20/11/09

Day 2:

Ordinarily, in Costa Rica the mornings are the clear and hot ones that you associate with tropical holiday resorts, and its only in the afternoons that the rain comes. But climbing Mt. Durika is an extraordinary experience.

Waking up to cloud and spitting rain doesn’t fill you with the same kind of enthusiasm and excitement that you would expect on such an expedition. But since when has that stopped a group of Durikan hikers. So we walked… and got very wet!

We started along a saddle that had once been an ancient burial site for the indigenous people. After this though, is what they call the ‘Green Wall’. Some of us found ourselves thinking that the graves were actually from those who had died trying to climb the wall, because it is a 3hr scramble/ climb up an almost vertical wall. For a little more insight into the structure, you climb ----------meters in the space of ---------------. The trail isn’t so much a trail as a tapir’s tracks. The jungle is extremely thick and Eugo effectively carved a new trail with his machete. Getting lost is a certainty, but with Nata and Eugo in your group, so is getting found again.

To make things harder, it was rainy and very muddy. Devin’s description of it being more like the ‘Brown Slide’ as opposed to the Green Wall, sounded a lot more accurate.

When you ask anybody about the climb of Mt. Durika, all of them will talk about the Green Wall, but they never mention the walk after the wall to the campsite. When you’ve finished the wall you are around half way and you still have a long way to go. Although the Wall is much harder physically, mentally the next bit is much tougher. You never seem to be getting any closer and there are no indications as to how much further there is to go. Everywhere looks the same! You have to climb over fallen trees or thick, high roots, or crawl under low hanging branches or even high thick high roots, all with a big rucksack on.

Needless to say, the flat area we called our campsite, which looked no different to anywhere else, had never looked so inviting.
The tarp was soon up and we began the laborious process of peeling our wet clothes from our shivering bodies. But we had done it. The final ascent up to the summit was only 200 meters from the camp and the summit itself was within 2hrs hiking. Having said that, we had to take the GPS’s word for it because we couldn’t see 20 meters, let alone 200.

But a mug of instant coffee and a block of fudge had us all in good spirits.

As you may know from you own camping experiences, but there isn’t a great deal to do other than sleep when it gets dark, so through out the 5 days we were up at 5 and in bed at 6. I say in bed as opposed to asleep for reasons such as that mentioned in the 1st day, or the fact that your mattress is 1cm thick and prevents you from ever getting comfortable.

Not only that, but rain falling onto a tarp sounds like rain falling on the roof of a conservatory. So it could just be spitting but sound like a torrential down pour to us sitting underneath. However, the rain did have its uses.
Although it didn’t help our clothes dry which were hanging outside, it did allow us to get water. There are no good water sources by the camp so you simply place pans and mugs in strategic places to catch the murky water. Yummy!!!

Snuggling into our sleeping bags we hoped that the rain would abate for tomorrow’s final ascent.

20/11/09

Day 3:

It seems that this is the occasion where a little bit of rain and cloud stopped Durikan hikers.
Going to the summit and seeing nothing but cloud and rain that is trying to poke your eyes out, isn’t the most amazing experience. So instead we stayed in camp and did… well, not an awful lot.

Bringing my cards helped pass several hours, and other random games such as the slapping game where you send the tap round the circle contributed to the passing of the time. But it proved tricky in the limited space available.

That and eating took us until dark and thus, bed time. We actually managed to beat the record of staying there and waiting of 36hrs, and smashed it with a whopping 44hrs. Not bad.

So that was day 3.

20/11/09

Day 4:

We had decide that no matter what we would climb the mountain that day. It was going to be optional so anybody who wanted to go would have to be ready early that morning.

Eberhart, an orchid lover, wanted to stay by the camp as there were many more there than at the summit.

So the 6 of us set off after our breakfast to finish what we started. Its amazing, one minute you are walking through thick mysterious jungle and the next you find yourself standing in a bizarre tundra. In the pace of 2 meters you are in a totally different environment and there is literally a distinct boundary line. On the map it almost looks man made.

But once out of the trees you experience the full force of the wind. Not that we were dry from the 2 days before, but we got very wet once again. Also, the actual walking was pretty hard going. Ducking, crawling, scrambling and tripping were all part of it, along with extricating yourself from the shrub/ bush you’ve just fallen into.

But eventually, I saw the remnants of what I think is an old communication tower, and 100 meter on… the summit itself. We had made it! It had taken 3 days of walking through open grassland, thick jungle, tricky tundra, up slippery ‘walls’, all through wind, rain cloud or sweltering heat. But we had made it.

And the views… well they were the same as the last 2 days, but that didn’t matter. We walked down out of the wind, stocked up on sugars and contacted the community via walkie-talkie.
One of our other missions was to replace the old log that had been there since 1988.
It did make me smile to see this impressive, wet and battered link to history and previous achievements being replaced by a ‘Finding Nemo’ not pad that if you moved it in the light, ‘Marlin and Dory’ would swim across the front cover. But as I mentioned before, Costa Ricans are practical people.


We all wrote our little pieces inside (which is easier said than done because the pen was very temperamental with only a single drop making it give up and die). And, after some group photos we wrapped up warm and headed back down the mountain.

I was amazed to find that animals could live up there. Tapir tracks (and even more poo) could be found, as we also followed fresh puma tracks for a period of time. But seeing the peregrine falcon flying high above us astounded me. How could it survive here?
There were also humming birds! These tiny birds, who didn’t quite know what to make of these humans, manage to fly from plant to plant in search of food without getting blown off the mountain. I mean that was something we were struggling with (especially Devin who’s poncho was acting like a kite) and we weigh a great deal more than they do.

