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Posts from the road

The Colleges of Cambridge University

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(Cambridge, England, U.K.)

On my first full day here I went on a walking tour of the colleges of Cambridge University.

Cambridge University goes back to the 13th century but much of a student’s life here revolves around the college rather than the university as a whole.  There are 31 colleges within the university; some are more prestigious than others but the degrees themselves are all granted by the university.

Our tour included admission to two of the more prominent colleges:  King’s College and Queens’ College (yes, some of the colleges charge admission…and the apostrophe goes after the “s” in “Queens” because more than one queen founded that college).  At Queens’, we crossed the “Mathematical Bridge”, saw some “punting on the Cam” and saw our first Cambridge courtyard.

The "Mathematical Bridge" at Queens' College, Cambridge University
The “Mathematical Bridge” at Queens’ College, Cambridge University

The highlight, however, was our visit to King’s College.  The major landmark here is the King’s College Chapel:  it is positively ancient and looks completely unlike anything you’d see on a Canadian college campus.  “Chapel” makes it sound small:  don’t be fooled!   One can’t help wondering how the tall and narrow building has managed to remain standing for more than 500 years (and how they managed to build it in the first place).

Inside the Chapel was a painting by Rubens; when it was acquired, it was the most expensive painting ever bought.   But King’s College is impressive outside of the Chapel too; the photo at the top of this post is merely of the façade facing the street in front of King’s College.

One end of the King's College Chapel (Cambridge, England)
One end of the King’s College Chapel (Cambridge, England)

It also seems that there is a bit of a rivalry “between Cambridge and another school about 70 miles west of here.  I can’t remember the name of it,” said our guide, knowing full well that it was Oxford.  He did tell us that Cambridge has produced twice as many Nobel Prize winners as that other school…in fact, it has produced more than any *country* other than the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.

Descendant of the "Isaac Newton Apple Tree", growing below his former room at Trinity College, Cambridge University
Descendant of the “Isaac Newton Apple Tree”, growing below his former room at Trinity College, Cambridge University

After leaving the tour, I walked down to Trinity College and took a picture of an apple tree.  Why?  It is the direct descendant of an apple tree from Isaac Newton’s day…and it was an apple falling from this tree that led Newton to his groundbreaking work with gravity.  Newton isn’t the only famous Cambridge graduate:  others include Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Prince Charles, John Milton, William Wordsworth, Salman Rushdie, A.A. Milne, Francis Bacon, Jane Goodall and John Cleese!   I could add many, many more; check out this link on Wikipedia for a comprehensive list.

One of the courtyards at Sidney College, Cambridge University
One of the courtyards at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University

It is possible to wander into some colleges without paying:  Corpus Christi college opens for a couple of hours each afternoon, while I managed to wander through Sidney Sussex and Clare colleges without any problem.  And after having been to Harvard (in Cambridge, Massachusetts!) a couple of summers ago, I have to say that downtown Cambridge (England) has a much more “integrated” campus: it isn’t set off from the town as much as Harvard.   If I ever decide that I need to complete another degree, I’d like to study in a place like Cambridge.

Inside the first courtyard of Clare College, with King's College Chapel in the background
Inside the first courtyard of Clare College, with King’s College Chapel in the background

After having a light take-out “Turkish Pizza” for lunch, I was ready for a more substantial meal in the evening.  I found a Moroccan placed called “Bedouin” near my B&B – it was wonderfully atmospheric inside and the meal was delicious.  I think the “bastilla” (a pastry filled with warm spiced chicken, and then dusted with sugar and cinnamon) was the best appetizer I’ve had this year.

Pastilla appetizer at Bedouin (Cambridge, England)
Bastilla appetizer at Bedouin restaurant  (Cambridge, England)

Stay tuned for more on Cambridge and a journey to a nearby ancient city!

Posts from the road

Greetings from East Anglia!

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(Cambridge, England, U.K.)

Having indulged in most of my sports interests (especially hockey and skiing) already during this year of travel, I decided that it was finally time to have a music-themed trip.

I’ve always enjoyed reading British music journalism and, as a result, have followed some prominent British musicians who don’t have as large a fan base in North America.  Alas, the economic realities of the music business mean that relatively few British musicians are able to tour anywhere near my home in Kingston.  If the music wasn’t going to come to Kingston, I would have to go to the music!

