Our New Office

Part I – Metropolitan Park

In case you were wondering, this is me doing the “bird watching pose” at the Parque Natural Metropolitano in Panama City. According to Frommer’s, this is the only protected tropical forest within the city limits of a major urban area in the Americas. As a side note, and just in case you were wondering this as well, my blond highlights are real.

While this was a nice hike and a nice afternoon break, our bird watching was not all that successful. I think bird watching may be one of the most difficult sports I’ve done. You hear them, but they’re darn near impossible to see — especially in the rain forest with all that foliage.

But it wasn’t entirely fruitless. We did manage to see a few birds and even the infamous “Jesus Christ Lizard” who ran over a little pond as we finished up our hike.

This is a red-headed woodpecker that Jason managed to get a shot of.

Part II – The Non-Bird Watching Part

On Saturday we went to Panama Viejo, which is a part of town where you can find the ruins of the “oldest capital city in the Americas.” I could go into the details of the history here, but Wikipedia will be much more informative and accurate. Suffice it to say that Captain Henry Morgan came here in the 1600s and destroyed the city. After that, the survivors relocated to Casco Viejo, the other “old town” in Panama City. The good news is that many of the old ruins remain.

It rained in the middle of our tour so Jason and I played an impromptu game of cherades in the old cathedral. Here he is looking for birds.

Part III – Soberania National Park

A few days after our in-town bird watching trip, we drove out of town to Gamboa where you’ll find a rain forest and Gatun Lake — the man made lake that allows all those ships to pass through Panama. We got up nice and early so we could see the much-heralded toucan, but like I mentioned before … there are no toucans in Central America.

We did, however, see a lot of amazing sights. We climbed up a 90-foot tower to look at the tip tops of trees and we hiked down several paths to find monkeys, leaf cutter ants, and other fun jungle creatures.

This is Gatun Lake – quite a sight.

I’m not sure what is in the air here, (it is the world’s largest urban jungle after all) but something makes me itch in Panama City.

I’m on day 7 of Clarityne and day 5 of benadryl and not much is helping. I’m best off wearing jeans and long-sleeved t-shirts to prevent the crazy itching I’ve got going on.

Anyway … I know you don’t care about that and neither do I really.

What I really care about is the fact that this whole “toucan” claim that Central Americans make every chance they get, is actually a big scam.

There are no toucans here. I’ve looked everywhere. I’ve officially put toucans in the same category as unicorns and leprechauns.

And don’t be leaving any comments here about how you’ve seen all kinds of toucans. I’ve heard the stories and even seen the pamphlets. I still don’t believe it.

On the other hand, Panama and Costa Rica do have an abundance of humming birds. These little guys are loud! And fast!

OK, that’s not true. I can stand seeing the monkeys. In fact, I never get tired of seeing them or hearing them. I wonder if the novelty will ever wear off or if it’s like seeing a new puppy?

Our friend Alli would tell you that puppies never get old. No matter how many times you see them. Alli was here to visit us a little while back and she was enamored with all the dogs around here. Some, of course, are friendly pets and so many others of them are street dogs without a home, but yet somehow manage to get scraps and adopt owners when they can. Even if the owners don’t adopt them back:)

But anyway, back to those monkeys. While Alli was here we took a road trip to Quepos/Manuel Antonio by way of Jaco to really just see one thing:

Monkeys!

The national park, Manuel Antonio, is not very big, but it is known for all of its wildlife. We saw dozens of these white faced capuchins and then we saw an even more amazing monkey.

Squirrel monkey!

Apparently this type of squirrel monkey only resides in Manuel Antonio, so we were very lucky to see these chirping primates. They really are as big as squirrels and were not afraid of us at all.

We also saw a few howler monkeys, sloths, vultures, toucan impersonating sloths, Canadians, blue butterflies, and awesome beaches. The shopping in Jaco and the overall good company throughout the weekend was nice too.

Alli has gone back home now, but she is sorely missed. We had such a good time hanging around the beach, the volcanos, and the monkeys that we were sad to see her go.

Last weekend we took three days to visit Montezuma, which is on the bottom tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. We had some really good moments and some not so great moments.

Of course, the road to Montezuma was tough – loud, dusty, slow-going. But the views were excellent.

Here’s Jason eating pie for breakfast. We stayed in a cute little hotel (El Sano Banano) that served great breakfast. Most everything in Montezuma is vegetarian and organic, so needless to say, Jason was hungry.

Jason takes most of the photos you see on the blog, but every now and again I luck out with a good photo of my own. This photo I managed after an iguana scurried down from a tree I was resting under.

Later that day we saw the infamous white-faced capuchin monkeys for the first time. Caught up in all the excitement, I started taking shots like crazy, but none turned out that well (a/k/a all the pictures are just plain bad) and the monkeys were being naughty, which didn’t help.

The water was an amazing blue color and it was clear! But the waves were strong and the rocks made it almost impossible to swim and snorkel.

The next day I drug Jason out of bed at 6am to go on a hike to see a waterfall. He got stung by a bee (twice) and slipped on a rock. Our little adventure wasn’t the highlight of his trip. I think he would rather have been eating pie.

