Costa Rica and NicaraguaItinerary Summary December 27 - Drive to LA, and catch a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica December 28 - Arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica - get a car and drive to San Vito,

Costa Rica (near the Panama border) December 29 - We went to Wilson Botanical Gardens and walked around on

our own, then tried to find entrance to La Amistad Park or the lodge. Ended up going in a loop back past the botanical gardens, tried again, ended up in Panama by accident.

December 30 - Went on a birding tour at Wilson Botanical Gardens. Tried to find La Amistad Park headquarters.

December 31 - Drove to La Amistad Lodge first thing in the morning. Stayed there this evening.

January 1 - Drove to Bahia Drake on (Drake's Bay on the Oso Peninsula). Camped at Rancho Corcavado on the beach.

January 2 - Aviva took a wildlife tour to Corcavado Park, Jason went snorkeling at a nearby island. Camped at Rancho Corcovado again.

January 3 - Drove to San Isidro (south of San Jose). January 4 - Drove from San Isidro to San Ramon (north of San Jose). Saw

Quetzals at Mirador de Quetzals. January 5 - Drove from San Ramon to Arenal Volcano (town of Fortuna).

Toured a butterfly farm. Met up with Colleen, Jim, and Alexandra. January 6 - Drove from Arenal to Monteverde. Went on a night time wildlife

walk. January 7 - Walked through the cloud forest at Santa Elena preserve, near

Monteverde. Went to a Ranarium in Santa Elena. Then we drove to Canas and went to a wildlife rescue center, Las Pumas, specializing in cats. Then we drove to Playa Grande, and stayed up until 3 in the morning waiting for an opportunity to see a nesting leather back sea turtle.

January 8 - We went to Conchel beach for the day, then stayed at Playa Grande. Colleen, Alexandra, and Jim headed inland after that. Jason and I stayed up and got to see the Leatherback sea turtle lay her eggs, then we slept in hammocks between palm trees.

January 9 - Took a river trip down Corcabachi River, near Canas - then stayed in Liberia.

January 10 - Jason headed back to San Jose to return home. Aviva took a bus to Nicaragua, then a taxi, then a boat, a bus, and the back of a pick up to reach a research station on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua.

January 11 - Walked about 8 miles along the outer road of Ometepe island to a waterfall, past petroglyphs and the community. Stayed the night at the research station again.

January 12 - Got a ride in the back of a pick up to Moyagulpa, then took the boat to San Jorge, and a taxi to Rivas, then a bus to Nandime, where I was picked up by Maria and taken to Domitila Preserve. Went on a brief hike.

January 13 - Went on hikes all day with Maria and Jesus throughout the preserve. Stayed the night at the accommodations.

January 14 - Traveled with Maria to Granada and stayed there. Walked down to the shore of Lake Nicaragua.

January 15 - Traveled to Masaya Volcano. Stayed in Granada. January 16 - Took a bus from Granada, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica. January 17 - came home.

Species List

Species Observed During Costa Rica/Nicaragua Trip

Common (or local) Name Notes/Location

Agouti At Wilson botanical garden, with 2 babies

American Crocodile Corcavado, Rio Corcabachi. Drive to Bahia Drake

Anihinga Rio Corcabachi

Anoli Corcavado

Barn owl Domitila

Black crowned night heron

Black headed trogon Domitila

Black vulture Everywhere

Blue-gray tanager Wilson botanical garden

Boat-billed heron Rio Corcabachi, Corcavado

Brown booby Corcavado

Brown vine snake Rio Corcabachi

Coati Arenal

Collared aracari Domitila

Compadres bird (Bucco macrorynchos) Domitila

Coral snake (or mimic) Near playa grande

Crested caracara Northern

Ctenosaur (maybe) Northern

Doves Domitila

Glass frog Possibly, maybe rough variety?

Species Observed During Costa Rica/Nicaragua Trip

Common (or local) Name Notes/Location

Glass wing butterfly Las Tablas

Golden hooded tanager Wilson botanical garden

Golfito Dulce Dart Frog Corcavado

Gray fox In captivity, Las Pumas rescue center

Great blue heron Rio Corcabachi

Great kiscidee (spelling?)

Green backed heron Rio Corcabachi

Green iguana Everywhere

Groove billed ani Northern

Hermit crabs Corcavado

Hoffman's woodpecker Domitila

Howler monkey Everywhere

Jaguar In captivity, Las Pumas rescue center

Jesus lizard Domitila, Rio Corcabachi

Kinkajou Monteverde

Laughing falcon Domitila. Heard only

Leatherback sea turtle Playa Grande, Laying eggs

Lineated woodpecker

Litter frog Corcavado

Little blue heron Rio Corcabachi

Long nosed bat Rio corcabachi, Corcavado

Long-nose bat Corcavado, Rio Corcabachi

Long-wing butterfly Monteverde

Macaw Corcavado

Magnificent frigate Corcavado

Malachite butterfly Domitila

Mangrove swallow Rio Corcabachi

Margey In captivity, Las Pumas rescue center

Masked titira Wilson botanical garden

Mexican porcupine Monteverde

Mica snake Las Tablas (~4 feet long, black, eats venomous snakes)

Species Observed During Costa Rica/Nicaragua Trip

Common (or local) Name Notes/Location

Monkey ladder vine Corcavado

Morpho blue butterfly Las Tablas

Nicaraguan grackel Domitila

Night jars Ometepe

Nightjar like (larger) Domitila

Northern raccoon Monteverde, Playa Grande

Olingo Monteverde

Orange kneed tarantula Monteverde

Osprey Rio Corcabachi

Owl Domitila (large, brown, full spectacles in white)

Paca In captivity, Las Pumas rescue center

Parrot (green) Corcavado

Pelican Playa Grande

Pygmy squirrel Corcavado

Red-headed woodpecker Wilson botanical garden

Red-tailed squirrel Wilson botanical garden

Resplendent quetzal Mirador de quetzal

Ringed king fisher Rio Corcabachi

River otter Rio Corcabachi

Roadside hawk Wilson botanical garden

Roseatte spoonbill Rio Corcabachi

Rough winged swallow Rio Corcabachi

Scaly chested hummingbird Wilson botanical garden

Scarlet rumped tanager Wilson botanical garden

Sloth Corcovado

Smokey Jungle Frog Corcovado

Spider monkey Corcovado

Spiked palm

Spotted sandpiper Rio Corcabachi

Squirrel cuckoo bird Domitila

Strangler fig Monteverde

Swallow tailed kite

Species Observed During Costa Rica/Nicaragua Trip

Common (or local) Name Notes/Location

Tern

Tiger heron Rio Corcabachi

Trogon (red chest) Corcavado

Tropical gnat catcher Domitila

Tucan In captivity, Las Pumas rescue center

Variegated squirrel Rio Corcabachi, Domitila

Violaceous trogon Wilson botanical garden

Walking palm

White faced capuchin Wilson botanical garden, Las Tablas

White hawk Corcavado

Wood stork Rio Corcabachi

Yellow headed caracara Wilson botanical garden

Yellow knapped parrot Domitila (endangered)

NarrativeFirst, there are some random things that we noticed about Costa Rica. 1. Fence posts are living trees. The branches used as posts sprout, then grow -

and never need to be replaced.2. All the dogs there look like they are a cross with dachshunds or Chihuahuas.3. For new year's, there are three things that you need to do at midnight for

luck. 1) Wear yellow underwear 2) eat 12 grapes at once for good luck each month 3) run around with a piece of luggage for good luck in your travels the next year.

