There is little evidence visible to tourists that over the last century much of Central America was torn apart by political and corporate dictatorships, and subject to numerous overt and covert armed interventions and military coups planned, funded, and supported by the US government. Certainly most of the people turistas interact with every day in the service industries are under 30 years of age, born since the last peace accords were signed in the region, and likely to be more concerned with earning enough money to buy US-branded clothing than dodging US-branded bullets.

A key moment in unravelling covert US support for mercenaries in Sandinista Nicaragua took place on October 5, 1986. That day, the Nicaraguan military shot down a US-built cargo plane that was delivering arms and ammunition to the counter-revolutionary contras inside Nicaraguan territory. One US crew member survived, and it was his story and the attempted cover-up that that eventually led to the Iran-Contra scandal and the downfall of NSA officer Oliver North. The shot-down plane was a Fairchild C-123, one of two identical cargo planes purchased with profits from US arms deals with Iran – the other was sitting in a hanger in San Jose, Costa Rica, and when the scandal broke, it was abandoned.

Years later, a resort near Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, purchased the aircraft, dismantled and shipped it across land and water, and re-assembled it as the centerpiece of a new restaurant at the top of a hill overlooking the ocean. The restaurant is called El Avion, and a sign over the bar inside makes the only on-site reference to the aircraft’s story, although the resort website describes the context and lets readers know that the Costa Rican government has never explained how it came to own the plane. Fascinating how a symbol of US aggression has become a place for tourists to enjoy happy hour – the owners may not have turned a sword into a ploughshare, but one less warplane reigning terror on civilians is certainly to be celebrated!

Buenos dias personas marvillosas,

On our second full day in Santa Elena we traveled to the world renowned Monteverde Cloud Forest. We got up at 6:30 am to catch the bus at 7:30 about 3 blocks away… it was the strangest (raro) thing… the bus left the stop 6 minutes before it was supposed to… fortunately, we were there 10 minutes early. In our travels to far, buses are between 10 and 50 minutes late.

The Monteverde Cloud Forest is about 6 km from Santa Elena, so the bumpy only took about 25 minutes. We were on the trails at 8 am for our 4 hour walk. The weather was fabulous with a wonderful blue sky (this was the first time we started the day in jeans and running shoes since Mexico City at the beginning of our trip). Though we walked for 4 hours we only saw about 3% of the reserve, the rest is closed and under strict protection.

Tropical cloud forests are incredibly rich ecosystems, supporting 20% of the world’s plant diversity and 16% of the vertebrae diversity in only 0.4% of the earth’s surface. A bit of history here… the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was established in 1972, in the face of growing threat of people moving up the mountain, clearing the land for farming. Wilford Guindon, one of the first Quakers to move to Monteverde, and a visiting scientist, George Powell with his wife, joined efforts to promote the establishment of a natural reserve. There is now over 4,000 hectares managed by the Tropical Science Centre, a not for profit environmental organization.

Now for our walk… we started without a tour guide and were all alone for the first 40 minutes or so. It was reminiscent of many things… reminded us a little of the trails in Stanley Park, the upper ecosystems were very fanciful places where other type beings could exist (little people, fairies or even Horton Hears a Who)… it also felt very X-File-ish (all you X-Files fans would understand).

We could hear all kinds of birds in the forest, but it was so dense with the trees about 200 feet high, we didn’t see any for a while. We ran into a group of fellow trail travellers who were surrounding a tour guide pointing out the red squirrel that was apparently the fastest squirrel in Costa Rica. It was a good squirrel, giving everyone time to take photos.

We moved on, leaving the group to look some more at the squirrel… they were happy seeing their first mammal in the cloud forest. The next group we ran into were very serious birders…. apparently they were looking at something, but we couldn’t see it.

Moving along these wonderful lush trails, moisture dripping of the leaves of the plants we could see closer to the ground, we arrived at the division continental: on one side rivers flow to the Pacific Ocean and on the other side, to the Altantic Ocean. The Great Divide runs from Alaska all the way down to Tierra del Fuego. We walked along the ridge feeling very happy and in wonderment over the way the earth is organized.

Further on that trail we found a very cool waterfall (Bridal Falls is better!) and on the last leg of the first 3 hour walk we were invited to look through amazing, tripod-mounted binoculars at a male Resplendent Quetzal… it was gorgeous and very resplendent indeed. Quetzals were very important to pre-Colombian cultures throughout Central America but are increasingly hard to find.

We took a tea break and then started on our last hour long trail… it was gruelling for me… up steps, down steps, my knees were finally rebelling. The joy in this part was that we walked across a 300 ft long suspension bridge between two mountain sides. It takes you into the forest canopy. It was very cool being above or near the tops of the canopy… the coolest thing though… Don walked across it and back with great dignity (for those of you who don’t know, Don has vertigo)!

