Crazy Tico bull video

We figured out (I hope) how to upload the video of the Corrida del Toros look here

You tube isnt quite as mindblowing as the real video (or being there) but you get the idea

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

We left Ometepe Island at 6:30 this morning. We got to stay at this amazing farm called Finca Magdelena. The rooms were in an old farm workers barn and this was the view from the upstairs porch. The farm is now run as a cooperative and seems like a dreamy place to work. All the workers are Nicaraguan and they are the happiest bunch weve seen yet.

The island has two volcanoes. We hiked the smaller one, which was still a 7 hour trip on a muddy goat trail. It was great though, lots of Howler Monkeys and some parrots.

We arrived in the town of Liberia, Costa Rica today. This is a hot, dusty northern town with a feel of the old west. We had been hearing from many other travelers how stale the Costa Ricans are and how they "lack culture". As we got off the bus we were informed that today is the beginning of a ten day festival. The highlight of this festival is the Corrida del Toro or "running of the bulls". This is where they let 300 men, all slightly or heavily intoxicated, into a ring with angry bulls.

The running starts with a bull rider. When he is done or falls off the rest of the people take turns taunting the bull to chase them. There were several times that the bulls not only chased people, but actually caught them and tossed them into to the air, amidst screams from the crowd. We didnt see anyone seriously hurt, but it was pretty wild. We caught one on video, so well show you at home. We have decided that the Costa Ricans dont lack culture, they lack brains.

Of Buses and Biologists

First of all, we haven't included nearly enough bus pictures in our blog. Traveling by old school bus seems like such a common experience now, and in many ways it typifies our time here. The bus stations are typically loud, dusty, dirty places (note the burning garbage above, yum), oft surrounded by markets where you can get whatever your heart or stomach desires. In some towns all the buses come and go from one station, and others have 4 or 5 stations for buses bound different directions(these towns are the toughest to navigate...luckily all the locals know whazzup). No two bus rides are ever the same, even on the same route. First, there is the music. You might be listening to Reggatone (Nica rap more or less, it's great) with the bass droppin, or maybe some polka music loud and tinny, or our favorite, Air Supply, cranked! They have a real flavor for late 70's and 8o's American pop music. It is a mystery to us why songs by Jefferson Starship, Cat Stevens, Cindy Lauper, Eddie Rabbit are popular here, but we hear them all the time. It is almost like we brought our record collection with us. The bus could be pimped out with flames, or tweety bird stickers or lights that pulse with the music. The brakes might work, might not, or might just be really noisy. You may be standing crammed in with 60 other people or you might get a seat to yourself with your backpack. Yesterday we had a first. The bus stopped midroute and backed up a side road for almost a mile picking people and cargo up along the way before throwing it in forward and resuming our journey.

And then there is the people who bring food, drinks, or newspapers on board at stops or stations and sell their wares (at any road construction site, there will be a camp of people waiting for buses full of people that need to stop for delays) This little guy was so proud of his old sweaty candy that he insisted upon a picture of just his candy after Chrissy took this shot. You can buy chicken with tortillas and salad for lunch, any soda or juice you might want, homemade sweets, chips, pig skins, tamales, fruit, nuts, cookies, you name it. Of course, being gringos, we often have the just watch the locals enjoy homemade treats so as not to risk getting sick.

And speaking of sick, check this out. We took our first ever canopy tour. No, we did not do every zipline together, some we did upside down or superman style (those picture are left out for the sake of our mothers). The tour was a blast, whizzing down steel cables from tree to tree, braking with your hand in a heavy leather glove. The setting was in a shade grown coffee plantation on Volcan Mombacho. We whisked from one giant tree to the next over rows of coffee.

We also spent a night and two days near the top of the volcano at a biological station run by a private nonprofit. When the guides(who are budding biologists volunteering their time for tips and an occasional bonus from the station) heard that I was a biologist we got the deluxe treatment. They were jealous to hear of the different biology jobs I've held. There is very little opportunity to practice biology as a profession in Nicaragua. The government here has historically shown little interest in supporting biological projects. This is changing slowly with budding ecotourism, but the bios we talked to were doubtful much work would come of it. I have a lot of respect for these young men and women who, despite little chance of steady work, persevere to pursue biology as their profession here in Nicaragua.