4. They put in speed bumps, but don't fix the pot holes. The pot holes are more effective at slowing down traffic.

5. Iguana's can be fast, it makes up for them not being to car savvy

Southern Costa RicaJason and I arrived in San Jose at 7 am, we got a rental car, then headed south through the city for San Vito. The rental car agency was the last place anyone could speak any English for days (contrary to what we'd been told). We made it through the crazy hectic madness that is San Jose, with it's one way streets that make San Francisco look like a cake walk, and onto the Interamericana heading

south. The Interamericana is the main vein connecting central america, and it is the largest road in Costa Rica. This means it is two distinct lanes, one in each direction, with occasional passing lanes and major potholes. These aren't just any pot holes, these pot holes are deep and wide enough to swallow a tire (and sometimes the whole car) without it ever hitting ground. The road wound it's way up through the mountains called Cerre de Muerte (mountains of death). This is a beautiful but very steep, windy, and misty section of road known for frequent accidents. Overall we found the Costa Ricans to be excellent drivers, willing to pass when there isn't quite enough time to do so - but basically fairly safe. Then we descended from the clouds to a section overlooking the farming valleys of San Isidro. Lots of crops grow in this fertile valley, but primarily pineapple from what I could tell. Getting to San Vito required getting off of the Interamericana, and onto the next step down in major roadways. This is when we found out what the bold red line on the road map meant…just because it is a main road does not exclude it from pot holes more frequent than pavement. Jason learned from the local drivers, and used both sides of the road to drive on - which ever side had no potholes at that particular moment was the correct side of the road. This road travels along a ridge, with various agriculture and grazing down large valleys on both sides. Horses are tied up at the entrance to houses, parked there while their riders visit. Other horses graze freely on the ample grass on the side of the road. This was a practice that we saw throughout southern Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Many of the horses had their manes shaved off, and their tails cropped short, with the top part shaved. Apparently this is the traditional fashion. We finally arrived at San Vito after 7 hours of driving, much longer than we had anticipated given the short distance…on a map. Then we tried to get a hotel, and the illusion that we knew enough Spanish, from listening to that one set of "learn Spanish quickly" tapes, quickly dissolved. After many clumsy hand signs and grunts, we were able to get a room. San Vito was founded by Italian Immigrants in the 50's, and has the best Pizza place on this continent called Liliana's. In our second attempt at using Spanish we ended up accidentally ordering double beers, but I'm glad we pulled off actually getting dinner. The next morning we drove to the Wilson Botanical Gardens. These beautiful gardens have acres of manicured walks through thousands of tropical plants. We saw an Agouti with two babies on the grounds, and dozens of new birds, banana forests, and lots of epiphytes. This is definitely a worthwhile stop for anyone interested in ecology. When we left the gardens we decided to try "check out" La Amistad Park, where we planned to go for new years. This is where we actually got off of the bold red line road, and onto local roads. This is also where we found out that road maps of this area are sort of the map makers best guess at the time, and that every map and guidebook we had was slightly different in really key areas (like the existence of roads and towns). Also, many of these roads aren't paved, and are very slow going. Individuals driveways are often much better upkept than the main road itself, and there are no signs at most intersections (or driveways), so it is kind of your best guess on which direction you think the road goes. Also, many of the towns in one area are named the same thing. There are multiple

San Francisco's within a few dozen kilometers of each other, and a few San Isidro's around the country. Needless to say, we got a bit turned around. We didn't realize how far off we'd gotten until we passed the Wilson Botanical gardens again, and which was supposed to be well behind us, we were supposed to be headed in directly the opposite direction. We figured out where we made the wrong turn, and tried again. This time we made it much farther, we actually saw a sign for the park! We then missed one turn, and there are no further signs which would give us a clue we were headed in the wrong direction. The landscape was getting increasingly rural. Along the road there were many indigenous families walking along, they were dressed in colorful traditional clothing, many of the girls were visibly pregnant, and there were lots of young children. There were lots of coffee farms in this region, and simple shacks built along the outskirts of the agriculture. Eventually we reached a building with a label "Policia de Panama", it was an agricultural inspection, and we realized we had taken a wrong turn and driven into Panama - so we headed back to San Vito again. Note for next time: Bring a compass. The next day we went back to Wilson Botanical Gardens early, and hooked up with a bird tour. We saw tons of birds, lots of wildlife, and learned about a lot of the research going on at the concurrent Las Cruces Biological Station. We also got a map to La Amistad Lodge, which included rough directions!!! With our newly acquired set of instructions, we decided to try and find La Amistad again. This time we were successful! We found the lodge!! To get to it, we had to drive over our first in a series of Costa Rican automobile bridges which I wasn't convinced could support a person very well, two logs with some planks nailed across the top. Jason got out and jumped on them a bit, decided it was sound and just drove over really fast…We pulled up to a beautiful lodge amid a coffee plantation. Tried to inquire about our reservations the following day, and realized again that our Spanish was pitiful. We gave up after the woman we were trying to speak with gave us the number of the main office in San Jose. On the drive out, we passed a large black snake on the road, when we paused the car, it lifted it's head off the ground about a foot and freaked Jason right out. He hit the gas and didn't slow down for a few kilometers. We were feeling confident after finding the lodge, and decided to try and find a park headquarters that was mentioned as a place to camp in the guide book. After heading way off into the middle of nowhere, and asking directions at a few points, we were able to find the park headquarters (did you catch that - asking directions!!! - my Spanish was starting to catch on). These consisted of an empty building with a few wildlife stickers on the windows, and a radio tower in the back - it appeared to be undergoing repairs. There was some scaffolding and salsa music blaring loudly from the inside, but there was no one around. Back to San Vito. About this time we decided to try and make a phone call using the calling card we had purchased. About his time we realized that despite there prevalence of payphones along the roads, the majority were out of service - and none of the functioning ones accepted the type of calling card we had. Costa Rica is in the process of switching payphone card technologies, so you have to get one of each type of card - then hope you can find a working phone for either.There were schools everywhere in Costa Rica, even in the most rural communities - there was always an Escuela sign on the road. Many of the

