We spent the remainder of our Christmas making our way to San Jose. There was only one Taxi willing to come pick us up from the resort to take us to the bus terminal and he wanted double the going rate - $60. While debating on what t do from here, the concierge offered us a spot on the employee shuttle which was leaving (so we thought) momentarily. We rushed out to the pick up spot and waited for about 2 hours with a large crowd of Ticos waiting to get home to spend the last hours of Christmas with their loved ones.
The shuttle (a 1970's model school bus) arrived and everyone crammed in, setting off for Limon, and as we later found out with a couple pit stops along the way. After a nerve wrecking ride back to Limon, we finally arrived, and thankfully VERY close to the bus terminal! We made it in time for the final bus for the night by about 20 minutes.
We arrived in San Jose at about 11:30 and headed to a hostel that we had noticed on our last stop over in the city, the Malino Red Hostel. Since we had spotted the hostel on the bus, we decided to hike the 3k to from the terminal to the hostel, checked in and then headed out for some grub. The closest place that was open (it was Christmas and late for Costa Rica) was Soda Tapia, an American style 24hr-diner reminiscent of a Steak 'n' Shake. We had bean sandwiches and fries. Because they were out of apple pie and cheese cake I got Guanabana(Soursop) ice-cream for dessert.
The hostel, a new addition to the slew of hostels in the city, was very calm and right off the main drag. We spent the majority of our time there trying to figure out how to make it to Panama and observing a Tico Tradition- the December 27th Cowboy Parade. The parade consisted of thousands of Ticos lining the streets to grill steak, drinking whiskey, and watch the hundreds of dancing horses and cowboys prance through the city. It was freakish.
While the parade was in full force, Tiffany and I had to run around the city to all the different bus terminals to find buses going to Panama that had space. After a few strikeouts (Tica Bus was booked full for days) we were directed to Panaline. It took a while, but I finally found the new terminal on the opposite side of the city from all the other terminals. The Panaline bus would take us from San Jose to the border, through customs and to David Panama. David is still a long way from the city, but there are buses every hour from David to the city, so we were set. We stayed the night in San Jose then caught the bus for the 10 hour ride at 7am.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Parque National Ricon De La Vijia
We took the bus to Liberia and a *gasp* cab to Ricon De La Vijia National Park for camping; or so we thought. Unbeknown to us there are not one, but two entrances and nearly separate parks – one completely public with camping available, the other blocked by a resort, that offers no camping in the park. Yet again, Costa Rica's cab drivers failed us.
We ended up hitchhiking to the Hacienda Guachipelin Resort (6Km) where we got a room and arranged for a day-long adventure tour. We spent the next day on our adventure, starting with 2 hours of zip-lining, rock climbing and Tarzan swinging through the jungle canopy weaving in and out of the river canyon. It's quite thrilling to fly through the air strapped upside-down to a steel cable!
To reach the next portion of the adventure, we traveled by horseback for about 45 minutes to the river head. This was my first time riding a horse (I'm sure my sister would be proud), and (accept for the part where my genitals were continuously slapped into the saddle) I really enjoyed it.
At the river head, we got stuck behind a really large group of elderly people (how they made it this far – beyond my comprehension), so we ended up waiting quite a while to make it into the river with our tubes. Though the wait was entirely worth it! River rafting is cool, but river tubing is a whole new ballgame. The rapids were really intense and there were a few sticky spots, but in all it was a lot of fun. At one point a very large woman went down a rapid backwards and got stuck vertically and eventually flipped – it was very amusing.
Due to the lack of hop-to-it-ness of the elderly group, our return transportation was not as timely as it could have been. However this gave Tiffany and I an opportunity to chat with some folks from British Columbia, Canada. The conversation revolved around the legal issues of medicinally accepted plants and the going rates, local terminology and quality (of which there is very little). The Canadians were great and ended up giving us a ride from the resort to the Symbiosis Spa. Included in our tour package was entrance to the spa and access to the hot springs, sauna and Mud bath!
For Christmas, we decided to take a hike through the National Park. We arranged transportation through the hotel and then set off to see the major sights of the park. The Ricon is rich in geologic activity (hence the spa and mud bath)- scattered mud pools, sulfur pools etc. Halfway through the trail loop we had chosen to explore, we decided to take the trail branch to the second part of the park and the accessible hot spring. The sign claimed the distance was 6k, though we are both convinced that the actual distance is closer to 10k. In any event we misjudged our timing and missed our ride back. Fortunately for us, a young couple in a renal car stopped to give us a ride about 10 minutes into our decent back to the lodge.
We ended up hitchhiking to the Hacienda Guachipelin Resort (6Km) where we got a room and arranged for a day-long adventure tour. We spent the next day on our adventure, starting with 2 hours of zip-lining, rock climbing and Tarzan swinging through the jungle canopy weaving in and out of the river canyon. It's quite thrilling to fly through the air strapped upside-down to a steel cable!
To reach the next portion of the adventure, we traveled by horseback for about 45 minutes to the river head. This was my first time riding a horse (I'm sure my sister would be proud), and (accept for the part where my genitals were continuously slapped into the saddle) I really enjoyed it.
At the river head, we got stuck behind a really large group of elderly people (how they made it this far – beyond my comprehension), so we ended up waiting quite a while to make it into the river with our tubes. Though the wait was entirely worth it! River rafting is cool, but river tubing is a whole new ballgame. The rapids were really intense and there were a few sticky spots, but in all it was a lot of fun. At one point a very large woman went down a rapid backwards and got stuck vertically and eventually flipped – it was very amusing.
