Casa Caribe and Rainforest Musings

So when we last left off, Tawsh and Grant were big chillin in the cabinas by the sea... We now find them an half an hours bus ride south, equally close to the ocean, in the seaside village of Puerto Viejo. Which, from the looks of it, will be an awesome town. Plenty of exploration opportunities, coffee, and cuisine to keep us occupied. And, the new hostel is off the hook! We're posted in an upstairs loftish type stuido apartment at Casa Caribe, which has a huge balcony, beautiful wood floors, a refrigerator (luxury!!), and amazingly gracious host. When we first arrived she even brought us two cold glasses of freshly made lemonade..yum :)

An old, rusted, beached ship in Puerto Viejo, which now hosts a new kind of sailor.

Actually, we almost bailed on our plan to stay at Casa Caribe. When we first arrived in Puerto Viejo, we saw one sign (and one sign only) for it, suggesting that it was within 200km of the Costa Rican Bank. Ok...but which way? We started walking (with our huge bags, mind you) and soon we were as turned around as dog chasing its tail. Eventually, we started asking around. "Casa Caribe? Sabe donde esta Casa Caribe?" What we found out is that the locals, just like our host, are wonderfully kind and helpful people. Except none of them actually knew where Casa Caribe was. (Well, one did, but we misinterpreted his directions due to our still budding knowledge of the Spanish language...woops!) But the rest of them, after asking us a few clarification questions, would thoughtfully and confidently say, "Oh yes, it should be just up that way. 700m that way. 200m this way." We'd head off in one suggested direction, and soon enough some one else would tell us to head back the other way.

Damn it, my legs are tired! So, we stopped at another local hotel (contemplating whether we should just ditch the one we reserved) but they offered to call our hostel for us. Within no time, we were hot on the trail and made it to our new home. Now, we're relaxed, settled in, and glad we stuck it out...

Our last day in Cahuita was quite amazing and worth writing about. We woke up early and walked along the dirt path to the dock. There was a bright yellow boat and four other, eager snorklers...all ready to go. We went to two different locations at Cahuita National Park, one of which is called Punta Vargas. We saw beautiful fish, coral, sharks, turtles and a myriad of other tropical reef creatures. The boat then docked at a white sand beach where they cut us up some fresh fruit and we all prepared for our next adventure: a guided tour through the park. Our tour guide had a telescope and pointed out some amazing animals to us. We saw sloths (2 kinds!), iguanas, monkeys, huuuuge spiders and a snake. It was incredible.

A bridge on the Rainforest Trail, made from recycled plastic water bottles.

About every 5 minutes on the trail you would have to step over an ant highway. The ants here are all different sizes...some are TINY and some are the size of small bees. There was this one species of ant we kept bumping into, they were of medium stature in the ant world, and most of them were carrying big pieces of leaves. The ones who weren't carrying leaves were larger and called "soldier ants" because their job is to protect the ants that are with burdens. Anyways, we found out that the ants walk really far to get certain types of leaves (the ones with the most protein and carbs) and bring them back to their nest. There, they mix the leaves with feces and saliva to create a kind of compost. They then plant mushroom spores on the compost. The mushrooms are then used to feed their young!!! Its insane to think of a little agricultural system that these ants have created! (This is all information we learned from our tour guide.)

Being in the Cahuita National Park, learning about the ants, and seeing all the wildlife, reminded us of how truly amazing rain forests are. Everything is in such harmony, and very little goes to waste. ( I can't help but think that David Attenborough or Planet Earth have explained this to you all already...) The competition for survival is rough, but once something makes it, there are checks and balances in place that both keep it alive, and keep it from becoming over populous. This balance is even built into the morphology of plants and animals. For instance, cebine monkeys (like the ones we saw in Cahuita) have prehensile tails, which allows them to dangle from the trees and reach fruit that they might otherwise not be able to access. They are thus sustained, and simultaneously help the trees they feed from by spreading their seeds. From what we can tell/have learned, the whole ecosystem is set up, such that nothing exists without ineracting with other aspects of the rainforest.

In many ways, people are like that too! Let us remember that we all rely on one another, whether its for the food we get from the grocery store, or for help finding a hostel.

Well, that's it for now folks. We are off to rent bikes and take a nice long ride along the ocean.

Besos,

La Granta y El Tawsho

PS

Upon our arrival back ask us about the cat that was scared shitless...literally.