schools were just simple buildings, some with dirt soccer fields adjacent - but there were everywhere. Apparently Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in the world, I guess that is what happens when a nation puts it's money into it's children instead of into it's army.The next morning we headed strait to the lodge. The lodge itself was made from beautiful tropical hardwoods. We got there about 9, and joined a hike that was just heading out. There was a local guide carrying a huge machete, and one of the owners daughters to interpret. The hike wound up a hill, past the hydroelectric system of the farm. They carved a long horizontal shelf along the mountain to catch run off, which traveled down a created creek channel to a waterfall, where some of the water was diverted through turbines. The forest contained many ancient tropical oaks. We saw butterflys, including one with transparent wings called a "glass wing", native bamboo forests, capuchin monkeys, and a jaguar print on the trail. We also came across another large snake. I think Jason is a magnet for the things. There is also a plant with little purple flower called St. Lucia, and tradition says that you give it to someone and they put it in their wallet for good luck with money. But it has to be given to you by someone else.That afternoon, the owner took us on a tour of the coffee production process. The farm had been started by his grandfather, and he still had much of the same equipment in action. The coffee beans must have the fruit removed, then an outer casing, then be dried, then the husks removed, then they are sold and roasted. Much of the processing is sorting quality based on density. All of the premium quality is exported. His workers are mainly from Panama. They are paid based on the number of boxes they pick daily, they make 10-12 dollars a day. He told us how his grandfather had been the one who decided how to establish the Costa Rican/Panamanian border in that area. He did it based on watersheds, along those mountains, all the area that drained to the south belonged to Panama, that which drained to the north was Costa Rica. The owner let Aviva work with a 4-year old Andalusian stallion that they were trying to train to take a bit. He was using the horse to improve the local breed. The entire farm was being run on sustainability and self sufficiency principles. The fruit from the coffee bean was composted, the coffee was shade grown, much of the food served was grown on the farm, their electricity was hydraulically generated. He also had a trout pond using a diversion from the creek. That evening was new year's, and many friends and family of the owner had come to the lodge for the celebration. There were only 3 other guests, an older couple from Florida and another traveler from Bavaria. As the evening started, the whiskey and wine was flowing freely, music was loud, and people were happy. Food was being brought around, and you had to take some. I was coming down with a cold by this point, just something I picked up from traveling - and it knocked me out fairly early. Jason came and got me about 30 minutes before the new year. One of the daughters was telling me about the traditions on new years. You had to wear yellow underwear for good luck, and it was sold in packs of 10 that time of year - and all the women were wearing a pair! You had to eat 12 grapes all at once at new years for good luck in each of the 12 months. And, you had to run around in circles with a piece of luggage for luck in traveling the following year. Everyone in the family did it, and all the guests joined in much to the entertainment of the family. Then Jason and Roberto (the proprietor) each had a

cigar to welcome in the new year while we watched some of the family dance incredible Salsa. One of the men was the largest man I have ever seen dance, and he could really move!!! It was lively and festive, with all the kids laughing and music playing. When the countdown started, I realized that while I can easily count to 10 in Spanish, trying to do it backwards was a whole different story! We headed out to Corcovado the next day. Roberto said that I could drive Posiedo (the horse) when we returned, because he was going to be all trained by then. One of the girls came up and gave us a St. Lucia plant for good luck, and we went on our way. There was a mix of information on the road to Bahia Drake, the town near Corcavado. Some of the guide books said it was impassible, others said that it was do-able in the dry season. So we decided to try - we could always turn around…We start down the bumpy dirt road, and we aren't to far along when I saw some movement in the bank going up the hill next to the road. I look closer, and it is a crocodile!!! Right there, just on the side of the road - a little bit up the hill - it was a small one, only a meter or so long. I was so excited, I tried to get out of the truck to get a better look, but Jason grabbed the back of my belt and wouldn't let go. He was worried the bigger one was waiting in the bushes…So we headed down the road, and got to our first bridge/river decision. The bridge here was two rusty metal planks, with cast concrete slabs just sitting on the top of it. The road split, and there was obvious signs of traffic going through the river also. Oddly, it seemed much safer to go through the river - so we took that option. We had to do that a few times along the road. The road was carved out of the side of the mountains, and we had to climb over a pass to get to the coast. This area was classic rainforest, teeming with birds, vines, and palm trees. Overlooks with views of mangroves, blue water, and fishing boats in bays. I was fairly sick by now, so with a fever it all look surreal and incredibly beautiful. When we got close to town, the river spread out and we had to cross a growing delta area, then go down a heavily eroding road to get to the camping area (3 foot deep ruts, almost couldn't get back out). We set up the tent on a grassy knoll just inches from the sand of the beach. Jason got to go swim. My fever spiked that night, nothing like a high fever in hot humid weather. The next morning I was human again. We woke up to small green parrots calling and flying overhead. Aviva went for a guided wildlife hike in the rainforest. Jason had enough of snakes already, and decided to go snorkeling out at a nearby island to avoid running into any in the rain forest. I saw no snakes that day, and Jason ran into a deadly venomous sea snake…besides that, Jason had a wonderful time, and got to go snorkeling with a beautiful guide from Switzerland (who he is still talking about). He saw dolphins, sea turtles, moray eels and lots of other reef creatures. Aviva got a great trip out into the forest, taking a boat from Bahia Drake around to the center of Corcavado on the Oso Peninsula. She saw Macaws, a 3 meter crocodile, a sloth, 100 year old vines, a white hawk, spider monkeys, and tons of other critters. She got to go swimming in a stream that formed a swim hole just as it let out to the ocean, under palm trees and vines, with butterflies everywhere. We camped in Bahia Drake for one more night.We were meeting with friends in Arenal (northern part of Costa Rica) in a few days, and it took three mostly travel days to get there. Even through Costa Rica

is a small country, the pot holes and dirt roads make for very slow travel. We stopped at Mirador de Quetzal along the interamericana on the way north. This is a beautiful private farm that has many pairs of resplendent quetzals. This is a wonderful example of the motivation for conservation that eco-tourism provides. The owner noticed people looking for the species that he had on his property, he invited them to come onto his land. Now the family receive visitors for a fee, and generate a good deal of income from people coming to see the birds, and so has conserved the incredible cloud forest on his property. There were no other visitors there when we stopped by, so we had the cloud forest to ourselves. One of the sons was working as a guide, and took us out into the moss and epiphyte covered forest calling for the birds. It was misting heavily, and the fog hung tightly around the green forest, but we got to see a number of female quetzals, and one male with the long tail feathers. On the way back, we stopped at an overlook that stood above a bush that was swarming with dozens of hummingbirds. A note about Costa Rica, especially the rural areas. Even though many of the building materials used in construction of homes or ranch buildings are very simple and sparse, they are always meticulously maintained. There is never any broken boards, or fallen wire. There is never any trash laying around. Something else also. Everyone uses machete's. Even little old ladies will be out trimming their hedges in front of their house with a two foot machete.

Northern Costa Rica One the road to Arenal, we saw that it was possible for bridges to develop pot holes. Not just little bridges. But large metal and concrete suspension bridges that are hundreds of feet above the water can developed 4 foot wide potholes that span the bridge. The solution…throw some twigs across it, maybe a metal plank - and drive over it!!!!By the time we got to Arenal, it was very cloudy. The volcano was totally covered in clouds, as it had been for days. We never did get to see the top of the volcano, with it's glowing lava pouring out, but we did hear it rumbling at night!!! There were lots of hotels all along the base, all lined up to give tourists a view of the volcano - all expensive for that view. This was the first very touristy place that we had been. I was surprised to see everything listed in U.S. dollars, and everyone spoke English. I took a walk through a butterfly garden - it was incredible, they had different buildings set up with different host plants. Butterflies were everywhere, and they had chrysalises stuck on a board where you could compare types and watch butterflies hatch. There is one species that looks like it is made from shiny silver. The next day we drove to Monteverde along Lake Arenal. On the way out of Arenal we got to see Coati! Whole family groups of them would come out onto the road to beg for handouts. Although it is sad to see wildlife doing that, it was incredible to get to see them up close. Their noses are very mobile, the whole front part of their noses are like miniature elephant trunks. The road to Monteverde is very bumpy. Apparently the residents like to keep it that way to limit the amount of tourists that make it out that way. I'm sure it helps somewhat, but it was swarming with people regardless. The drive out winds up through dry grazed lands, overlooking a large bay. It seems impossible that there is a forest hidden in the cleared

