Update Notice

The wi-fi here at the wildlife sanctuary was "fried" just before our arrival, so updates will be very random and likley backdated, so be sure to look at the past few postings!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday. I'm going to get her something really awesome to bring to her. I love my sister. I hope that tomorrow is her birthday. I can never remember the right day. Happy Birthday Tasha! I love you.

On the night of the meteor shower, we all wanted to see some shooting stars. We headed out to the beach and hopes that the sky would be clear. We went early to go swimming. The first beach we came to seemed perfect. We all jumped in and there was a drop off in the water so the water was up to our shoulders. We were having fun catching waves until suddenly we were under attack! It felt like a million little insects stinging our bodies under the water. Simultaneously we all ran out of the water screaming (which I'm such was a funny sight). It was a almost translucent tiny plankton that must have rolled in on that last wave. So we left to find another beach and ended up in Montezuma. Edwin and Joe have a pickup truck. So 6 of us rode in the back catching what shooting stars we could until we arrived. We swam but the clouds covered the sky. We had a small beach fire that took the boys forever to start because of the wet wood and enjoy some music from a local who sat down and played guitar and sang with us. It was a lovely night.

Two nights later we went to a going away party for a volunteer that was leaving. She was staying at a local hotel and that's where the party took place. We all drank a lot and danced a lot. And then we realized it was time to go because it seemed some of the locals had been sniffing something and were getting really rowdy. So we made our way to the beach. The sky was clear so we sat on the beach for a while just star gazing. So many stars, I wish I could share the view of the sky with all of you. But sadly my camera could never catch its beauty.

Yesterday the baby anteater died. He was gone by the time we got there to feed him in the morning. His mother was hit by a car and he was prematurely aborted. Someone had brought him to rainsong to try and save him. He was only half the size he was supposed to be. We don't know why he died, he ate and seemed alright the night before but we lost him. It was a really hard animal to lose. He required alot of care and it's sad to lose a baby. Rough morning.

Today the older anteater seemed to be bleeding from her nose alot and we got really concerned. Anteaters are apparently hemophiliacs so their blood doesn't clot like it should. So we feed her spinach juice and tried to stop the bleeding. I hope she will be ok.

WOW! I just got interrupted from my blog because there was a skunk in the chicken pen. We lost 3 chickens last night, and Brad (our Alaskan volunteer) heard something coming from there. Jason and Brad saved the chickens and got Simon. Simon caught the skunk but she got away because the cage door didn't latch. It's strange to me that the skunks kill so many animals. I didn't realize that they are hunters I guess. I always think of the skunk from Bambi that likes flowers. Anyhow, everything smells like skunk now.

Check out our picasa for new pictures!

Beginning of Rainsong

We've been at Rainsong for 3 days now. Every morning we start with a 10 minute mediation. Today was the first day that Jason and I participated in that. It's kind of interesting. Our host, Mary, likes to have us manifest through mediation. So every morning we close our eyes we look into ourselves, connect with the prana of the earth and root ourselves, connect with the prana of the sky and open ourselves up to new possibilities and open our hearts to let out surround ourselves with a light of whatever color Mary chose and try to manifest what she requested. Today it was white and safety for the animals. There has been quite a few deaths here in the past week. The male peacock and at least one chicken was killed by a skunk, just their heads taken. And the female deer who was pregnant was found dead 300 meters from her pen with her throat ripped out. Our host believes that it was a Chucacabra. More likely it was a jaguar but it is strange that her body was not eaten. Luckily for myself I haven't witnessed any of this. Though I had met the female deer, Bambi, and she was so very sweet. She came right up and licks you and wants to be pet. Actually almost all of the animals here are tame. Many that have been released hang out around the farm and they are friendly. It's sad to lose any animals.

Let me tell you about the animals here. The sanctuary is divided into two parts. The main area with most of the animals and where Mary and her husband, Simon, live and the farm where there are birds and farm animals and where the volunteers stay. At the sanctuary there is: a white faced monkey, 3 baby howler monkeys, several parrots, two toucans, an iguana, parakeets and a few other birds, four turtles, two bunny rabbits, three red squirrels, a guinea pig, a kinkajou, three porcupine, a baby anteater and a larger anteater. Up at the farm there is: only one peacock now, several guans, pigeons, 4 adult goats and 3 kids, 3 horses, only one deer now, several chickens and chicks, 4 tepezquintles, a pig, and a one-eyed ocelot. Some of us come up to the farm and feed the animals here and the rest stay down at the sanctuary and feed and care for the animals there. Our day is split in half. 8 till 11 and then back to work 2 til 5. It's not hard to find things to do to take up the free time. Our first day we walked to a nearby waterfall. It's about a 20 minute easy hike. There's not really anywhere to swim because it's not deep enough. But it's really pretty and unique looking. The roots and rock have all been calcified from the water. So it's a really rough surface and the roots create small pools.