I've seen a lot of airports this year but haven't taken many pictures in them. This is the long walk from the terminal to the Heathrow baggage claim.
I’ve seen a lot of airports this year but haven’t taken many pictures in them. This is the long walk from the terminal to the Heathrow baggage claim.

London is the epicentre of the music world here in Britain and I’ll be spending some very intensive days there at the end of this trip. However, I’m easing into things by spending a few days in the famous university town of Cambridge.

I wanted to see one of the ancient universities in England, so it came down to a choice between Oxford and Cambridge. They both had a lot to offer but Cambridge was closer to the location of the Paul Carrack concert that I mentioned in my previous post. My wife and I intend to see some more of England in the future; if I enjoy the Cambridge experience, we may include Oxford in one of our future itineraries.  Or maybe we’ll come back here!

Cambridge has a historic core...but there is also an upscale shopping mall in the middle of it.
Cambridge has a historic downtown core…but there is also an upscale shopping mall in the middle of it.

I only arrived in Cambridge at 3:00 p.m. today so I didn’t have a chance to see much of it by daylight.  After a nap, I went for some Indian food…I am forever searching for a chicken dhansak that rivals the wonderful one I had in Chester, England, back in 2005 (I really like the version served up by Darbar back home in Kingston too).  Tonight’s dhansak was good but not spectacular. The search continues!

After dinner, I walked around the city a bit.  It feels safe and comfortable here; the huge university population also supports a terrific variety of ethnic restaurants.  I had assumed that I’d be eating a lot of Indian food here but I saw too many other interesting places to restrict myself to dhansak (however tempting that might be).

"The Cow" - one of many historic buildings in downtown Cambridge
“The Cow” – one of many historic buildings in downtown Cambridge

Tomorrow, I’m taking a tour of Cambridge’s ancient university colleges and will finally see the city by daylight.  I’m looking forward to sharing some daytime photographs!

Posts from Base Camp

Who is Paul Carrack and what does he have to do with this trip?

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

This post includes some additional pictures from my recent visit to Ottawa.  However, the main purpose of this post is to let you know about what’s happening next.

Later today, I will be leaving on another intercontinental flight.  Here’s a long story about one element of the trip…ending with the theme and location of this exciting journey.

In 2003, I saw Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band perform live at Casino Rama (just outside Orillia, Ontario).  It was the first and only time I had seen the ex-Beatle in concert but he was not the most impressive musician in his band that night.  That honour went to Paul Carrack, an immensely-respected vocalist and musician who has remained relatively unknown because his biggest successes have never been in his own name.

End of the Rideau Canal (closed for the winter) in Ottawa, Ontario
End of the Rideau Canal (closed for the winter) in Ottawa, Ontario

His first big hit was with a band called Ace and a song called “How Long”. The title may not be familiar but the song is immediately recognizable once you hear it.  While it’s by no means my favourite Carrack track, it’s a concert mainstay.   Here’s a 1974 performance of How Long from the legendary Midnight Special television show.

El Tucan restaurant in the Vanier area of Ottawa
El Tucan (a.k.a. “Tukan”) restaurant in the Vanier area of Ottawa

After Ace, Paul Carrack was a member of Roxy Music and then joined the legendary Squeeze as a keyboardist and vocalist.  My favourite song from this era is the classic track “Tempted”.   This clip is from the earliest days of music videos;  the video may not have much flash but I always thought that the composition and performance was ahead of the pack.

Paul Carrack is probably best known as the vocalist for Mike and the Mechanics.  Another mainstay of his live shows, and certainly one of his most emotional lyrics, is “The Living Years”.   There is rarely a dry eye in the house when he performs this live; here is the promotional video for it.

A delicious "pollo en mole" (chicken in a chocolate/chile sauce) at El Tucan in Ottawa
A delicious “pollo en mole” (chicken in a chocolate/chile sauce) at El Tucan in Ottawa

Carrack also writes many songs for other performers.  One of his most-heard compositions (“Love Will Keep Us Alive”) was recorded by The Eagles; here is Carrack’s version.   As for songs released as singles in Paul Carrack’s name, some of you may be familiar with “Don’t Shed a Tear” or “I Need You“.

