Nicaragua Trip

Nicaragua (March 15-22)

Day 1: Lots of travel, got up at 2am, border crossing at 8am, arrived at the ferry at noon, took an insane roller coaster ride of a ferry across Lake Nicaragua to Ometepe Island, napped, kayaked to a couple of islands with white-faced and spider monkeys, watched the sunset. Kayaking was definitely the highlight of my day, I went by myself and I could actually hear myself think! I really enjoy how close our semester is, but it is always a welcome opportunity to get some peace and quiet. I paddled up and down the shore for about an hour, with the Monkey Islands being the farthest point away. They had several models of kayaks for rent but I snagged a sea kayak. Despite the tropical oasis I was paddling in, it brought me back to the crisp, ominous waters of Prince William Sound. I would love the opportunity to go sea kayaking on a long trip again.

Day 2: Visited Hacienda Magdalena, an organic coffee coop. WOW, it is ridiculous how hot this country is. Reminiscent of the sweaty-at-7am days in the Yucatan last summer. Just have to remind myself that I would definitely prefer very hot and dry than wet and still pretty hot but with mosquitoes. Over all this day was great. At the coffee farm, we had a discussion on biomass and carbon sequestration—coffee plantations are apparently particularly good carbon sinks. After that we hiked around and visited petroglyphs carved by peoples related to the ancient Mayans. In the afternoon we visited a watering hole called “Ojo de Agua” or Eye of Water. Fun and relaxing.

Day 3: We had about 5 hours of class today, focusing mostly on Tropical Ecology topics. YAY! We discussed Lake Ecology, Sustainable Development in the San Juan River, and Ecology of Emerging Diseases. I very much enjoyed our mini-epidemiology lecture. I would really love to take an epidemiology class this fall, because I have been thinking now for a while that it would be a good option for grad school. However a class focused solely on the subject would more solidifying. In the afternoon we had a very steep hike in the heat of the day to a beautiful 80m waterfall. This was one of my favorite hikes. I love a good challenge when climbing a  mountain (or in this case, Maderas Volcano).

Day 4: Travel day! Off to Granada. Back on the ferry-much calmer this time. Got to explore the city in the afternoon with friends. A lot of the buildings are renovated structures from the time of the Spaniards, so the architecture from that era is preserved all over Granada, including the church, peoples homes, and the governmental buildings. I enjoyed trying to distinguish between Spanish and non-Spanish influences.

Day 5: Today we went to the capital city, Managua, to visit the President’s House (Ortega doesn’t actually live there), the old burned Cathedral, and the National Palace. What a stark contrast to Europe! The upkeep of these buildings is minimal and there are no lavish decorations, elaborate architectural designs, or robust collections of artifacts. When visiting this area, it is more obvious that Nicaragua is indeed the 2^nd poorest country in all the Americas. Ridden by internal political dispute and major natural disasters in the late 1900s, it is evident that this country’s progress was halted dramatically and never resumed.

Day 6: Today was AWESOME. We went to Mombacho Volcano for a hike. We drove to the bottom of the volcano and took an old army unit mega-truck that could fit all 34 (plus teachers) of us in the back. We were told that the truck had been donated in the Cold War to Nicaragua by either Russia or East Germany because Nicaragua has had a long standing affiliation to communist and socialist ideals. We reached the biological station near the top of the volcano and set off in small groups to summit the different craters. It was nice being in a small group, conveniently with most of my friends, and my favorite teacher! I particularly liked this hike because the steep altitudinal gradient of the slopes along with the wind, created very short transitions between the several ecosystems on this mountain top: elfin forest, dry tropical forest, and cloud forest. On our hike we got to see fumaroles, which are holes in the ground that spew hot steam. Additionally, at the top of our hike we could see Ometepe Island with its two volcanoes, Granada, and Masaya Volcano (for tomorrows hike). What an amazing view. This hike was excellent.