After misplacing ourselves a couple of times we made it back to the camp. We were all freezing and decided that packing up and leaving would be far better than changing, eating and then changing again before going back down.

It took slightly longer to warm up than usual and it was about 20 mins of walking before you could sagely say you could feel the tingling sensation in your fingers once again.
Eventually we found our way back to the Green Wall. The next hour saw us sliding down the vertical wall. Nowhere was safe, hand holds would snap leaving you staring stupidly at the piece of wood in your hands as you slid down the mud slide. On more than one occasion I allowed myself to simply slide until I came to a natural stop.
One time I rounded a tree and out of the corner of my eye I saw Devin holding something up. Changing my focus from the location of my feet to the camera in his hand was all it took for my sense of balance to fail me. I can’t really complain because the photo of me slipping over is a good testament to the difficulty of the decent.

As you can tell, it was fantastic fun and once you had gotten over getting muddy the first time, the next times didn’t seem to matter, in fact they were hilarious.
It was coming down the wall when the cloud slid away and the sun took its place. The rays shone on the vines and algae making it look like it was made of gold.

Once back at the 1st campsite we were able to wash for the 1st time in 3 days and enjoy a bright warm evening before the clouds came in once again.

20/11/09

Day 5:

The final day.

I was so excited to be so close to the end and talk of items we were going to purchase and mattresses we were going to sleep on when we got back, could be heard amongst the group.

The weather had even cleared up slightly for the occasion. In fact, that day was, for me, the most beautiful day of the expedition. We had some absolutely breathtaking views of mountains, valleys, cloud formations,
rainbows and some good looking guys with wide grins on their faces in the foreground.

The whole day involved down hill walking so it was hard on our knees. The 5th day is also nicknamed ‘blister day’ for good reason. I was convinced that I had obtained at least 3 big ones but it seems that my feet have developed some kind of resistance to them. But it was still a little painful. As I said though, for me it was the most wonderful day.

The last stretch is flat along the river to the final bridge and I found myself quite a little way between the others. I loved this moment because although I had thoroughly enjoyed my time with everyone else, it game me time to reflect on what we had just done.

One of the many songs that had been stuck in my head on the way up is one Dad had told me about. Its called ‘The climb’ by Miley Cirus. I wouldn’t usually listen to much of her music but Dad had said it hat reminded him about something I had written earlier, and I had to buy it. Its about enjoying the climb and not worry about what the destination will be like or what’s on the other side. This is supposed to be metaphorical but it was very appropriate to this particular experience.

I keep getting this same message over and over again and I think its because its such an important lesson to learn.
If I had climbed the mountain in the way I used to go things, I would have tried to go as fast as I could so that I could get to the top and see the stunning views at the tope. If I had done that, I would have been terribly disappointed. At the top all we could see was cloud and rain, not what Eugo’s pictures of previous time had shown me.

But instead, I had enjoyed each and everyday for what it was, and because of that the whole thing was fantastic. Having the first and the last day be the nicest days, weather wise, and the summit wind and wet, just emphasised this.

So walking along that bank in the sun was so peaceful and relaxing and I think it allowed me to realise that the climb up Mt. Durika sums up my time here. Because, everything is beautiful in its own right.

spiders I encountered

11/11/09

11/11/09

Three days to go until our 5 day expedition up Durika Mountain and preparations are in full swing.

The other day I got a glimpse of all the food we are going to be taking and I can’t quite work out how its all going to fit.
But the other preparation is hair cuts.

My hair was a mat of thick hair that I’d been wanting to cut for ages but there was always something that managed to scupper any plans. But today was the day we finally managed to get both Eugo and Devon and I, together, in his cabin at the same time.

In Durika, for the guys there is only really one style because it’s the only practical one, and that is ‘short’. So its just a case of how short. Devon wanted it almost all the way (ie, a number 1) but I wanted it a little longer.
My hair was so thick that it kept clogging the machine up but Eugo did a great job of ploughing through the jungle I called my hair.
Well, I asked for slightly longer than Ram’s, when I was finished, Eugo looked at me and said it was slightly longer than Devon’s.

So now I know what I would look like if I signed up for the army. But to be honest I don’t mind it and its sooo much better than long hair.

So mum, here I am, short haired and ready to rock (or climb a mountain).

10/11/09

Well its 6 o’clock in the evening and Devon and I are in the Health Centre (which has become our hang out in the evenings because it has electrical light!).

This last week has been a good one (then again I haven’t yet had a bad one, but it’s a good way to start a paragraph).
On Sunday I was goatherding and once again it was so wonderfully chilled out. I love taking them along the ridge, it’s so much easier and they seem to enjoy the fact that I’m not always fretting and shouting at them. Also the views are stunning and you can take advantage of the fact that they can’t double back, to take some photos. The only difference between this time to the others is that we have a new addition to the family here in Durika. On the Friday night the baby goat got its first views of its new life (I say ‘view’, when it gets dark here it gets very dark. If the moon isn’t out then it’s pitch black, so its views wouldn’t have been too exciting). But she is so cute. Anyway, from 2 days old she is taken out shepherding so that she gets used to following the crowd.

So when I set off I had 40 goats running ahead of me, with a wide rimmed hat stuck on my head, my camera slung over one shoulder, my machete over the other, and pine branch in one hand to whip the goats into shape and a 3 day old goat clasped to my chest by the other. I carried her for the first bit but I soon had her dancing round my feet and doing random, sporadic jumps/ spasms of joy. Having an adorable baby goat has its ups and its downs.