We still have two months left in Costa Rica so I’m sure there are many more great experiences to be had, but here are my top seven experiences so far.

1 – The time my mom and I went to the post office and asked for five stamps. We gave the post office worker 1,000 colones, but then he couldn’t give us change…because he didn’t have any, I guess. After checking his pockets he just shrugged his shoulders and asked us to be on our way.  Okay, so those words didn’t really come out of his mouth, but he said it with his eyes.

I guess I can live without the 22 cents. It was certainly worth the laugh.

2 – The water slide and swim up bar at the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort.

3 – The canopy tour and zip lining experience is a must-do when in Costa Rica. Just be prepared for the biggest wedgie of your life.

4 – The day Jason fixed the Internet and we didn’t have to work outside by the pool anymore.

5 – Swimming underneath a waterfall(s). Who knew a waterfall could really take your breath away?

6 – Seeing a tarantula and a scorpion for the first time and the second time. Well, it was the first time seeing these bugs when they weren’t behind glass at a zoo or something.

7 – Jason’s expression when a butterfly landed on his face and the other time when a hummingbird flew circles around him.  I think the bird wanted to eat him because it hovered over Jason’s shoulder for a bit.

Last week Jason and I took a few days off to explore the Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We had an excellent time enjoying the cooler temperatures, the lush forest, and of course looking for wildlife. We didn’t see much wildlife, but we did hear some. Like the dink frog, for example. The above picture is one Jason snuck of me listening for the frog that actually makes a “dink” noise.

We also saw groups of roadside katamundi. They are the equivalent of a North American raccoon, I think, but they are much cuter and friendlier. People feed them, of course, so they come right up to your car.

The only downside of our trip was that 1) we didn’t see any toucans (I’m not leaving Costa Rica until I see a darn toucan), and 2) we didn’t see any lava.

Arenal is an active volcano set in the most beautiful of forests. However, the area is also known for its clouds, which means that when there are clouds you can’t see the volcano. And if an area is cloudy enough to bear the name “cloud forest” then it’s likely you’ll have clouds, right?

So yeah, no lava for us. However, we did spend hours at the world’s most amazing hot springs resort – Tabacon. Seriously, I think this might be one of the nicest places we’ve stayed in all of our travels. I also think this was the most fun we’ve had in Costa Rica so far. Needless to say, I highly recommend the Tabacon.

December 18th, 2008. Our first week here in Costa Rica has been exciting – here are the highlights.

1. Our place is pretty nice…but where the $%@# is the TV?! I didn’t realize how mentally dependent I was on TV until I had to go without it. It’s not that I need to watch television (the only “shows” I really miss are re-runs of the Simpsons and watching NBA games), but I never realized how much I enjoy watching a little TV to “unwind” before I go to bed. I had a little meltdown the first night we were here about no TV, but I’m better now.

2. We’re staying in CoCo beach (technically Playas del Coco), and it’s a lot like a small beach town would be in Southern California. There are a lot of wealthy Americans and Canadians here who have left their homes in North America and moved to Costa Rica. Most of them operate tourist friendly businesses (B&B’s, restaurants, etc.).

3. The weather is awesome. After freezing cold nights in Denver, it’s fantastic to be in 85 degree (F) heat.

4. Our rental car is a heap, but it’s one of the nicest heaps we could have hoped to rent. It’s dingy and dirty, and it’s dinged up, but it’s perfect and we love it. The A/C works, and because it’s so beat up it doesn’t scream “tourist” like a shiny new rental car would.

5. The internet service is not as advertised. Our hosts here in Costa Rica (who are quite nice) have absolutely no idea just how dependent we are upon the internet. We were told that our unit would have WiFi access, but it does not. You can imagine my frustration. We are working it out, however.

6. People here are nice. Everyone we’ve met – from the guy at customs to the people that run our resort to the grocery-bagger at the grocery store – is nice. It’s a sort of laid-back feel that you would get in a small town.

This is our little house during our stay. It’s one of 20 or so houses at a small resort in a secluded jungle valley just outside of CoCo beach. It’s about 10 minutes away from Playa Ocotal, 15 minutes from Playa Hermosa.

7. We’re staying in the jungle. Our house is in a secluded jungle valley. Every night we can hear howler monkeys barking at each other and the sounds of insects – every day we can see and hear birds everywhere. There are huge toads that roam the paths at our resort too, and they know no fear.

8. Bugs and geckos like our house. we’re staying in a smallish 2 bedroom one bath home, and bugs and geckos love it. We’ve seen spiders, “scorpion killers,” grasshopper like locusts, praying mantis, beetles, and a bunch of “other” bugs inside the house. We’ve also seen quite a few small green geckos that have the ability to walk on walls. We’re a little freaked out, but thankfully we haven’t seen a cockroach, so we’re doing great.

Finally, a bit of sad news:

It’s not fair. After my public admission that I inadverdently caused the death of an innocent little Aruban lizard, I ran over a large Iguana today (nicknamed ‘Launa’ by my oh-so-supportive wife) that just didn’t know when to cross the road.

This is not cool – not cool at all. Why would these lizards “sacrifice themselves like Samurai?” Am I at war with them?