Day 7: Today we visited the craft market in Masaya and everyone went a little tourist crazy. People bought hammocks and backpacks and scarves and shoes and paintings and jewelry and all sorts of souvenir items. It was actually pretty amusing to watch everyone so stressed out over all of the options and apparent need to spend like madmen. I got myself a cute woven belt and a few wooden plates for when I make dinner with Anj or Mark at school. In the afternoon we went to Masaya Volcano. Let me just say that if this volcano were in Costa Rica or America, the park would probably be permanently closed. We got to hike up to the top and look into the ACTIVE VOLCANO. Which was super awesome, when I could breathe. The sulfuric gases were so strong, literally everyone in the group immediately developed a cough. It was an amazing view to look into the crater. I couldn’t see a boiling pot of lava, but it definitely looked like what I imagined a volcano to look like (pics up soon on Facebook). Then, we hiked to the other, inactive crater. This hike was a little path circling the rim of the crater (sounds more dangerous that is actually is, don’t worry). We only did a portion of this hike due to time constraints, but this was an amazing way to finish the trip. We could look back and see Mombacho Volcano, which we hiked yesterday, and we could see into this regrown crater. We all felt like we were in Lord of the Rings or something. It was truly awesome. I don’t think my photographs will do it justice, but I will put them up anyways.

Day 8: Back home, finally. Just in time, I was starting to miss being at the center. Nicaragua was fun, but I like the culture of Costa Rica better. Fewer beggars, more friendly people, better kept facilities and infrastructure. I’m sure I will feel the exact same way about CR when its’ time to go home home. But for now I’m having a ball.

Arenal Volcano and Santa Rosa National Park

I’m a little behind; this is two and three weekends ago. Oops:

Arenal Volcano (March 3-4)

                Our first weekend away-- meaning we don’t have Saturday classes. We can actually have two days off at a time! A group of 8 of us went to Arenal Volcano about 3 hours away from the center. We arrived Saturday mid morning, got settled in the hotel, and explored the town. In the afternoon we took a guided hiking tour of the Volcano. On our hike we saw spider monkeys with babies, a howler monkey eating dinner basically on the side of the trail, and several toucans. Our guide was really amusing and when he’d see a toucan up the trail he’d holler “quick everyone, let’s go see the fruit loop!” and would take off jogging for us to follow. After our hike we stopped at the Balde hot springs. We ended up getting a free all you can eat buffet dinner with a chocolate fountain! You’d think we hadn’t been fed in months. We got to go on water slides, a swim up bar, and a disco pool! It was pretty neat. There were over 70 springs at this one spot and the water ranged from 70-120 degrees C!!

                The next morning we went on a Lost Canyon tour. This was AWESOME. We traversed this canyon by rappelling down 4 waterfalls. The heights were 25’, 150’, 45’, and 220’ in that order. It was unreal. Someone bought the pictures; I am working on getting those up on Facebook. We hiked in between each rappel to get the next and that was actually the scariest part. We had to do a bit of bouldering to get ourselves down and we also got to jump in a watering hole. I can’t even imagine going through the canyon during the wet season. That was definitely the highlight of the trip.

In the afternoon we hung out in our hostel, so I relaxed in a hammock looking up at Arenal. This volcano has previously been very active where visitors could see the lava flow at night. In the last year it suddenly became dormant and seismologists think that it is entering an inactive period.

Santa Rosa National Park (March 9-11)

Our camping trip!! YAY CAMPING. The hike to the beach was 11 km, hot, and rocky. It was great being on a harder hike. After we set up camp we went for a walk on the beach where BABY LEATHERBACK SEATURTLES were hatching!! We got to help them to the water. Check that off my list of life goals. They are only about the size of my palm when they hatch, but grow to be one of the heaviest reptiles on earth—up to over a ton. WOW.

