Nashville Voluntourism Adventure

Lisa Davis Purcell, the Director of External Affairs for HandsOn Nashville

When Nashville flooded earlier this year, many people put aside their summer plans to visit America’s country music capital. Faced with a similar decision, I chose to spend a portion of my time in central Tennessee volunteering.

My opportunity was arranged by HandsOn Nashville, part of the HandsOn Network of resource centers which match nonprofit organizations with community needs and local volunteers.

“I love the diversity of non profit service. We partner with over 400 service and nonprofit agencies.” said Director of External Affairs, Lisa Davis Purcell, “From hunger to homelessness to animal welfare.”

some of the materials donated to HandsOn Nashville after the spring flood

Hands On likes to note that they are responsible for connecting ten percent of all Nashville area volunteers, creating 23 million dollars of economic impact every year.

The possibilities for me to contribute were organized on an electronic calendar at the HandsOn Nashville website.

The day I was in town, two food pantries needed distribution help. One flood relief building project needed assistance loading a truck.

I registered online and when I clicked on the appointment time, a dialogue box opened offering to email a volunteer leader who would be supervising on location.

Many people don’t realize how dialed in HandsOn was when the flood came. They simply activated their flood response plan!

“We have memorandums of understanding with the city if there are emergencies,“ Lisa said. “When there is an emergency, our boss is there at the city’s emergency command center.”

There are a number of such roadmaps available which create timetables for such expected volunteer response activities as sandbagging and as unexpected ones as securing prophylactic medicines for survivors.

Josh and Kim giving the camera some Volunteer 'tude

For my part, I reported to Betsy at a storage site in an up-and-coming Nashville neighborhood called The Gulch. Kim and Josh were already loading up boxes of joint compound.

The supplies needed to be moved to a second storage area. There were towers of rolling trays, rubber gloves, nails, screws, and plenty of hammers too.

It took a while to get the hand of manipulating the dolly, a task at which Kim was expert. Josh and I ferried supplies to her and she found space for them inside the trailer.

Lisa had observed that Ford Motor, Nike, and others provided material support during the flood. During a break in moving some of the building supplies Lowes donated, Josh and I stopped to appreciate the contributions of Budweiser to the flood relief effort by drinking some of their name-brand potable drinking water.

The King of Potable Waters? Yours Truly and Josh find out.

Who else pitched in notably? Ke$ha donated a concert. Taylor Swift made a direct donation. “Nashville is the buckle of the Bible belt, and a lot of our volunteers are from faith-based organizations.” Presbyterians, The Mormon Church and Scientologists made up some of the core of faith-based response.

Looking at that list of contributors, some who have very publicly used their wealth to challenge the gay community, I thought it was cool that through HandsOn we could all equally receive some non-politicized face time.

LGBT folks like myself can get so involved in our own cause we fail to call attention to the need for broader community-mindedness. Also, We can be reluctant to contribute if we feel we can’t be ourselves and blend in at the same time. I certainly would stick out among a crowd of Mormon relief workers.

The good news: when you are driving a truck or hoisting a ladder and putting your body on the line, very few people assess your affectional preference.

Southern US Bus Adventure

A queue inside the Nashville Greyhound bus station

The five stops on my Southen United States journey were all served by airports. At least two of the destinations were connected by rail.

I chose to ride the bus.

Why? Inexpensive, no security checkpoints, no overpriced restaurants. I got to track my own luggage without so much as a metal detector. I got bathroom breaks, an open seat next to me and I got a view of the land.

If I had flown, I would have been obliged to drive two hours to St. Louis airport, arrive 90 minutes early, fly one hour to a second location, change planes, fly another hour and a half to Nashville, collect my bags, and wait for ground transit to take me 20 minutes into town. A total of eight hours.

By bus, Columbia, Missouri to Nashvlle, Tennessee took ten hours door-to-door. That included a two hour transfer in St. Louis.

Country music stars have, for decades, chartered coaches. Some of it is superstition: Major stars like Patsy Klein and Buddy Holly died on puddle jumpers that served their tour’s minor destinations. Some of it is economic: conveying their entourage by bus permits an act to give a bigger show in more venues.

Music fans following bands recognize these realities. They save wear-and-tear on their vehicles or even the inconvenience of obtaining a vehicle.

In Knoxville, I met a Swiss student who was looking for music venues. For about the price of a round trip cross-country plane ticket, he could use a 1 month bus pass to take in Nashville, Memphis, Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York. At our lodging, he met up with a cadre Widespread Panic enthusiasts.

The bus has it’s own culture. Folks are unhurried and respectful. Very few people consider traveling on a bus as a luxury, though for many of them it is.

Yours Truly with the pillow case of fame

On the first leg of my Nashville journey, I sat at the very back of the bus with a woman and her nephew.

She was on her cell phone. He was playing with a WWF action figure and kept losing parts of its costume on the floor. She would pick them up and say, “Don’t lose the cowboy hat! I paid $25 for your wrestling man.” Then he would drop them again and laugh. And she would stop her conversation, cell phone pressed to shoulder, and pick the tiny clothes up again.