When we were waiting for the bus to leave the cloud forest, a female Resplendent Quetzal honoured us with her presence about 15 feet up in a tree very close to the bus…. the birders I mentioned earlier were there and very thrilled at the sighting and took tons of pictures.

One last thing… there is a hostel next to ours that is called “The Sloth” which is a weird name for a hostel… hostellers are anything but sloths.  One of the people we have met travelling last month suggested we look for sloths… well… Don saw one in a tree on the way to the cloud forest and yes… I saw the same one in the same tree when we returned to town six hours later… now that is true sloth.

La felicidad y el amor para todos ustedes!

After two weeks on the coast, we endured another gruelling day on the bus, climbing ever higher and higher into the mountains, over rougher and rougher roads to reach Monteverde, famous for a cloud forest reserve, and numerous trails and wildlife attractions all designed to drain as many colones from touristas as possible. Drawn by forces beyond our control, today we took in two attractions, Jardín de Mariposas (the butterfly garden), and “Natural Wonders” — a slow 90-minute tram ride through the forest. Tomorrow we plan to take in the cloud forest. In the meantime, here are some notes and photos from today.

Even on the 2 km uphill walk to see the butterfly exhibition, we encountered much wildlife, including a group of white-throated capuchins (a monkey very common in this area), some white-nosed coatls (the local version of the raccoon), and numerous birds we could not identify.

The Butterfly Garden is a family-run facility with international volunteers invited in as tour guides — and our guide, Lindsay, did a really good job of taking is through the insect and butterfly exhibit, and then into the large enclosed gardens, each representing some of the butterflies one would find in different parts of Costa Rica. The first garden featured the famous morpho butterfly that Costa Rica is so well known for, although hard to get a good photo because only the top of their wings are blue, so visible only in flight. The owl butterfly, featured below, is happy to sit still for photos! Also featured below are a number of other butterflies and a leafcutter ant.

It was then over to “Natural Wonders”, a former farm that was allowed to return to forest about 15 years ago, at which time an aerial tram was built to slowly take vistors through the area — it took about 90 minutes to do the trip, with one stop for a walking tour and a second stop for a treetop coffee break. It wasn’t really a “wonder” but certainly a relaxing afternoon floating through the trees. We did catch glimpses of a number of birds including a yellow-winged vireo, a quail-dove, a yiguirro (a clay-coloured robin – Costa Rica’s national bird), a blue-crowned motmot (pictured below), a chachalaca, and a piapia (brown jay). We also spotted a large group of white-nosed coatls, and some agoutis – both also pictured below.

By the way, just before I took the picture of the capuchin monkey, I said to Deborah — “they’re in a perfect position over the trail to drop down on us like in the movies” and as I stopped to take some pictures, one swung to a branch that promptly broke and while it quickly grabbed the next branch, an 8-foot section of the tree crashed to the ground, about an arms-length from Deborah. Spooky!

Anthropologists interested in cultural variations among humans frequently engage in various forms of participation and observation of cultural practices – which includes spending time at the research location, interacting with subjects, and taking notes – in other words, fieldwork.

So it is with our “cultural anthropologist” hats on that we left the comforts of the Tamarindo tourist zone and caught the chicken bus to a dusty little town in cattle country to witness what was described to us as the most important event of the year in Santa Rosa – the annual bull riding “Fiesta Brava”. This is not a decision we took lightly – we’re both concerned about how animals are treated at events like this. Nevertheless we arrived early enough that they were still setting up the perimeter fencing, but the mini-midway was open, so we grabbed a plate of fried chicken and a couple of beers and watched as the crew finished setting up. We were also aware that tonight was special because it was being broadcast live on television; there was a large crew from the television station setting up cameras and lights. It was a small ring, but they had as many cameras and crew members on the job as Hockey Night in Canada, including a camera on a long boom to get overhead action shots.

We purchased tickets for seating in the stands – 10,000 colones each which is $20 US – the other option was to buy lower priced tickets for standing room around the ring, but we had been told the event would go three hours and opted for a seat in the shade. The stands were about half full when a school drum and glockenspiel band marched in to perform for about 20 minutes. When they marched out, about 100 people, mostly men and mostly 20-something, many in t-shirts promoting the various corporate sponsors, spread themselves around the ring. Most were in running shoes although a few were in flip-flops; some had capes or costume parts, a few had fabric advertising signs, many had drinks in their hands. We were puzzled to say the least. And then they opened the gate to let a large bull run around the ring, alternatively trying to avoid, or charge at, this ground crew that was taunting him. Members of this large crew in turn, ran around trying to touch the bull but at the same time escape being gored by its sharp horns. This continued for about 15 minutes to the great delight of the audience before three vaqueros on horseback steered the bull out through the gate.

It was finally time for the first rider, and after much fanfare from the most annoying announcers we’ve ever listened to (there was three or four talking the whole time, laughing uproariously at their own comments or at what was happening on the field – we’re not convinced the audience was paying them any attention), the gate opened – unfortunately the rider was left hanging on the gate itself, so much for the ride! This is where the ground crew steps in to provide the entertainment – running in front of, and away from, the loose bull for about ten minutes before it is guided back to the gate. While the next rider was getting ready, they let another bull out for the ground crew to taunt and run from, again rescued from torment by the three men on horseback.

