an amazing time there.
Right when we got there we all hit the beach. It took a while to get everyone in the water but it happened eventually. Some people played Frisbee or swam around for a while others were hanging out on the beach then some of us took off down the beach looking for the big waves, and we found them pretty quickly. After a good body surfing session we headed back to find some people swimming and others playing volleyball so a few people decided to check out the pool. I realized how much more I like fresh water than salt water at this point. We had an amazing dinner then me and Bob rounded up a nap crew to take a nap in our room. I think there were around 9 people at one point in the nap session. We woke up to find that everyone else was doing the same thing. I myself never got a nap because I was watching the movie. We played some cards, had some drinks, and swam for the rest of the evening. Peter, Bob, JC, and myself had the longest game of hearts ever and after that Bob, Diane, Steph, and I decided it was time for night swimming in the sea. That lasted for about 10 minutes when Peter said this is when the sharks were out and we were all knocked over by a wave. We hit the pool after that. We had a fun time swimming and I tried to get everyone to stay up all night to watch the sun rise with me which was an idea many people had been throwing around. No one felt like it so we decided to play a few card games then nap and get up for the sunrise. While we were playing cards P.J. and Evan found their way to where we were because apparently everyone else was asleep. This is when the idea of staying up was brought up again and one way or another me and P.J. got them all to commit. Evan, P.J, me, Bob, Steph, Heidi, and Diane was the late night crew. We hit the beach and decided we had to do something or all of us were going to fall asleep. We played some fun games that never get old even though I usually reserve them for high schoolers and girls but they were fun none the less. We had a ton of fun that night but it was cloudy in the morning. We had a long debate over whether the sun was up or not in the morning. We are pretty sure now that the sun came up around 430 or sometime close to that and P.J. and myself were trying to convince the group that it still was not up at 515. Some of the highlights of the night were Evan falling asleep mid sentence, Evan trying to use the bathroom in the ocean (it would not let him), Bob and P.J. posing on the log, shots at four in the morning, and the hole that P.J. dug with one foot all night that no one saw until morning. Everyone went to bed at different times. P.J. was third to last but Steph and I did not get any sleep except a twenty minute nap until the next night. We were up all night and pretty much all day. The next day we did more of the same. Pool, cards, reading, pictures, beach, food, and some took a trip to town. Around three some of us decided to get a jump start on the night to come. Chase, Morell, Emily, and myself made good friends with the bar tender and after dinner everyone joined us…even g-money. We all had a good time that night but some of us more than others. The nights events included a bon fire, more swimming, beach time, bar time, and JC, Bob, and myself trying to make a wave pool in our huge shower right before bed.
The weekend was amazing and the next morning it was time to head back to San Jose. The ride home went pretty quickly and this is going to be a long week. We have to finish up our final paper, our final presentation, take our final, finish blogging, go shopping for souvenirs, and try to go bungee jumping. Should be an interesting last week.