On the upside, she is great fun to photograph as well as laugh at when she does something stupid. Because she’s so small she often can’t even see over short grass let alone the long stuff they usually graze on, so she will often get ‘lost’ and start calling out in panic. In actual fact she is less than 2 meters away from you but to her you could be in the next valley. One down side is that although she weighs next to nothing, next to nothing starts to weigh next to a lot when you have been carrying her for the last few kilometres up the hill.

But the major draw back is, she’s so cute that she’s very distracting. On more than one occasion I was so busy trying to take yet another picture of the little fur ball and I wouldn’t realize that I couldn’t hear let alone see any of the other goats. In the, what I thought was only a couple of seconds, time, they had managed to munch and march either far ahead or down one side of the bank to where I didn’t want them to go.
But it all worked out in the end, but as soon as she arrived back at her pen she collapsed from her long day out. Bless.

Over the last 3 weeks I have somehow managed to avoid milking on the schedule. I really enjoy doing it but I had always had another job to do. So when I found out that on Monday that I was doing Milking I was delighted.
I got everything ready and started milking at 5.30am to be ready for the person shepherding at 6.30. That gave me an hour to get the 11 goats milked. It doesn’t sound too difficult but bearing in mind that I often get cramps in my hand when I milked, I was determined to go extra hard so as to get it done in time. But it went well, the only slight glitch was when one goat managed to unexpectedly move her leg, step in my bucket and tip out half the contents. But as they say, ‘there’s no point crying over spilt milk’, this time literally, so I just made sure nobody saw my mistake and surreptitiously continued. Its not that it mattered much, its just it wouldn’t do any favours for my milking cred.
Most of the goats aren’t producing half as much milk as they should be so they went really quickly, but, I think her name is ‘Subia’ or something, but she’s the mum of the baby, so has a lot of milk. The only problem is, she has tiny teats!!! It almost felt like you were milking her with your fore-finger and thumb!!! Needless to say the combination of a lot of milk and tiny teats meant that it took a lot longer than the others.
But despite all that, I did it in 40 mins which gave me another 20 mins to puff out my chest and feel good about myself.

But as a bonus, that afternoon, I was speaking to Eugo and he mentioned that he was very busy and also had to do afternoon milking. So, in relieving him of that job, I managed to milk 2 in one day. Smiles all round!

It’s really strange to think that we only have 4 days before we leave the community to start our adventure up Durika Mountain, and 5 days before we actually start walking. I remember Eugenio mentioning the trip in the taxi after I had just landed which was around 2½ months ago! So to now be counting down in days as opposed to months is crazy.

This afternoon, after our Spanish lesson, we went to Eug’s cabin to discuss a couple of things about the trip. He also showed us photos from previous trips. OH MY GOSH!!! If I was excited before, it was nothing to after seeing those pictures. They were absolutely stunning and they just made me want to pack right then and head off. I am so looking forward to doing it. I realize that it’s going to be hard, mentally as well as physically, but that’s what makes it so well worth it. So when Everhard (Eugo’s friend from Germany) arrives with my package, I’ll be able to get everything together and see how much space I have left for all the food.

As you can probably tell I’m quite looking forward to doing the expedition, but I have been trying really hard to enjoy the things that are currently taking place as opposed to looking forward to things in the future. But when you have something like this you just can’t help it. Also, recently, I think its probably because its only around 3 weeks to go, but I’ve been thinking about things I’m going to do when I get home or when I get to the airport. I know I shouldn’t, and should just live all the experiences that are here in the time I have left, but it’s very difficult to do.

But, I am love it here, waking up in the mornings to some of the views we experience and seeing some of the wonderful things here are just incredible. It is teaching me so much about all sorts of different things and I feel so much better off because of it. Abbotsholme taught me so much and one of the most important things it did for me was allow me to be who I wanted to be and become a person I am totally content with being. But what it also did was keep me in a bubble. The bubble allowed for so much but this gap year and this experience here is the opportunity I need to experience the things the bubble didn’t let me deal with.

Well, in a few minutes we are going to go up to the restaurant to watch a movie. I love watching movies especially with a group of people. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Disney film, film with a moral or simply a feel good movie, but just the action of watching a movie something I thoroughly enjoy. With that on top of a good week so far, just makes me smile.
Buenas Noches

-

Just to confirm, yes, we did get popcorn as well.

Some of thousand of Costa Rican's butterflies

2/11/09

It seems that the trail down to the waterfall is a good place to spot wildlife.

It was closing on eleven and we were just contemplating heading back when we heard a rushing sound. We all stood up at once and looked out across the valley to see a wall of falling water heading straight at us. There was a 2 second delay of realisation followed by screams from the girls. We moved as one, sprinting up the trial to avoid getting soaked to the skin, to no avail.

However, as we were running back one of the girls jumped back in surprise. After managing not to collide into them I looked to see what her finger was pointing at. Just in front of use scuttled a large black tarantula. It was great hairy thing with brown hind quarters, about the size of my splayed hand.

It puts some sort of perspective to the so called ‘huge’ spider you find in the bath at home.

1/11/09 Something interesting happened to me today.

Nata and I were working on the trail just before lunch and got a good stint in. But as we were working I noticed the big strangler fig that was just off the path.