U.S. President Barack Obama apparently bought some cookies at this Byward Market bakery in 2009. They're still milking it!
U.S. President Barack Obama apparently bought some cookies at this Byward Market bakery in 2009. They’re still milking it!

So what does all this have to do with today’s journey?  Musicians in Ringo’s All-Starr Band are generally restricted to three songs of their own.  As Carrack stole the show with his three well-chosen performances, I have always wanted to see a full-length solo Carrack show.  Alas, since he is most popular in Europe, he rarely tours solo in North America (although he recently completed a tour with Eric Clapton).   In this year of special travels, it only made sense that I try to see Paul Carrack live…and, as a result, one of my activities on this trip is seeing Paul Carrack perform in a small concert hall on the English coast.

Stay tuned for not only the Carrack concert, but some even bigger surprises on my self-guided music tour of Southern England!

Posts from the road

A Visit to Ottawa

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(Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

I recently visited Ottawa for a few days, although not as a tourist. The rainy weather, combined with recent events and the relative absence of people on the streets, created a eerie mood that I have never experienced before in our nation’s capital.

Less than two weeks before my visit, an unarmed reservist was brutally murdered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa. The attacker then went to the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings and began shooting before he was finally brought down in a hail of bullets.  This was only a couple of days after a similar attack in Quebec resulted in the death of another Canadian soldier.

Parliament Hill from a distance (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Parliament Hill from a distance (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

After such brazen attacks, it is not surprising that there was a conspicuous police presence near Parliament Hill. On the evening I visited, I counted about 15 RCMP vehicles in the large driveway that circles in front of the Centre Block. Despite this, the public was not prevented from approaching the Parliament Buildings. I’m sure that our group was being closely monitored but the monitoring was done as discreetly as possible. I was able to take many pictures here, although the rain and clouds made it a real challenge.

It would have been easy to shut the gates and prevent any access by the public, particularly since it was about 9:00 p.m. at night and there wasn’t any practical need for the public to be on Parliament Hill. However, I think that the gates were purposely left open to indicate that the country will not be brought to its knees by what appeared to be terrorist acts.

Peace Tower, Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Peace Tower, Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

As most of the group members were lawyers, it was only natural that we would also visit the Supreme Court of Canada (see photo at the top of this post). At night, it looked smaller than I remembered. There also was a visible RCMP presence here, something I don’t recall seeing the last time I visited the Supreme Court.

Finally, we walked back to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Here, too, there was a security presence but we were able to walk right up to the Tomb.  One of the group members was familiar with what had happened and pointed out the very place where the reservist was killed. It was unsettling to be there, to say the least, knowing what had happened there just a few days before.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)

The emotional charge of this evening understandably overshadowed the rest of my visit to Ottawa. As it doesn’t feel right to include any of the other aspects of my Ottawa visit in this post, I’ll hold on to those details until a later date. Nonetheless, I think it is an important time to visit Ottawa, both to appreciate our nation’s capital and to demonstrate our resilience as Canadians.

Posts from Base Camp

More Fun International Music!

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Several months ago, I posted some links to videos for songs that I have encountered while traveling.  This time around, I’m including links to fun songs I first heard in Canada but would likely be categorized as “international music”.

The first clip is from a brilliant, brave and highly respected South African musician named Johnny Clegg.  He formed his first band (“Juluka”) with another musician named Sipho Mchunu and became a thorn in the side of the Apartheid regime.  Juluka was racially integrated at a time when the separation of races was actually legislated in South Africa.  Clegg went on to form the band “Savuka” and also recorded under his own name but he always maintained racially-integrated bands.  He has produced an impressive body of work in both the Zulu and English languages (generally in the same song)…and he also has a Ph.D. in Anthropology!