They happened to be in the midst of a week of mist netting for migratory and resident birds while we were there, so we got to accompany them to check the nets and watch them weigh and measure the birds. This took me back to my past bird work and gave me the craving for such intensive field work again. They are working with folks in the states and use a protocol repeated all along the flyway. They were strapped for supplies but doing excellent work. A big question as scientists note declines in birds like the woodthrush above is whether the problem lies in the wintering grounds for these birds, where habitat loss and pesticide use is huge, or whether it lies in their nesting grounds up in North America where we have similar issues. Of course we can intuit the answer is both, but the info they are collecting may help pinpoint where the biggest loss is occuring.

It was a fantastic experience working alongside these Nicaraguan biologists (above removing a Mountain Elenia from a mist net) and will steer our adventures as we continue southward to Isla Ometepe and onward to Costa Rica. We had great day and night hikes with them as guides and learned so much about the people, plants and animals of this place. The challenges of conservation are the same as those at home, but here they are amplified by poverty, corruption (worse than at home), and the fact that biology and conservation are "young" sciences here.

Hasta Luego, Ricardo

We gwan, but mebbe we cam back sumdey...

No we haven´t really dropped off the face of the planet, but it sort of felt that way. We spent the last 10 days on Small Corn Island, an isolated Carribbean paradise far off Nicaragua´s east coast. The island is incredible--no cars, deserted white sand beaches, coconuts falling off the trees everywhere and friendly people who haven´t quite figured out how to Gringo you for too much money.



We decided to fly to the islands after hearing some harrowing stories about the 8 hour ferry ride turning into a 12 hour nightmare. Risking Nicaragua´s national airline, La Costena, we boarded a tiny plane in Managua that holds about 20 people. Kevin and I ended up sitting right behind the pilots, which was mildly nerve wracking. I couldn´t help but obsessively watch the altimeter and wonder what the co-pilot kept looking at as he glanced over his shoulder and out the window.



Then there was the boat ride. The trip from Big Corn island (where the plane lands) over to "lickey Small Carn" is about 30 minutes of open water crossing in a 40 foot panga with twin 200 hp engines. The day we did it the swells were big, and there were several times that we caught air. I was a wee-bit nervous (notice white knuckle grip), but Kevin loved it.

We stayed at this cool place right on the beach called Derek´s place. There were several cheap places on the beach, but we knew this was it when we saw this cabin and the hammocks slung between the palms trees. All the huts were built with materials found on the beach and most of the power comes from solar panels and a windmill out at the point.

Derek is an American from Washington DC area and he looks EXACTLY like Walter at the PT food co-op. He and his wife Anna have two small children. They mentioned one evening that they were looking for a teacher to come stay on the island, even better a teacher with a carpenter husband. Hmmm...

The first night we were there, we were contemplating what to do for dinner when we heard some guys whistling at us. We looked up and a boat full of fisherman was off shore, holding up huge groupers and yellow tails for sale. Fresh fish for dinner!

We spent several hours a day in this position. I was so relaxed that I think my heart actually stopped beating at one point! It was a vacation from our vacation in a sense, nothing to do but relax and watch the turquoise blue water.

We felt like Honeymooners at last. We spent our days snorkeling on the coral reef and went scuba diving a couple of times. The coral wasn´t as expansive or colorful as it was in Honduras but we saw sharks, sting rays, a turtle, a 5 foot tarpon, a moray eel and an octopus. Very cool.

Our last day we built this sea turtle sand sculpture in honor of a turtle we saw dying in one of the islander´s front yards. Unfortunately, they still eat sea turtles here. It is sad to think about, but Kevin put it well, "telling them not to hunt turtles is like telling the Makah not to go whaling." Sad but true.

Ah, paradise... once again we feel priveledged to be on this journey. It has been mind blowing, eye opening, trying and exhilarating. We miss you all and thanks for the emails!

love c and k