landscape, until you gain enough altitude to get into the clouds - then the trees start to come together. We got a room at a local hotel. Jason and I ended up with a brand new room that they had just finished working on that day. So new, in fact, that they hadn't actually finished building the stairs or the deck to this second story space - so we got to scramble up the construction scaffolding, and walk across the boards made from roughly cut tree trunk planks, just to get to the door. That first day near Monteverde we went on a night hike to see nocturnal critters. Right as we got there a white faced capuchin monkey came to visit the building, and the guide fed it a banana - which it took right from his hand. Then we took a walk to a huge ancient strangler fig tree. It was so old that the original host tree had long ago died and rotted away, leaving a living hollow truck for the animals to hid in. We saw a Kinkajou, Mexican Porcupine, and an Olingo running around this tree. The porcupine apparently comes to this tree to go to the bathroom every evening. Porcupine feces smell horrible, even from 10 feet away. The guide admitted that they do place bananas in the tree to attract the wildlife to it, but that he didn't feel bad about doing so because there were banana plantations on either side of the preserve that provided lots of bananas to the wildlife anyway. I do have to wonder why they still came to his tree if there were lots of bananas anyway, but it was still incredible to see them. Along the walk, we saw many sleeping song birds, long-winged butterflies, and huge orange tarantulas. The guide saw a mountain lion during one of the hikes a few months previous. The guide also talked about how the majority of the amphibian species in Costa Rica have become recently extinct, and they still aren't totally sure why. There are no lights in this area, and you could see so many stars in the sky it was unbelievable - it looked like the high desert in the Sierras, but from here you could see the southern cross and the north star. The next morning we headed out to Santa Elena preserve, which is adjacent to Monteverde, to go on a "sky walk" of suspension bridges through the forest canopy. It was misting heavily/raining lightly, and the first bridge is rather high and totally exposed to the wind blowing at it while you try and walk across it. Most of the critters were hiding from the weather. It wasn't until almost the end of the walk that we came upon a troop of howler monkeys, curled up to fend of the rain, sleeping in the top of the canopy right next to the bridge. We stayed there and watched for a long time - until we were thoroughly frozen, and even the monkeys thought we were crazy for being out there. Many of the trees along the hike were huge, with vines and epiphytes covering them. After the hike, we opted for some indoor activity and went to a ranarium called the "frog pond". It was great to get to see all of the famous species of dart frogs, and dozens of other colorful tropical varieties - even if it was in captivity. The camouflage of these animals was incredible, I can't imagine actually locating them in the wild.We drove out of the cloud forest that day, and descended back into the clear cut, dusty, dry grazing areas. We were driving to Playa Grande that night, and stopped at a place called Las Pumas along the way. This is a private wildlife sanctuary started primarily for large cats, although it now supports everything from Toucans to Pacas. The regulations in Costa Rica are a bit different for such places, and they really don't protect visitors from themselves (i.e. being stupid and trying to pet the cats). The enclosures are made of loose chain link, and

there are no further barriers to keep people away. I witnessed a family playing with one of the cats by getting it to swat at a flip flop, and later one of the kids got grabbed by an angry little capuchin monkey because he leaned against the enclosure. The animals looked very well cared for and healthy, and it was an incredible opportunity to see species such as jaguars, gray foxes, ocelots, and toucans up close. We then got to Playa Grande in the dark. We stopped and tried to see if we could see the turtles that night, and we got put on a stand-by list. We were told we had to be there at 8, so we scarfed down a very rushed dinner - then went and sat on the porch waiting for a turtle until 3 in the morning…no turtles for us that night though. We did play a great game of international scrabble, all languages were accepted as long as someone in the group was fluent in it. The next morning was a bit lazy as we woke up from the late night of turtle stalking. Aviva went with Colleen, Jim, and Alexandra to the beach and watched pelicans grab fish from the waves around surfers, and then to breakfast. Jason decided to run into town to find an Internet. Aviva had been doing most of the navigating on the trip (hence we ended up in Panama etc.), and had all of the maps. He found the internet about 15 minutes drive away, but then got horribly lost on the way back. He got three hours lost. He got so lost he ended up getting shooed off of peoples properties out in the country. On the walk back from breakfast, we got to see a dinosaur!! It was actually just a gigantic green iguana, but it really leaves an impression in the wild. While Jason was on his adventure, Aviva went with the rest of the group to look at a hotel that Jim had seen earlier - called Hotel SiSiSi. When we started talking with the owner, it turns out that she had just moved there from Boulder Creek (near Santa Cruz, Ca.). When she heard that I was planning on going on to Nicaragua, she got all excited and told me about a private wildlife preserve called Domitila - and gave me all the contact information to go and visit. (Side note: This is an important leader to later in the story). When we got back, Jason had just returned - I have never gotten such a happy greeting from him as I did that time!The whole caravan headed off to Conchel beach, just north of Playa Grande. This is mostly a local vacation area. The way to access it involves driving along the beach! Actually driving along the hard packed sand by the tideline, over an estuary - and to the roads in the adjacent town. There was actually traffic moving in both directions along this section on the tideline - you just couldn't slow down at all or you would just sink…After dinner, the rest of the group headed inland, and Jason and Aviva decided to try another night of turtle stalking. Thanks to Jason's persistence, we actually got a spot in one of the groups - and got to go see a leatherback sea turtle dig it's nest and lay eggs!!!! It was incredible to see her meticulously dig out the nest with her hind flippers. Carefully taking a scoop of sand out, dumping it at the surface - and patting it down to keep it from falling back in. Then, using her hind flippers - she pressed the sides of the hole that she had dug to make them more compact - then you could hear her breathing change as she started to lay the eggs. The number of people allowed on the beach are limited, and you had to be accompanied by a guide - who used a red light so we didn't disturb the turtle by watching her. We went back out during the day time, and walked to the spot where she had been. You could see the flipper tracks where she had

covered the nest, then moved back to the ocean. After watching her lay her eggs, we went back to the hotel. The room was muggy and fairly moldy, and we talked in hammocks strung between palm trees outside instead. We fell asleep there for the night. The next day we drove into Canas to go on a river tour down Rio Corcabachi. It was run by the same group that has the rehabilitation center. We got there in the afternoon, and took a leisurely ride down the river - and saw an incredible amount of wildlife. The guide had been working there for 10 years, and knew all of the local species well. We passed a family along the river, and two little boys ran out and yelled "I love you papa", in English - the whole family is getting in on the tourist gig. We saw huge crocodiles, lots of howler monkeys, river otters, wood storks, ospreys, herons, variegated squirrels, and tons of other species. We saw more species along that river than any of the other hikes or walks that we had gone on. We stayed in Liberia that night.