My wife and I have seen him (and met him!) in concert twice.  Attending a Johnny Clegg concert is like going to the best university seminar ever, as Clegg provides intelligent commentary on his music and his home country.  Although he enjoyed some commercial success in the 1980s (most notably with “Scatterlings of Africa” from the movie “Rain Man”), I think his latest album “Human” is his most diverse and interesting work yet.   Here’s a track from that album called “Asilazi”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpn85PlORt4&spfreload=10

If you lived through the 1980s, you undoubtedly remember a song called “Africa” by Toto.  It was a huge hit although Toto’s connection with Africa remains somewhat unclear.  I recently came across an unusual cover version of “Africa” – it is by a band called Tukuleur that has roots in Senegal.   There are two important twists to the cover version:  the verses are rapped and all of the lyrics are in French.  The lyrics and video (filmed in Senegal) are quite positive; check it out here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Vvx3WdYOo

Senegal has a rich history of music.  Youssou N’Dour was one of the first to be heard in North America but Baaba Maal has also enjoyed some success here.  I was unsure whether a song described as “Senegalese salsa” would work, but it does!  Here’s Baaba Maal’s “African Woman”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV38a-xlB0k

I bought a CD called “Rock Peruano” on my last night in Peru.  I was looking for a compilation of Peruvian rock/pop music and a helpful record store employee in Lima said that this CD would provide a good cross-section of music from the 1990s.  I bought it without listening to a single note.  When I got home, I found the very first track to be the most compelling.  The Spanish lyrics are about Peruvians who have moved to other countries but it is not necessary to understand the lyrics to enjoy the song.  Here is a link to “Cuando Pienses En Volver” by Pedro Suárez Vértiz:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF9h2i3YDvI

It may seem strange to categorize music from Los Angeles as “international music”.  However, the songs of Ozomatli arise from a collision of musical influences from around the world.  Many of Ozomatli’s songs contain both Spanish and English lyrics, while at least one is in Spanglish!  Unfortunately, they don’t necessarily make videos for their strongest songs, so I’ve selected an odd song in Spanish about poultry.  Here’s “La Gallina”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyOs50NE8u4

My last major trip is just over a week away and I’ve decided to include one more clue:  I’m going to a place where the weather is almost guaranteed to be horrendous!  It definitely won’t look like the photo at the top of this blog…which was taken two summers ago on the Baltic Sea near Helsinki, Finland.

Posts from Base Camp

What’s Next?

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

This question could be interpreted two ways:

1. What is my next trip?
2. What am I doing after my year of travel is over?

As a compromise, I’m going to give half-answers to both of these questions.

Butterfly gives me the evil eye in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Butterfly gives me the evil eye in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

I’ve already given the following clues about my next trip: (i) it is not in North America; (ii) it is more of an “experiential” trip; (iii) it is the kind of trip you’d think I would have done already, given my hobbies and interests; and (iv) it is at the end of November.  To that, I can add the following:  (v) the dates chosen were extremely important; (vi) my shoulder injury should be a non-factor; and (vii) other than a quick airport transfer, I have never visited the city which is the main focus of this trip.  Any guesses?

The howler monkey who wouldn't look me in the eye (Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica)
The howler monkey who wouldn’t look me in the eye (Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica)

As for what’s happening after my year of travel is over…well, it is already happening!  I have already started to work on a part-time basis.  I’m keeping the details out of this blog but I will be updating my employment status on LinkedIn shortly…if you’re connected to me there, you will be able to find out soon.   I’m very happy with how it has all worked out.

Drying out wings in the Caño Negro region of Costa Rica
Drying out wings in the Caño Negro region of Costa Rica

Don’t worry – even after my next trip is over, I will have lots of content for this blog.  I plan to use stories and photos from my pre-2014 travels, with a focus on those places that are a little off the beaten path.  I think you’ll enjoy it just as much as the current real-time blog…and of course I hope to do some travelling (and blogging) during vacation breaks as my job permits.

Egret hanging out in the Caño Negro region of Costa Rica
Egret hanging out in the Caño Negro region of Costa Rica

Thanks for following the blog so far…and I hope you’ll  continue to follow it for the foreseeable future!

 

Posts from Base Camp

Food in Costa Rica

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Looking back at my blog posts from Costa Rica, it’s quite apparent that I was fascinated by all of the wildlife that I saw. I hadn’t expected to see so much diversity and to see so much of it in the wild.  While you never hear of anybody going to Costa Rica just for the food, I enjoyed almost all of the food too!  Today’s blog revisits some of the food (and related photos) from my trip.