If so, why wasn’t I informed?

Remember when Jason and I used to get freaked out over cockroaches and tiny little lizards? Looking back now I realize we must’ve sounded like silly city people.

The truth is that before our recent travels we both had lived in Denver for quite some time. In Denver you don’t have roaches, mosquitoes, or reptiles. In fact, there is barely any wildlife there at all.

But now that we’ve spent some time in tropical areas of the world we’ve seen our fair share of fish, bugs, and reptiles. In fact, we’ve seen so much wildlife that we don’t have the same reactions like we once did.

This tarantula climbed up the side of our house the other night. Jason got up to get the camera, but otherwise it was business as usual.

You’ve probably noticed that we talk a bit about lizards. You may even think we’re obsessed with them, and maybe we are, but it’s hard not to notice the lizards when they are everywhere (including the plastic lizard decoy on our front porch).

While we once were freaked out by little geckos in our house, we now ignore them. However, if I ever saw this guy in my house I might think twice.

This is a black ctenosaur and it is fairly common in Costa Rica. We saw this particular ctenosaur right out our front door, and we have seen many others in piles of dirt, along the highway, and falling off of cliffs and roofs (Now that’s good for a laugh … especially since they seem to land just fine).

Several weeks back Jason and I were standing out on our front porch looking at the stars and enjoying a cool Costa Rican evening. With his flashlight Jason caught a glimpse of something on the cement just a few feet away.

Upon closer inspection he realized that what he saw was a lizard — and it wasn’t moving. Was it dead? Was it Lanna the iguana back from the dead to haunt us?

The next day we took a closer look and indeed it was a lizard. Her tail was gone. She was clearly dead. Jason noted that she even had “blood in her eyes.”

Poor thing…she’s even missing a foot.

Days went by and the dead lizard just sat there. We thought it was strange that nothing moved it from that spot. Why hadn’t the dogs gotten to it? Was it decaying?

It wasn’t until our clever friends Ben and Cathie came to visit that the mystery was finally solved. Ben took a stick and poked the lizard. After his experiment he reported back to us that on the lizard’s belly it said: “Made in China.”

Turns out the lizard wasn’t Lanna reincarnate, but rather an old plastic toy probably left there as a joke.

This is Cathie, Ben, and Jason out to breakfast. You can tell by Ben’s shirt that he takes his lizard inspection seriously. Our home is certainly more secure now. Thanks Ben.

Friday, November 28th and Saturday, November 29th, 2008 – As time passes, Sara and I are spending more time working and less time touring. Part of the reason is that we’re a little busy (awesome), but part of the reason is that we’re starting to see some repetition. A lot of the sites and sounds of South East Asia are repeated in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Singapore, and Penang. This isn’t to say we aren’t enjoying our visit to Penang or that we’re not having fun – rather, we don’t need as much time to visit all the sites as we did when we first started our little trip.

One of the highlights of our visit to Penang followed a fairly long day of walking. We were thinking about grabbing a snack and a taxi back to our hotel (the Evergreen Laurel, quite nice and inexpensive to boot) and I was looking around for a place to eat. A very gregarious man noticed I was looking “lost” and approached us on the street. He asked us if we knew where we were and where we were headed. Stunned by someone seeming so open, and a little concerned this was some sort of come-on for a scam, I was reluctant to respond. However, he had such a friendly and matter-of-fact manner that I didn’t know what to do.

Before I knew it we were following this man to the “best view in all of Penang.” He walked briskly and with great importance, his huge belly sticking out proudly. He guided us across 5 lanes of traffic on a busy street, dramatically stepping in front of cars and sticking out his hand. They stopped abruptly, and then he would motion for us to follow. Imagine a serious version of Chris Farley’s old “motivational speaker” and you’ve got some idea. It was odd to say the least.

We followed him into a dank corner of a tall office building, jumped in a small elevator, and next thing we know we’re paying about $6 to see the view from the Komtar tower. Turns out that the guy worked as a tour guide at the tower, and it dawned on me “he’s done this before…” It was very funny when it was all over.

The view from the Komtar Tower was great – here’s a look at old Georgetown.

The office tower was tall, cheap to enter, and 40 years old in a state of disrepair. The floors were cracked, the ceiling tiles were gross, and it smelled a little odd too. Still, the views were amazing.

Next, it was time for a little jungle action. We visited the Botanic garden (which edges up against the jungle) and walked down a dark, scary jungle path. We saw ants that were about an inch long and as big around as your little finger – crazy. We were scared of stepping on a snake, getting bit by a bug, and “aggressive monkeys.”

Speaking of monkeys, we saw a very cool scene – we even managed to capture it on video. Alas, we’re having a computer problem right now and I can’t get the files off my old machine. Rest assured, it will happen.

We were surrounded by monkeys at the park, and we got some great video of them being mischievous. We’ll post it as soon as we get our computer problem worked out.

These two were too cute.

Finally, we enjoyed a very nice Indian meal in Georgetown on our last night. Things were great right up until the very end, when a curious little cockroach crawled up on the chair right next to Sara and looked over inquisitevely saying “anything left for me?” just after I paid the check.

Such is life in the tropics…