We had classes in the afternoon and among other things discussed economic valuation of environmental goods. I really liked this lecture/discussion because it a globally applicable concept. Bottom line is that most products sold do not include the “real cost”, the cost to health, environment, etc. When we pay for items at the grocery or our water supply for example, we pay the price of production and transportation. What we don’t pay is the price it takes to sustainably produce these products. Commercial farmers are subsidized so that they can sell their crops at a lower cost than the value of their products. It is more expensive on a baseline economic value to give animals open spaces, grass instead of corn, natural growth rates instead of hormones. We pay for fast and efficient, not natural and ethical. Water companies charge the price for bringing people water, not the price to ensure they don’t pollute what they clean out of the water they bring to us. Those are just two examples but in all aspects of our life, it is important to consider the real cost. So when organic or sustainable products appear to cost more in the grocery store, they actually don’t because the cost to the environment, health, and ethical treatment of land and animals is included, or at least more included. It’s hard to sacrifice the money to purchase all organic food or offset the costs of your travel, but the cost will come back around later on with our health and the price it will eventually take to produce anything from our degraded land. Obviously, eliminating these externalities is no easy task, but it is important to put in the effort as a consumer to assist in internalizing these costs.

Overall camping was an awesome trip. Aside from there being sand everywhere, it was one of the best weekends so far. The beach was gorgeous and watching the sunset was so serene.  At night we could see hundreds of stars. We saw Jupiter, Venus, and Mars all at once! Also visible were Orion, the Seven Sisters, Ursa Major, and more. A good reminder at how small we really are.

Homestay Weekend

Homestay weekend was a doozy! It was quite a trial to speak in Spanish all weekend long and I commend those of my loved ones (Anja, Mark) for doing it all semester. Wow.

We left 8am for a lengthy 5 hour car ride up north to a relative's 50th wedding anniversary. On our way we passed Lake Arenal (where we are going this weekend) and Arenal Volcano. SO beautiful. I can't wait to visit this coming weekend. Around lunch time we stopped in a little pueblo for some typical Tico food and the lunch joint was right next to a big soccer field. I conveniently brought my Frisbee and we all tossed the disc together while waiting for food. The whole family was impressed with the accuracy and length of my throws. I felt super pumped to teach them and they were fast learners! I was with Luis Gerardo (LG), his mom, his uncle, and his aunt. It was a tight car ride, but we got to know each other quickly. Finally when we got to our destination, we could see Lake Nicaragua from our porch. That was cool.

That evening we went to the celebration. First there was a quick service at the church and then everyone (about 150 people) headed over to the community center. It started pouring down way on our walk over so we had to book it fast. When we got in there were tons of tables with anniversary decorations and a main table with a gorgeous big cake. We all took our seats and there was a procession of the "wedding" party. Once the celebrations began, the large marimba band started to play salsa music. There were two men playing the marimba at once with interlocking playing patterns. It was great to watch and listen. Then, the elderly couple celebrating their anniversary went to have a wedding salsa alone on the dance floor, meanwhile, all of the guests took turns coming up and clothes pinning cash to their clothes! It was such a crazy tradition, but it is apparently common here. The old couple was salsaing while covered in cash!

The next morning, we left for another long car ride back to Atenas and stopped for brunch at a cousin's house along the way. 20 people all speaking loud, fast Spanish at once. That was the hardest part of the homestay for sure. Couldn't understand a thing. Oh well. I am definitely improving my capacity to understand and hear Spanish. When we finally arrived at the house, LG gave me a tour of his grandfather's farm. They had an old well, coffee plants, lime and lemon trees, and a small river with a 30 ft waterfall in his backyard. It was refreshing to get out and hike around.  I came back to the center right before dinner and I was pooped. Exhausted and overwhelmed  I gladly went to bed early. It was a rewarding but tiring experience and from the sounds of other student's homestay experiences, Ticos are always with tons of family and doing crazy things! The weekend was nice but I am glad to be living here.

This week has been full of midterms, which is actually pretty relaxing. I've had plenty of time to study pool-side in my bikini and soaking up the rays. Feels like spring frolics for a whole semester. Pura Vida. Now I'm off to study for our final exam and pack for visiting the Volcano, hot springs, and more!