Into the Jungle...
13 – abril
We got up at 5am this morning in order to leave for a mini-vacation (already, I know). It was a little different packing for this because even though Luisa explained a little bit about what we would be doing, I wasn’t really sure what I needed to bring. Oh well, nothing like jumping in head first. We drove about 3 hours or so to Limon, where I will be living eventually. To get there we drove through the mountains and national rain forest. The landscape is beautiful – a lot like Washington because it is so green and lush, but with different types of trees. We saw pineapple farms, banana plantations, and all sorts of trees and plants. In Limon we could see the beach and the Caribbean Sea – my first time to experience that sight. We went to Benson’s (Hugo and Luisa’s brother) office a little bit further south than Limon, near Puerto Viejo. Benson works for an agency that is involved with conservation and social work with a variety of groups and organizations in Costa Rica to preserve natural resources and to support the native people and teach them how to use and conserve as well. Along with Benson, there was 2 people from San Jose, a girl from Limon, and a guy named Eric who is from Washington D.C. and his father. Eric had been a volunteer with Benson about 10 years ago and now had returned to make a documentary movie about the projects and things they are doing in Costa Rica. (So watch the Discovery Channel and maybe you will see me! Ha.) We drove about 30 minutes into the jungle, mostly on a windy gravel road with huge potholes (as most of the roads here do) to a town called BriBri. Here we parked the cars and carried our backpacks down to the river where 2 “pangas” were waiting. Pagas are like canoes, except they are made of wood – a single log, actually. The two we rode in were huge – must have been a huge tree as well. The indigenous people carve these boats from the logs and then use a little motor on the back to power them. We put our stuff in plastic bags and then loaded the bags and ourselves into the boats. Our guias (guides) took us for a one-hour boat ride up the river and further into la jungula (jungle). This was really the jungle indeed, and although we did not see any (too bad), there are lots of jungle animals including tigers and pumas and crocodiles, that live there. Along with the cars we left behind electricity and cell phone service and road access. Welcome to Costa Rica, huh? What an incredible experience – and only my first day in the country! Parts of the river are like what we would go rafting on and in these parts the guides had to kill the motor (so it didn’t hit the rocks on the bottom) and use long sticks to maneuver and power our way up the rapids. I suppose it was vaguely similar to the gondola tours in Venice, but well, not really at all beside the boat, water and guide with a long stick. Upon arriving at our destination – a town called Yorkin on the border of Panama and Costa Rica – we emptied from the panga and walked into “downtown” Yorkin – which consisted of 2 or 3 small buildings for the school, a soccer field, and a small building for the church. So let’s just think about this for a minute, one day I am driving through downtown Los Angeles and the next day I am walking through downtown Yorkin – talk about diverse cultures! We hiked through the jungle along a somewhat beaten and partly muddy path to the women’s center in Yorkin. Benson started working with this group of indigenous people about 15 years ago and has since helped them to organize and unite themselves, discover the resources in their own backyard to support themselves and provide a future for their children. It is really quite amazing. They have built a community center and lodging for guests – all from materials they have at their fingertips (including roofs made of huge palm leaves) – no need to waste the little money they have trying to transport in materials for construction. The women have learned to make handicrafts – both to use themselves and to see to tourists – from the trees and plants they have. They are able to provide a very unique opportunity to tourists – a chance to experience the life in the jungle, complete with the panga ride, hike to the village, accommodations in an open air building with nets over the beds to keep mosquitoes and bugs out, and an informative tour through the trees, plants, and river in the area. Not to mention that with a short swim across a calm area of the river, you can set foot in Panama as well! I ate my first true Costa Rican mean – rice, heart of palm, a type of plant similar to fern, and a soup with chicken and a vegetable very much like potatoes – and it was good! I also got to see how they make chocolate. The whole process from cracking open the fruit of the cacao plant (it looks kind of like a round gourd or squash) and removing the seeds – which look like large almonds and are covered in a white sauce-like substance. The seeds are put in a bag to ferment for 6 days, then laid out to dry for 4 days. After drying the seeds are ground using a manual grinder to crack open the shell and crush it along with the ‘chocolate’ inside. All of this is spread on a flat piece of wood and with a little ‘shake, shake, shake’ (I’m sure it is all in the wrist…) the shell is separated and tossed out. The remaining ground seed is then ground on a finer grind until it turns into a thick chocolate paste. It takes a lot like bittersweet chocolate, but then they mix with condensed milk to sweeten it and wow – the best chocolate sauce you have ever had! If only I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it! The women there shared with us a little bit about their history – how the women’s organization started, what they are trying to do, etc. which was very interesting. I must say that I didn’t catch it all as it was in Spanish, of course, but I could get the gist and Luisa translated the highlights for me. (I guess this would be a good time to report on my Spanish status… I am doing alright. As expected, I can understand easier than it is to start speaking, but I am trying. Luisa speaks fluent English and the girls study in school and speak very well also. This is nice, but I do want to immerse myself and force myself to learn. It is good to be surrounded by it at least. I hear it a lot of course, when anyone else speaks, or on the radio, signs on the road, etc. ) Dinner was rice with a little black beans, mashed ‘potatoes’ (as in the soup earlier), a different cooked plant (kind of like cooked spinach) and mango. A mi me gusta mango!
In Yorkin, we slept in the lodging facility which had small mattresses on the ground with a single sheet and the mosquito net. But with the sounds of the jungle, the river, and me being exhausted from the past few days, it was not a problem to fall asleep.
The jungle is very humid, as one might expect, so I was definitely warm there.