As we were disembarking, I pulled my lunch bag from under the seat in front of me and it burst. A half-empty soda can had rolled to the back of the bus and spilled on the contents. “Nobody using this,” my neighbor said, handing me a blue pillow case with blue spirals on it.

It wasn’t until I got into the terminal that I noticed how many other people were carrying belongings in pillowcases. It was far more common than people carrying a matching backpack and suitcase combo. I felt more at ease with this small, unintended assimilation.

Missouri MKT Trail Adventure

With Odette and Scooter on the CoMO fork of the MKT

My Columbia, Missouri canine charges enjoy visits to the MKT trail. Because their little feet only go so far, we typically trace 1.5 miles from one of the parking lots and back. That’s plenty of exercise.

Ted Jones and the City of Columbia, MO opened the nine mile Columbia Spur of the MKT, or “Katy” Trail almost 30 years ago. By 1999, organizers had expanded the nine mile greenway by 200 miles.

The CoMO stretch is still considered the best of the nations’ rails-to-trails projects.

Contemporary guardians maintain it’s community function with informational stops and public art. I enjoy a display describing the variety of minerals and fossils found in the area.

Blue tile pillars, arranged in a spiral to honor Martin Luther King Jr. are a visual oasis near the trail’s 3 mile mark. Other tributes and sculptures are scattered throughout.

There are no fences or wire separating the path from the shoulder of the trail, providing easy access to prime marking spots for the pets. I appreciate the firm limestone paving that has been worked into the soil. It gives my step considerable spring.

Though the trail is level and well manicured, hikers may enjoy the many side trails that charge up a hillside or down a wooded ravine.

Betsy (middle) rejoins the dog pack after a vet visit

Wooden bridges provide a change of texture for the animal’s tired paws and a shady canopy keeps them from getting overheated.

Folks walking the path are friendly and curious, so expect to stop for conversation if you’re not running or biking. If you are lucky puppy, someone may be armed with a pocket full of liver treats!

Local flora includes poison ivy. I get a brush of it on my left arm and look like I have an extremely localized case of chicken pox for two weeks. Also, since deer frequent the area, I check all trail recreators for ticks once we’ve returned home.

Hannibal Road Trip Adventure with Dogs Photos

Outside the Hannibal, MO tourism office

Scooter, Betsy, and Odette with Your's Truly as we make a pit stop at the Madison Covered Bridge. Three ladies, originally from Hannibal, were there celebrating the life of their mother. They were eating all her favorites, corn Bugles, easy cheese, Chez-Its, Coca-cola and sherry. One of them was kind enough to snap this.

Placid Mark Twain lake

For a $10 donation to the Mark Twain house, visitors can scribble on the whitewashed fence.

The law office of Mark Twain's father, which inspired many episodes in Twain's literature

Mark Twain's boyhood home

This park is at the base of the climb to the lighthouse. If you make it all the way to the top, a souvenir shop next to this statue will provide you with a commemorative card verifying that you accomplished the feat. The statue is an artist's interpretation of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

Lover's Leap is pretty, but its beauty is marred by the fence I'm standing in front of in this pic. Hannibal needs to come up with a less intrusive solution.

View of Hannibal, Missouri from Lover's Leap. The cliffside can be seen foreground left.

Hannibal Road Trip Adventure with Dogs

Americans feel sentimental about Hannibal Missouri before we even set foot in town. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, Injun Joe, and Jim are longtime fixtures in our imagination.

Right alongside them is their creator, Mark Twain, whose wit and wisdom took root in my homebase of San Francisco for a time.

All the sites in Hannibal are outdoor attractions. If you want to pop into the ice cream store for a scoop or see the Tom Sawyer Diaoramas, the experience is there for you. Most of your time, however, you will be hiking to the Lighthouse, exploring the caves, or strolling Main Street downtown.

Between Columbia and Hannibal, my dog charges enjoy a variety of rest stops.

Mark Twain Lake is tranquil and good for hearing your bark echo.

The covered bridge in Madison is recommended particularly if there are a trio of women celebrating the birthday of their deceased mother and they offer you cheese crackers.

In Hannibal, the statue of Tom Sawyer is beloved of Betsy, Odette and Scooter as is the marker for the old jail. Both have lots of shady trees to duck and play under.

Groomingdales on Main Street is the primary sniffing area. A broad variety of high end dog fashions, toys, and treats are available inside if your wallet is willing.

On the highway out of town, Lover’s Leap extends over the town’s canopy. The effect is diminished by an awkward fence. While Hannibal doesn’t deserve the liability of people jumping from that promontory, there has to be a more attractive solution.

The picnic area there was nice for a few laps of water. The dogs aren’t used to being up that high above anything other than the floor. Vertical excitement like that appeals to Betsy most.

Photos to follow in the next post.

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Lawn Cuisine Adventure Photos

Sage, Catnip, Oregano, and Marjoram are hung with twine inside the window to dry.

