Costa Rica 2000

Wednesday, August 2, 2000  - Corcovado, Costa Rica

We took the Madrigal River hiking tour this morning.  We walked north on the beach 1/4 mile to the Corcovado Ranger station.  There we paid $6 each to walk in the park.  You could also camp here, but the tents were much more primitive than those as Costa Rica Expeditions.  We had seen quite a lot of people hiking up and down the beach with backpacks.  Many looked college-aged.  The trail we took was parallel to the beach.  We saw acudamundi, a white, long-nosed creature related to racoons, a black hummingbird with a blue head, howler monkeys and a wren.

The fruit of the Guatil tree in Corcovado contains a natural dye called India Ink.  When you chop the seeds inside with a sharp instrument, you can paint it on your skin.  It goes on clear, but an hour or two later, you have a dark blue or black tattoo that last for 1 to 1 ½ weeks.  I had a ring on my middle finger, and a face on my arm.
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The trail ends at the Madrigal River (or continues north 6 hours to the next ranger station).  We could see the ocean to the left and river and jungle to the right.
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We walked up the river for 1/4 mile or so to a deep swimming hole.  Skyler and Asher really enjoyed swimming.  It was warm in the jungle.  We learned that the soil is only 3 inches deep - most of it washes out to the ocean.  So trees build a lot of support above ground.  New trees sprout up near the canopy and send shoots and roots down to the ground.
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We walked back down the river to the ocean, then 3/4 to 1 mile back to our tents along the beach.  The sun was bright and warm.

For lunch we had cheese burritos, rice, beans, bread, meat (beef), salad with asparagus, yellow sweet potatoes and juice.

This morning it was hazy to sunny.  There was a brief shower around noon.  It is windier now than it has been since we've been here - 10 to 15 mph.  Mostly cloudy.  I bet it will rain this afternoon.  After lunch, it did rain, so we went to the hammock cabin and all took naps from about 3 to 4:30 pm.  We stayed there until supper at 7 pm.  The boys had piña coladas.  Asher didn't like his, so I drank get.
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The boys have spent a lot of the past 2 days with 17 year-old Richard from Atlanta, looking for frogs, toads, crabs, and damming up the rivers.  Supper was shrimp, rice, (no beans!), squash, bread, and the juice was papaya and orange.  Asher ate one roll and 2 glasses of water.  Good thing he ate a good breakfast and ate at least 5 cheese burritos at lunch!
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We walked on the beach after supper, and saw stars!!  It has been too rainy every night to see stars.  We were looking for turtles, but didn't find any.  We saw red crabs and toads.  The boys went to bed at 9 pm, I wrote these notes after 9 pm.  The sheets feel damp.  I washed my hair after lunch and it wasn't dry until 6 pm (I have very short hair).  Even though I see stars, I hear thunder.