Slothin' and Surfin' in Punta Uva and Puerto Viejo

     Hello, Family and Friends! I hope no one was worried by the absence of any new web entries this past week...we traveled last Sunday to Puerto Viejo and Punta Uva on the southern Caribbean coast and did not have Internet access from our various rooms. We've just returned today to EARTH and will log a fast entry before we leave early tomorrow morning for Tortuguero National Park on the northeastern coast.

     We had a fabulous time on the Caribbean and decided that those who live and vacation in Puerto Viejo and Punta Uva worship a few critical things: surfing, big waves

"la salsa brava"), scalding hot sunshine, great food, Bob Marley and all that entails, beautiful bright colors, skimpy clothing (or no clothing at all!), funky jewelry made from shells, coconut wood, and beads, and palm trees full of "pipas" offering delicious coconut water to anyone fortunate enought to have a machete on their person with which to hack them open (we never acquired a machete, but we made friends with a few folks who did!).

     Just a few highlights: a five-and-a-half-hour hike into Manzanillo National Park with a local guide named Florentino (Tino) who taught us more in that short time about botany, spices, reptiles, birds, and mammals of the rainforest than we had ever thought we could possibly learn.

We smelled lemon grass, citronella, cinnamon bark, allspice, bay rum, and many other fragrences whose names I've forgotten, saw a variety of gorgeous birds including toucans, came close but not too close to four more eyelash vipers quietly sleeping the day away, saw from a distance of mere inches a tiny hummingbird nest small enough to fit into the palm of my hand with two tiny babies inside blinking their bright black eyes.

We drank from our first pipas,

ate cocoa beans right out of the pod Tino hacked open with his machete (it takes quite a lengthy process and not a little sugar to turn the raw cocoa bean into the chocolate most of us adore and covet, but nonetheless the taste of bitter chocolate was recognizable), and the list could go on for days. We returned from that hike filthy, exhausted, and happy, especially Glen, who faithfully and uncomplainingly carried Leonard on his back for nearly the entire hike.

     Other highlights include bodysurfing the waves at Playa Punta Uva ("playa" means "beach"), recently voted one of the five most beautiful beaches in the world. We found it on a fluke, as signs are few and far between, and we returned to ride the waves with newly purchased boogie boards - a must-have for anyone serious about having fun on the Caribbean!

     We are keeping up with our schoolwork, too: Martin writes and draws daily about our activities, and William even wrote a short paper titled "How to Boogie Board Properly" or something along those lines! Our math problems, too, frequently include the wildlife we are encountering. For example, while hiking and surfing at Cahuita National Park a few days ago just north of Puerto Viejo, I slowly became aware that some pieces of leaves were continually raining down around me. It was a beautiful hot afternoon, and Leonard and I were playing in the sand under a tree on the beach making Frosty the Sandman. (Yes, Mom, he's still obsessed with Frosty, even in Costa Rica!)

     Finally I realized that white-faced monkeys were up in the tree above our heads and were throwing leaves at us! I was astonished, and Leonard had a screaming fit when I abandoned Frosty and ran to get the camera. He was not impressed with the monkeys! Later, that same troop threw pieces of coconut at other hikers on the beach! I was delighted with the experience, and I think Glen is jealous that they didn't throw anything at him!

     Here's the tie-in to math: we are having fun creating problems like this one: A white-faced monkey throws 18 coconuts at Mommy and then throws 26 more coconuts at Mommy. It takes a short break before throwing 41 more coconuts at her. In the end, it throws a total of 92 coconuts at Mommy. How many coconuts does it throw at her the last time?

     Another thrill was receiving permission to hold a three-month-old baby two-toed sloth being cared for at the Sloth Refuge and Rehabilitation Center near Cahuita.

This infant was brought to the center at one month of age and had either been abandoned by its mother (it very possibly fell out of its tree and was stuck there; we were told that sloths only descend to the ground once a week, at which time they urinate and defecate, before returning to the treetops) or had been orphaned.

     Sloths depend on their mothers for an entire year and are helpless unless they learn how to survive in the wild. This three-month-old infant felt like a real baby to me...I cried when I had to give him up. We "adopted" a six-month-old female sloth named Kawika before we left, and were given a beanie baby sloth to remember her by. Oh, it was a grand day!

     We even met Buttercup, the fourteen-year-old resident female sloth who helped catapult the entire center into existence when she was brought in as an infant...She resides in the center and is a friendly, docile female, except that she was in heat while we were there. It was great fun explaining this to William and Martin, as well as what her mating call, the long, piercing whistle she erupted with periodically, meant. Between Buttercup, the occasional topless woman, and a few couples overcome with passion in the sand that we occasionally hiked by, the Chown boys are getting quite an education. That's why you travel, isn't it?!

     That's all for now...there's so much more to say, but my time is up! We travel by boat to Tortuguero, as there are no roads into the park whatsoever! This should be quite an adventure, as crocodiles and sharks abound in these waters. We won't be swimming in the ocean these next few days, but we do hope to do some ocean fishing with a guide. We'll let you know how it goes...

Comments

[K.K. Trucco]

Dear Chowns:

We are completely overwhelmed by your experiences so far in Costa Rica! You are experiencing more there in this short time than we will in a lifetime! It is so amazing to read your entries -- between reading your stories and "Memoirs of A Geisha" (our latest book club book, Becky), I am living part of my life in Japan and part in Costa Rica!
We are glad to hear how well things are going, and the ants sound like life in Los Angeles -- minus the Terminix man!
Ha ha!
love,
The Trucco's

[Ranger Trucco]

Dear Martin:

i saw your cool picture of the leaf!it is bigger than you. keep sending pictures!

from Ranger

[Mrs. Hogg]

Dear William and Chown Family,
Did Leonard get to hold the sloth? We were sad too when we heard the baby sloth was abandoned. We are going on vacation. Christopher is so excited about coming. He leaves in 6 days. We will write to you after spring break. Adios! Love, Mrs. Hogg's Class

[Sherrie Martin]

I just read your last blog entry. Too much has been happening around here for me to read it sooner! Four local funerals (Rosie Pool, George Todd, Bob Jacobson and Gene Hart) and five meetings for me this week have kept me and Papa occupied. Papa Bear told me that I'd like reading about your experiences and he was right. I was delighted to see photos of all of you. Do you think that we can use the boogie boards at the beach in TC? Can you show me how to do it?

Spring is coming to Illinois. Our yard is full of birds. However, snowflakes were falling on them this morning; not enough for a Frosty, however. Leonard had better stick with Frosty the Sandman!

Raegan's cat had four kittens yesterday. They have homes promised for three of them already. That's a good thing. Ashes is fine and seems to be settling a little. He certainly respects the spray bottle of water! What a cuddly kitty he is. He and Mitts regularly have "Mexican standoffs" and Mitts howls pitifully during these. Ashes tries chasing Mitts to the top of the refrigerator, but he can't quite get the hang of it and comes crashing back down on my desk. Mitts is relieved that he can't get up there as yet. Ashes and Boss get along better than that. All of the cats are enjoying fresh air on the screened-in porch from time to time.

I have to admit that William and Martin now know more biology than I know. That's wonderful! Keep learning and having fun at it!

Love you all. Other

[Sherrie Martin]

Bec, Glen, and kids,

What a wonderful experience we are all enjoying thru your trip and your web site. Keep the stories and the pictures coming. We miss all of you!

Love, Dad