Tree climbing has become an enjoyable pass time for me. I have spent some of my free time climbing the pines near our cabin which provides you with some great views over Buenos Aires and the valley it is situated in. However, I have also gone up the other strangler fig which sticks out above the canopy in front of the community.
The difference between climbing the fig trees and the other trees is that you climb up the centre of the fig where the original tree had once been.

Anyway, just before we went back I asked Nata if I could stay and climb it. He wanted to go back and fix the shovel he had broken, but he said I could stay a little longer and climb it if I wanted.

Climbing them isn’t particularly difficult it just takes time, but I made my way up steadily. The wonderful thing about the fig is that not only do you have loads of great hand holds, but you also have lots of ‘windows’ situated all the way up. These are simply large gaps in the wall of the tree so they give you some fantastic views. Also, the animals don’t seem to notice you spying on them from inside the tree so you can what them for much longer than usual.

¾ of the way up I was able to sit and watch what I think was a female ‘fiery tangit’, (which is actually yellow just to confuse you). It was wonderful because either she didn’t mind me being there or she hadn’t seen me because she went on minding her own business checking for bugs.

After she had gone I made my way all the way to the top. It was bizarre to find soil 20 meters above the forest floor in little crevices with plants growing in them. (oh, and just to clarify, the tree is much taller even than that, but you just can’t climb any higher up the inside).

At the top there was a great big gap, big enough for me to stand and lean out so that I was hanging outside the tree. I was deeply regretting not having a camera at that moment as the views were quite spectacular. It was at this point that I heard/ felt a heavy thud. At first I didn’t quite know what I thought it was. But when it was followed by slightly smaller thuds and I felt the tree sway a little I realized that I mustn’t be the only one enjoying the views from up here. I must have had company.

I couldn’t see anything from my side of the huge tree and it felt as though my neighbour was some where on the other side of the tree so I turned round to look out the opposite ‘window’. Looking through it, all I could see was a long brown bushy tail hanging in front of me. Leaning forward saw me staring straight into the eyes of a pizoté hanging upside down a meter and a half away.

There I was stuck, 20 meters above safety and literally face to face with a wild animal. Some of the community calling them racoons didn’t help my imagination much either. It was going wild as they always do in a nerve wracking situation. I had visions of this vicious racoon launching itself from its branch and savagely attacking the helpless me until I was scratched to death or fell down to a messy end.

The creature must have been stunned with surprise to find such a good looking guy (sorry I just had to slip that in, he he) so high in the canopy. So we just stood there looking at each other for a good 5 or 6 seconds before his wits caught up with him and he ran off down the vine he was on. I must say I’m glad my imagination had been a big exaggeration and in fact they are quite timid creatures, but try telling my imagination that.

During my time here I have seen a couple of them, one only a couple of meters away, but never this close and it was interesting to see it up close.

Well anyway, I’m quite relieved to find that the phrase ‘they are more scared of you than you are of them’ applied in this situation, he he, but my panic was quite unjustified.

Interesting huh?

Clouds in Costa Rica

30/10/09

I am currently writing this extract in one of the most obscure and unique settings. It is 10 o’clock at night at the moment. Now, bearing in mind that we normally go to sleep at 7.30 and wake up at 4, this is pretty much the middle of the night. Around me I can hear the soft pats of water dropping from the leaves of the trees, and the sound of the crickets chirping, whilst above me lays only sky. Sky and a solitary moon that is so bright that you can barely see any stars around it. I am sitting outside on the bench at the end of a very good day.

For me it’s been a day of cooking actually.
This morning I was assigned to the gardens and after breakfast found myself down the valley clearing the trail down to the waterfall. So it was a very pleasant morning. Nata and Deven did, however, play an evil trick on me. In the three hours spent clearing the trail I managed to clear an area of… 5 meters!!! Just in case you don’t know, that is ridiculously small amount. The reason was, that I had a couple of rocks in the place I was wanting to clear. Ok a couple, is a giant understatement, and having to dig through rocks with a shovel is a slow and laborious process. Firstly though, I need to explain something to you about working with rocks. There are different stages, or frames of mind that you go through when trying to clear rocks. You have the first stage, the ‘sure I’ll do it’ stage. This is where you are assigned an area and you don’t really mind which bit it is. This can shortly be followed by the ‘I can do it’ stage. This is where you become more motivated to do the task and start setting yourself goals. It then starts to get a little tricky and you get a little tired of trying to move some particularly difficult ones. This triggers the ‘Wouldn’t turn down some help’ stage. Personally, I tend to stay in this stage for most of my time. I’m not too bothered about asking for help and don’t feel my ‘image’ (which isn’t great by the way) being dented much when I do so. This is the stage where you start to think in your mind, ‘it would be nice if somebody would offer me a little bit of help’ and if they do you would naturally accept it. And then you have the final stage. I don’t tend to get to this 4th stage very often, remaining in the 3rd for most of the time. This stage is known as the ‘I WILL SUCCEED IF IT’S THE LAST THING I DO’ stage. This is where you have gone too far to just leave it and, to accept help from anybody would be like allowing somebody to take the reward for your hard work.