It's beautiful here. With a view of the water from the volunteer house and surround by rain forest. The morning the howler monkeys and of course, the birds wake us. I been doing yoga in the morning and I really find it easy to concentrate and find peace in my practice here. I'm not concerned with any of my surrounding unlike other places I have practiced.

Right now I'm surrounded by all the volunteers, everyone is reading, writing, playing music or visiting and I really love the atmosphere. We have started doing communal dinners which is working out really well and everyone is into throwing in and helping. I'm going to be really sad to part with any of these wonderful people.

Welcome to Rainsong!

Our trip to Cabuyo went smoothly without a hitch. We arrived at the Montezuma bus stop in the late morning to an breathtaking beach-front view of the Pacific ocean; a very drastic change from the Central Valley mountains. After having lunch at the bar/restaurant on the beach, Max, a local taxi driver coaxed us to let him take us the rest of the way to Rainsong (he offered a great deal and the next scheduled bus was an hour away).

We were greeted by Simon (the directors husband and primary caretaker of the farm) at the Sanctuary gate and brought inside, and shown around by Edwin, a volunteer whom seemed very knowledgeable and helpful - it turns out he arrived the previous afternoon. This was to be our first indication of how things would unfold. Throughout the first afternoon/evening, we met a lot of volunteers, many of whom were in the process of leaving. At present time there are: Edwin and Joe ('the boys'; from the SE USA) whom are on a road trip originating in Chicago; Siri and Gabby ('the girls'; from Sweden); Danielle (Michigan, I can't recall which);and the most recent arrival, Brad (Alaska). They're all awesome, and great to get along with.

Our first day of work we were thrust in with no training and very few instructions. The director seems to be incapable of focusing on anything for more than a few seconds - scattered is a word she claims ownership over constantly. Our immediate assessment: Self sufficiency, self reliance, and hope we don't accidentally fuck up. Which won't be too big-a-deal since that's what we normally do, though it would have been nice to have a little bit of an orientation since we're responsible for the care and rehabilitation of a slew of different animals each with a specialized diet and treatment regimen. Definitely flying by the seat of our pants.


There's been plenty of bonding time with the crew in the evening between cooking/eating, partying and swimming at the beach! In all (aside from the nasty heat rash I've got) we're both having a great time and really enjoy the sanctuary, crew and animals.

Rio Pejibaye

Our new friend Scott (a twenty-something gringo from Colorado) is an adventure guide. He travels the world seeking adventure and leading others into it. He arrived in Turrialba a little over a week ago for his second rafting season. We've been talking about our desire to check out some white water with Scott and thanks to a very generous gift from some very awesome folks - my Uncle Rich and Aunt Donna(Thank you, very much; you'll be getting pictures from the trip as soon as we get them) - we decided we should go on an adventure before we leave Esparenza.

Scott helped us book a rafting trip with a company he works for called Costa Rican Adventures. Since this was Tiffany's first white-water experience we opted to do the Rio Pejibaye in a raft with a guide. Rio Pejibaye is a very mild river as far as white water rafting goes but it offers crystal clear water and some incredible jungle scenery along nearly the whole trip. Scott followed us in a duckie (an inflatable kayak) as our photographer and is going to be getting us the picures soon!

As my father would put it, we had blast! Tiffany enjoyed it and I think we're both ready for more. We're planning on Rio Paquiate - one of the top 5 rivers in the world - which is located on the other side of Esparenza when we return (likley in Feburary).

After our incredible river trip we went into Turriaba with a sweet bonus ride from the outfitter. Scott joined us for the afternoon of meandering the streets of Costa Rica including a very nerve-wreacking trip to the ATM (conversions are scary especially when there's an extra couple zeros, you know, just hanging out). Though Tiffany helped keep me calm and we got through it.