Except for the fanciest hotel restaurants, dining in Costa Rica was generally informal.  I really appreciated this, as the temperatures were sometimes scalding and anything more than a t-shirt and shorts would have been very uncomfortable for me.

Inside the Restaurante Vara Blanca, somewhere north of San Jose, Costa Rica
Inside the Restaurante Vara Blanca, somewhere north of San Jose, Costa Rica

My first few posts commented on the fact that all Costa Rican meals (even breakfast) appeared to include rice and beans.  For breakfast, they were generally combined and cooked with other vegetables to create gallo pinto.  For other meals, they were usually cooked separately but were still in close proximity on the plate!  The photo at the very top of this post is from my river safari in the Caño Negro region and shows a typical Costa Rican lunch.   In addition to the rice and beans, there was usually meat (chicken, beef or fish), some vegetables and a small salad.

Fajitas in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Fajitas in Monteverde, Costa Rica

As much as I enjoyed rice and beans, I started to get restless and try lunch and dinner dishes that did not feature rice and beans (they were almost unavoidable for breakfast).  Most menus included some “pan-American” cuisine such as fajitas, so I tried that in a couple of places.

Limonada Hierbabuena (Monteverde, Costa Rica)
Limonada Hierbabuena (Monteverde, Costa Rica)

While the water was safe and very good, there were too many interesting beverages to ignore.  Almost every restaurant offered juices, smoothies and milkshakes made from the local fruit.  Pineapples, papayas and passion fruit were especially common, but there were usually about 8 different choices.  I particularly enjoyed the limonada hierbabuena shown above:  it was made with the local lemons (green!) and a variety of herbs (most notably mint).   It was extremely refreshing. I don’t think Costa Rica exports much of its beer but the mild local cerveza Imperial complemented rice and beans quite well.

Very green salad with chicken and Palmitos (Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)
Very green salad with chicken and palmitos (Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)

Later on in the trip, I really began to crave fresh vegetables.  The salad shown above had a very tasty dressing and featured lots of palmitos (hearts of palm).  I still needed dessert afterwards but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

Cheese-stuffed plantains with a honey-caramel sauce (and ice cream)
Cheese-stuffed plantains with a honey-caramel sauce (and ice cream)

And speaking of desserts:  I generally didn’t need any after a meal with rice and beans, but I did try the occasional dessert after a lighter meal.   I started eating the cheese-stuffed plantains (shown above) before remembering to take a picture:  this was definitely the best dessert I had in Costa Rica.  The salty local cheese was a great counterpoint to the other very sweet ingredients.  And who knew that honey and caramel could combine so well?

This almost finishes my Costa Rican reports.  The only confirmed journey on my horizon is a relatively short (but still intercontinental) trip in just under 3 weeks’ time.  I’ll be dropping the usual hints about that trip, as well as providing some more information on the exciting personal news I mentioned in my previous post.  Stay tuned!

Posts from the road

Final Hours in Costa Rica

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(San José, Costa Rica)

After leaving Manuel Antonio National Park and checking out of our hotel, we walked to a nearby café for lunch. Once again, I was surprised to see a couple of large iguanas en route (one is shown in the photo at the top of this post), but I’m starting to think that Costa Rica’s iguanas are just as ubiquitous as squirrels in Canada.  Actually, I also saw one squirrel in Costa Rica…

Squirrel spotted outside our hotel in Monteverde, Costa Rica
Squirrel spotted outside our hotel in Monteverde, Costa Rica

The drive back to San José was uneventful:  we had seen much of this road before and I think we were all realizing just how tired we were.  It had been a jam-packed itinerary and we all saw far more than we had anticipated.

Our last meal together was at an Argentinian restaurant near our San José hotel.  As I had been planning an October trip to Argentina before I decided to visit Costa Rica instead, this was a nice way to end the trip.  And what a meal! I started with a delicious empanada con carne dulce (empanada stuffed with ground beef, olives and raisins).  It was so good that, after finishing my main course, I ordered another one.  It was easily the best empanada I’ve ever had.