Due to the lack of hop-to-it-ness of the elderly group, our return transportation was not as timely as it could have been. However this gave Tiffany and I an opportunity to chat with some folks from British Columbia, Canada. The conversation revolved around the legal issues of medicinally accepted plants and the going rates, local terminology and quality (of which there is very little). The Canadians were great and ended up giving us a ride from the resort to the Symbiosis Spa. Included in our tour package was entrance to the spa and access to the hot springs, sauna and Mud bath!
For Christmas, we decided to take a hike through the National Park. We arranged transportation through the hotel and then set off to see the major sights of the park. The Ricon is rich in geologic activity (hence the spa and mud bath)- scattered mud pools, sulfur pools etc. Halfway through the trail loop we had chosen to explore, we decided to take the trail branch to the second part of the park and the accessible hot spring. The sign claimed the distance was 6k, though we are both convinced that the actual distance is closer to 10k. In any event we misjudged our timing and missed our ride back. Fortunately for us, a young couple in a renal car stopped to give us a ride about 10 minutes into our decent back to the lodge.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Amazing sites to see
After our first big day of surprises, the next day went rather smoothly. We took a tour of one of the caves in Parque Nacional Barra Honda. The Terciopelo cavern is a 206 foot descend and was named because of a terciopelo corpse they found at the bottom of the cave when first exploring it. There are several other caves including one which they have found remains of humans who were thrown to the bottom for whatever reason. But only one cave was open to the public at this time. We hiked up the mountain with our two guides. Both of our guides were amazing. I walked behind talking to one of our guides. He picked plants as we walked along and shared them with me. I would smell them and he would tell me in Spanish what the Indians used them for and their Spanish name. He told me that he was very well traveled and had friends all over the world. I think he said something about Obama. Sadly I could only understand maybe half of what he said, but I would love to spend time at this park studying with him. Our other guide was the one to take us down into the cave.
We strapped on rappelling gear and followed him down the ladder. The cave was really beautiful. There were bats sleeping and large toads hopping about. We climbed down until we reached a wall with only a narrow hole. Jason and I both thought it was the end of the line, but our guide showed us how to squeeze through. He pointed out the way the columns were formed and what they had named some of the formations. There was one call, “The family” and others they referred to as “papayas.” He tapped on some of the rock formations showing us how they were hollow and would make different pitched sounds. Jason is going to post a video of him and our guide playing on the rock.
We stayed at Barra Honda a second night because the buses don't run on Sundays anyways. The rangers allowed us to stay for free and they also allowed us to use the kitchen for the volunteers. We had such a wonderful time and Barra Honda. Everyone was so kind to us. Thank you!!
On Monday we headed to Playa Grande and Parque Nacional Marino las Baulas. Baulas tortugas are the leather back turtles that come to Playa Grande to nest. During nesting season there are tours at night which allow you to enter the beach and witness the nesting. We tried to see it the first night we were there but you have to make the list and they can only take so many people out at a time. Some times turtle don't even come out. Jason and I had been up since 5 am and couldn't stay up longer than 11 pm so we packed it in and planned on seeing them the next night. We stayed in a pleasant hotel that is connected to a bar called “Kike's Place.” It was not very expensive and we got a bathroom which is really nice plus free wireless.
The next day we went out bike riding to see Playa Grande. It is just across the estuary from Playa Tamarindo which is the a much more built up beach. Playa Grande will be the same in a few years. There was a lot of land that was divide into small sections and being sold by Century 21 to what I'm sure is big building companies. Lucky the entire beach is part of the park and protected land just for the sea turtles.
The bike ride was lovely. We popped in and out of the beach all the way down to the estuary, where the salt and fresh water meet. If we had planned it better, we may have taken a boat tour up the river. There are apparently always boaters waiting to take tourists across or on a tour. We watched the sunset on the beach, which was actually rather boring compared to the sunsets of Mal Pais, and headed to the ranger station to check in for the sea turtles.
Now when you go to watch the sea turtles, you wait all night until one shows up. This may or may not happen. Then they take only a certain number of people out to see. When viewing the mother, everyone stands behind her in a half circle and hopes that she finishes her nest and lays her eggs. If there are too many people, you might not get to see the first turtle that comes up. In our case we waited until a short time after 11 to see the second mother come on to shore to lay her eggs. A family drove Jason and I to the site because we did not have a vehicle. We followed out in a single line and made a small half circle behind the mother. Because we were the last of the people there was only about 15 of us instead of 30. There were biologist counting the eggs and making sure the nest didn't fall in on itself. The most amazing part was watching this giant turtle (her shell 4 ft long) back herself into this hole she had dug that was about 3 ft deep and carefully scooping sand out. The way she moved her back fins seemed almost unnatural. Bending them inwards to make a shovel and lifting them out and flicking her fin in a way to throw the sand out. Our mother laid 71 eggs. They were slightly larger than golf balls, shiny and perfectly round. Sadly, no pictures were allowed so I have nothing to show you guys. I'm sorry. We did not get to see her return to the sea. But we did see the tracks that she had left when she came on to the beach. They were so wide, they looked like a 4 wheeler had driven out of sea.