Sorrel, chrysanthemum flowers (which must be blanched), and blue cornflowers.

Oak chutes grow from fallen acorns buried and forgotten by squirrels.

The leaves can be eaten raw. Here they are soaked in saline water and dried at a low temperature.

The result is a thin, slightly nutty leaf with a texture like nori.

Separating dried clover flowers from their stems.

Lawn Cuisine Adventure

(L to R: Scooter, a bichon-jack russell mix and Betsy, a miniature schnauzer, eating clover.)

An academic town since the 1830s, Columbia Missouri is known for campus life. Columbia College, Stephen’s College, and Mizzou are all here. The region is heavy with thoughtful people and cultivated physical beauty.

I’m caring for three dogs and two cats and a four bedroom four bath house while the owners are away in Greece. My adventures are, by necessity, revolving around the animals and their interests.

In the afternoons, Christopher Cat enjoys the summer lawn. The rains shake down twigs and folds of leaves bringing bugs and other curiousities down to paw level. A patch of chewable catnip inspires Christopher to roll and pounce.

The dogs enjoy the thick clover in the yard, munching on and bounding through the fluffy white flowers. It's the first place they go if they are feeling unwell. Apparently, clover assists their digestion.

These are naturally fertilized, organic gardens. While maintaining the lawn, I’m looking into what the animals know; what I can ingest from the landscaping?

Photos, to aid in plant identification, are in the next post.

Catnip

Yes, humans can eat catnip. Hot water over fresh macerated leaves makes a lovely, citrusy mint tea. No “special effects” tho.

Chrysanthemum petals

Chrysanthemum tea is one of my favorite dim sum treats. The mums in the yard here aren’t much with hot water, but they are edible when blanched.

Blue cornflower petals

I am eating these raw. They are nice for some color on top of a salad. When I cook them into something white, the blue dye in the petals makes the food look whiter (rice, mashed potatoes).

Oak chutes

It turns out oak chutes are a nutritious survival food so long as the leaves are green. With the stems removed, the leaves can eaten raw.

Since they have a bitter edge, I’m soaking them in saline water overnight. Since they are high in tannic acid, they should be eaten sparingly to permit healthy iron absorbtion.

I’ve soaked the leaves and dehydrated them slowly in a low heat oven. The result is a thin, nori-like crisp, packed with chlorophyll, protien, and vitamin-C. Ground to a powder, I’m using it to boost smoothies and thicken sauces.

Sorrel

Because it has a weed-like look and texture I’ve passed up sorrel which grows wild, in patches, like spinach. I find it more flavorful than spinach - distinctly fruity. It’s nutritional value is contrasted with a high concentration of zit-causing oxcalic acid, so I’m consuming it in moderation.

I make a beautiful sorrel bisque with olive oil, chives, and nightshade vegetables.

Clover tops

Clover tops are sweet and fragrant. They are high in protien, fiber and pectin, potassium, calcium, nitrogen, and phosphorus.

The flowers are rough on the stomach if they are not lightly baked first. Also, harvesting the flowers is time consuming (if you’ve ever separated stems and seeds from natural smoking materials, you understand the process.)

I’ve dehydrated the flowers and separated them and am sprinkling them atop salads and folding them into rice pilaf.

New Adventures

I’m on the road again!

If you are near one of the following locations, please get in touch with me deltamagnet@yahoo.com so we can get our social network on.

- Columbia, Missouri

- St. Louis, Missouri

- Nashville, Tennessee

- Knoxville, Tennessee

- Asheville, North Carolina

- Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina

- Denver, Colorado

- Boulder, Colorado

- Greeley, Colorado

And be sure to friend me up on Facebook if you have not done so already.

Cerro Chatto Adventure

Chatto is the cluster of mountains just south of Volcan Arenal. From downtown La Fortuna, they resemble a sleeping man with a round nose, a large belly and an erection. At the top of Chatto is a lagoon. I scaled the mountain to reach it Wednesday.


The Circa de Cataratas ends less than a kilometer away from the Abercam resort in an open stable and a parking lot with several squat brown buildings. The Chatto trailhead is up the hill to the right.

Butterfly weed, white ginger, torch ginger, ornamental bananas, plumerias, and several other recognizable cultivars flanked the circuitous route to the trailhead. I crossed a lichen covered log bridge.

A network of slick grasses are perhaps the best way to keep the muddy hillside from erroding. The barbed wire fences bordering them, however, are dangerous for those who slip, so I took extra caution in this area.

After 45 minutes, I reached the trailhead. The views of downtown La Fortuna and environs were most impressive here. A sign suggested the remaining hike was 1750 meters or a little over a mile.

The first portion of the trail was log steps braced with iron stakes. Towering narrow trees on either side formed a protective cover from the light rain.

Though the wildlife on the trail was limited at the time of day I traveled, I did see many unusual sights.