We also scoped out a really neat book store (which I'm sure Tiffany will want to talk about), numerous "chino stores" (cheap crap from China) a neat and somewhat out-of-place looking bar (we felt like it should be overlooking the beach and not a street in the center of Turriabla) and did some grocery shopping for our journey to Rainsong this Sunday.

The bus ride back to la finca was a little intersting because it was dark out and difficult to find our stop. Thankfully, a friend of Marcos', Santiago, was returning on the same bus!

Esparenza Waterfalls

For quite some time now, Marcos has been eager to take us on a hike to the Waterfalls here on la finca (en:the farm) on a Sunday morning (his day off). The last few Sundays have had us quite occupied with various events and this Sunday was our chance! After sleeping in a bit, we met with Marcos at his casa around 9am. Decked out in rubber boots and hiking gear with a small bag of snacks and bathing suits we set off up the mountain. Marcos with ~100' of rope draped over his shoulder, led us through a fairly steep and very muddy pasture to the trail head. The house dogs followed closely.

The hike was 30 minutes along a well tamed trail with numerous overlooks to the mountains of the Costa Rican interior. Absolutely Stunning views! We arrived at the first two waterfalls, pouring over-head and converging into the river. Here we crossed the river and began our ascent up the lower of the two falls to reach a pool-like portion of the river between very steep rock walls.

We hastily dropped our gear and changed into our swim suits to follow Marcos up the river. After a short swim we arrived at the third waterfall to find Marcos at the top lowering the rope to help guide us up the fourth and fifth falls - each ascent more difficult and frightening than the last. One climb in particular was nearly vertical along slippery wet rocks.

The hike and swim were incredible. Everything is so vibrant - colors and sounds - its difficult to decide what to focus on.

The Cubecer, Tsumari Village

After nearly a week of deliberation and thought, I am finding it less and less important to detail all the moments of our week-long excursion to the Costa Rican Indigenous reservation. The idea of scripting pages upon pages of detail bores me to high hell. Despite the few gems of information that would be contained in such a walden-esque tale, (like walden-or any of the last 20 movies I've seen) most potential readers give up 3 sentences in.

That said, here's the trip in a nut shell:
We left on Monday 26th Oct, 2009, for a 3 day, 2 night trip to the Tsumari village within the Cubecer reservation in the Cartago Provence. Our goals: to meet the indigenous, bring them donations and have a little cultural exchange. Our guide: a 30-something Tico elementary school teacher, Jorge. Jorge ventures to the Tsumari village weekly to provide school lessons for the indigenous children; he makes the weekly journey in 3-4 hours. Backpacks loaded with some 30-40lb of donations for the village, our expected 4-5 hour hike crept to 10 hours with the last hours encroaching into darkness.

Over the10 hour hike we covered approximately 7-8 miles, 6000 ft of elevation(each way) 4 rivers numerous creeks and 3 hours of rain. Oh and did I mention it took 10 hours? We traversed dry rocky man-made trails; swamp-like mud; small patches of quicksand; extremely narrow ravines; single-wide-log bridges over rivers; passes large enough for a single footing; and waterfalls(which were climbed both up and down). The hike was strenuous, to say the least. There were definately points where I felt like laying down and giving up. "The jaguars will find me soon enough", and "where did my legs go?" were common thoughts.

After our 10 hour ascent to the Tsumari village our drenched zombie-like bodies we were welcomed by total darkness, many hours of rain, small biting insects, rambunctious pigs and Jorge's very full 15 x 15 school house with just enough room for two small hard wooden "beds" to share (between the four of us - Tiffany, Jorge, Lucia and myself) and our packs to fit very "cozily".

The sun came up at 5 am, as it does every day here in Costa Rica, though our limp bodies remained cacooned in sleeping bags for the better part of the day. Around 10am we arose to review or battle wounds - blisters and sores from the rubber boots; scrapes and scratches from various branches rocks and falls; and our many insect bites scratched raw through out the night and morning. We definately needed the rest and just one day wasn't going to do it. We very quickly decided that we would stay with Jorge until his return trip on Friday.

The rest of our stay was very laid back with LOTS of time for much needed R&R. The kids came to school for a few hours each day which gave us an opportunity to interact with them. They're about as fluent in Spanish as I am (if you can call a 20 word vocabulary anything close to fluent) so there were more hand gestures facial expressions than talking though we were able to communicate fairly well. The topics of 'discussion' were "how to brush one's teeth" (using the donated brushes we packed in), the large quantities of guava trees, which donations for which child, and an art lesson put together by Tiffany on how to make a parrot, pig or flower using stencils, glue and construction paper!