NicaraguaThe next morning, Jason headed back to San Jose to fly home - and Aviva caught a bus to Nicaragua. The bus had sold more tickets than seats, which I found out was a common practice, and it was always tourists that had been double booked a seat with a local, meaning one of them had to sit on the floor in the aisle - namely me. To get across the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border meant waiting in long lines at each countries border crossing. Then, the bus drivers insist that everyone on the bus tightly shut their curtains as they go from one checkpoint to the next. I still don't know why. For the one in Nicaragua, the bus driver collects everyone's passports then disappears. No one else really seemed concerned, but it was definitely worrisome to have your passport just disappear into an old plastic shopping bag along with a few dozen others. I tried to ask about it, but just got told to wait where I was - so I didn't move a foot, stayed right by the bus door, until the driver returned about half an hour later. At the checkpoint, everyone has to get off of their bus and wait - so there are dozens of vendors selling anything you might possibly want hawking their products to the trapped travelers. They all keep their products in round tubs, carried in front of them, or above their heads, and shout out what they are selling. Stuff like food, or drinks in plastic baggies with straws (the bottles have redemption value for recycling, so the vendors keep them). The women all wear ruffled aprons where they keep their change etc. When the bus driver returns, they give you your passport back by shouting out the names of the passport, then giving it to the first person that grabs for it…I met a nice girl on her way up to Granada, she had an "aisle seat" also. She wanted to go into tourism, and was happy to practice her English on someone. Tourism was a popular career choice among many young Nicaraguans. The Cambio, or money exchange, in Nicaragua - consists of people with a wad of cash walking up and down the line of immigration yelling cambiocambiocambio - they have a laminated tag with their photo, and a number. I wasn't sure what the exchange rate was - and no idea if I was getting ripped off, so I only exchanged 10, 000 colones (about 20 USD). The difference between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is visible within a few miles upon crossing the border. It is mostly rural on both sides of the border, but as soon as we started seeing town in Nicaragua - it really looked like another

country. In Nicaragua, people still use horse carts for transportation. The towns appear much older. The dogs are all very sickly looking. In Costa Rica, dogs ran around everywhere - but for the most part they looked healthy and fat. In Nicaragua the dogs that ran around were skin and bones, and looked mangy. The horses in Nicaragua are some of the skinniest animals that I have ever seen, many with large open sores on their back from the carts attachments, and these were still being asked to carry heavy loads at a run. The buses here all play music though, loud, lively music.

Ometepe IslandThe town that I got off the bus at was Rivas. I was able to find a taxi, and modified bicycle with a bench seat in the front, to get to the ferry port of San Jorge. It was a slow ride through the cities, about 45 minutes, and it gave me lots of time to see the people. There were lots of horse carts, car taxis, and bicycles sharing the road. The driver dropped me off at the ferry terminal for around 20 cordovas, or 1USD. There is no box office with tickets, there was a schedule posted - but it looked very old - and there wasn't a ferry supposed to be for a few hours, yet people were piled up at the dock. I walked out to the docks, there were three spider monkeys chained with leashes to a tree near the entrance. There were a few guards standing at the gate to get out to the docks, but they weren't really obviously screening who passed by. The docks were buzzing with activity. A common vended items was an orange with the outer peel carved off - leaving the white part, then the top was sliced off - and people sucked out the juice. Then many of the dock workers and boat crews were throwing the empty oranges at each other in a great game of tag. All the workers were barefoot, running around doing their job, occasionally jumping overboard to cool off - but laughing and talking and grinning. Stark contrast to the calculated work environment in the States. I started tagging after some Panamanian students who were headed to the same island I was. I figured if I just following them I would get there eventually. As we watched, this rustic boat grew on the horizon. It was a cargo boat, and some of the boat workers dove into the water to tie it off as it came to the dock. They threw a plank down onto the dock and people started to file on. One of the boat workers was there, and they offered a helping hand to every woman making her way across the plank. Most of the travelers tossed their bags onto the upper deck before walking onto the boat. These bags were piled at the back of the boat on the upper deck, and when the last bag was thrown up, and single rope was looped through the handles. I followed the students to the upper deck, and we got seats near the captains cabin. One of the students bought some pastries from one of the vendors selling to travelers piling on the boat, they shared them with me. They were these fried bread things with a sweet cheese on the inside. After the people piled on, then the crews filled the boat up with cargo - everything from packaged nuts to a coffin with a dead guy in it. The coffin was placed with the rest of the personal luggage, but they used two ropes to tie it down. Before we set off across the lake, they let all of the vendors scramble off of the boat. The high winds made Lake Nicaragua have waves like the ocean, the lake is huge - many times the size of Lake Tahoe. It was a rollin' ride across the water. There were a few other travelers on the boat, the students from Panama and a group from Germany. When the boat finally reached the Isle de Ometepe,

people piled out on another plank laid down from the rocking boat onto the dock. The man in the coffin had family on the island, and there was an older woman (in her 70's) who was beside herself in mourning, and her family was trying to hold and comfort her as the coffin was unloaded. I think it was her son. I tried to flag down a taxi to take me to San Ramon where the research station was, but as far as I could tell - it was to far and he didn't go there. But he pointed to a ancient school bus spilling over with people, and said that was how to get there. So I ran up to the bus and asked the driver if he went to San Ramon, he said yes - so I got on. A few miles out of town, the ticket guy came back and asked where I was headed - when I said San Ramon, he said that the bus didn't go there. What?!?. When I tried to clarify where the bus went, this is where my poor Spanish failed me - I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. But we were headed in generally the right direction, so I decided to stay on the bus until it started going in the wrong direction - I mean, it was an island - how far off could I get…right? The bus bounced down the roads around the island, only a few sections were paved with concrete cobbles. The island is composed of two large volcanoes, which met in the middle to form a sandy spit of land. The volcanoes dominate the landscape, and apparently the ash makes for superior plantains - which are grown all over the island and exported to South America. A man at one of the stops sat right next to me and was trying to be extra friendly, but this is actually when speaking poor Spanish was beneficial - he finally got frustrated with not being able to communicate, and departed. He had silver framing his front teeth, I saw this on many Nicaraguans - both men and women, and I'm still not sure why. It seems an odd way to fix cavities, and it was only on the front teeth. I figured out later, when the bus stopped and dumped everyone off 3 hours later, that what the ticket guy was trying to tell me, is that this bus went to the town 6km from San Ramon, then ended it's route for the evening. So there I was, with a setting sun - some distance from the town where there was supposed to be a research station, with no real idea where the heck I was going. So, with the help of a French couple staying in that town, I negotiated a ride from a local man with a pick-up truck. He dropped me off at the research station in time to watch the sunset with a few professors from Wisconsin. That was one hell of a day, and the best dinner I'd had in days - I fell asleep shortly after dark. The next day I woke up very early, and headed into the main building to use the cellular internet connection to let people know I was safe. That morning I met Naftali, he was one of the guides at the station. He used to be a commando in the Nicaraguan army, he taught martial arts to other soldiers - he was up very early also because he was practicing. Now however, he was going to college to learn economics and international relations, because that was where the work was now. He had a number of tattoos, apparently all were done to him against his will - when he showed fear for one thing or another. He told me they were going on a walk with the pre-med students from Wisconsin to a waterfall, and to see Petroglyphs that day, and invited me along. The walk was lead by an older member of the community who studied indigenous culture and language from the island. The walk turned out to be a 8 mile hike in the sun. The waterfall wasn't that impressive, but the cool water was welcome to everyone after the walk out there. The petroglphys were really incredible. Some of them were on stones that a member of the community had used to build his fence, he had

