2010
04.22
Ok, camping is a little much. We had some nice cabins, by Costa Rica standards anyway. That said, the superheated rocks that the volcano pushes out on regular occasions give it all a surreal feeling between the sound of them rumbling down the slope and the occasional red glow that shows up when they break open.
No lava while we where there in the strictest sense of the word, despite what others may say but you know what… rocks the size of a bus rumbling down the slope are quite dramatic enough, thank you very much.
Below : Members of the group sit on the 1992 Lava Flow situated a few kilometers out from the base of Arenal.
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.20
The wheel turns and we arrive back in San Jose backpackers today. It’s been a long time between posts, the internet connection was basically non existent for a while. Everyone is in good humor, most are looking forward to seeing home again, though several are sad to see the back end of the trip after all this time.
I guess that’s how it goes. Me? I just want a decent net connection again, and my own keyboard. lol
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.13
Did some deconstruction on the beach today, saw a snake and a few nasty critters. Nothing exciting really, just a workaday time here in Costa Rica. The heat is slacking up since we get torrential (literally) rains here every night now.
Still not cool, but not killer heat either.
Ciao from CR
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.12
Sorry about the long run with no posts, had some computer issues in addition to time problems. It’s been a busy weekend even without work. We visited a national park on saturday and dipped our toes, and other body parts, in the Pacific. Today we spent a couple hours rafting the river in a rainstorm. Unbelievably more fun than it sounds, but incredibly tiring too.
For the first time since hitting El Silencio I was cold and hungry. God, who would believe that those two sensations could feel so damn good?
(I guess I should explain that the local food stuffs me so much I can barely manage to eat at each meal… but how do you tell people you aren’t going to eat food they already cooked for you? You don’t, that’s how.)
Great day, but I’m SO ready to crash and it’s only 6 here.
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.12
Sorry about the long run with no posts, had some computer issues in addition to time problems. It’s been a busy weekend even without work. We visited a national park on saturday and dipped our toes, and other body parts, in the Pacific. Today we spent a couple hours rafting the river in a rainstorm. Unbelievably more fun than it sounds, but incredibly tiring too.
For the first time since hitting El Silencio I was cold and hungry. God, who would believe that those two sensations could feel so damn good?
(I guess I should explain that the local food stuffs me so much I can barely manage to eat at each meal… but how do you tell people you aren’t going to eat food they already cooked for you? You don’t, that’s how.)
Great day, but I’m SO ready to crash and it’s only 6 here.
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.08
LIfe’s looking up around here. If, you know, by life I mean heat. We hit 46 degrees C before noon hour today, and I’m pretty sure it climbed some from there. Hot as hell, but the scenery is much nicer I guess. Was back on building detail, turning out some bins for recycling here, while the others did their thing in the animal rescue center. Mario and Earl somehow became stockboys at the local store. We lose twenty pounds of sweat, they complain about being bored. 
Things are smoothing out though, problems are easing out mostly. The heat is worse than ever, but we’re getting acclimated so it doesn’t feel as bad.
Category Costa Rica |
2010
04.07
First day of work started up today, with the groups splitting off to work on the beach, the wildlife rescue center, and some construction at the Coop Auberge. I was on the construction crew, along with Mylene and Amanda. Earl was consigned to the beach, while Mario, Nicole, and Bianca worked in the Wildlife center.
That said, there were no easy jobs. Construction began with lugging the timber the better part of a kilometer uphill so we could have something to build with. The wildlife rescue started off easier, with feeding and cleaning cages in the shade of the forest canopy, but before they were done that crew had hauled some huge shoots of bamboo up the hill to the auberge. I guess we got lucky, lugging lumber at 6am is at least before the heat hits.
Don’t know a lot about the beach job, though it was supposedly pure hell for the group that did a couple hours of it yesterday. Today they didn’t start at 1pm, however, so it pretty much HAD to be easier. Earl seemed pretty upbeat when he got back, but the sun is brutal all over so it wasn’t a day at the beach. You all know what I mean.
Spent the afternoon in the river, pretty much all of us, and that was as close to heaven as you can imagine. 26 degree water is like a balm to soothe all sorrows in this heat. Still, it’s a 35 minute walk there and back, so I’m unconvinced that the balm is worth the price of admission.
We’ve got some second stage people around here (For those who don’t know, stage one is the honeymoon stage. Two is the I HATE this place and want to go the hell HOME stage.) But that’s to be expected.
Net still sucks, so if you don’t hear from us it’s just that and nothing major.
Ciao
Category Costa Rica |
2010
04.06
Well after some experimenting I’ve been able to determine that Facebook is a pain in the backside to post to from El Silencio. My Blog, however, seems to respond a bit better. Probably because I have a direct connection to my own server online, not through a dozen proxies and security protocols like Facebook. So, let those on face book know my posts will only be here for a while.
can’t post much, being chased out of the hotspot, lol
Everyone is ok, some overheating and minor stuff like that. nothing major, just annoying at this point.
Did a tour today, tomorrow we start work.
El Silencio is Grosse Ile in the tropics, lol. 600 people centered around a Cooperative out in the middle of nowhere. 
It is kind of awesome to look past the buildings, though, and see the jungle rising up all around you.
Have to go, have sweat dripping… literally DRIPPING on my keyboard. This can’t be a good environment for computers.
CIAO
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.05
Just hit El Silencio, Net connection is pretty bad, phones don’t seem to work. We’re in the middle of the jungle, temperature jumped up 10+ degrees or more from San Jose. It’s bleeding HOT, hell I’m afraid my laptop is going to overheat in this. Still, everyone’s alright and we’re in good humor.
I’ll update as possible, but don’t expect many pics and the like for a while. Net is via Sattelite Access and it’s not reliable or fast.
Category Uncategorized |
2010
04.05
It’s a city of several million people, so you know that any impressions I have after 2 days are gonna be full of more holes than we can possibly find, but you know what it’s an interesting city to say the least.
Visually and Culturally you can feel it’s age more than you can when walking through cities in Canada and the US, at least in my limited experience. Don’t get me wrong, the new is here. McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, these are all in plain evidence but the history is there around every corner as well.
Oddly, and rather comically for people who know me, it’s the Coca Cola advertisements that really drive it home for me. Let me be clear, Coke is HUGE in this city. They named a bus stop after the brand, just to give you an idea, so yeah… It’s my kinda town.
That said, some of the ads clearly date back to the beginnings of the company and are still clearly visible and in use by local stores. Along one single street I saw ads that dated from the 40s clear through to contemporary versions just put into place this year probably and the whole city has that same feel.
There is a clear and almost tangible impression of history and progression that permeates the city far more heavily than I’ve ever felt in Canada or the United States. Where we preserve and restore our cultural heritage, here in San Jose theirs is clearly still in every day USE.
History in Coca Cola. I say again, this is my kind of town.
Welcome to San Jose.
Category Costa Rica |