The range of mushrooms on the trail impressed me. I’d never seen nokki mushrooms in the wild or candy cap mushrooms that were as large as the specimens here. There was a ribbon like fungus that resembled green lasagna noodles, a matte black mushroom that resembled jet, and several wood-ear varieties.

The mosses were also notable. Wet or dry, they seemed to cover every tree. One frosty groundcover resembled tiny interlocking green coins.

Ants were surprisingly scarce, perhaps due to an overplus of tiny frogs. Several times, I was pursued by curious white mosquitos.

With about 750 meters to go, the difficulty of the hike changed significantly. Where sure footholds had been carved into rock there was now only wet soil. Pulling oneself up by tree roots was sometimes the only means available to advance along the trail. I had to pause and stategize periodically.

I did not carry water and was somewhat dehydrated. Several times between the 350 and 170 meters marks I sat down to clear my head.

I never doubted that I would complete the climb. I did wonder why I’d decided to pursue it. I wondered if the lagoon at the end would be worth the trouble. I was grateful that the trail was here, that the climb was possible, but questioned what humankind is doing at places like Cerro Chatto? Are we really more likely to protect nature if we come in contact with it in this way?

The last 170 meters was straight down the edge of the crater to the lagoon. There were fewer footholds and many dangerous loose branches. It is here that a knowledgable guide taking the path in advance of the hiker would be most rewarding.

The trail tailed out at the water’s edge, a seven foot square clearing with a bench. A large tree extended a branch over the water that would be excellent to climb on before swimming. I was disinclined to jump into the placid, slightly acid water. I did wash my hands and face with it refreshingly.

As I relaxed the dense mist hanging over the lagoon cleared. The thick vegetation around the water and the shape of the crater became evident. I could see all but the northwest corner of the lagoon.

I’ve been a hiker since I was a child growing up near the Colorado Rocky Mountains and I’ve done a lot of trail-based climbing. Chatto was one of the most challenging trails I’d climbed in my life.

On the way back it began to rain heavily, deepening the care I was obliged to take in my adventure.

I grew more optimistic in my thinking. I reflected on the way I used to engage hiking as a child, when nature was so obviously wonderful. The excitement of landscapes is in their ability to deliver this clarity, where archetypal surroundings feel unique and personal.

Abercam Pool Adventures

One of my favorite features of the Abercam resort over the past two months has been it’s delightful pool area and open air cantina.

Guests of the resort have 24 hour access to the well-maintained, delicately heated pool. Depending on their preference, co-owner Tim Abernathy will adjust the temperature up or down. Foreigners like the water warmer, Ticos prefer it tepid or even chilly.

In the afternoon and evening hours, all enjoy free drinks at the bar. Abercam’s rum punch is the most frequently requested drink followed closely by Imperial beer.

Most visitors are between the ages of thirty and fifty, with well-planned active vacations. They indulge themselves in moderation at the bar and engage the poolside daily.

Those who do not wish to stay overnight may enjoy a noon to dusk pool pass for about $10. This includes towel service and a single drink from the bar. Locals, including many expatriate Americans, take advantage of this option.

Costa Rican vlogger Michael Skofield and his partner D’Angelo frequently bring friends up for an evening. Every other week, a group of men from nearby San Ramon visit, numbering from three to seven depending on their availability.

The machismo of Costa Rican men is more subdued than in other Latin-Catholic countries. There is an easy-going appreciation for the mechanics of sex and the body and a feeling that these pleasures are universal regardless of their object.

As a result, many Ticos are hetero-flexible or bisexual. They are reluctant to identify themselves as openly gay. Many have children and all have varying degrees of accountability to their wives and families.

Venues like Abercam are more important in this cultural climate. Men from locations where gay communities are more public and ubiquitous tend to lead skinny dipping and casual consenting touch. In return, the Ticos provide dining and entertainment tips and conversation in Spanish.

My favorite days at the pool were those rare hot and dry afternoons when Arenal and it’s plumes of sulphurous smoke were visible in the distance.

My favorite nights were those between guests with hosts Abernathy and Wayne Campbell playing Carly Simon and the Rolling Stones on a boombox and sharing anecdotes about their experience of gay life in Florida during the late seventies and early eighties.

Lava Tour Adventure

(Baldi Hot Springs photo courtesy Steve Kettman।)

Every day around 3pm, visitors to oft cloudy La Fortuna make a decision: to tour or not to tour.

Almost every operator in town operates a “Lava Tour,” a nighttime exploration to constantly erupting sand giant.

Fellow Abercam guest Steve and I went in for one of these after dark adventures on a night where the skies appeared to be clearing.

Our guide was William, a survivor of the 1968 Arenal eruption, current resident of nearby Zeta Trece, and one of the few people who has (illegally) scaled the volcano.

Unlike other volcanoes where lava is molten, Arenal disgorges red hot rocks.

On our drive to the lookout points, William shared a laminated scrapbook with us. He told us about how Arenal shot huge boulders the size of busses into the air and how the hot rocks came crashing down. They made a whistling sound as they flew, he noted, and then split apart on impact leaving huge craters in the ground.

