every day is an adventure: Explorations

Have you ever heard a howler monkey? Chances are, probably not. Or if you have, the monkey and his noisy comrades were probably in a zoo or a park or some sort of enclosure such that, if they became quite angry, would keep them from reaching you. On our school campus, however, we have a plethora of howler monkeys. They enjoy climbing in the trees overhead, and occasionally coming down on the back sides of the elementary school to peak in the windows from a low-hanging branch. This is a picture of one of our local friends:

(Photo courtesy of Tony, one of my fabulous co-workers who has a phenomenal camera). Anyway, the howlers are noisy. VERY noisy. They make a pant-hoot sound that often sounds like some sort of angry rampaging beast, rather than just a group of monkeys. This afternoon, the monkeys were howling surprisingly loudly, and in a tree right near the school swimming pool. Upon investigation, my friend Laura and I discovered that what originally appeared to be three monkeys was actually eight or nine. Why the mathematical difficulties? Well, as it so happens, the monkeys were actually copulating rather vigorously and continuing their trademark howls the entire while. We watched with curious giggles for a few minutes, until some of the pairs broke apart and began to hoot even more loudly-- even coming down the branches until they were only about 20 feet overhead. Let me tell you, if you see an animal like this monkey pictured here baring his teeth and hooting (probably howler code for "get away from my mate choices, you big pale hairless ape!"), you should probably do as we did, and make your exit.

This week has marked the first change from two weeks of torrential downpours leading to the peak of the rainy season-- and about time, too! After ten straight days of rain, tempers were flaring, people were irritable, and the boarding students were stuck inside, Cat in the Hat-style, forced to watch the deluge with little options other than TV or movies. Parasailing? Cancelled. ATV rides? Led to people wiping out, falling, getting muddy, etc due to poor road conditions. The beach or the pool? Forget it.

This Monday, for whatever reason, the weather changed completely. The past four days have been filled with sun and fluffy white clouds against a perfect blue sky. It seems like a completely different universe from the weather that we were enduring before, and I am crossing my fingers that the sun is actually a sign that the rainy season will end 2-3 weeks early this year. In addition, students all over campus are being struck with strange maladies. One day student has a terrible case of chiggers-- all over her body, scabbed and infected (I'll spare you the details). Apparently she fell asleep in the grass in her yard.... never a good idea in a tropical climate such as this. A few dorm students have had allergic reactions to some sort of insect bite. So far, the worst I have suffered is about a half dozen mosquito bites on my leg, but now more than ever we have to be careful of dengue. Because of the two weeks of heavy rain, a plethora of mosquitos will hatch soon, and many of them may carry the dengue virus. For those who don't know, dengue is a dangerous virus that has no treatment and no cure short of rest and crossing your fingers. It causes immense joint and bone pain, fever, and other fun symptoms. If you come down with dengue once, you will be very sick, but you should survive. If you come down with it again, there's something like a 35-40% mortality rate (if I remember correctly.) For those thinking of a visit, not to worry... these cases are actually pretty rare-- one older gentleman who retired here 17 years ago told me he has never known a gringo to get dengue fever. :) Knock on wood!

In other news, two weekends ago I visited the extraordinary Volcan Tenorio with the Alcantara family. Our hotel--candlelit, rustic, isolated, and beautiful--was situated on a freshwater river, some of which was piped around a wood fire into a stone "natural" jacuzzi. The lodge was tranquil, refreshing, and filled with beautiful wildlife-- including many birds, butterflies, and even a sloth high in the tree above our cabin! The second day, we hiked the volcano park-- about 5 miles total-- although it really brought a true meaning to "hiking." The path began flat, but soon thereafter became a slippery mess of tree stumps and volcanic rock, about 24 inches wide. On one side was usually a steep drop; we were climbing 2100 feet up the mountainside. Our guide was a local man, age 44, who told us he had been coming to the volcano since the age of 7 with his father... the volcano park is only 13 years old. Our path up the side also sent us through a waist-deep river, past a beautiful waterfall, into hot springs, and over bridges made only of a log across a ravine (Indiana Jones-style!). In addition, there was some amazing wildlife, like this awesome frog...

And this ENORMOUS millipede!

But the best of all was the scenery... it was worth the ridiculous hike and the aching muscles for two days to see a sparkling azure waterfall like this:

And to hike through some bona fide old growth rainforest. It's never been torn down, and it's absolutely incredible. An entire ecosystem!