So as you can imagine, working on a 5m stretch for 3 hrs, had pushed me to such a degree that I had gone all the way to even into the last stage. I had worked too hard to stop then, but there was just one big rock left sticking out of the trail and I was determined to see it deflated. So I called to the others to tell them I wanted to go up and get the pick axe, to which Nata replied, “but we are leaving in 15 minutes”. As I had said, “I will succeed if it’s the last thing I do” so after shouting, ‘I don’t really care’ back at them, I hurried back up the trail to find a pick from under the restaurant. I remember thinking, ‘should I tell them to leave the rock?’ but then I thought ‘no, they would never do that’. If they wanted to mess me around and go up just as I came down I would simply take the walkie-talkie and finish the job alone. Anyway they wouldn’t be that mean would they, surely they must understand that I was in the 4th stage. So when I was coming to the last bend before the rock and heard the sound of shovels on rock, my heart sunk. I rounded the corner to see a small piece of rock left standing where the rock had once been with two young men standing by it laughing. B@$%5£!. Well I have to admit I cursed more than I have done in the last 2 months all together and it took me a while to see the funny side. To be honest, the fact that I had thought they might do that suggested that I may have come up with the same idea if one of those guys had gone to get the pick. Either way, that section and much more was completed and to a high standard, so all in all, a good days work.

It was after this that I found out from Susie that we were going to have another buffet dinner in the evening as there were so few people up in the community today. On this occasion it was Susie who suggested contributing something so I told here the epic stories of the last occasion.

It turns out Susie used to be a baker and she and her ex-husband used to run a little bakery. Now working in a little bakery, like the ones they had at the Belgium coast, has always been something I’ve wanted to do. So baking a big loaf of bread seemed fitting (the fact that bread was one of the foods I miss eating the most here, obviously had nothing to do with it). So I now have a new recipe that I have called the ‘1,2,3 Bread’, which is based on the standard way of making loaves in bakeries.

Anyway we made the loaf and I have written down the recipe so I can show it to you guys when I get back.

So, after that Ema asked me if I wanted to help making the fudge. Before he had even got the last 2 letters out, I had already agreed. Devon and Ema got everything ready and they seemed to know exactly what to do, so to say I helped, actually meant I handed them the peanuts and raisons, as well as ‘helped’ lick out the bowl. Hey I’m not complaining.

And then later on that day I was in the kitchen helping Christina making these roasted chopped potatoes with spices on. The help required with this was less of licking the bowl and more of pealing, mixing and adding more ingredients, so much more like actual helping.

29/10/09

I have been thinking that I really ought to write another piece about what I’ve been up to recently, but I could never think of anything really special to write about. Well that’s not totally true because how often can you say that you went gardening high in the mountains with a view over several huge valleys, with parakeets flying past you, and vultures riding the thermals at eye level and below you. But in comparison to any other day here in Durika, that’s just the norm. So, when I realized that I hadn’t written about my day goatherding, I couldn’t understand how I had forgotten.

At dinner on Sunday I looked at the schedule to discover that the next morning I was to be attempting to guide the goats to new pastures whilst trying not to let any of them get the better of you and looking as though you are in total control when anybody is looking (if nobody is looking however, you can fret and sweat as much as you like, hehe). In other words, shepherding. But no, I wasn’t worried anymore; I’ve already got through the ‘fret and sweat’ stage. The only difference between this time and the others was that I was going to accept the challenge I set myself last time, and take another route. I would have been a little more comfortable with it if I had been able to walk it before hand, but the rain had meant I would just have to go with what I could remember from my first day here.


The pen was opened, the goats were shouted at, the ‘7 terrors’ were all present, so… I was on my way.
It definitely makes life much easier when the goats know exactly where they are going, having walked it countless times before. In fact for the first 30 minutes I found myself being led down a lovely trail along a ridge without having to raise my voice once (not that it ever helps).
By the 3 hour mark I had experienced very relaxing stops, amazing views, vultures flying over my head only 2 meters above me, warm sun on my back and no near heart failures. The route is along a ridge with thick forest lining it so there is very little opportunity for any doubling back. That along with the fact that there was plenty of food meant that it was simply a 4 hour leisurely stroll allowing me some time for myself and to take pictures.
So instead of this being the challenge I had set myself, I found that the 1st two sessions had been the actual challenge. So it was a very chilled out day and I was very willing to do that more often.

Ok I have to tell you about one moment in the 4 hour that required some frantic waving of a stick and shouting ‘VAMOS’ at the top of my lungs. It seems that here in Costa Rica that barbed wire is almost a house hold item. It is sometimes used to mark a boundary, but not to stop animals getting in or out, it was just the cheapest way of marking out an area.
So when I came across such an area on my travels I assumed it was simply one of these situations. Not to mention there was a large area of thick grass on the other side so I wasn’t too concerned when the goats started ducking under the wire. Well, to be honest I was actually quite pleased with myself to have found yet another good grazing area.
It was only when I saw the banana plants with one or two goats looking hungrily at them, that I came to the rapid conclusion that the barbed wire had been placed there for its proper use… keeping hungry goats out! Oops, it seemed that I had let my goats break into the neighbour’s banana plantation. As I said, the stick was waved frantically and I hurriedly chivvied my hairy comrades back into friendly lines. Thankfully, I had spotted the plants at a similar time as the goats had, so only one or two leaves had been nibbled (just like those in the Wallece and Gromit movie ‘Shawn the sheep’). So no harm done really, but I was just hoping that I wasn’t going to hear the sounds of baying dogs, bellowing farmers and the sharp clap of gun shots. Hehehehe

Some of my favourite fungi photographs

Last night's sunset

23/10/09

Well today was a quite an interesting day. It started with an absolutely stunning view from the plane above the community.

We had just finished our morning training and were standing around chatting, when I think it was Patri, pointed at something by the West coast.
As soon as I saw it I ran as fast as I could back to my cabin to snatch up my camera.
The view to the West was of a savannah of cloud high above the land below, with washes of pink glinting off them. The blue sky dotted around it contrasted beautifully, and set the scene perfectly for the rainbow rising vertically out of the clouds. It was a painting that could not ever be given justice by any human hand.
My pictures can only give a taste of what I saw, but the whole setting could never quite be captured.