We got up at 5am this morning in order to leave for a mini-vacation (already, I know). It was a little different packing for this because even though Luisa explained a little bit about what we would be doing, I wasn’t really sure what I needed to bring. Oh well, nothing like jumping in head first. We drove about 3 hours or so to Limon, where I will be living eventually. To get there we drove through the mountains and national rain forest. The landscape is beautiful – a lot like Washington because it is so green and lush, but with different types of trees. We saw pineapple farms, banana plantations, and all sorts of trees and plants. In Limon we could see the beach and the Caribbean Sea – my first time to experience that sight. We went to Benson’s (Hugo and Luisa’s brother) office a little bit further south than Limon, near Puerto Viejo. Benson works for an agency that is involved with conservation and social work with a variety of groups and organizations in Costa Rica to preserve natural resources and to support the native people and teach them how to use and conserve as well. Along with Benson, there was 2 people from San Jose, a girl from Limon, and a guy named Eric who is from Washington D.C. and his father. Eric had been a volunteer with Benson about 10 years ago and now had returned to make a documentary movie about the projects and things they are doing in Costa Rica. (So watch the Discovery Channel and maybe you will see me! Ha.) We drove about 30 minutes into the jungle, mostly on a windy gravel road with huge potholes (as most of the roads here do) to a town called BriBri. Here we parked the cars and carried our backpacks down to the river where 2 “pangas” were waiting. Pagas are like canoes, except they are made of wood – a single log, actually. The two we rode in were huge – must have been a huge tree as well. The indigenous people carve these boats from the logs and then use a little motor on the back to power them. We put our stuff in plastic bags and then loaded the bags and ourselves into the boats. Our guias (guides) took us for a one-hour boat ride up the river and further into la jungula (jungle). This was really the jungle indeed, and although we did not see any (too bad), there are lots of jungle animals including tigers and pumas and crocodiles, that live there. Along with the cars we left behind electricity and cell phone service and road access. Welcome to Costa Rica, huh? What an incredible experience – and only my first day in the country! Parts of the river are like what we would go rafting on and in these parts the guides had to kill the motor (so it didn’t hit the rocks on the bottom) and use long sticks to maneuver and power our way up the rapids. I suppose it was vaguely similar to the gondola tours in Venice, but well, not really at all beside the boat, water and guide with a long stick. Upon arriving at our destination – a town called Yorkin on the border of Panama and Costa Rica – we emptied from the panga and walked into “downtown” Yorkin – which consisted of 2 or 3 small buildings for the school, a soccer field, and a small building for the church. So let’s just think about this for a minute, one day I am driving through downtown Los Angeles and the next day I am walking through downtown Yorkin – talk about diverse cultures! We hiked through the jungle along a somewhat beaten and partly muddy path to the women’s center in Yorkin. Benson started working with this group of indigenous people about 15 years ago and has since helped them to organize and unite themselves, discover the resources in their own backyard to support themselves and provide a future for their children. It is really quite amazing. They have built a community center and lodging for guests – all from materials they have at their fingertips (including roofs made of huge palm leaves) – no need to waste the little money they have trying to transport in materials for construction. The women have learned to make handicrafts – both to use themselves and to see to tourists – from the trees and plants they have. They are able to provide a very unique opportunity to tourists – a chance to experience the life in the jungle, complete with the panga ride, hike to the village, accommodations in an open air building with nets over the beds to keep mosquitoes and bugs out, and an informative tour through the trees, plants, and river in the area. Not to mention that with a short swim across a calm area of the river, you can set foot in Panama as well! I ate my first true Costa Rican mean – rice, heart of palm, a type of plant similar to fern, and a soup with chicken and a vegetable very much like potatoes – and it was good! I also got to see how they make chocolate. The whole process from cracking open the fruit of the cacao plant (it looks kind of like a round gourd or squash) and removing the seeds – which look like large almonds and are covered in a white sauce-like substance. The seeds are put in a bag to ferment for 6 days, then laid out to dry for 4 days. After drying the seeds are ground using a manual grinder to crack open the shell and crush it along with the ‘chocolate’ inside. All of this is spread on a flat piece of wood and with a little ‘shake, shake, shake’ (I’m sure it is all in the wrist…) the shell is separated and tossed out. The remaining ground seed is then ground on a finer grind until it turns into a thick chocolate paste. It takes a lot like bittersweet chocolate, but then they mix with condensed milk to sweeten it and wow – the best chocolate sauce you have ever had! If only I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it! The women there shared with us a little bit about their history – how the women’s organization started, what they are trying to do, etc. which was very interesting. I must say that I didn’t catch it all as it was in Spanish, of course, but I could get the gist and Luisa translated the highlights for me. (I guess this would be a good time to report on my Spanish status… I am doing alright. As expected, I can understand easier than it is to start speaking, but I am trying. Luisa speaks fluent English and the girls study in school and speak very well also. This is nice, but I do want to immerse myself and force myself to learn. It is good to be surrounded by it at least. I hear it a lot of course, when anyone else speaks, or on the radio, signs on the road, etc. ) Dinner was rice with a little black beans, mashed ‘potatoes’ (as in the soup earlier), a different cooked plant (kind of like cooked spinach) and mango. A mi me gusta mango!
In Yorkin, we slept in the lodging facility which had small mattresses on the ground with a single sheet and the mosquito net. But with the sounds of the jungle, the river, and me being exhausted from the past few days, it was not a problem to fall asleep.
The jungle is very humid, as one might expect, so I was definitely warm there.
posted by Dynasty goes to CR at
11:14 AM
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