That evening Jason and I crashed in front of the abandon museum. We wanted to catch the first bus out and didn't want to pay for a room for only 4 hours. There was what used to be a small circular bar. We laid out our sleeping bags and slept till the sun awoke us. (I don't know if I have mention this but you have to try really hard to sleep past 6 am in Costa Rica. The sun comes up at 5:30 and sets about the same time in the pm. 8Pm here seems like 10 or 11 pm. It's nice in a lot of ways.)
We strapped on rappelling gear and followed him down the ladder. The cave was really beautiful. There were bats sleeping and large toads hopping about. We climbed down until we reached a wall with only a narrow hole. Jason and I both thought it was the end of the line, but our guide showed us how to squeeze through. He pointed out the way the columns were formed and what they had named some of the formations. There was one call, “The family” and others they referred to as “papayas.” He tapped on some of the rock formations showing us how they were hollow and would make different pitched sounds. Jason is going to post a video of him and our guide playing on the rock.
We stayed at Barra Honda a second night because the buses don't run on Sundays anyways. The rangers allowed us to stay for free and they also allowed us to use the kitchen for the volunteers. We had such a wonderful time and Barra Honda. Everyone was so kind to us. Thank you!!
On Monday we headed to Playa Grande and Parque Nacional Marino las Baulas. Baulas tortugas are the leather back turtles that come to Playa Grande to nest. During nesting season there are tours at night which allow you to enter the beach and witness the nesting. We tried to see it the first night we were there but you have to make the list and they can only take so many people out at a time. Some times turtle don't even come out. Jason and I had been up since 5 am and couldn't stay up longer than 11 pm so we packed it in and planned on seeing them the next night. We stayed in a pleasant hotel that is connected to a bar called “Kike's Place.” It was not very expensive and we got a bathroom which is really nice plus free wireless.
The next day we went out bike riding to see Playa Grande. It is just across the estuary from Playa Tamarindo which is the a much more built up beach. Playa Grande will be the same in a few years. There was a lot of land that was divide into small sections and being sold by Century 21 to what I'm sure is big building companies. Lucky the entire beach is part of the park and protected land just for the sea turtles.
The bike ride was lovely. We popped in and out of the beach all the way down to the estuary, where the salt and fresh water meet. If we had planned it better, we may have taken a boat tour up the river. There are apparently always boaters waiting to take tourists across or on a tour. We watched the sunset on the beach, which was actually rather boring compared to the sunsets of Mal Pais, and headed to the ranger station to check in for the sea turtles.
Now when you go to watch the sea turtles, you wait all night until one shows up. This may or may not happen. Then they take only a certain number of people out to see. When viewing the mother, everyone stands behind her in a half circle and hopes that she finishes her nest and lays her eggs. If there are too many people, you might not get to see the first turtle that comes up. In our case we waited until a short time after 11 to see the second mother come on to shore to lay her eggs. A family drove Jason and I to the site because we did not have a vehicle. We followed out in a single line and made a small half circle behind the mother. Because we were the last of the people there was only about 15 of us instead of 30. There were biologist counting the eggs and making sure the nest didn't fall in on itself. The most amazing part was watching this giant turtle (her shell 4 ft long) back herself into this hole she had dug that was about 3 ft deep and carefully scooping sand out. The way she moved her back fins seemed almost unnatural. Bending them inwards to make a shovel and lifting them out and flicking her fin in a way to throw the sand out. Our mother laid 71 eggs. They were slightly larger than golf balls, shiny and perfectly round. Sadly, no pictures were allowed so I have nothing to show you guys. I'm sorry. We did not get to see her return to the sea. But we did see the tracks that she had left when she came on to the beach. They were so wide, they looked like a 4 wheeler had driven out of sea.
That evening Jason and I crashed in front of the abandon museum. We wanted to catch the first bus out and didn't want to pay for a room for only 4 hours. There was what used to be a small circular bar. We laid out our sleeping bags and slept till the sun awoke us. (I don't know if I have mention this but you have to try really hard to sleep past 6 am in Costa Rica. The sun comes up at 5:30 and sets about the same time in the pm. 8Pm here seems like 10 or 11 pm. It's nice in a lot of ways.)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Costa Rican Hospital
Today was our first day of our “vacation” exploring Costa Rica. We don't have another farm planned until January and are taking this time to do some touristy things.
We caught the first bus out of Cabuya at 7:20am on Saturday, after a extended 3 day goodbye to our new friends that we met at Rainsong. We then connected to a Paquera bus, where you would catch a ferry. So far so good. We got off the bus around 9 and had to find our way to Nicoya. A taxi driver told us we would have to take the ferry to Puntarenas and then another ferry back to Playa Naranjo and there we could catch a bus to Nicoya from there, but it would take us a long time. He told us that he could take us there for $100. Jason told him there was no way we could afford it and we would take the ferry. He was being really persistent and offer to take us for $19. Now this is quite the change in price. We ask him several times, “$19...as in 1, 9?” And he told us yes. After getting in the taxi both Jason and I knew it was a bad idea to have taken the ride. We rode mostly in silence watching the meter run, watching the landscape roll past, thinking about what's going to happen when we would get there... waiting for the punch line. During this time we decided to have our driver take us straight the Parque National Barra Honda which was our final destination instead of Nicoya. (We were only going to Nicoya because it's the closest major city to the park and no buses go directly to the park.) Two hours later we rolled into the hotel right outside the park. The meter read 42 some odd thousand colones which is roughly $80. We unloaded and the driver told us it would 50,000 colones, which is $100. Jason argued and gave him $20. The argument continued, the driver telling us he said, “$90” and Jason saying, “$19,” which of course is what he said. He showed us his meter, which was a total joke. He was trying to charge us $20 more than what his meter read and I forgot to mention the fact that he pulled over and made a couple phone calls on the way, the meter running to entire time. We settled up with him giving him 40,000 colones and he left acting upset, but we know he was pretty damn pleased that he had gotten the gringos to pay him. After this Jason and I made a pack, “No taxis if we can help it.”