So it was some start to the day as you can imagine.

And then after our second work period, fixing one of the electricity poles that had been bent out of shape by a falling branch, I found myself back very early.
Normally, if I was to get back at this sort of time, with two hours before lunch, I would go and maybe lend a hand to somebody else for a bit. But today I wanted a bit of alone time. It has rained a little more than usual lately, so I hadn’t been able to go for walks or sit outside, so this would be perfect.

Sitting on the bench outside our cabin was exactly what I needed and I was able to just sit there and just observe. Suddenly, though, I spotted something really worth while observing, two toucans!
With camera in hand I found myself effectively chasing them around the front area trying to get close enough for a decent picture, but I was always bested by the two colourful birds. With no really good photos to show for my hard work, I though I would walk down to the wind turbine (which was in the direction I last saw them go).

It seemed rather idyllic and thought that placing my posterior (after checking for any ant dwellings) on the side of the hill would be wonderful.
It was so serene sitting there, the clouds were low but not so thick as to block out the Sun, and I still had an amazing view of the primary forest on the opposite side of the valley. The fly catchers were busy leaping off the perches, pirouetting in mid air before dropping back onto their branch to swallow their catch.

I was sitting close to a tree that quickly became abundant with life. There must have been close to 20 different birds on this small tree. You had the yellows of the different types of flycatchers, you had the reds from the fiery coloured tanager and the red tanager,(photo taken from the internet) there was the green of a woodpecker, very similar to the green woodpecker we see at home. There were also, pale blues as well as blacks and whites from the little birds searching the bark for grubs.
It was stunning. I would usually have tried to creep forward to get some pictures, but for once, I just wanted to enjoy what I was seeing.
I must have been there for over half an hour, with no care in the world and just absorbing the best of what was around me.
It was funny because when I went to get up I realised my cheeks were really saw. I must have been smiling for the whole of the 30 minutes. This wasn’t just ordinary conditional happiness (I hadn’t just been given chocolate), this was just total bliss. I was just totally content with myself and my surroundings.

Well, I better go, lunch is being served and I don’t want to miss out on conditional happiness.

18/10/09

My day started with an early wake up at 4 so that I could get my laundry sorted as well as get up to the volley ball court for morning exercises. However, it didn’t seem to be on so Devon and I found ourselves staring at one of the most amazing lighting storms I have seen yet. Pretty much every morning we can see a storm over to the West, but these flashes were so bright that it seemed as though somebody had turned the sun on for that split second before flicking off again. Whoever was playing with the light switch was creating an impressive display of nature’s beauty as it was awe inspiring to see the forks of light light up the cloud formations around it.

Anyway, after a power nap I woke up to get breakfast before my second lone shepherding experience. Last time had gone as good as I could hope but they had almost killed me both by giving me near heart murmurs, or literally causing me to pass out with exhaustion after chasing them down and up very steep sections of the land that makes up this particular mountain range. I am convinced that they were just trying to mess with me because it was my first time, but it could well have been that I was so paranoid and tense that it rubbed off on the goats. Either way, last time I had relaxed a lot more by the end, and more importantly I had got them all back into their shed in exactly the same state as before, if not a little fatter.

So this time I was going to play this much more coolly. I had done it once, I was more confident, experienced and knew which ones to watch.

And it went brilliantly. I like to think it was a combination of both my goatherding skills as well as the goats behaving that it meant they never threatened to disappear into some jungle.

In fact this time is was so much more relaxed that I even had time to take one or two pictures! Ok, I it literally was one or two, but considering last time I found myself constantly trying to prevent a goat from running off, 2 pictures is a big step. But better than that, I enjoyed myself. In fact I was having such a good time that at one of the longer stops, anybody in the local valleys would have heard that ‘the hills were alive with the sound of music’. It was quite impressive really. There I was, on top of a ridge pocking out of the rainforest around me surrounded by goats, singing the likes of ‘Jerusalem’, or ‘Swing Low’ at the top of my lungs. It was just as if Maria was standing there with her arms wide and singing to the mountains (the only difference being I wasn’t wearing a nun’s outfit with an apron and I was singing at least 2 octaves lover, if that’s possible). I sang all the songs I could remember either from the Abbotsholme song book or from our Tuesday song practices with Mr Moon in chapel. The image of Maria singing to the mountains was slightly dented when I ran out of classic songs to sing and I moved on to various renditions of hip hop tracks like Low and Lean Back. You never know Maria may have had a secret collection of T-Pains or FloRida’s tracks. But it was good fun all the same and I may have got some of the local wild life into a different genre to the typical bird song they hear every day. Ha ha.

Needless to say, the time flew by and I enjoyed the time to myself (if you don’t count the 40 goats standing around me). But it was nice and so much more relaxing than before.

I’m thinking of really testing my goatherding skills by taking the goats on a different route next time I shepherd. I’ll probably scout it out first just to make sure I really know it, but I think I may try and take them along the ridge. Well we’ll see but I’ve set myself a challenge now.

Better go
ciao

17/10/09

Well today was a very special day. Because today, was 6 weeks in Durika, meaning I am already half way through my stay here! How scary is that? It feels like I only arrived last week.

