We only saw one lone monkey scurry down a branch in the shadows of a tree in Costa Rica but in Nicaragua, we saw a number of them…2 kinds (Howler and Spider).
The first group was on the Islet Tour in Lake Nicaragua near Granada. There are 365 islets (big enough for at least a house if not more) formed from the eruption of a volcano long ago. One of those islets has 4 spider monkeys.
The monkeys are quite used to tourists in the boats coming and feeding them so they are easy to see. We did an afternoon tour so they weren’t hungry (and we didn’t know to bring fruit for them anyway) but I understand that during morning tours they are even more visible.
The second group was at Charo Verde Reserve on Ometepe Island. Those were Howler monkeys and I’m not sure how many we saw, at least a half dozen. They were above us in the mango trees, taking a bite out of the fruit and throwing it down to the ground (reminded me of the squirrels and our peach trees at the house in San Antonio).
The monkey we have seen the most is Mona the Common Marmoset at Finca Soley. She gets her own posting.
Why did the chicken cross the road? We don’t have an answer to this age-old question but we do have a picture of it. These chickens were on the main road on Ometepe…needless to say, there isn’t tons of traffic on the road or they wouldn’t make it across.
When we got to the hotel on the island we asked the person who handles everything (a staff of one this time of year) to recommend a place to eat. She said to go to “sen a nae ee”. She said there was a sign and that it was quite close.
So we took off down the road and turned right (but did she say left or right???) and walked a block or two and turned back. On the way back, we saw this sign:
We got most of our meals from there. It is totally open inside and very rustic. Food was “ok” but generous and cheap. Here is the first meal we got, fortunately there were tons of leftovers. Other meals were a more reasonable size.
Granada is the oldest mainland city in the western hemisphere, founded in 1524. We did a couple of different types of tours in the city, including seeing the remains of the original market place, built in the 1500’s.
While very much a tourist town, it is enjoyable because of the history associated with many of the inner city’s buildings. Because of the heat, homes were, and still are, built around a courtyard which allows ventilation and airflow, making it fairly comfortable in the buildings. The town is fairly safe; we were comfortable walking from one part to our hotel after dark. There is a restaurant section closed off to most traffic where pedestrians can walk up and down and hear music and choose where to eat.
There are very rich people in the area and very poor people (see prior blog). $200 per month is not an uncommon income for many people. $500 is a high income.
Food is good however we were careful to eat at places where we either didn’t eat raw veggies or tap water/ice or knew that they used purified water. We have a device to purify our own water and used it a lot on the trip. Beans and rice (gallo pinto) is a staple here well as Costa Rica. We had excellent corvina (sea bass) many times in various restaurants. Fish from Lake Nicaragua was usually tilapia and we didn’t eat it much since the lake water isn’t that clean.
Tour of the historic city: we saw old churches, the remaining wall of the original market, and lots of old buildings. Architecture varied: churches often fairly ornate as were some government buildings. Residences were originally built as a long structure with the inner courtyard for ventilation. As the family grew, sections were added on or separated off.
Now, individuals own sections which are usually designated by a given color, hence very colorful streets. You have no idea what an interior will look like based on the exterior. Some are very well done with all of the modern conveniences. We also went to a Granada museum, which has a lot of ancient carved statues.
School tour: Walking down the street we met some realtors with whom we chatted for a while. One is engaged to a woman who works at the after school program in the poorest neighborhood. We took a tour of the facility (modest but highly functional with 200 students) and the neighborhood. The neighborhood is heartrendingly poor. Some streets are neat and clean even though they are dirt; others are not. Because Nicaraguans don’t think anything about littering (I only saw one sign on the island and none on the mainland about it) the school is very strict in hopes of changing this attitude. Kids are sent home if they are seen littering and it is making a difference…a small change in attitudes. Kids get a meal, play time, access to books, and schooling for half day (public schools only teach 1/2 days so the kids come here the alternate half). The program has been around for 4 1/2 years and is making a difference in these lives. The poverty in the barrio is heart wrenching.