The hotel was just down a hill from the park. We carried our things up to the park to see if there was any cheap accommodations there before booking a room at the hotel. There was camping for $2 a head. That's perfect for us because we had to try and make up the $80 we just blew on the cab. We set up camp. Jason and I were actually in really good spirits, laughing about the fact that we knew better and let ourselves be tricked. Jason set up a hammock next to our tent. He tied one end to rope on a tree and the other end he used a metal S hook to hook the rope to the hammock. He climbed in. The hammock sat really low to the ground. I said to him, “I wait to climb in with you but it doesn't look like a good idea.” The hammock was so low to the ground (perhaps 5 inches) that I figured, “I've fallen further down before,” and I climbed in. We both realized that it was going to fall at any moment and we couldn't really get out of it. Suddenly it snapped and the metal hook hit my elbow. Turns out the rope didn't break, the S hook just bent out of shape and the rope slipped off. I was holding my elbow putting pressure on it to make it feel better. It felt like I had hit my funny bone. Jason said, “Well, I don't see any blood...” I removed my hand. My palm had blood in it and the skin around my elbow had swollen up like a misshapen balloon. In the center of the balloon my skin was broken open, not from a cut, but just the force of the metal hitting my arm. I started to panic. The pain hadn't changed, not even enough to cry over. But I had never seen anything like this before. What if I had broken my elbow? What if I end up in a cast and can't do anything on our vacation? I started to cry and Jason calmed me. We walked down to the ranger station. The ranger told us to grab our stuff and they would take us to the hospital. He brought me a menstrual pad because that's all he had to soak up the blood and put a sling around my neck for my arm. My hand was beginning to feel numb in some spots and I believe this was due to the swelling putting pressure on a nerve. My adrenaline rush started to wear off now and I became nausea and developed a cold sweat. I imagine that I looked much worse than my actually condition but this was because I of my panicked state.
We arrived at the hospital and we sat down to wait. The hospital was all concrete, with the look and feel of an asylum only open air. The concrete walls had openings at the top and fans to circulate the air through the room. I was called back within 10 minutes and taken to a room with two bed tables. I explained what happened the best I could in my horrendous Spanglish. The doctor/ nurse that came in spoke a little English. He cleaned up the wound and injected it with some pain killer. The sight of a needle always freaks me out and he put it right in my little swollen arm balloon. While I was waiting for the pain killer to take effect, they rolled another patient into the room. They don't have nearly as much privacy in this hospital as what we expect in the states. I had already seen this man in the open foyer like room that lead to the treating room that I was in now. It looked as though his foot had been crushed. He seemed to be rather calm about it, as he spoke on his cell phone. The doctor/nurse man came back and put a stitch in my small wound. It really didn't need stitches but I guess he figured it was still bleeding, might as well be safe.
Then I went to the xray room. The xray was the real reason we had come to the hospital. If I could have been sure that I hadn't chipped, cracked, or shattered my elbow I would have not even gone. But I've never broken anything so I had no idea what to think. The nurse lead me around through the halls. What a strange hospital. I can only describe it as you would imagine a creepy mental asylum. It was all white and concrete. The floors were all different types of broken old tile. Where Jason awaited my return there was a very small narrow outdoor area. It was probably only 6 ft by 30 ft and had a broken TV on a TV stand jetting out from the wall. The white paint was cracked and peeling off the walls in some areas. Mostly where something had been mounted to the wall. The xray room was quite large but very empty. The machine was in the middle with a chair next to the table under it. There was a doorway that lead to the control area, and on the door that I had entered there was a rosary hanging by two pieces of masking tape. I waited for awhile before I met back up with Jason. Another doctor came in and showed me my xray. Everything was fine. He gave some prescriptions for Ibuprofen and an antibiotic. And then he gave us a bunch of instructions, most of which we couldn't understand because he only spoke Spanish. He lead me to another very small room, where I regain my crushed foot companion. He was having his foot dressed by another doctor who spoke English. This doctor told me to keep my arm rested and in the sling.
We left to pay, and opted out of filling the prescriptions. I am already on 2 antibiotics from the dog bite and we have Ibuprofen already. The entire bill only came out to 30,000 colones ($60) which was less than my visit to the pharmacist in regards to the dog bite.
Jason and I decided we would try and walk/hitchhike back to the park. It was about 10-13 miles back to the park which at the time we didn't realize. We were able to catch a ride in a pick up truck for about 3 miles. It took us 3 hours to get back to the park. It had begun to rain but not to terrible hard. We stopped and grabbed a snack size bag of chips. We had only eaten a banana and two granola bars each that day. But we made it back. We were hanging out by the visitor area because of the rain when a girl our age came from out of now where. She was a volunteer and very nice. We found out there we lots of volunteers working at the national park. We went to bed and fell asleep rather soundly under the rain. It was quite the day. Jason and I made another pack to start listening to our gut feeling.