Today has been a bit of a strange day and a little different from most, because I spent so much time on the computer. My ’30 minute only’ allowance of time spent on the internet was broken, in order to research universities. The only reason I set my ’30 minute only’ internet regulation, was to stop me spending all day effectively ‘living’ at home and not allowing myself to be absorbed in the beauty, that is Durika village. But today was an out of the ordinary day.

Oh yeah, but we did go to for a ‘swim’ this morning in the water fall which is always a fun and refreshing occasion to say the least, although I somehow always manage to forget just how far the walk there and back is.

Anyhow, as I said I am half way through my stay. It has taken me a little while to get used to how it works in the community. I found that at the beginning I was always striving to get to some other place or some other time. During the 1st morning session I would be constantly counting down the time until breakfast and then after breakfast I would look forward to lunch and then the afternoon off. But when I got to the afternoon I didn’t quite know what to do with myself, so at the beginning I didn’t feel that my time here being allowed to flow.

However, the other day we watched a movie. Now I know this sounds really cheesy and fake but its true when I say that it has really helped me this last week. I was starting to understand more, that I needed to appreciate everything and not always focus on the future, but it hadn’t quite clicked but the movie managed to move the final cogs into line. It was about a gymnast who was amazing at what he did (the rings by the way), was at the top of his game and was attempting to compete for the gold medal in the Olympics. He had everything going for him, including a gift with the opposite sex, which made watching those parts almost as awkward as if you were watching it with your parents. Despite all this, he wasn’t happy. He didn’t realize it, but he wasn’t ever satisfied. Anyway to cut a long story/ movie short this man he meets helps him understand that you have to live in the present not in the past or future. If you can do that you will be constantly happy and you will get much more from life. ‘It’s the journey that is so exciting not the destination’. And that was very true for me. Where I am now is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but when I was working I never even glanced at what was around me to enjoy it. I had to set myself a specific time when I was going to go and allow myself the opportunity to appreciate it and take pictures. How bad is that? But this has helped me to realize that I can enjoy it throughout the day. Well, it has meant my last week especially, has been absolutely wonderful as I have finally taken full advantage of what this place has provided to me.

So I have learned a great deal from this short amount of time here so far, things I think would have taken me a lot longer to learn if I had been in the same environment that I was so used to at home. I have learned things about myself, other people as well as how to enjoy living life. But I’m almost certain I’m going to be taught a great deal more from the rest of my time here, and am thoroughly looking forward to it. I am guessing that these next few weeks will go a lot faster than up till now, but I will hang on to every second, loving every step of the way.

Learn from the past, live in the present and welcome the future.

Some of my favourite caterpillar photographs

Something Special I saw this morning

I was taking pictures this morning and after I had finished I thought I would walk back to the cabin but keep my camera on just in case I spotted something interesting. Literally when I reached the back of the cabin I heard a flapping noise above me and looked up to see a hawk of somekind. I was so annoyed that I hadn't seen it before hand and taken a picture, so when I saw that it was landing near by I rushed to follow it. Anyway the picture speaks for itself, I was just lucky I suppose.

8/10/09

08/10/09

Gillette Mac Fusion Turbo Tropical Style!!!

Ok, so I’m bet you’re all wondering how my beard coming along. Well, personally I think I deserve some recognition for the determination required to stop myself from shaving after the 1st 3 days. For all of you who have never had to go through such a sensation, beards with pathetic moustaches are very annoying and serve only to get in the way (although they may have some insulating properties but who cares about that?). Anyway, dad told me that I should let it grow a little bit so that I don’t go through my razors too quickly, and he said that I was ‘living in the wild’ so I may as well look as though I am. However, I don’t think he was expecting me to go this far.

Mike went on his Canadian canoe trip last year and didn’t shave for 3 weeks. Needless to say, mike had an impressive mat of thick ginger hair on his chin that he could safely call a beard. So, this naturally appealed to my competitive nature. Could I grow a better beard than mike in 3 weeks? Bearing in mind that mike is two years younger you would think so. Then taking into account that if you see him you would immediately assume that his is my older brother rather than younger, the contest would be close.

Well I persevered and… you wouldn’t believe it… but instead of the 3 weeks I was originally aiming for… I managed over a month!!! That in itself should be a victory. Well, it would have been if you hadn’t seen what I called my beard.
Mike, you beat me hands down. I had tufts of fluff stuck on my face and an eyebrow stuck over my top lip, nothing like yours. In Spanish the word for beard is ‘barba’, but what I had was a ‘bartita’ (a very small excuse of a beard).

Despite this, shaving was a pig. Although it wasn’t a solid mat, it was enough to make shaving a very laborious process. It didn’t make things easier when the mirror is hung 2 meters away from the tap. Well anyway, I thought you might want to know the important stuff about Costa Rica, so here it is. Ha ha


Please excuse the extremely happy-face, it turns out its difficult to smile whilst taking a picture of yourself. Ha ha

08/10/09

Ok, it’s just after lunch and I’m still recovering (and probably will be until the weekend) from this morning’s work.
I was working in the gardens today, and you know how I said that I actually enjoyed weeding, well just like everything (apart from chocolate), the novelty is starting to wear off. 3 hours of pulling up plants and trying to find excuses for not weeding the areas by the mounds concealing millions of ants is back breaking work. To say my back is stiff is an understatement and the mud has managed to form a rustic tattoo on the skin of my hands which I’m sure I will be left with until I die. So mum, I can safely say, there is even less chance of me helping you weed than before, so sorry about that. Ha ha.
However, I cannot understand it but, I’ve got to admit it is a very satisfying job. I was looking at the beds that I weeded and man it looked good. Being totally impartial, of course, I think it’s the best looking part out of all of the gardens!!! But no, they do look good.
Actually, although I have complained a lot about it, its actually quite good fun I suppose. It’s a good opportunity to think as its so quiet and peaceful. But I could do with a break from it for a few days, so I’m glad that I am sheepherding tomorrow and then milking on Saturday.