In many places he pointed out trees or vegetation that had sprung up in the craters. One unexplained phenomenon was how some trees shot up directly in the center of the depressions.

William took us to a private lookout point just ahead of the Arenal Observatory just over a hanging bridge and through a rainforest path thick with citronella and bromeliads.

When we reached the site, the skies cleared rather quickly. Our eyes adjusted and we could make out the moonlit shape of the volcano quite easily. We listened closely for the pop of the rocks shooting out from the chamber.

After a half-hour, we got a few veiny sputterings. Content with this surprise, we agreed to get on with the next part of the tour and William agreed to pull over the car at public vantage points along the way back in case there were any surprises.

Our good timing would find us at the last public vantage point at the precise moment the largest fountain of the night tumbled down. The cone belched with a flicker and two distinct paths of glowing orange rock trickled down the right side, breaking apart and sputtering into blackness like fireworks.

We continued on to the Baldi Hot Springs, one of several locations fed by the naturally heated water drawn from volcanic tables.

In an hour and a half we hardly covered 2/3 of the sprawling Baldi property which featured over 13 pools with temperatures ranging from 88 degrees to 152 degrees Fahrenheit. This last, hottest pool you can really only dip your feet in.

One tented pool featured cement chaise lounges lifting out of the water. My favorite was a jaccuzi featuring three man-made waterfalls and a bifurcated path with cold pools set inside.

A couple pools featured swim up bars. One of the bars had a mezzanine level and two giant screen televisions featuring the night soccer match of the Costa Rican national team.

I tired out the giant uncovered water slide. It was more like a ski-jump actually. I sat in the appropriate position and shot down the ramp with such tremor and velocity it made me feel my body would split apart.

We weren’t particularly excited about the ten dollar towel deposit fee or the five dollar locker service charge (who doesn’t want a towel and a locker?) Also, the overworked staff, at 9:40 pm, was over anxious to hustle us out before the 10pm close.

The waters, however, were uniformly relaxing.

Caño Negro photos

photos of the wildlife I spotted yesterday courtesy of Steve Kettman।

Caño Negro Adventure

(Caño Negro photos courtesy Steve Kettman.)

Near the northern border, Caño Negro Reserve consists of over 100 square kilometers.

Unlike a national park, locals and farmers are permitted to live and work within it’s limits provided they maintain a specific buffer around their property. The dynamic saves the govermnent in national park staffing, keeps the region wild, and keeps locals in the money.

While the waters of the Caño Negro Lake are at historic lows, rare and endangered wildlife continue to populate the area.

My Abercam pal Steve and I took a Caño Negro cruise with Canoa Aventura tour company and fellow travelers from Switzerland, England and British Colombia, Canada.

It was a day filled with satisfying sightings.

At the beginning our Rio Frio cruise, I spotted a reptile on my Costa Rica wish list, the basilisk lizard. Locally known by the nickname “Jesu Christi” for their ability to walk on water by quickly moving their hind legs, the basilisk’s English name also cites mythology. Medieval folklore held that the basilisk was a creature the body of a serpent and the head of a bird. It was believed to be so ugly it would turn it’s observers into stone.

Our entire group hoped to see all three kinds of Costa Rican monkey. Our guide, Pablo, careful not to dash our hopes, joked that he hoped to see a jaguar, a relative impossibility.

But shortly afterward, we spotted a group of howler monkeys, including an albino juvenile. Pablo noted that albino monkeys are more common as human encroachment on habitat forces many monkeys to mate within their own bloodlines.

Steve immediately spotted a group of white-faced capuchin feeding on palm fruits on the opposite shore. The capuchins made attack faces and noises at their neighbors to the south.

Just when we thought the excitement was over, an enormous crowd of spider monkeys burst through the folliage, following one another single file through the trees. We saw many mothers with babies on their backs. Within ten minutes all three species had presented themselves boldly.

Near the entrance to Caño Negro, a pile of brown rocks near the red clay shoreline turned out to be several dozen caiman, eyes above and noses below the water. We later saw one munch a large tilapia.

Iguana perched on feathery trees high above the water. When they are attacked they drop into the river to avoid becoming lunch. The Ticos refer to them as “Chicken of the Tree,” but have largely stopped consuming iguana in their diet.

Birdwatching was rich with variety. Three kinds of kingfisher, two kinds of egret, and several kinds of heron. We saw many northern jacana and hinga birds, an ibis, a wood stork, and a large bat falcon.

In another eagle eye moment, I spied a grey hooded kite, about twice the size of a parrot, but roughly the same shape. This carnivorous kite is actually a dark powder blue with alternating black and white feathers on it’s inner wings.

The last group we saw were a flock of rosette spoonbills. They resemble flamingos in their coloring but have unusual blue bills and a ordinary standing posture.

Afterward we ate a leisurely lunch at the Caiman Restaurant, a well balanced feast included with the tour.

In the weeks to come I hope to pass through Caño Negro again on my way to a day trip in Granada, Nicaragua.