been careful to place the carvings on the outside though - so people could still see them. He was talking with the guide - telling him that someone had been offering to buy the stones from him. But the guide was telling him that he should not sell them. 1) they would be gone from the people and the community forever and 2) the tourists would stop coming if they sold away the things they came to see. Apparently the carvings were 2000 -800 years old. Many of the carvings, such as a spiral, were identical to those that I saw carved into rocks on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in California, but the indigenous culture here was still intact, and knew the meaning of these symbols. As we walked along the road to the waterfall, we walked past the local community. The road in this area is very bad, and there is not public transportation, and very few tourists - so we were as much of a novelty to the community as they were to us. The families who lived in homes next to the road would all come out and watch us go by, and we would wave back and forth with the young children. Everyone returned friendly smiles. One of the younger children even ran to get his siblings, shouting in Spanish "the gringos are coming, the gringos are coming!!!" - the Nicaraguan Paul Revere…Pigs, cattle, and horses grazed along the side of the road. At one point, there was a cow facing the group as they walked up the road. All of the people were walking in a line, and the cow felt threatened by the advancing group - and suddenly lowered her head and charged!! The entire group ran towards the lake as though it were composed of one body, but then one of the local children came and shooed it off - but there were many Wisconsin students who will never look at a cow the same way again. Some cattle were being driven down the road by young boys on bicycles with a short sticks to herd the cow. Many of the homes were still built with sticks and palm thatch roofs. We saw a mother (dressed in a skirt, pumps, and blouse) and her two young sons, hauling palm thatch down the road by hand - on their backs with their hands above their heads holding the base of the stems. That night I found out that the water in the water cooler was actually spring water - of which I'd drunken about 10 liters by the time I found out. As of writing this, it has been two weeks and I'm not sick yet - although that was a heart attack when I found out…I got to speak to the proprietor for an hour about how he started the station (it is his second, the first was in Costa Rica) and the location.The next morning I found a see-through frog in the bathroom - I think it was a rough glass frog, but I'm not totally sure. I had decided to head to the private preserve that the woman at Hotel SiSiSi had told me about. I had made contact with the owner via email, and had a pick-up arranged for Nandime - a town on the Interamericana. I was able to get a ride back to the ferry terminal with the brother of the proprietor of the research station. He is a cattle rancher, same as their father - but much different than the brother that runs the research stations (just a little family conflict there). I guess the family is from Nicaragua - but they went to high school in Florida, then moved Costa Rica. This was the second time that I got to hear how proud Nicaraguans are of their country, and have them list off the reasons why it is better than Costa Rica (less tourists, more unspoiled culture, safer safer safer). This was a theme with every Nicaraguan that I got to talk to. They were all on a mission to convince me why Nicaragua was better than Costa Rica, and they couldn't figure out why people were so gaga over Costa Rica and not bringing their tourist economy to Nicaragua. The war is discussed as people from the States discuss the civil war, distant history and only mentioned in passing when discussion historical events. We passed lots of

road work. They were building the roads using pre-poured concrete blocks, cobbled together over a sand base. This type of road is easy to fix - just replace the blocks. It is very labor intensive though - good for an economy that is trying to employ people. We passed lots of construction of this type - the official safety shoes of the construction workers were flip flops. He pointed out that the side of the island that the research station is on used to be owned by the dictator, and it was given back to the people (he used the word peasants) after the dictator was no longer in power. That is why the land is not as built up in that section. They are supposed to have a paved road around the whole island soon though - and then the prices for land shoot up. I can't remember what they are per acre there now, but incredibly inexpensive - I think about 1000$/acre. He told me that the waters of Lake Nicaragua are not polluted because there is no industry developed, and it still supports many ancient fish species. Apparently there was a study that showed the women of Ometepe are more "fertile" than women from Costa Rica or the States, purportedly because the fish and water from the lake that they live off of is not polluted. I tried to find out some more information on the study, but couldn't get any more details than the result. I took another cargo boat back to the same dock in San Jorge, as the boat pulled up - there was a young boy, probably about 8 - who was having a grand conversation with me, of which I only understood an occasional word. I finally figured out he was trying to get me to follow him to his friends Taxi who worked on the docks. I had already agreed to share a car taxi with the brother (I think his name was Francisco) to Rivas bus stop. It was here that I noticed how unaware of littering the public was. A girl was changing the batteries of her discman, and she just flicked the old ones out onto the ground - like that is where they were supposed to go. I noticed this on the buses also, where mothers would hold their children up to the windows to throw out their garbage onto the roadways. Many times, the ditches on the opposite side of the roads from homes would be over flowing with garbage that the residents had dumped there. As Nicaragua starts having more access to packaged products, this is going to be more of a problem.From Rivas, I caught a bus to Nandime. I sat next to a girl named Justine. She is in her late 20's. She spoke a little English, and my Spanish was much better by then. She told me her story. She is married to a Nicaraguan man who joined the US Army. He kept promising her that he was trying to get her a green card, so she waited for him. Then one day she got a letter from a woman in another country, that he had traveled to in the military, that he had married. He had other wives also… Due to the law - she can not divorce him unless he signs the papers, which he won't do - so she is stuck married to him, and cannot remarry - so she is still waiting for the promised green card.I noticed some things on the bus. It is much warmer socially in Nicaragua than I am used to. Personal space boundaries there are about 2 feet closer. People touch each other more easily, like a ticket man with gently place his hand on the shoulder of a sleeping person instead of coldly tapping her shoulder. People slip by each-other in the isles with their hands on each-others shoulders. People make eye contact, and take the time to talk - even when working. In the State we are so focused on efficiency, we forget to be human.

Domitila PreserveI got off at the bus stop in Nandime. Town was mostly just a gas station and a bank along the road. I walked to the bank with the intent of withdrawing money, or changing some dollars for Cordovas. I had only had that 340 cordovas since the Cambio at the border crossing, and I was starting to run out. There was no ATM at the bank, so I tried to exchange my cash or travelers check - but she would not accept them because one of the corners was bent!!! Note: Iron your money in a book or something before trying to exchange it. So I went and waited for Maria of the Domitila preserve at the gas station. There was a man vending food to gas station patrons, all the food in one of those round tubs. He had his son with him, he was about 4 years old. He tried to talk with me a little bit, but I just didn't know enough Spanish. I figured out that his son had no mother - whatever that meant. Then his son decided to try and talk with me - and I tried to explain that I didn't speak his language, but he'd never met anyone who didn't speak Spanish - so he didn't understand. He tried using different words, then speaking louder, then turning upside down and talking to me. Even his dad tried to explain to him that I spoke a different language, and I tried talking to him in English to show him - but he just couldn't comprehend it. So he talked at me for the next 1/2 an hour or so, occasionally asking me questions to see if he could communicate with me. Eventually he got bored and wandered off. Then a group of travelers from southern Nicaragua showed up. One of the guys came over and talked to me until Maria showed up. He was from Nicaragua, along the coast, but now he lived in Canada. He had a girlfriend who lived in Larkspur, which is 5 minutes from my home, and was going to move to the U.S. to be with her, but because of the restrictions in immigration after 9/11 he hasn't been able to get there - and Canada was the closest he could get. Interesting fellow.And then - there was Maria and Domitila - easily the highlight of this trip. My first view of Maria was of her driving this ancient jeep, and helping an older American couple out of it at the gas station. She was a complete whirlwind of energy and personality. Driving that jeep takes an amazing amount of talent, and that is just to get the thing started. I accompanied her on a few of her errands in town, getting food etc. I stopped and looked at an old church. The columns inside were made from single trunks of ancient tropical hardwoods. Maria explained that this city used to be a slave community, when such things were allowed - and many of the churches date back to that time. Then we started the long drive along dirt roads to Domitila, past the rural farming communities. Maria explained to me the history of the preserve, which was just designated in 2001. Domitila is the name of her husbands family members who originally purchased the land a few generations back. When the land was divided among the descendants, she and her husband chose the section that had never been cultivated, with the intent on turning it into a preserve. There had been some logging, but the forest had remained intact. Maria is Nicaraguan, but she had been received her high school and college education in Switzerland. She studied languages, and is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Italian. She lived in Europe for a few years, then she moved to the United States for years after that, and raised her two sons in Texas. She returned to Nicaragua, after her children were grown, to care for her father when his health was failing. She was a widower when she returned, and she met up with a man