Historic house tour: we saw 3 homes and they weren’t really that old although they were representative of how the older homes were built. Note the large pots on the floor in one picture. Those are funeral pots…yes, they put an entire body into one pot. Pots varied in size, presumably based on the size of the person. Don’t want to think much more about this. Pay special attention to the narrow streets, in one the bus can barely turn and also to the various modes of transportation. More on that in another post.
Private tour: We hired a young guide to take us around and show us some non-traditional places including Apoyo Lake, Catarina Market (cleaner and less hectic than Granada’s), and some other areas.
Bottle House: This building is built primarily of glass and plastic bottles and is sponsored by the French. It is a place for artists to live and be trained in the street arts. A friend of our tour guide says he is much safer and happier now that he is involved with this group. They are trained to do juggling and acrobatics but I was concerned that when they left this home they couldn’t earn enough to live independently. At least it gives them improved self-esteem.
The first 11 Quaker families first came to Costa Rica in 1951 from Alabama because four Friends had been jailed for refusing to serve in the Korean War and the families were seeking somewhere they could live in peace.
Costa Rica had abolished its army and the government was encouraging foreigners to come and develop the land. The Monteverde area was only accessible by oxcart when they first came.
The families purchased over 3700 acres of land to be divided between the families. The Friends helped each family build a house.
They set up Monteverde Friends School, completing the main school building in 1957. Today it is a bilingual school serving the local community – both Quakers and local Costa Ricans – from pre-school through to high school. There is also at least one foreign exchange student who also lives with our HomeStay family.
The Quakers set up a dairy farm and the Monteverde Cheese Factory, which today produces over a ton of cheese a day. They were also farsighted enough to set aside an area on the mountain slopes as virgin cloud forest – high altitude forest cooled by moist air from the Pacific. The preserved area was the beginning of conservation in the area which now has a number of reserves including the Children’s Eternal Rain Forest (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) which was started by a Swedish child who had visited the area and went back home to raise money to purchase land for a reserve. That has grown to 54,000 acres of land.
Bosque Eterno de los Niños Fascinating story about how this reserve was started by some children from Sweden in 1987 and has grown to the largest reserve in Central America!
Orange kneed Tarantula Looks Scary But It Is Harmless Motmot Are A Common Sight-Really Blends Into the Trees
In addition to these large reserves, there are other commercial businesses that are preserving the area with tours and ziplines, etc.
We have been on two chocolate tours since we arrived in Monteverde. The first at Don Juan’s was interesting and interactive however the second at Cabure Chocolates was fascinating!
The difference is Bob the owner of Cabure (his wife runs a very good Argentinian restaurant at the same location). Bob has a passion for doing things right, a real artesan chocolatier.
First a bit of history and trivia:
Cacao was used in beverages as far back as 1900 b.c.
Cacao beans have been used as currency
Cacao generally grows from sea level to about 600 meters (just under 2000’)
The average worker in Ghana earns less than $1000 per year growing, harvesting, and doing the initial processing of the cacao
Cacao trees are fast growing and begin to bear fruit in less than 2 years
When the flowers are pollinated, the large hard pod that is formed contains 30-40 cacao beans
When the seed pods form they are so big and heavy (up to 20” long) that they grow on the trunk of the tree, not branches
OK, now a bit about the process:
When pods are picked, they are cracked open and the seeds removed from the pulp. It is important to do this quickly so that the beans don’t ferment in the pod. The seeds are placed in a box with no oxygen for 2 days, then dumped into a different box with some air holes for 2 days and finally dumped into another box for an additional 2 days. During the time in the boxes, they are not agitated so some seeds are subjected to more oxygen or alkalization than others. After the 6 days, the tannins are reduced and the beans are dried, usually in the sun.
Suffice it to say that it is not an exact science however if you want really good chocolate, you have to be picky about which beans you buy. Bob is very select about his beans.
Once he receives his beans, usually from Africa, he must roast them. Roasting doesn’t take a long time, definitely under an hour. Then the beans are cracked and winnowed so that only the actual beans are used, not the shells.
The beans are then ground. You may have tried some chocolate nubs at a specialty store. Believe me, the ones I tried in Durango were nothing like Bob’s! I hated the ones I had tried previously but his weren’t bad at this stage.