My observations of the village throughout the week seemed to support what I've heard - that the indigenous diet is predominantly government issued rice and beans (because they don't grow any on the reservation) which are brought in on foot by the indigenous. The rice and beans are supplemented with plantains, banana, chyote and guava which grow very well at the altitude of the village. The homes are more often than not, shacks with earthen floors. The beds are their second pair of clothes and their rubber boots are torn to shreds. They have no art (basket making, totems/statues, painting, drawing, architecture etc.).

Our return trip went much smoother and was far faster (7 hours) than the ascent due in a part to the downhill nature and the absence of about 90% of the pack weight (the donations). The whole experience was rather humbling and gives me great respect for the hardships that are undertaken daily by the Costa Rica's Indigenous population. All in all I'm glad I did it, though It'll never happen again (as of a week later my feet still have not recovered).

The locals

We've been gone for a week in the mountains visiting the indigenious reserve up 4000 feet higher than we are currently. Jason and I are both working on stories about that adventure, but this is a little catch up of before and after our trip.

The past two days have been such a blast. We have been spending most of our time with the caretaker family. Marcos works for Ginnee and Phil. They built a house for Marcos and his family on the property and they provide him with a job that is right here so he has no travel cost, which is really wonderful. The small structure that is between the two homes is where Marcos and his family lived before the new house was finished. I would considered this to be a barn. There is not electricity it's made of wood but falling apart. The new home is beatiful. There is an outside kitchen that is the length of the house in the back. It is covered and has a little nook for a table and chairs at one end. The length of it is filled with a deep long stainless steel sink. There is two stoves, one which runs off methane gas that they collect from the cows (poopie), the other off propane. And at the very end there is a tile bar that was built facing the patio isq area to the side of the house. So it's a great place to host if it's not raining. And Zenia can stand behind the counter and overlook the work on the green house or some of the gardens. The inside is all tile. It is a small two bedroom home. The front living area has a couch and some chairs with lace lining placed in the seat. Then there is another dining table inside with a quarter of a wall separating the two areas. The windows are all covered in lace, some of the lace is bright pink to accent the rest of the room. There are paintings done by the daughter hanging around the home. They are painted on pieces of fibrolit that are left over from the construction of houses. I saw her collecting some more when we were at the soccer game to bring home. There are colorful flowers all over the house that will never die because they are not real, yet they bring a bright energy into the home. And of course there are pictures of the family around, though there are not many because they do not have a camera of any kind.
It's been great to be invited into the locals home and see how they live and what they choose as their daily surroundings. Last weekend, after picking the pejibaye we all dined together at their home, and the next night Marcos found out that we like to drink. He treated us to some Costa Rican liquor and beer before we left to stumble home.

Yesterday, when Jason, Lucia, and I were looking over pictures of the mountain trip with Ginnee, Marcos came over and invited us to go to Carlos' casa. Carlos is another worker of Ginnee's. He lives in a village not far from us. When headed up the mountain there is a fork in the road, to the right is Esperanza and Ginnee's, to the left is the Jimena's and the small village where Carlos lives (I don't know the name yet). We excitedly accepted the offer, and boy, we're we surprised when we arrived. It was a birthday fiesta for two little girls turning 2. There were at least 15 children there though I would estimate closer to 20. But just as many adults. Sadly it was hard to communicate because Jason's and my Spanish has not come very far yet. The house was small but I loved it. Made from wood with the traditional Tico tin roof, there was a patio with a cast iron stove and seating around all the walls. When you entered there was the small living room with just a few chairs and a table. You walked further back into the home and there was the kitchen and a little tiny nook just big enough for the sink and a prep area for food. The oven was around another wall. They used the spaces between the wood on their walls to hang pots and pan and the tops of them. I got to glance in the bedrooms. They have shelving to the ceiling with clothing and blankets and almost a communal sleeping area that was separated only by sheets hanging between beds. I love the patio. The stove reminded me of sitting around the bonfire with my friends back home. The bathroom was enclosed but because the ceiling sat so high from the top of the walls it gave it an outdoor shower effect and let in lots of natural light. We drank with Marcos and the other adults. We danced to the music. We sang happy birthday in Spanish twice. We also had some dinner of delicious rice and beans, cake, and jello with ice cream on top! Amazing food! On top of all of this it was a beautiful night out. On a clear night there is never a reason for a flashlight because there are so many stars. You can actually see some light pollution coming from around the mountain from I believe Tarrialba but the mountain blocks that for us. It was almost a full moon that night as well. We rode home in the back of the pick up truck and our dear friend Marcos asked if he could visit us in the states. Of course you can Marcos!