We caught the first bus out of Cabuya at 7:20am on Saturday, after a extended 3 day goodbye to our new friends that we met at Rainsong. We then connected to a Paquera bus, where you would catch a ferry. So far so good. We got off the bus around 9 and had to find our way to Nicoya. A taxi driver told us we would have to take the ferry to Puntarenas and then another ferry back to Playa Naranjo and there we could catch a bus to Nicoya from there, but it would take us a long time. He told us that he could take us there for $100. Jason told him there was no way we could afford it and we would take the ferry. He was being really persistent and offer to take us for $19. Now this is quite the change in price. We ask him several times, “$19...as in 1, 9?” And he told us yes. After getting in the taxi both Jason and I knew it was a bad idea to have taken the ride. We rode mostly in silence watching the meter run, watching the landscape roll past, thinking about what's going to happen when we would get there... waiting for the punch line. During this time we decided to have our driver take us straight the Parque National Barra Honda which was our final destination instead of Nicoya. (We were only going to Nicoya because it's the closest major city to the park and no buses go directly to the park.) Two hours later we rolled into the hotel right outside the park. The meter read 42 some odd thousand colones which is roughly $80. We unloaded and the driver told us it would 50,000 colones, which is $100. Jason argued and gave him $20. The argument continued, the driver telling us he said, “$90” and Jason saying, “$19,” which of course is what he said. He showed us his meter, which was a total joke. He was trying to charge us $20 more than what his meter read and I forgot to mention the fact that he pulled over and made a couple phone calls on the way, the meter running to entire time. We settled up with him giving him 40,000 colones and he left acting upset, but we know he was pretty damn pleased that he had gotten the gringos to pay him. After this Jason and I made a pack, “No taxis if we can help it.”
The hotel was just down a hill from the park. We carried our things up to the park to see if there was any cheap accommodations there before booking a room at the hotel. There was camping for $2 a head. That's perfect for us because we had to try and make up the $80 we just blew on the cab. We set up camp. Jason and I were actually in really good spirits, laughing about the fact that we knew better and let ourselves be tricked. Jason set up a hammock next to our tent. He tied one end to rope on a tree and the other end he used a metal S hook to hook the rope to the hammock. He climbed in. The hammock sat really low to the ground. I said to him, “I wait to climb in with you but it doesn't look like a good idea.” The hammock was so low to the ground (perhaps 5 inches) that I figured, “I've fallen further down before,” and I climbed in. We both realized that it was going to fall at any moment and we couldn't really get out of it. Suddenly it snapped and the metal hook hit my elbow. Turns out the rope didn't break, the S hook just bent out of shape and the rope slipped off. I was holding my elbow putting pressure on it to make it feel better. It felt like I had hit my funny bone. Jason said, “Well, I don't see any blood...” I removed my hand. My palm had blood in it and the skin around my elbow had swollen up like a misshapen balloon. In the center of the balloon my skin was broken open, not from a cut, but just the force of the metal hitting my arm. I started to panic. The pain hadn't changed, not even enough to cry over. But I had never seen anything like this before. What if I had broken my elbow? What if I end up in a cast and can't do anything on our vacation? I started to cry and Jason calmed me. We walked down to the ranger station. The ranger told us to grab our stuff and they would take us to the hospital. He brought me a menstrual pad because that's all he had to soak up the blood and put a sling around my neck for my arm. My hand was beginning to feel numb in some spots and I believe this was due to the swelling putting pressure on a nerve. My adrenaline rush started to wear off now and I became nausea and developed a cold sweat. I imagine that I looked much worse than my actually condition but this was because I of my panicked state.
We arrived at the hospital and we sat down to wait. The hospital was all concrete, with the look and feel of an asylum only open air. The concrete walls had openings at the top and fans to circulate the air through the room. I was called back within 10 minutes and taken to a room with two bed tables. I explained what happened the best I could in my horrendous Spanglish. The doctor/ nurse that came in spoke a little English. He cleaned up the wound and injected it with some pain killer. The sight of a needle always freaks me out and he put it right in my little swollen arm balloon. While I was waiting for the pain killer to take effect, they rolled another patient into the room. They don't have nearly as much privacy in this hospital as what we expect in the states. I had already seen this man in the open foyer like room that lead to the treating room that I was in now. It looked as though his foot had been crushed. He seemed to be rather calm about it, as he spoke on his cell phone. The doctor/nurse man came back and put a stitch in my small wound. It really didn't need stitches but I guess he figured it was still bleeding, might as well be safe.
Then I went to the xray room. The xray was the real reason we had come to the hospital. If I could have been sure that I hadn't chipped, cracked, or shattered my elbow I would have not even gone. But I've never broken anything so I had no idea what to think. The nurse lead me around through the halls. What a strange hospital. I can only describe it as you would imagine a creepy mental asylum. It was all white and concrete. The floors were all different types of broken old tile. Where Jason awaited my return there was a very small narrow outdoor area. It was probably only 6 ft by 30 ft and had a broken TV on a TV stand jetting out from the wall. The white paint was cracked and peeling off the walls in some areas. Mostly where something had been mounted to the wall. The xray room was quite large but very empty. The machine was in the middle with a chair next to the table under it. There was a doorway that lead to the control area, and on the door that I had entered there was a rosary hanging by two pieces of masking tape. I waited for awhile before I met back up with Jason. Another doctor came in and showed me my xray. Everything was fine. He gave some prescriptions for Ibuprofen and an antibiotic. And then he gave us a bunch of instructions, most of which we couldn't understand because he only spoke Spanish. He lead me to another very small room, where I regain my crushed foot companion. He was having his foot dressed by another doctor who spoke English. This doctor told me to keep my arm rested and in the sling.