The main post office in San José, Costa Rica
The main post office in San José, Costa Rica

The main course was a very large ravioli-type pasta stuffed with ham, cheese and mushroom, all smothered with a tangy rosé sauce.  If you are ever in the western downtown area of San José, I can definitely recommend Aqui Es for a high-quality but reasonably-priced meal.   I only wish that I had remembered to put my memory card back in my camera before going out to dinner…sadly, I can’t share any images from this wonderful meal.  By virtue of this meal alone, I will definitely be keeping Argentina on my travel radar in the future!

Exterior of the Teatro Nacional in San José, Costa Rica
Exterior of the Teatro Nacional in San José, Costa Rica

Before heading out to the airport the next morning, I had arranged to meet one of my “pen friends” for an impromptu tour of the highlights of downtown San José.  Having an area resident show me around was a great way to see the sights in a very short time.

The front lobby of the Teatro Nacional in San José
The front lobby of the Teatro Nacional in San José

We even managed to grab a refreshing beverage at the elegant café in the Teatro Nacional.  My friend’s local expertise also enabled me to find a fun gift for my wife, even though it was a Sunday morning.

Yes, you can buy Christmas tree ornaments on a Sunday morning in October in San José, Costa Rica
Yes, you can buy Christmas tree ornaments on a Sunday morning in October in San José, Costa Rica

The trip back to Toronto went by fairly quickly but it was still 12:52 a.m. when the plane arrived.  Pearson Airport is remarkably quiet at that time of night.  I would have preferred to go straight home but there was no way (short of hiring a taxi for the 3-hour drive) of getting to Kingston for several hours.  After an anticlimactic stay at an anonymous airport hotel, I finally caught a bus back home.

This was a great trip – I can’t believe how much I saw and experienced in such a short period of time.  I plan to post at least one further blog entry on Costa Rican food, after which I have some exciting personal news to share!

Posts from the road

Manuel Antonio National Park

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(Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)

Given the scorching Humidex reading of 45’C on October 17, I doubted that I would enjoy our trip to Manuel Antonio National Park on the morning of October 18. However, the visit was an included part of our group tour and we were told that swimming was a possibility after a brief walk to the coast. I once again slathered on the sunscreen, grabbed a lot of water, and put on my “Bungalow Bill” hat to hopefully mitigate the burning sun.

It *was* hot. But in many ways, it was also very cool. Staying in the shade as much as possible, I sometimes forgot about the heat as our latest guide once again picked out a menagerie of wildlife that was initially  invisible to the untrained eye.

A well-hidden iguana in Manuel Antonio National Park
A well-hidden iguana in Manuel Antonio National Park

It started small with iguanas but then progressed to a three-toed sloth (see photo at top of this post) and finally a group of extremely active capuchin monkeys. While it wasn’t quite as dramatic as my encounter with the howler monkey high above the Monteverde Cloud Forest, it was still thrilling to see these excitable primates almost flying from branch to branch above us. At one point, a monkey descended to a branch maybe 10 feet from where we were standing.  As I had never seen capuchin monkeys in the wild before, my camera was getting a good workout too.

A Capuchin monkey is ready to move
A Capuchin monkey is ready to move

The walk to the Pacific didn’t take long.  Manuel Antonio National Park is the most visited national park in Costa Rica but it is also the smallest.  Fortunately, we were here in the off-season and it never felt overcrowded.

I am not a “beach person” by any stretch of the imagination.  I like to be active and I would much rather ski across frozen tundra than sit on a sunny beach.  However, after the brief but hot journey through the coastal forest, it was a relief to reach the beach.  There was an ocean breeze to keep things somewhat cool and there was also a decent amount of shade close to the shore.

Beach at Manuel Antonio National Park
Beach at Manuel Antonio National Park

I also have to admit that, as far as beaches go, this one looked “classic”.  Sand everywhere, palms gently swaying in the breeze, a brilliant blue ocean and sky…and no crushing crowds.  I didn’t have swimming gear with me, but I tossed my shoes and socks under a tree and waded in the water anyway for some goofy photos.  A half-hour on the beach was enough but I really can’t complain about my first-ever visit to a tropical beach.