whom she had known in her childhood, he was still friends with her father. He came and played the guitar for the family - they fell in love and married. I believe it was during her time in the United States that she had started taking some additional courses, and it was in one of these courses that she attended a lecture on "Sustainable Tourism", and it caught her interest. When she first approached the Nicaraguan government about establishing a private preserve, she was told that it was impossible because there was no legal framework in Nicaragua to do so. So she wrote other governments such as Costa Rica and I believe Africa to inquire about their legal frameworks, and she got responses from many different countries with details about how they set it up. Later, when there was some political pressure arising from a different situation, she was able to get the legal framework established, and get her property designated as the first private preserve in Nicaragua in 2001. If I remember correctly, there are approximately more 50 private preserves designated now (in early 2005). In order to be designated a private preserve, the resources must be documented, and certain biological parameters must be met - such as the presence of endangered species. Maria and Silvio (her husband) conducted all these surveys by horseback for months, as self taught naturalists with guidebooks. She then had these surveys confirmed with a biologist from the University. On the drive, we saw this colony of birds that builds it's hanging nests together. The adult birds are black, with bright yellow tails, and a digital sounding call. When we first pulled up to Domitila, I noticed the simple buildings and the hammocks. The lodge is made from handmade planks, with thatch roof sewn on through visqueen. The central meeting area, and the dining area, are both outdoors under thatched roof covers. The beds are covered with a draped white net to keep the critters off. The toilets were composting toilets. And the water for drinking and showers was pumped from a well up to a raised tank using solar power. The materials and accommodations were simple, but immaculately built and up-kept. We were greeted by Linda and Napoleon, two very loving and loved dogs. There were also two cats, a female and a young male. I didn't notice many cats in either Costa Rica or Nicaragua - but I assume it is just a matter of time. None of the ones that I saw were spayed or neutered. Also at the preserve were Fabio, a rescued spider monkey who Maria raised by hand. He is the first part for a Spider monkey re-establishment program for the preserve, in conjunction with some females to be provided by a local zoo. She also had a young deer that was malnourished, which is now healthy and recovering. We went on a short hike up behind the lodge, to a look out where you could see over to Mombachu volcano and Lake Nicaragua. This little hill was the only rise in a flat landscape for kilometers in all directions. You can see the tropical dry forest canopy of the preserve extend out all the way to the lake. I was the only visitor at that time (note for those tired of crowds, I was the only person [besides the knowledgeable Maria and mandatory local guide] in this vast wilderness area), and it gave me a wonderful opportunity to learn from Maria about her life and her experiences with the preserve.We returned to ginger lemon-aid, and kerosene lamps set out in the rooms. The food that night was mind-blowing, along with every other meal. The meals were vegetarian for my benefit, many restaurants in California could stand some lessons for her on vegetarian options, using organic produce when available.

Maria is a world class chef, and takes pride in the training she passes on to her employees (all from the local community). Her whole idea about the preserve is making it a sustainable business, she does not care if it is profitable - as long as it is sustainable. She told me a story of visiting students from a business school (I think it was Harvard). The students kept asking her questions such as "where will you build the additional cabins when the business grows", and they just didn't understand that she would not be building additional cabins - she would limit the number of visitors to avoid impacting the resource. She told them that she knew exactly how many, and what type, of visitors she would have to have in order to be sustainable - and then she would not grow past that point. They didn't get it. The next morning, after waking up to the calls of howler monkeys and birds, we started out with an incredible breakfast (all the meals were unbelievable, and I would spend pages talking about each one if I described them) -then went on a longer hike into the preserve towards the lake. The first thing that I noticed about the tropical dry forest, at the beginning of the dry season, is that the birds and butterflies are much more visible than in the rain forests. They are still there to feed on the abundance of fruits, seeds, and nectar - but they are not hidden in the foliage. There were more visible varieties and abundance of butterflies than anywhere I've seen in my life, they were everywhere. There is even a butterfly that makes a chirping sound when pairs circle each other. The howler monkey troops were scattered throughout the preserve, and we could hear them calling back and forth between each other. They would look at us curiously as we went by. We found two turtle shells, which had been eaten by some other wildlife - possible raccoons. Between Maria and the local guide, Jesus, they knew all of the trees that we passed, which ones were rare, and what their commercial uses were (why they had been harvested). On this hike we saw species such as owls (still trying to figure out the species), squirrel cuckoos, endangered yellow-napped parrots, and aracari. We heard, but never saw, a laughing falcon - I understand the name now. It sounds like someone who just hear the best joke of their lives, laughing a big belly laugh. The rest of the species are included in the species list below. We returned for lunch, then headed out to the section of the preserve to the south, that included the spring and wound up the back of the hill. We saw a barn owl here, above a forest composed of native bamboo (it is small, and droops over to create a great environment to shelter wildlife), and saw a porcupine that had been eaten - we could identify it by the quills. There were many Morpho blue butterflies along all of the waterways that we saw. Talking to Maria was always educational and inspirational. She stated repeatedly (when talking about what her sons were up to) that she had already lived her life. Here she was leading a more exciting, rewarding, life than most of us can ever hope - and she looks at it as the mellow way to wind down her years. When she has guests, she is up at 4 in the morning, and is the hostess, the guide, the cook, and the proprietor. During the rest of the time, she is the preserve manager - fighting wildfires that escape from adjacent farmlands, doing all of the marketing, paperwork, and financial management. Soon after the preserve received it's designation, her husband came down with lung cancer - so he has had to be gone in the States for treatments. So in addition to being the

supporting spouse to someone with cancer, all of the biological management of the preserve, and the business management of the lodge, is in Maria's hands. The names in her guest-book are an impressive list of world known scientists, such as the Sr. Dr. Sibley (who stated that this was a "great place to study nature" - he came and did a dragonfly survey), Australian entomological groups, professors from UC Davis who study large cats, professional butterfly photographers - all these guests were raving about the unexplored opportunities at the preserve - and everyone mentions the food. That evening Linda, the slightly neurotic, but very sweet dog - came and slept with me, on top of the bug netting. She quietly sat by my feet the next morning (which is a feat, she is a hyper little being) - it made me miss home. The next morning, Maria brought Fabio the spider monkey over to say hello. He is very wary of new people, given his early abuses - but this will be good for his re-introduction to the wild. He clung to Maria and chattered worriedly as she got close to me, but he remained calm unless I talked. At the sound of an unfamiliar voice he would become very agitated and started making squeaking sounds. Maria drove me to Granada, she had errands to run there- and this would allow me to run to a bank to be able to pay her in cordovas. By this time, I was already thoroughly taken by the cause for her preserve. We'd spent hours the night before talking about ideas for research and marketing. I could talk about that for another 3 pages. She accompanied me to an internet café, when she checked her email - there was a message from a study abroad program based out of San Francisco, who wanted to establish a life sciences program in Nicaragua - potentially using her facilities. She sent them my name as a liaison for the preserve in California.