We left to pay, and opted out of filling the prescriptions. I am already on 2 antibiotics from the dog bite and we have Ibuprofen already. The entire bill only came out to 30,000 colones ($60) which was less than my visit to the pharmacist in regards to the dog bite.
Jason and I decided we would try and walk/hitchhike back to the park. It was about 10-13 miles back to the park which at the time we didn't realize. We were able to catch a ride in a pick up truck for about 3 miles. It took us 3 hours to get back to the park. It had begun to rain but not to terrible hard. We stopped and grabbed a snack size bag of chips. We had only eaten a banana and two granola bars each that day. But we made it back. We were hanging out by the visitor area because of the rain when a girl our age came from out of now where. She was a volunteer and very nice. We found out there we lots of volunteers working at the national park. We went to bed and fell asleep rather soundly under the rain. It was quite the day. Jason and I made another pack to start listening to our gut feeling.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Adios, Rainsong!
My time at Rainsong was inspiring. Caring for fragile lives and co-habitating with colorful spirits. Each day seemingly a new episode in a reality TV show on the Animal Planet. The happenings, each intertwined event, created a truly comedic and emotional experience which will forever color my memories. As time goes on, I am sure to elaborate on each one in detail over drinks and casados (a typical Tico platter of rice, beans, ensalada, fried bananaos and a main veggie/meat) with those around me.
Thank you to all the friends I made at the Sanctuary, you are all wonderful people; enjoy the remainder of your adventures in "Ticolandia" (thanks to my cousin Alyssa for the term). I hope to see you all again one day, perhaps in your homes or while visiting other continents.
For now our adventure continues on to Parque National Barra Honda in the interior of the Guanecaste province...
Thank you to all the friends I made at the Sanctuary, you are all wonderful people; enjoy the remainder of your adventures in "Ticolandia" (thanks to my cousin Alyssa for the term). I hope to see you all again one day, perhaps in your homes or while visiting other continents.
For now our adventure continues on to Parque National Barra Honda in the interior of the Guanecaste province...
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Costa Rican Hospital
Today was our first day of our “vacation” exploring Costa Rica. We don't have another farm planned until January and are taking this time to do some touristy things.
We caught the first bus out of Cabuya at 7:20am on Saturday, after a extended 3 day goodbye to our new friends that we met at Rainsong. We then connected to a Paquera bus, where you would catch a ferry. So far so good. We got off the bus around 9 and had to find our way to Nicoya. A taxi driver told us we would have to take the ferry to Puntarenas and then another ferry back to Playa Naranjo and there we could catch a bus to Nicoya from there, but it would take us a long time. He told us that he could take us there for $100. Jason told him there was no way we could afford it and we would take the ferry. He was being really persistent and offer to take us for $19. Now this is quite the change in price. We ask him several times, “$19...as in 1, 9?” And he told us yes. After getting in the taxi both Jason and I knew it was a bad idea to have taken the ride. We rode mostly in silence watching the meter run, watching the landscape roll past, thinking about what's going to happen when we would get there... waiting for the punch line. During this time we decided to have our driver take us straight the Parque National Barra Honda which was our final destination instead of Nicoya. (We were only going to Nicoya because it's the closest major city to the park and no buses go directly to the park.) Two hours later we rolled into the hotel right outside the park. The meter read 42 some odd thousand colones which is roughly $80. We unloaded and the driver told us it would 50,000 colones, which is $100. Jason argued and gave him $20. The argument continued, the driver telling us he said, “$90” and Jason saying, “$19,” which of course is what he said. He showed us his meter, which was a total joke. He was trying to charge us $20 more than what his meter read and I forgot to mention the fact that he pulled over and made a couple phone calls on the way, the meter running to entire time. We settled up with him giving him 40,000 colones and he left acting upset, but we know he was pretty damn pleased that he had gotten the gringos to pay him. After this Jason and I made a pack, “No taxis if we can help it.”
The hotel was just down a hill from the park. We carried our things up to the park to see if there was any cheap accommodations there before booking a room at the hotel. There was camping for $2 a head. That's perfect for us because we had to try and make up the $80 we just blew on the cab. We set up camp. Jason and I were actually in really good spirits, laughing about the fact that we knew better and let ourselves be tricked. Jason set up a hammock next to our tent. He tied one end to rope on a tree and the other end he used a metal S hook to hook the rope to the hammock. He climbed in. The hammock sat really low to the ground. I said to him, “I wait to climb in with you but it doesn't look like a good idea.” The hammock was so low to the ground (perhaps 5 inches) that I figured, “I've fallen further down before,” and I climbed in. We both realized that it was going to fall at any moment and we couldn't really get out of it. Suddenly it snapped and the metal hook hit my elbow. Turns out the rope didn't break, the S hook just bent out of shape and the rope slipped off. I was holding my elbow putting pressure on it to make it feel better. It felt like I had hit my funny bone. Jason said, “Well, I don't see any blood...” I removed my hand. My palm had blood in it and the skin around my elbow had swollen up like a misshapen balloon. In the center of the balloon my skin was broken open, not from a cut, but just the force of the metal hitting my arm. I started to panic. The pain hadn't changed, not even enough to cry over. But I had never seen anything like this before. What if I had broken my elbow? What if I end up in a cast and can't do anything on our vacation? I started to cry and Jason calmed me. We walked down to the ranger station. The ranger told us to grab our stuff and they would take us to the hospital. He brought me a menstrual pad because that's all he had to soak up the blood and put a sling around my neck for my arm. My hand was beginning to feel numb in some spots and I believe this was due to the swelling putting pressure on a nerve. My adrenaline rush started to wear off now and I became nausea and developed a cold sweat. I imagine that I looked much worse than my actually condition but this was because I of my panicked state.
