Vacation 2005

[Griff]

Costa Rica!



We took the girls to Costa Rica for a week and a half. We drove a lot of the country and must say its a magical place. The drivers are crazy but not in a road rage kind of way. Rural PA is a pretty good training ground for the roads which were winding and sometimes pretty rough and washed out but not nearly as bad as the tour books say. This link will take you to more pictures on our web page.

The government is apparently not a great burden on the people. They don't appear to regulate much outside of the environment and seem to have more than a passing fancy for property rights. Unfortunately, the tourism that is so important to their economy is based on nanny state tourists from the US and Europe. The personal responsibility having been bred out of them is starting to cause trouble in the law suit area. Apparently some British tourists who were warned against climbing Arenal volcano a while back got badly injured and won a lawsuit against (I believe) the regional government. The guy who ran the hotel we stayed at in Arenal was very upset about the increased tax levy to pay the judgement.

Tortugas!

We saw green turtles laying eggs at night in Torteguero. Got some really cool t-shirts that support the Caribbean Conservation Corporation and Sea Turtle Survival League's work saving the green turtles and other conservation causes. That whole region is not to be missed. We took a boat ride up there with our guide, Modesto. You can get there by plane but not by car. I think the boat was the right call we saw a ton of wildlife and really got a feel for the life. Modesto showed us some inland waterways and descibed the natural history of the area. He's a very interesting guy who escaped his home country of Nicaragua when the Sandinistas decided he was CIA because he worked for a US AID supported radio station and has an American wife.

Monos!

We saw all four native species of monkeys. These include Spider, Squirrel, White-Faced and Howlers.

We saw two oceans and a bunch of volcanoes in various stages. A really neat thing to watch is how the agriculture changed based on elevation. Costa Rica is blessed with consistant weather and many microclimates. The lower elevations had wirey brahma mixed cattle that could take the heat while at the higher elevations better cattle like Simental, Jerseys, and Holsteins are very comfortable.

We did a canopy cable tour which was really more about whizzing through the tree tops than actually spotting wild life. It was a big step forward for my younger daughter who was pretty scared initially, but overcame that to have a blast. Very brave!

I have a ton more in my journal but I figured a little taste might be better than the full-course meal.