Granada/MasayaGranada is a famous colonial city. The colorful, tile roofed buildings make quite an impression. There are many grand old churches. Including one that is in such disrepair, there are trees growing out of the roof (not through the roof, but actually on top of it). On many of the buildings, some of the original adobe has fallen off - exposing the building materials of mud mixed with straw, on a support of woven sticks. Some of the sidewalks are still the original adobe bricks laid out along the roadside. My hostel was near central park, and I walked down the to the shore of Lake Nicaragua (Granada is on the northern side of the lake). This was the first time since we'd arrived in Central America that I was hassled by vendors selling souvenirs. This was the first time that I'd felt unsafe, and had people be unfriendly. There were swarms of tourists, most of them young Europeans or from other Central American countries, who come to Granada to party. The horse drawn taxi's were lined up on the streets. The poor horses were starved to the point of seeing the entirety of all of their ribs, and their hips stuck up through the skin clinging to them. Yet they had huge bows tied on their heads to attract tourists to the carts, so that they could haul them around town at a fast trot or a canter under the constant whip of the drivers, regardless of the open sores that developed from the cart equipment rubbing their skin onto their protruding bones. Needless to say, I walked. The water of the lake in that area is green, and really didn't look all that appealing - but there were many beautiful buildings and churches.

The central park sold lots of handmade pottery, for incredibly cheap prices. About 2-3 US dollars for original art (although I had my doubts about getting it home in a backpack in one piece). The area also had a reptile/amphibian skin processing plant (although it has long since closed down), and you could purchase baby alligator plate holders, or toad purses - or any other variety of really disgusting products. I really didn't feel safe, so I headed in to the hostel relatively early. I met up with an older Canadian couple and went to dinner with them. As soon as the darkness set in, the streets came to life. There were two buses blaring music, all painted with tropical scenes, with no roofs, that were driving around packed with young people. One bus catered to older teenagers and young 20's, the other was designed more like a train and was for children. Then a marching band went by. From what I could tell, there wasn't a special event - this is just want Friday nights were like. I was in the common area of the hostel when people started drifting in, they were all telling the story of a tourist woman who a bunch of local men tried to abduct that night, and she had to fight them off with a broken bottle. I'm glad I stayed in…The next day, I headed to see Masaya national park. It is within an ancient volcanic crater, that contains numerous smaller, still active, craters. You can walk right up to the edge of the crater and peer in. I found my way to the bus terminal, which was a dirt lot with buses going through with a guy hanging out the back yelling the name of the buses destination. So I got on one yelling "MASAYAMASAYAMASAYA". I took it along the Interamericana to the town of Masaya bus depot. On the bus drive out to Masaya, I got to see lots of families transporting drinking water along the interamerica - in blue 50 gallon barrels, in handcarts, horse carts, or ox-carts. It must take an enormous amount of time just to get drinking water for the family. Also, a common form of two person transportation is on a bicycle. One person pedals while the other sits side saddle on the front bar. This isn't just kids, even the case for older couples (like in their late 40's/50's). There is nothing like seeing a skinny little old man, pedaling away with a plump older woman balancing delicately on the front bar in business clothes (like a skirt, pumps, and blouse). When the bus got to the bus depot, I couldn't figure out if it went past the national park (I later realized that I needed to be asking for "the volcano" not "Masaya Park" - Masaya Park is the city as far as locals are concerned, but everyone knows where the volcano is). I went and got a taxi after awhile, for 12 USD$ I got a taxi to take me the 20 km or so out there, all the way to the top of the volcano, wait for a few hours while I hiked around, then give me a ride back. He was more than happy to do so, so I think that was a lot of money for what it was - but at that point it was more than worth it to me. His name was Joseph, he was from Masaya, and he had four daughters - the eldest was 9, he was 31, and was divorced. That was about all I could understand. He was shocked that I was 27, married, and had no children by choice.This was something that I ran into a number of times. When Maria asked if I had brothers or sisters, and I said no - she said, with lots of feeling, that she was so sorry. I was shocked at her level of reaction. To her it was very sad to not have

siblings, to her it was not having family. There were a few people that I told I had no children, they inevitably asked why, and that I wanted to travel and have a career established first - and they didn't know what to say, that was so shocking and wrong to them. That is really the first time that I've experienced that. I see now why it would be hard to make this type of decision in a culture with that mindset. I got back to the bus depot and got to stay on the bus and watch the activities of the market for awhile. The Masaya bus depot was adjacent to a lively market. There was garbage everywhere. Vendors would walk from the front of the bus, shouting out their goods, and exit the back of the bus. They were selling everything from something that looked like tacos, to sweets, to soda and water in plastic bags. The buses all play music, and the music was blaring. The sounds of the market permeated the bus. Even as the bus was pulling out of the depot, vendors would jump in the moving front door, and go through and hop out the back of the bus. On the walk back from the bus, I noticed that this one church at the end of a narrow road seemed to be crammed full of stalls, and many locals were streaming to and from it. So I walked down - and the minute you go through the entrance you enter a huge covered market that extends for blocks in all directions. It has everything from manufactured clothing, to butchers, to bulk grains. The area was alive with bartering, and dogs were sleeping happily in the loud walkways. Anything you could possibly need was sold there. That night I met Johanna (American) and Justin (British). They were both in Granada to study Spanish, by coincidence, they had both just come down from spending 3 months in Mexico. Johanna was a very open, trusting woman, I think in her mid-20's, whose mother was a into meditation. Justin was a hypnotherapist, traveler in his early 30's who was trying to master Spanish because he was considering moving to Spain, everything he liked was "Brilliant!!". They were going to different language schools, but both staying with local families. I think that coincidence brought them together for a reason. Johanna had had her passport stolen, then molested by the person she had to barter with to get it back - she was having a bad day. We all talked philosophy with a few other people until late that night. I fell asleep in the hammock I was in during the talks. I had to get up at 4:30 the next morning to catch a bus back to San Jose. I got eaten alive by mosquitoes that night, it is a week later, and I am still itching from it. I caught the bus back to San Jose the next day.Believe it or not, this is the summary - there are so many other details of places, people, and culture that I can't even begin to get it down on paper - you will have to go yourself for the rest of it.