We will be in the Galapagos for the next 3 weeks, so I probably won't post anything until after.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monkeys
We went to a rehabilitation center for animals near Golfito. A guide lead us through the area, and the whole time, a spider monkey was following us. At one point he was only a few feet above us. I was looking at the capuchin monkeys in a cage when I heard Bayleigh gasp. I turned around and the monkey was pulling her hair! It turned out that it wanted her hair
clip. The monkey got it and climbed high up in the tree.
As we continued our tour we saw sloths, toucans, parrots, macaws, a boar and a weasel-like animal called a Tyra. It is related to a wolverine, and it
is the only animal that kills for fun.
At the end of the tour, we were able to feed Winkie (the monkey). He
crawled all over our shoulders (and my head).
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
3-24-09
3-24-09
Holy crap! We caught 2 sailfish today! As soon as one was hooked, Dillon grabbed the pole and fed it some line. After five seconds, he was told to pull up, then point the pole down and quickly reel in. As Dillon was reeling the giant fish in, it thrashed and jumped wildly. The fish was so strong that we had to drive the boat towards him. As soon as he was close enough, the fishing guide reached down and grabbed the sharp pole that stuck off the fish's nose. The guide lifted him in the boat, and Dillon calmly held a a seven-foot long, 170 pound fish.
After that it was time to go. We started reeling all the lines in. The end of Dillon's line was almost touching the boat when he yelled, "There's one on my line!" The sailfish was hooked right near the boat. Dillon handed me the pole (since he reeled in the last one), and I struggled to bring it in. This fish gave me a more difficult time than Dillon's. I reeled it in right up next to the boat, and the line broke. We were planning on releasing him anyway, so the guide said that we did a perfect release:)
3-22-09
3-22-09
My dad and I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and hiked up a 3,000 foot mountain in the rainforest. We saw a bird that looked like a mix between a peacock and a pheasant (with a black mohawk), two toucans and two poisonous frogs!
3-20-09
3-20-09
Cristy and my dad left today to go to San Jose, Costa Rica. The rest of us had a relaxing day on the boat. Then Joe, Dillon, Logan, Justin (the missionaries' son), Sam and I went fishing. The sky, which seemed bigger than normal, was overcast and beautiful. It caused a silver glare on the entire ocean. With refreshing air blowing against us, we cruised out into the open ocean and listened to Iron and Wine, Death Cab and Hootie and the Blowfish.
We didn't catch anything. On our way out, we saw a giant sail fish surface (it looks like a sword fish with a sail on it's back). We turned around and tried to get it, but he was gone.
We had a little crisis in the evenening. A squall came through and caused a nearby sail boat to drag its anchor. Then the sailboat almost hit us. Joe, Dillon and the crew frantically worked to protect the boat and to set another anchor. After working in the drenching rain for an hour, they finally came up to the marina, and we all had dinner. The missionary family we met in Colon, Panama also ate with us (previously we had gone through the canal with them, then docked near them in Panama City, and "randomly" ran into them here in Golfito, Costa Rica).
3-19-09
Dillon, Logan, my dad and I woke up early to go on another hike. A different ranger took us to a trail farther away. This time I really felt like I was in the jungle! The were a variety of tall trees with dark, rich green leaves. Brown leaves of all sizes made a blanket over the jungle floor. The air was refreshing and cool from the canopy towering over our heads. We heard all kinds of birds (the ranger told us Panama has more species of birds than the number of species of birds in Europe and the U.S. put together). Besides the birds, the only sound we heard was the crunching of the leaves under our feet. The unstated agreement to experience the jungle in silence was expected and enjoyed.
We arrived back at the boat just in time for breakfast. As soon as we swallowed our last bites, we all rushed downstairs to get our wet suits on to go scuba diving. Oh my gosh. Scuba diving is incredible. There is an entire world under there that we never see! We saw orange-colored coral, pink coral that formed the shape of giant mushrooms and tons of fish of all sizes- from the size of my pinkie nail to about 3 1/2 feet long. The closer you get, the more intricate everything is.
Bayleigh and I saw a pink, spotted octopus glide across the ocean floor looking up at us. We swam over around the corner of some high rocks and saw a 6 foot reef shark. We stopped, sank slower and stayed still. Suddenly something came up behind me and grabbed my foot! It was Joe. Ha- perfect timing. I pointed out the shark, and Joe's eyes widened in his mask and he jolted back. It turned out fine though. Soon the shark swam away, and we continued on with the dive.
Joe and Logan went ahead and ended up swimming with and chasing sea turtles! Bayleigh and I saw 3 more sharks! It was great.
3-17-09
3-17-09
Around 9:00a.m. this morning, we woke up to go on a hike with Jorge, the ranger/police man we met yesterday. He was dressed in dark green with black combat boots and he carried a machete and an AK47. It was so cool! He didn't speak English, so I was the translator, which was fun. We hiked up a steep, small mountain searching for monkeys. We saw some parrots, but no monkeys.
Later in the day we went to Granita de Oro, a small island with a white beach and perfect snorkeling conditions. We had a picnic on beach, cut open some more coconuts, and then snorkeled (we saw some crazy fish-parrot fish, angel fish, one big purple one with white spots, a puffer fish and a sea turtle)
3-16-09
3-16-09
Well, most of today was spent boating to Coiba, a national park made up of islands off the coast of Panama. On the way we saw lots of sea turtles (someone counted 25), fish and rays that jumped out of the water (sometimes 5 feet).
When we arrived to Coiba, I was astounded by how beautiful it is. We were surrounded by islands covered in rainforest and reddish/brown dirt. The water is blue and turquoise, and warm! It is 85 degrees!
After setting anchor, a ranger/police man lead us to a lagoon and showed us a crocodile!!! His name was Titito. He is 7-8 feet long with a wide middle (about 2 feet wide), a long pointy nose-mouth with teeth that stuck out even when his mouth was shut. We stood on the beach throwing him pieces of ham. It was amazing.
Later that night we caught some huge jacks (20 lbs).
3-15-09
3-15-09
Today we hung out at the boat and wake boarded, jet skied, and tubed (with a flying tube- it has wings so you get air). We took the boat and jet skis closer to the island covered in strange black birds called Frigates. The males have a red pouch on their necks that they inflate to attract females (ha). It was cool.
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