Volcan Arenal Dessert

Even away from home it’s impossible to keep me from inventing in the kitchen! Two helpings of my Volcan Arenal dessert.

Volcan Arenal dessert: Vanilla ice cream atop a bed of limon cured apple slices, with apple puff pastry mountainsides, Melcochas de Natilla rocks, and guava jelly lava made to “glow” with a dusting of mandarin sour powder.

Thanks to fellow Abercam guest Steve Kettman for providing the salads that preceeded.

Zip Line Adventure

(photos and video courtesy of Esteban Coto)

This morning I got up super early to take advantage of the good early morning weather and try my hand at rainforest canopy zip lining at Arenal Mundo Aventura.

Of course there was an extensive waiver and much protective gear. Because of my height I required a second harness for my upper body.

The zip line itself is fairly easy to master. One hand to secure your harness, one hand a foot and a half behind you gripping a leather brake.

Ankles crossed knees up - you fly. Bring your brake hand down, even gently, and you begin to slow down. Don’t slow down until instructed by hand signal or you may not have enough momentum to clear the platform.

The first few lines were a cinch. My helmet brushed the line a few times to let me know why it was there.

I hit a snag on the first of two lines that passed over the La Fortuna waterfall. I was traveling fast on the second longest line. I was cautious not to brake. Maybe too cautious it turns out as my hand fell off the brake line altogether! I was losing control of the line and swinging around, but I managed to reach back and find the line again quickly.

I scraped my hand and wrist up on the fast moving steel cable. The guys expressed concern about my “injury” but it truly looked worse than it was. I licked mysel and hiked up to the next line.

On the way to this, the longest line, and the second to look over the Cataracas La Fortuna, I admit I was a little unnerved. We were to travel 80m over the forest floor. It was difficult to believe there were trees that scraped up this high.

The wildlife at this height of the rainforest was truly wild.

Army ants poured over the pavestones like rivulets of water. They had eaten a few steps clean away. Poison frogs with irridescent red and blue markings lay in wait in tree limbs and under leaves. Monkeys have used the zip lines for their own hand-over-hand transportation. Apparently, the electrical sound of pulleys moving across the lines encourages them to jump away and no collsions have been reported.

I made it across but just barely. I managed my brake well, but still couldn’t get enough zip to tag the platform without crawling the last 30 ft.

The rest of the ten lines went swimmingly. It seemed as though it was over quickly, but the tour took over three hours!

Adventure in the Old House and Old House Cooking

The house where I am staying is referrred to as The Old House as it was the first building on the Abercam property only ten years ago.

Tim Abernathy and Wayne Campbell, my hosts, stayed here for two years during the construction of their four villas and their own lodging, located in the heart of the resort above the open air bar.

The Old House is constucted of sturdy rainforest woods. Slats of a dry, heavily knotted cedar-like wood are layed front to back to create walls. The roof is made from black cane, covered on top by recycled polymer shingles, a federal requirement. The floors throughout are tiled with red Spanish clay.

On the walls, Tim and Wayne have hung a collection of yard long African masks, carved from ebony wood. Two are painted green, red and gold. Two are fringed with jute shag hair!

The house is a beautiful hideout when it rains. Dry and secluded and dimly lit.

Latice work and four hatch windows provide ventilation. There is no glass. Screens are layed over the openings.

A pentagonal porch stretches out for fifteen feet over the front of the house. It’s shadowed by orange halliconias, a yarrow-like flower that produced a poisonous blackberry, pineapple bushes, and orchidae. Ferns and moss and regional curiousities like wild cilantro over the ground

There are three hummingbird feeders which provide entertainment. The foremost of which is a small bird who jealously guards one feeder. He perches on a support the gardener built and swoops in to scare away those birds who dare to dip their beak in his artificial flowers.

I was very angry with the house cat last week when, while the bird was perched on something low laying, she pounced and caught him in her mouth. She strolled with him between her teeth for a dozen paces before the bird fought back and finally escaped.

I was sure the bird was mortally wounded.

He was back at his post today. He lost a few feathers and looks battered but is just as feisty and still getting his way.

My “feeder” is the tiny, blue tiled kitchen. I have a pie safe, a refrigerator, a hot plate, two stock pots, a large frying pan, a rice cooker, and a blender.

I have one menacing looking all purpose knife. The Ticos use the word “cuchillio” for everything from a butter knife to a machete. Groceries typically have a spare cuchillio for cutting plantains and other fruits from hanging stalks.

There are several cooking spoons, kitchen sheers and a spatula. Plenty of plates and tableware

Because of the potential for ants and flies, anything that is open must be wrapped in a sealed plastic tub or wrapped the refrigerator. You can not leave food out and you must clean up immediately after every meal. Tico kitchens are clean!

The freezer is mostly filled with ice. The only frozen food universally available here is ice cream. This is prohibitively expensive (about ten dollars for two pints), of modest variety (there are several different takes on vanilla), and of marginal quality.