Wading into the Pacific Ocean with a big hat
Wading into the Pacific Ocean with a big hat

As a bonus, a very active two-toed sloth decided to migrate between trees during our visit to the beach.  The sloth was nowhere near as fast as the capuchin monkeys, of course, but it did manage to cover a lot of territory while we were there.

Two-toed sloth hanging around the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park
Two-toed sloth hanging around the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park

We took a different route back to our van and encountered another group of capuchin monkeys, although this batch was listless and enveloped by feelings of ennui.  Maybe they were also feeling the heat, as the sun was now almost directly overhead.

A photographic study of capuchin monkey ennui
Capuchin monkey in a funk

This was the last true adventure of my Costa Rican trip.  We still had to have lunch, return to San José, have our final dinner and make our way to the airport the next day…but we were now on borrowed time.

Posts from the road

Reptile Walk at Night

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(Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)

The sun sets early in Costa Rica, so the day’s earlier combination of sun, heat and humidity had largely abated by 5:30 p.m. It was still raining but that only added to the overgrown green lushness of the nighttime rainforest. Yes, I was going on a reptile walk…at night.

In retrospect, it sounds kind of crazy. I normally wouldn’t pay for the “privilege” of walking through a dark reptile-infested rainforest with no equipment other than a flashlight and a camera. However, the previous night walk was so much fun that I had to give it a try.   When would I have such an opportunity again?

Our group heads into the rainy rainforest
Our group heads into the rainy rainforest

As with all of our tour leaders, this guy really knew what he was talking about.  He also was fearless:  he didn’t bother with frills like a rain jacket, nor did he hesitate to grab snakes from trees and show them to us.  The extent of his comfort with the rainforest was proven beyond a doubt when he started telling us about termites.

One of many termite nests we saw in Costa Rica. Mmmmm...carrots!
One of many termite nests we saw in Costa Rica. Mmmmm…carrots!

If you are ever stuck in a rainforest with no food, you should immediately seek out a termite nest.  Our guide said that termites are good for you and will help you survive.   They apparently taste like carrots…and yes, he was speaking from experience.  There is one important thing to remember, though.  You should kill the termites before eating them because they will feast on your tongue if they are still alive.   Good to know!

If you look closely, you can see that this guy had a messy dinner.
If you look closely, you can see that this guy had a messy dinner.

He told us a lot about the various tree frogs that we encountered, such as the very small “plant frog” that you see at the top of this post.  However, I think his comments about the termites made such an impression on me that I didn’t catch too many of the frog details.  To summarize:  there are lots of frogs everywhere, not just on the ground.  There are also very large toads on the ground.  And then there are the snakes…

This snake enjoyed slithering around on leaves
This snake enjoyed slithering around on very large leaves

Most people can handle the idea of snakes on the ground, even though they would rather not deal with snakes at all.  However, a lot of people get extremely spooked by snakes that don’t live on the ground.  I have received a lot of comments already about the tree-dwelling green viper photograph that I posted from the previous night walk.  Here, there were lots of snakes in both plants and trees.

This snake felt at home in both plants and trees
This snake felt at home in both plants and trees

At the end of the walk, we saw some crocodiles, caimans and tortoises…but these were in captivity.  After having seen these very large creatures in the wild, it didn’t feel right seeing them in enclosures.

Part of the "El Avion" Bar, inside the Contragate airplane. You can even climb into the cockpit at the back of this photo...so we did!
Part of the “El Avion” Bar, inside the Contragate airplane. You can even climb into the cockpit at the back of this photo…so we did!

After drying off a little bit, it was time for dinner.  We went to a bar/restaurant called “El Avion” (“The Airplane”).  It has this name because the bar is literally inside an airplane.  And it is not just any airplane:  it apparently is one of the 2 American airplanes that ended up in Central America during the scandalous “Iran-Contra Affair” of the 1980s.  While the other one was shot down in Nicaragua, this one never left the San José airport and eventually was unloaded for the princely sum of $3,000.00.  An entrepreneur saw an opportunity and the bar/restaurant was an immediate success.  The idea has legs:  we saw another nearby restaurant fashioned from a railway car.  Costa Ricans have a fun (and quirky) sense of humour.

Up next:  Will I make it through a daytime walk in the beautiful but scorching Manuel Antonio National Park?