We arrived at the hospital and we sat down to wait. The hospital was all concrete, with the look and feel of an asylum only open air. The concrete walls had openings at the top and fans to circulate the air through the room. I was called back within 10 minutes and taken to a room with two bed tables. I explained what happened the best I could in my horrendous Spanglish. The doctor/ nurse that came in spoke a little English. He cleaned up the wound and injected it with some pain killer. The sight of a needle always freaks me out and he put it right in my little swollen arm balloon. While I was waiting for the pain killer to take effect, they rolled another patient into the room. They don't have nearly as much privacy in this hospital as what we expect in the states. I had already seen this man in the open foyer like room that lead to the treating room that I was in now. It looked as though his foot had been crushed. He seemed to be rather calm about it, as he spoke on his cell phone. The doctor/nurse man came back and put a stitch in my small wound. It really didn't need stitches but I guess he figured it was still bleeding, might as well be safe. Then I went to the xray room. The xray was the real reason we had come to the hospital. If I could have been sure that I hadn't chipped, cracked, or shattered my elbow I would have not even gone. But I've never broken anything so I had no idea what to think. The nurse lead me around through the halls. What a strange hospital. I can only describe it as you would imagine a creepy mental asylum. It was all white and concrete. The floors were all different types of broken old tile. Where Jason awaited my return there was a very small narrow outdoor area. It was probably only 6 ft by 30 ft and had a broken TV on a TV stand jetting out from the wall. The white paint was cracked and peeling off the walls in some areas. Mostly where something had been mounted to the wall. The xray room was quite large but very empty. The machine was in the middle with a chair next to the table under it. There was a doorway that lead to the control area, and on the door that I had entered there was a rosary hanging by two pieces of masking tape. I waited for awhile before I met back up with Jason. Another doctor came in and showed me my xray. Everything was fine. He gave some prescriptions for Ibuprofen and an antibiotic. And then he gave us a bunch of instructions, most of which we couldn't understand because he only spoke Spanish. He lead me to another very small room, where I regain my crushed foot companion. He was having his foot dressed by another doctor who spoke English. This doctor told me to keep my arm rested and in the sling.
We left to pay, and opted out of filling the prescriptions. I am already on 2 antibiotics from the dog bite and we have Ibuprofen already. The entire bill only came out to 30,000 colones ($60) which was less than my visit to the pharmacist in regards to the dog bite.
Jason and I decided we would try and walk/hitchhike back to the park. It was about 10-13 miles back to the park which at the time we didn't realize. We were able to catch a ride in a pick up truck for about 3 miles. It took us 3 hours to get back to the park. It had begun to rain but not to terrible hard. We stopped and grabbed a snack size bag of chips. We had only eaten a banana and two granola bars each that day. But we made it back. We were hanging out by the visitor area because of the rain when a girl our age came from out of now where. She was a volunteer and very nice. We found out there we lots of volunteers working at the national park. We went to bed and fell asleep rather soundly under the rain. It was quite the day. Jason and I made another pack to start listening to our gut feeling.
We caught the first bus out of Cabuya at 7:20am on Saturday, after a extended 3 day goodbye to our new friends that we met at Rainsong. We then connected to a Paquera bus, where you would catch a ferry. So far so good. We got off the bus around 9 and had to find our way to Nicoya. A taxi driver told us we would have to take the ferry to Puntarenas and then another ferry back to Playa Naranjo and there we could catch a bus to Nicoya from there, but it would take us a long time. He told us that he could take us there for $100. Jason told him there was no way we could afford it and we would take the ferry. He was being really persistent and offer to take us for $19. Now this is quite the change in price. We ask him several times, “$19...as in 1, 9?” And he told us yes. After getting in the taxi both Jason and I knew it was a bad idea to have taken the ride. We rode mostly in silence watching the meter run, watching the landscape roll past, thinking about what's going to happen when we would get there... waiting for the punch line. During this time we decided to have our driver take us straight the Parque National Barra Honda which was our final destination instead of Nicoya. (We were only going to Nicoya because it's the closest major city to the park and no buses go directly to the park.) Two hours later we rolled into the hotel right outside the park. The meter read 42 some odd thousand colones which is roughly $80. We unloaded and the driver told us it would 50,000 colones, which is $100. Jason argued and gave him $20. The argument continued, the driver telling us he said, “$90” and Jason saying, “$19,” which of course is what he said. He showed us his meter, which was a total joke. He was trying to charge us $20 more than what his meter read and I forgot to mention the fact that he pulled over and made a couple phone calls on the way, the meter running to entire time. We settled up with him giving him 40,000 colones and he left acting upset, but we know he was pretty damn pleased that he had gotten the gringos to pay him. After this Jason and I made a pack, “No taxis if we can help it.”