It is also tough to find 100 percent butter here. Brown eggs are cheap and plentiful but rarely refrigerated. There are very few kinds of cheese and they all taste a bit gluey.

I’ve been making black beans and rice (the national dish), instant potatoes, lentil stew, and bread slice pizzas. In the mornings, I sometimes eat oatmeal. More often than now, I eat fresh fruit cured with limon juice. It’s hard to find proper lemons or limes, but the sour green limon is a worthy substitute.

There some unusual common fruit juices. Orange-carrot is very common. So is pineapple-guava. Fruit punch is typically orange-pineapple-guava-papaya.

For a refresher, I’m enjoying pre-sweetened agua frescas that you mix from a powder in envelopes. Today I’m drinking passionfruit, but I’ve also had hibiscus and soursop flavors. I find I need to drink about 1 liter a day on hot days just to keep hydrated.

The Circa de Cataratas Adventure

(photo courtesy Scott Robinson, wiki commons)

The Abercam resort is located at 1800 feet above sea level. Downtown La Fortuna, by contrast, is slightly below sea level. The two are 4 kilometers apart.

Twice a week, typically Tuesday and Friday, I have been traveling the steep down the Circa de Cataracas to run errands. The hike takes about 40 minutes to an hour each way depending on your pack and the weather.

I slide the huge wooden door that connects the Grande Tapia Blanca just far apart enough to edge through and close it behind me.

On a clear day, you can see Nicaragua to the North - a pile of distant green mountains.

The Circa is not yet fully paved. It alternates gravel and tarmac, gravel and cement, gravel and grey brick as though the public works department could not decide how to approach it.

In truth, the project is so large for La Fortuna the city must do it in stages. These bits of paved road represent the curves and grades that must be reinforced when the road is entirely paved next year.

About half of the homes along the road are private residences. Squat, single story, no basement. These homes typically have a garage and a small acerage. Since would be difficult to farm on this terrain, most keep horses or cows or both.

The cattle hang out in enormous pastures all day, bobbing their heads and chewing. They are often not of a single variety, but a mix of different breeds of dairy cattle and cattle for slaughter. Sometimes property owners hire their neighbors cattle to chew down the overgrowth in a vacant lot.

Horses generally have to work a bit harder. Most are called upon for a strenuous horseback ride through Monteverde, a protected zone at the top of the mountain. Horse poop is an obstacle for drivers and hikers all along the road.

More desirably, lucky horseshoes fall on the path as well. After stumbling on a few rusty half-shoes, I found a whole one in perfect shape the other day. It belonged to a ranch whose brand is Delta, which I considered a good omen (I write Delta Magnet Blog.)

The other homes along the Circa are live/work style cottage businesses. The nearest on to Abercam is a hammock shop where hundreds of brightly colored, hand woven hammocks cover every square inch of a porch and a modest showroom.

A wood carver, immigrated to Costa Rica from the US, has a small studio on the switchback beneath. He’s carved two male torsos out of rosewood for the Abercam bar.

The advertisement seems to be working. One of the last guests at the resort trekked down the road to commission a lean, muscular 24” torso for his coffee table at home. The price? A super cheap $152!

Another curiousity, a palm wood shack selling coconut water almost never has customers. According to Geraldo, who is pals with the owner, they used to have a brisk business selling beer, but then his freind “changed his mind” about selling alcohol.

There are plenty of campgrounds and “cabinas” for about $30 a night. There is also a few lovely sprawling lodges which are favored by European visitors. At least one has an open air restaurant that serves Typicos, “typical food,” which generally means Empenadas, fried plantains, and Casado or “married” lunch where rice and beans are combined with meat and a salad.

The Ticos are generally a friendly bunch and will exchange “Hola” or “Buenas,” with you. “Buenas” covers all times of day (“dias,” “tardes,” and “noches”) to a stranger. One response to “Buenas” is “Hoy!” or “today,” which men on horseback often give me.

Almost to a one, the Ticos own dogs. While I’ve seen at least one hound, though most of the dogs are lap sized mutts, variations on beagles, chihuahuas, and Australian shepards.

Though I introduce myself to dogs that follow me walking, I don’t typically pet them or feed them, and most wag their tails enthusiastically to “bueno perro” and a little running around.

Another curiousity, most locals who walk here are women and they travel in pairs.

The Circa ends at the bottom of the hill at a north/south road stretching between San Ramon and La Fortuna.

Costa Rica Animal Adventures

(image courtesy: Dirk Van der Made, wiki commons)

Today I took some time out to review a book of Costa Rican wildlife. There were lots of photographs, much better than I could take. I had no difficulty identifying the creatures I had seen.

The most notable and noisy species was the howler monkey.

I hiked Tuesday along a dry river bed full of stones on the property neighboring Abercam.

The river bed made the hike easier as few plants could push through the stones and the ground in the "green season" is heavy with moisture. I passed guava and lychee trees barren of fruit and then came across "signs of animal life" (poop) that didn't come from one of the neighborhood's free grazing cows.

