The Pearl of the Osa Puerto Jimenez

... out with a man bangle for Alan, a lovely woven slingbag for me and a hot pot stand for our house that we will one day own. We were also in two minds about whether or not to buy a mask made out of Bolsa wood (which is extremely light). These masks are traditional war masks worn by the Boruca tribe, but are now used for their annual Danza de los Diablitos ceremony, celebrated every winter since at least early colonial times. The Danza depicts the resistance of the Diablito ...

We arrived in Puerto Jimenez with out a hitch and were greeted by two scarlet macaws in a tree next to the runway. We did our usual search of every hotel in town and ended up staying at The Corner. (Thats the name of the hostel, we didnt really sleep outside on the corner.) We spent the day exploring and saw a few crocodiles and ...

... was amazing!!! We took a truck to Montapallo to climb some water falls and swim. We kicked it on the beach for a long time and then we headed to the falls. They are called king louies fall. it was a very nice hike and then we climbed up around it. The safe way. when we got to the top. i decided to go to the very top where i found some rock climbing gear. i didnt have the rest of the stuff needed but someone had the right idea cause it would be ...

... in itself. Talking of experiences, this evening's night walk gave one I'll never forget. About half-way through, we were walking back inland from the beach, past a large area (maybe half the size of a football pitch) of grassy scrub. We heard a noise within, but then didn't hear anything more. But Roger was convinced that there was something in there that was worth seeing, so went back round to the beach side of this scrubby area to see ...

... the coastline, there are a few sections that become impassable at high tide. To avoid getting caught at the wrong place at the wrong time it's important that you time it perfectly otherwise you have to wait until the ocean recedes before continuing on. Unfortunately ten km into the hike we came down from the forested area of the hike and watched as huge waves crashed onto the rocky shoreline, covering up our trail and making the crossing look quite bleak. Erring on the side ...

When we left off, we had just arrived to Puerto Jimenez, on the Osa Peninsula, on our way to Corcovado National Park. While we were there, we heard some Hebrew being spoken around us and met an Israeli couple who were also on their way to the park, the next day. That afternoon we took the collectivo to Carate, 2.5 hours to get 42 kilometers on a bumpy road crossing a few creeks on the way. We stayed at the Corcovado Tent Camp Lodge, half an hour walk on the ...

... it was too much!! everywhere you looked and everything around you was about tourists!! kirsten to say the least wanted to leave right away, but we hadn't seen the national park, so we made her just tough it out!! so the first day we just hung out and the second day there we walked all the way to the end of the beach where there were way less people and the water was less crowded. i ended up buying 3 hackysacks and am now learning to ...

... icecream. All we could talk about at corcovado was getting icecream in on the airplane or boats that brought in tourists. Sadly, it never happened. The only cold thing at corcovado was the "Juice" at meals. Here at las cruces we will be doing more writing up. I volunteered to write the FLP here, which is a pain because it has to go through 3 drafts before we leave, so I have a heavier burden than most. Also, one of my writing partners had to ...

In the heart of the jungle, the trees soar to dizzying heights above your head and create a canopy of filtered sunlight. Their trunks grow down, thick and ancient, deep into the soggy mud, with gnarled roots and knotted appendages twisting their way around your scraped up ankles. The air is heavy and sweltering, and the slightest breeze that manages to trickle through the ...