The hotel was just down a hill from the park. We carried our things up to the park to see if there was any cheap accommodations there before booking a room at the hotel. There was camping for $2 a head. That's perfect for us because we had to try and make up the $80 we just blew on the cab. We set up camp. Jason and I were actually in really good spirits, laughing about the fact that we knew better and let ourselves be tricked. Jason set up a hammock next to our tent. He tied one end to rope on a tree and the other end he used a metal S hook to hook the rope to the hammock. He climbed in. The hammock sat really low to the ground. I said to him, “I wait to climb in with you but it doesn't look like a good idea.” The hammock was so low to the ground (perhaps 5 inches) that I figured, “I've fallen further down before,” and I climbed in. We both realized that it was going to fall at any moment and we couldn't really get out of it. Suddenly it snapped and the metal hook hit my elbow. Turns out the rope didn't break, the S hook just bent out of shape and the rope slipped off. I was holding my elbow putting pressure on it to make it feel better. It felt like I had hit my funny bone. Jason said, “Well, I don't see any blood...” I removed my hand. My palm had blood in it and the skin around my elbow had swollen up like a misshapen balloon. In the center of the balloon my skin was broken open, not from a cut, but just the force of the metal hitting my arm. I started to panic. The pain hadn't changed, not even enough to cry over. But I had never seen anything like this before. What if I had broken my elbow? What if I end up in a cast and can't do anything on our vacation? I started to cry and Jason calmed me. We walked down to the ranger station. The ranger told us to grab our stuff and they would take us to the hospital. He brought me a menstrual pad because that's all he had to soak up the blood and put a sling around my neck for my arm. My hand was beginning to feel numb in some spots and I believe this was due to the swelling putting pressure on a nerve. My adrenaline rush started to wear off now and I became nausea and developed a cold sweat. I imagine that I looked much worse than my actually condition but this was because I of my panicked state.
We arrived at the hospital and we sat down to wait. The hospital was all concrete, with the look and feel of an asylum only open air. The concrete walls had openings at the top and fans to circulate the air through the room. I was called back within 10 minutes and taken to a room with two bed tables. I explained what happened the best I could in my horrendous Spanglish. The doctor/ nurse that came in spoke a little English. He cleaned up the wound and injected it with some pain killer. The sight of a needle always freaks me out and he put it right in my little swollen arm balloon. While I was waiting for the pain killer to take effect, they rolled another patient into the room. They don't have nearly as much privacy in this hospital as what we expect in the states. I had already seen this man in the open foyer like room that lead to the treating room that I was in now. It looked as though his foot had been crushed. He seemed to be rather calm about it, as he spoke on his cell phone. The doctor/nurse man came back and put a stitch in my small wound. It really didn't need stitches but I guess he figured it was still bleeding, might as well be safe. Then I went to the xray room. The xray was the real reason we had come to the hospital. If I could have been sure that I hadn't chipped, cracked, or shattered my elbow I would have not even gone. But I've never broken anything so I had no idea what to think. The nurse lead me around through the halls. What a strange hospital. I can only describe it as you would imagine a creepy mental asylum. It was all white and concrete. The floors were all different types of broken old tile. Where Jason awaited my return there was a very small narrow outdoor area. It was probably only 6 ft by 30 ft and had a broken TV on a TV stand jetting out from the wall. The white paint was cracked and peeling off the walls in some areas. Mostly where something had been mounted to the wall. The xray room was quite large but very empty. The machine was in the middle with a chair next to the table under it. There was a doorway that lead to the control area, and on the door that I had entered there was a rosary hanging by two pieces of masking tape. I waited for awhile before I met back up with Jason. Another doctor came in and showed me my xray. Everything was fine. He gave some prescriptions for Ibuprofen and an antibiotic. And then he gave us a bunch of instructions, most of which we couldn't understand because he only spoke Spanish. He lead me to another very small room, where I regain my crushed foot companion. He was having his foot dressed by another doctor who spoke English. This doctor told me to keep my arm rested and in the sling.
We left to pay, and opted out of filling the prescriptions. I am already on 2 antibiotics from the dog bite and we have Ibuprofen already. The entire bill only came out to 30,000 colones ($60) which was less than my visit to the pharmacist in regards to the dog bite.
Jason and I decided we would try and walk/hitchhike back to the park. It was about 10-13 miles back to the park which at the time we didn't realize. We were able to catch a ride in a pick up truck for about 3 miles. It took us 3 hours to get back to the park. It had begun to rain but not to terrible hard. We stopped and grabbed a snack size bag of chips. We had only eaten a banana and two granola bars each that day. But we made it back. We were hanging out by the visitor area because of the rain when a girl our age came from out of now where. She was a volunteer and very nice. We found out there we lots of volunteers working at the national park. We went to bed and fell asleep rather soundly under the rain. It was quite the day. Jason and I made another pack to start listening to our gut feeling.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Baby howler update
We spent another long night with the baby monkey, though her condition did not improve. On the third day we decided to have the vet put her down while on his monthly inspection that afternoon. Our feelings on the issue remain mutual – it was better to put her down than subject her to a life of agony and intensive care.
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