Next the ground beans are centrifuged which causes the oils to be released. At this point, it looks and tastes like chocolate. There are several more steps to get to the final step which is yummy, yummy stuff whether it is a dark chocolate, a milk chocolate, or even “white chocolate” which is actually just cocoa butter, no non-fat cocoa solids in it.
We got to dip marshmallows into the chocolate and let it harden and of course, eat them. They were good, but my favorite is always dark chocolate with sea salt.
Look at this map…notice anything odd? While one of my new Australian friends told me that this is not how the maps are down under, it is striking to realize how ego-centered I felt to even think about a map in the Southern Hemisphere being “upside down”. Every time I look at it, it gives me pause.
Many of you have heard us talk about our elderly friend, Ruby Billings who had lost most of her hearing to a virus many years ago and also lost most of her vision to macular degeneration in recent years. We found out this week that she had passed away on 3/20.
We were able to see her a couple of times while we were in Austin. By then she was in hospice, but once again defying the odds given her in December that she would only live a few more days. When we saw her the morning we were leaving the USA (March 1) (weak but aware) all 3 of us knew that we would never meet again.
While it is sad to see her go, she has had a good life, all in all. She worked for the state of Texas and married Clayton Billings when she was in her 70’s! That was her only marriage. He passed away in the 1990’s but they were married 10 years or so.
Living to almost 105. We will miss her. Rest in peace, Ruby.
Stick with me on this one because it is a bit convoluted…
Lately I’ve been really drawn to meditation. Let me say that in the past I haven’t liked it because my mind doesn’t slow down and I get bored or think I am not doing it right. The universe is pulling me towards it, even if I am going kicking and screaming.
A couple of months ago I reserved the eBook “Eat Love Pray” not really knowing much about the book except it was supposed to be good and they made a movie based on it so I thought, why not read it. A week or so ago it became available for me to read.
On April 1 Dan and I were eating at our favorite place in Santa Elena, a hole in the wall called Taco Taco. Several people walked by as they passed it (when you get off the bus from San Jose and walk up the hill to town you pass it) but it looks a bit shabby so it is hard to know if it is good or not. (I only tried it because Rigo had a Taco Taco t-shirt so I thought it meant he liked it.) We usually tell folks to try the food because we do find it to be great. This couple was passing by and we waved them in; they went on and then came back. They ended up eating with us. Theresa is from Australia and Greg is from California. They are trainers in meditation, mindfullness, and other good stuff. We went to there talk the next day at the Friends School (Quakers).
There is a Friday mediation in Santa Elena run by one of the Friends. On Good Friday it was done at the home of a member and run by someone who spent 3 hours guiding us through a variety of meditation activities and made it clear that everyone’s mind is busy when they meditate, the trick is to keep refocusing.
I met Mary Newswanger at the talk that Greg and Theresa gave and she gave me a ride to the above meditation as well as several other activities.
Mary grew up with Lynn Sanders who was the attorney in Austin who did Mitchell’s adoption and we have known him for over 30 years (unfortunately he died about a year or so ago).
Mary gave me a pamphlet to read about the Peace Pilgrim. I have taken to reading this when I have free time or during meditation times at the Friends’ meetings.
Theresa gave me a link to some meditation. Still working on getting that to play like it should.
Theresa had told us about the Costa Rica Sustainability project which we have wanted to go to. That is not going to work out but the odd thing about this is that Mary is friends with the owners and one of the owners is Rigo’s (homestay father) nephew.
Mary came over and asked me to take a handful of the pamphlets to the sustainability project and Rigo was going the next day anyway (it is an hour away). (Too bad we couldn’t do a tour that day when he went.) Not 10 minutes after Mary left our homestay house, Rigo arrived with one of his sisters…she is the mother of the nephew at the sustainability project!
Lots of information coming at us and too many “coincidences” to not pay attention to it. Still not really happy meditating but giving it more attention to see if that will change. And going to watch for more “coincidences” in our lives.
The poverty in the barrio is heart wrenching.
