A Life Full of Laughter

Well I set my alarm for 5:15 this morning to go see the sunrise. But I didn’t get out of bed until 5:40 so I missed most of it. At least I still got to see the tail end of it. It was beautiful. Hopefully I can get out of bed tomorrow morning to see it (the whole thing).

This morning we went on a hike before breakfast to a viewpoint that over looked our beach. We saw lots of birds, deer, over ten coati and an agouti (an oversized guinea pig / small capybara looking type thing. The zoo I worked at had one. I thought it was the cutest thing ever). And mirador does mean viewpoint, there was a nice big sign that said it at the top of the trail. Well the top of the actual trail. Pablo took a group of students to the way top. They said it was difficult and it wasn’t worth it. I couldn’t believe how sweaty everyone was when they got back! I’m glad I didn’t go. I was perfectly content looking at the birds with the smaller group.

For breakfast we had more fruit, some cereal and some bread. On my way back from breakfast I saw a crab-eating iguana in a tree (I believe that was what it was called). It was definitely an iguana and it wasn’t a green one. It was a little small in size and I asked Pablo is that was as big as it for because everything seems smaller here so I thought maybe their iguanas are too. But he said no, that they can get to be a decent size. Then he tried to catch it.

Back at the cabin, we all took turns in the bathroom and helping each other apply sunscreen. It was mayhem. But it was fun mayhem. Once everyone was ready we headed down to the central area of where we were staying and got our flippers for snorkeling. There were capuchin monkeys above where we were standing and I saw an iguana on a roof.

When everyone had their flippers we trekked out onto the beach and into the boats.

The ride was about ten minutes or so out to Tortuga Island where we anchored the boat and snorkeled. I had been snorkeling before, but the last time I went I kept getting anxious / or panic attacks almost because I couldn’t accept the fact that I could breathe underwater since it’s instinct to hold my breath. But whatever it was that freaked me out before hand wasn’t a problem today. Which made me really happy and I felt I was able to enjoy this experience better. There were some really neat looking fish. I saw a lot of striped fish, some blue fish, a starfish, a puffer fish and two eels. I even held the starfish! It felt so weird as it started to suction itself to me. Dr. Holt took it too. He put it on his snorkel mask. I think the eels were the coolest. We snorkeled in one spot before it got too crowded and then we moved to another spot, a deeper spot. The current was stronger here and I was certainly tuckered out after this second time.

Back on the boat we had watermelon, pineapples, cantaloupe and coconut. We tossed the rinds overboard, which felt weird because it felt like we were littering, but it was food and biodegradable, so it was okay. Something was going to eat the leftover fruit. Then we made our way to a beach for a bit to continue snacking and drinking Coke. I walked along the beach and collected some shells and rocks because I can’t go to a beach and not do that. I thought the rocks were really neat because some had purple and blue and I thought that was really unique. I also found half a coconut to carry all my shells. I have one from Zanzibar that is much smaller. I plan on putting the two side by side on my table at home each one filled with shells from their respective country. I heard / I know I’m not supposed to take things from the beach so I thought someone was going to say something, but they didn’t. Hopefully I can get all that through customs.

Once everyone was thoroughly sun-burnt we headed back to lunch. Rice and beans of course, with fish and French fries! And more fruit.

After lunch we went on an afternoon hike. We walked along some of the same path we walked last night. It was neat to see in the day. It’s funny how we walked the trails at Soltis in the daylight first to get familiar with the trails, whereas here we walked in the dark first. Maybe it’s because the trails here are flat and not muddy, steep, slippery or treacherous if you’re not paying attention. I took a lot of photos today. I hope they come out okay. On our hike we saw a white bat and heard some howler monkeys – which was kind of eerie actually. That is not a sound I would want to walk towards.

I also saw a monkey cracking open a coconut up in a tree, which was really cute because it was a small monkey and a fairly good-sized coconut. We saw a hawk and a bunch of mangroves, which I think are so cool.

There was a terrifying bridge we were all taken over as well. A group crossed it last night. I was busy collecting shells off the bank (go figure) but I see now how scary it is, even in the day. I would never cross this bridge at night knowing there are crocodiles in this water. I don’t trust this bridge in the daytime, never mind at night when it’s pitch black and I’m somewhere in the dry forest in the middle of nowhere. And yet, it was still a pretty cool bridge and I think I got some good photos of it. I even broke out the 35mm camera so I hope I get a good black and white print from it.

Along our walk we also saw some Macaws dropping food onto the path as if they were trying to hit us. On the way back to the cabin I saw capuchin monkeys all over somebody’s cabin and another iguana.

I’m curious, where are all the basilisks? I thought there was supposed to be a bunch. I was hoping there would be. I thought they were really cool. I loved the color on the one we saw.

After the hike we had a relaxing two hours before dinner. Some people went fishing in the ocean, others in the creek, some wrote in their journals and others looked for shells. This was the best time of day for pictures so I went out and went crazy taking pictures, trying to capture everything, although I know photos won’t do this place justice. I do hope I got some good ones though. This place is like a sensory overload for the photographic eye. There are so many things to take pictures of. I’m on my last roll of film and I really hope it lasts me. Pablo said I had a good camera and film was the “real art”. This made me feel really good.

Dinner was the same as yesterday: beans, rice, chicken, potatoes, fruit and salad. It was still just as good. However beans and rice three times a day, everyday is enough now. The next time I eat beans and rice it will be too soon – as good as they are.

I sat with Emily, Rachel, Laura, Chelsea, Dr. Holt and Priscilla. Emily noticed I was left-handed and it turned out more than half the table was left-handed including me, Dr. Holt, Priscilla and Chelsea. I was actually thinking about this the other day because in my creative writing classes I tend to see more lefties than my core classes, and I heard left-handed people are more creative. When I think of the word “creative”, bio majors do not come to mind. I don’t know, it was interesting to see other lefties for once (and finally out numbering the righties).

After dinner we headed back to the cabin for a half hour or so before walking out to the beach to check out the bioluminescence that we couldn’t see because the moon is full and too bright. But we did see some copepods in a test tube, which were really cool to watch swim by. I remember learning about them in middle school and I thought they were the neatest things. Their name also reminded me of a Pokémon of which was a huge past time of mine. I used the binoculars to look at Jupiter too even though it was all shaky. We also learned about some constellations, which was a lot of fun. I wish I knew more. I remember my brother used to have a bunch of space books when he was younger and I remember looking at them. Unfortunately, I never remembered many constellations other than the Seven Sisters, the Big Dipper, Little Dipper and Orion. The beach looked funny at low tide. We haven’t seen it like that yet; I almost forgot tides were a thing. Laura told me when she was speaking to the captain earlier today on the boat, he told her that he has never left Costa Rica. And sitting here on the porch journaling, I wouldn’t want to leave either. I love the sound of the ocean and the ocean breeze. Today was Wednesday. That means we have two more full days. I’m not ready for it. I’m not ready to go back to the snow of the northeast. Good news is tomorrow we get to meet up by 8!