Today was futbol day! Every Sunday there is a gathering in Attiro, the closest town, for community futbol. The people that come have a few jerseys that they bring. Sometimes there are many teams, but I believe there were only two today. Players would switch out in the middle of the game or when a new game began. Lucia, Jason, and I went down with Marcos and Zenia and arrived about 30 minutes before anyone else. When someone came with a ball, the three of us kicked it around with a child that was there and a woman who obviously played regularly. Then the guys started to change into there cleats. I opted out of playing today because of the blisters on my feet from last week's hike up the mountain. Jason got in and played for half a game bare foot. A new friend Jose, offered Jason his cleats but Jason refused because he also has blisters. Jose pointed to his feet and said, "No fungo, no fungo." Neither Jason or myself understood until he left and we realized he was telling us he didn't have any fungus on his feet. Later Marcos explained to him that we have blisters and that's why we were barefoot. We were outside watching futbol for about 3 or 4 hours before everyone dispersed because of the pending rain. Marcos son, Wainer, is the one who can drive, so he ends up driving us everywhere. He came to pick us up. I guess he doesn't like futbol much because he didn't come. He didn't participate in the party last night either. But not many 18 year olds like to party with their parents at a 2 year olds birthday party so I understand. On our way back home we took the wrong turn up the mountain, or so I thought. Jose, the man that had offered Jason his cleats, had invited us to his home. He lives in Jimena's. Now the reason for the apostrophe is because it's the name of the village but also the entire village is related to each other. So it's actually their last name. Mira, Ginnee's housekeeper, lives there. The village was really lovely. The homes are taller because they stack bedrooms on top of the first floor. More like tree house though they are not actually attached to any trees. There are small gardens of flowers everywhere. There was a beautiful church painted baby blue with a pink trim. It was a beautiful place. I felt really happy and comfortable here. We saw two parrots sitting in a tree outside of Jose's front door speaking to each other in the rain. Since I've told you about the other two homes we were in I can't leave out this one. It was my favorite. It was wood with the tin roof but the tin sat on top of the second story most of the ceiling was wood. The house had several exits. The living room was a good size with a entertainment area, tv and radio, a couch, three chairs lining the walls, and a table in the corner with more seating. The room was filled with knic-knacks,some broken, many from mother's day, posters with excerpts from the Bible, many pictures of the family, some random pieces that were probably just found and brought home, and the bright fake flowers everywhere. The flowers were in vases and hanging from the ceiling all over the house. There was a separate room in the back with a sink that look outside through the wood boards into the mountains. If you continue to the right there is another table and counter space that all leads to two exits. One is under the stairway, the other goes to the left to another sink, prep area and an outdoor stove. Then there is a small trail that loops around through flowers back to the stairwell. They have two pet birds of some kind. I forgot to take a picture but they reminded me of a quail mixed with a chicken. Short legs, round body, they never really opened their wings but perhaps that's because they were caged. Maybe a pigeon of some kind but they are really pretty. Up the stairs there is about 5 very tiny bedrooms with just enough space for a bed and a small table, with cloth for doors that were access by the balcony/hallway. I really love this house. We were here for a long time, about 5 hours. Teaching some words in English, speaking spanlish, and lots more drinking. We had a delicious dinner. A stew with chayote (a tropical squash), plantains, and carrots, rice and beans, green beans, and some awesome coleslaw with radishes. Really great food and perfect timing because the alcohol was really having a strong effect on my empty stomach. There was Jose, Jason, Lucia, Marcos, Zenia, one of Jose's sons and myself and we all finish a liter of Cacique liquor and a 6pack of beer. It was another party but more intimate than the night before, so everyday we are feeling closer to the community that we have become apart of. Oh, I almost forgot about the walk up the mountain. Before dinner, Marcos's daughter and her boyfriend, Titi (who is another one of Jose's sons) took us up the mountain to their little futbol field that they built them selves. We are going up there to play on Wednesday with them. The entire family plays, it will be loads of fun.
We didn't get home until almost 9. Jason and I were both rather drunk so we hit our beds after making plans for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will build a shelf!