I walked toward the sound of rushing water and heard rustling at the tops of some mangrove-like trees with curly dangling vines.

Soon, a male howler monkey made his loud warning call.

The first part of the call sounded to me like air rushing into a huge hoarse vaccuum or a frat boy with a 20 inch mouth belching into a megaphone.

The second part is a rythymic exhaling version of the first part that sounds a little more like what you'd associate with a monkey.

I could see the howlers clearly, though they were above me by about 20 ft.

The howlers make a third noise which I heard at a distance as I passed them in route to a twin waterfall - a more cordial howl to one another.

Birds that frequent the Abercam property include Costa Rica's national bird, the clay robin, chestnut mandible toucans, montezumas, yellow bellies, and hummingbirds.

The clay robins are as familiar here as red brested robins are in the United States. They are a powdery rust color all over and fight aggressively with one another.

Of course, I expected toucans to look like the bird on a box of breakfast cereal. All toucans do share expressive eyes, a similar mandible shape. and a like size.

The ones flying about Abercam have white, red, yellow, and black markings with brown and yellow bills.Their eyes are a light green.

Ironically, they're not big on "froot". They prefer eggs, small rodents, and young squirrels. Today, I caught a pair eyeing a male squirrel making a lovenest in a tall tree: future lunch!

They make two calls. One is a clicking sound that immitates the gecco.

By far, the most impressive vocalizer is the montezuma or pendulum bird. It's call is seven notes long.

The call flutters up a chromatic scale by half-steps. Two half-steps, pause, repeating the second note and another half-step, pause. This pattern repeats two more times until the bird holds the top note and slurs down all the way back to the first.

The montezuma also creates nests that hang like long baskets from trees. It's roughly the size of a hawk, and has a trim of bright yellow feathers on it's long black tail.

The yellow bellies, have, well, yellow bellies. They cackle and tumble over one another in midair like the parrots of Telegraph Hill.

The broad variety of hummingbirds here impressed me.

Most all of them have the same irridescent green somewhere on their bodies, like the red breasted hummingbirds in my backyard in San Francisco. But there are some with violet ears, some that are all green, and a peculiar species with a hooked bill designed for sipping liquid from inside the clawlike flowers of haliconia.

The species of butterflies are also amazing. The biggest ones I've seen are about the size of my hand and as fleet as bats.

In English, we distinguish between butterflies and moths based on whether we feel the creature is colorful or ugly. In Spanish, size is a the determining factor between mariposas and pollios.

I have not yet seen Costa Rica's national butterfly, the blue winged morphos, but I have seen a "postman" butterfly, a large yellow species, and a species with a long body that resembled a wasp with monarch-like wings in four sections.

I was initially concerned by the presence of two large wasps nests near the pool, but I soon learned this species of wasp principally eats mosquitos. Instead of buzzing around your soda and sandwhiches they cluster near their nests listlessly waiting for their prey.

Unlike these surprising wasps, not all the Costa Rica creatures are changing my mind about what constitues a pest.

Tonight, I got up for a glass of water and came back to a squarish orb spider about as big as my palm dragging a dust bunny across my headboard.

I stayed up for a while writing across the room. I made my bed and the spider regrouped, cowering beside my pillow.

The standoff finally ended when I threatened to trap it. First I tried to trap it under a bowl, but the spider jumped. Two feet high and three feet out!

I was startled, but I laughed too. For someone who has a dangerous level of fearlessness this spider was freaking me out.

I swaped the bowl out for a steam cover.

Then I figured, if I came at the spider from above and behind, it would stay low and move in the direction of the front door.

I guided it as far as the kitchen, trapped it, and set it free on the front porch to eat beatles another day.

Earlier this week, I found an unpleasantly fat tick. I saved it in a bag in case I came down with something.

Oddly, I was nauseaous, had a mean headache, and even some shortness of breath. But none of my symptoms corresponded with the tick diseases I'd read about in my guide books.

I'm guessing the overplus of prophylactics the SF travel health clinic introduced to my bloodstream have taken the wind out of any tick germs I got.

No scorpions or snakes so far.

Wayne says the scorpions at this altitude in Costa Rica can fit in a spoon and give a sting no worse than a bee. Still not anxious to experience that bite!

Snakes are detered from the property by the presence of over 300 minature bamboo plants around the perimeter. According to Tim, snakes get tangled in the dense sticks and turn back.

Everywhere I go, leaf-cutter ants are stripping some tree of its green.

They are fun to watch. Little bits of leaf marching single file over the forrest floor. Cute!

And people love the story of leaf-cutters. These ants survive by eating a unique fungus they create in their nests from moldering plant material.

Did I mention their queens live up to eight years! That's five years more than drag queen Pollo del Mar will reign as longest Miss Trannyshack.

However, the leaf-cutters are a nuissance to a well-manicured property. Geraldo, the gardener here, follows them and burns out their nests.

The ants seem to be worst on Wednesday.

That's Geraldo's full day off. The leaf-cutters seem to know.