6/10/09 The trip to the Continental Divide

Early on Saturday we prepared our rucksacks for a two night stay up in the hut half way up to the continental divide. The group consisted of Devon, Melissa, Ema and me led by Eugo.

Once we had packed the group equipment, like food, we set off on our little adventure. Now I can tell you, walking in a group of 5 is so much faster than walking in a group of 12 plus teachers and leaders. What took us 3 hrs last time was achieved in close to 1½ hrs! But the walk was beautiful. The forest is home to so many beautiful plants and animals, especially by the stream that I found myself very busy with the camera.

The walk was also a lot easier than I remembered it despite carrying all the vegetables, but it was nice surprise and allowed me to enjoy the views and sights much more.
When we were walking along the track before the last climb we began to hear the sound of blanches shaking and the calls of some creature. I soon discovered this to be the sound of white face capuchin monkeys feeding on the huge fig trees. It was wonderful to see the little creatures jump from branch to branch. One seemed very interested in its new audience and sat there staring at us for a while, which was the perfect opportunity to dig into our bags for our cameras. Unfortunately, my camera either loved the look of the leaves around it or was convinced that that was what I wanted to look at, so I found it hard to focus on the actual monkey. Also with it being a good 20m away, the pictures weren’t brilliant but hopefully this image should give you an idea.

The last ascent is very steep and would have been fairly challenging if I had been thinking about it. However, the ‘path’ was guarded by wild raspberries! So if anyone was to ask me about a certain section of the ascent I would only be able to tell them how good that section was for the fruit. Either way, they tasted great and as I said I so absorbed in devouring them that I didn’t even notice we had been climbing a very steep section for over half and hour.

We arrived pretty early so after lunch we set to work on some of the jobs we were there to do. Waxing the floor was interesting and my trousers now have some interesting red patterns on them where I wasn’t careful enough.
But the other job was clearing out the ‘thunder box’. For those of you who are not familiar with that term, it’s the ‘long drop’ or bog. I’m sure you currently have images of disgusting smelling, fly cover piles of … well you know… doo doo. Well, I certainly did and I am not going to lie and say I was very enthused about the sound of that job.
So when the sight of very good compost reached my eyes I was mightily relieved. The last group had been there 3 months ago and it had decomposed very nicely.

And then, we cooked, but more importantly made fudge. Eugenio’s mum had owned a restaurant and her fudge recipe had made it famous in the local area. So much so that old people still go to the shop (now owned by Eugo’s sister) go get the famous fudge that they used to eat in their youth. But seriously, when you taste it, you understand exactly why it became famous! It is the most delicious fudge I have ever tasted the recipe is so simple that I will be using it to pay for my university fees (as well as filling my belly on regular occasions he he).

After a good nights sleep I woke up to the most amazing view. You could actually see the Pacific Ocean from the window. The sight was both wonderful and humbling.
This view proved to be the best view of the ocean as it was very cloudy on top of the actual Divide but the walk up was great. We saw so many different organisms and I obviously had to take loads of pictures. But the most amazing animal we saw as the Resplendent Quetzal. Unfortunately I was carrying the rucksack at that time and I couldn’t get my camera out. I think Eugo got some good photos but I’m not sure. Either way, look it up on the internet, ‘Resplendent Quetzal’ it is sometimes considered the worlds most beautiful bird. But yes, very few people go up there so they are not used to ‘being afraid of humans’ so they hung around much longer than you would expect.

Anyway, when we were at the top of the Continental Divide we sat and lay around for about an hour. It was really interesting because if was so peaceful and calm and the cloud was really starting to come in then. I’m not sure if it was this, and it reminding me of hiking, but I started to think of Abbotsholme. I have never properly dealt with leaving Abbotsholme, emotionally. I had been so relieved that I could finally rest. Either way I have never felt that I have managed to properly deal with it. But up there, when I was thinking about everything I had done at Abbotsholme, I got quite emotional and even felt my eyes well up because although I don’t miss it in a way that I want to go back, I do miss the fact that it was my security and home for 7 yrs. It was a bizarre moment but I think that this experience is doing exactly what I intended it to do, allow me to process things I haven’t been able to do whilst at school and get myself both physically and mentally ready for the next stage of my life.

Oh yeah something else I must add. Every now and then Eugo will announce, ‘this may be a new species, because I have never seen this before’. I believe that Durika may have discovered 50 new species of organisms so some of the picture I have taken may be some of the first pictures of that species.
But anyway, we were just going to collect some water from the local spring when I spotted it. It was the most beautiful creature, a type of moth I think. It had red and black wings with a metallic blue shoulders and head. Underneath, it was striped with metallic blue and black stripes. And to my surprise as Eugo began snapping shots off with his camera, he announced his great phrase, ‘this may be a new species!!!’ If that’s the case I found a new species!!! And today when we were walking back towards Durika, I spotted another one! Either that or it was the same one, but this time I had my camera ready. So it is possible that these are some of the first photos of this species. If its not a new species I would appreciate it if nobody told me so that I can live on thinking that there was a possibility of finding a new species, he he. Thanks.

Well, the whole experience was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very different from what we normally get up to and it was good to break up the routine a little. But I must say this was a particularly special way to break up the routine.