The second rider only made it a few feet out of the gate before being thrown and stomped on – and promptly carried off the field to the medical room below the stands. Again the now loose bull ran around, the ground crew ran around, and then the bull was sent back through the gate. And again, another bull was released for the ground crew to taunt. By now, it was dark, the stands were completely full, and the standing area around the ring was jam-packed. As we looked around it was evident there were very few tourist-anthropologists in the crowd – it was mostly Costa Ricans, including lots of families. Many had picnic bags or coolers – well-stocked for the long event. Three rows down from us a bottle of Johnny Walker was being shared by one group of friends and family members.

The third rider made it only a little further into the ring before being thrown and stomped on, and quickly picked up and taken to the medical room. At the end of the first hour it was Bulls 3, Riders 0.

Before the next bull was released, a man in a messy blonde wig, large fake breasts, and a dress took centre field to perform a rather lewd dance – he then ran into the stands to dry-hump male audience members, pose for photos, and pretend to pole-dance – all to the great enjoyment of the crowd, and the men in particular who were returning his lewd gestures, grabbing at him, and enthusiastically embracing him. Our neighbour told us he and some of the other characters in the ground crew are quite famous.

Following another episode with a loose bull, the field was cleared and two street-hockey size goal nets were set up and two five-person soccer teams took the field. They played for a few minutes and we thought it was rather lame half-time entertainment – and then they released a small bull onto the field and that really mixed things up, and a few minutes later, a second small bull. By this time, some of the ground crew had returned to make sure the two bulls were properly motivated to interfere with the soccer game – and we have to admit this was actually quite entertaining – the soccer players working hard to score some goals but avoid the wrath of two loose bulls.

After the game the fourth rider shot out of the gate on a very angry bull but he held on for 30 or 40 seconds before losing his grip and being thrown onto the field. We stayed for several more rounds of riders and random bulls, but this rider lasted the longest of them all. At the 2-1/2 hour mark we made our way out to the dark and car-filled street to find a taxi back to Tamarindo, rather than chance having to wait forever for a ride at the end.

Our fieldwork complete, we retired to a small bar near our apartment to compare notes and reflect on our observations. It was clearly a highly anticipated event rooted in the lives of farmers, ranchers, and others in the region. The crowd knew some of the bulls and riders, as well as some of the more outrageously-dressed members of the ground crew; they laughed and cheered, it was a family event, and it was being filmed for broadcast to an even larger audience. We were happy we had left the tourist beachfront for a glimpse of life in the valley.

By the way faithful readers, on Sunday our blog passed the “1000 views” mark – thanks for following our travels!

We’re in Tamarindo on the north coast of Costa Rica, for the first extended stay of our travels. This means a reprieve from catching cabs, buses, and planes for a while, which has been exhausting. To get here from Granada, we caught a bus to Liberia on Thursday, which included crossing the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border. These two countries are not getting along right now, and although we were not crossing a disputed portion of the border, it took over an hour waiting in the hot sun to get our passports stamped just to leave Nicaragua, and then an hour in line to get our Costa Rica entry stamp – and although everyone warned us to have proof we were leaving the country at a later date, the official did not look at us or ask us any questions about our stay as he stamped our passport. Then we had to wait another 30 minutes for another official to look through the bus and a few of the bags in the underside bins. We had wisely decided to stay the night in Liberia – we’re getting used to buses leaving late and taking longer to get us to our destination than promised, so doing one section at a time reduces the stress.

True to form, the bus on Friday from Liberia to Tamarindo did not leave at noon as posted, but at 1:10 pm, and took not under two hours, but over three hours to travel 78 kms. But it’s good to be here!

We’re in a small apartment with a great view of the Pacific Ocean, although the view comes with having to climb a mini-Grouse Grind every day to get home from the wide sandy beach Tamarindo is famous for. With great wave action all day, Playa Tamarindo is also popular with surfers and we’re having a great time jumping in and out of the big waves. On Saturday we walked along several kilometres of beach and rocky points as far as Playa Langosta – Deborah spotted a pair of American Oystercatchers – a distant relative of the Black Oystercatchers we often see in the tidal pools along the seawall in Vancouver. We’ve seen a lot of other birds, from hummingbirds to pelicans; Costa Rica is a very popular destination for birders.

Tamarindo, in fact most of Costa Rica, is extremely popular with Canadians and Americans – some here for vacations, others here indefinitely. On Saturday, there was a feeling of mass panic in the air when the town’s main cable TV and Internet service crashed. That would have left only a couple of bars with satellite reception able to project the Superbowl game. To the great relief of vacationers and expats, the local service came back on line early Sunday morning, and all was well. Neither of us follow US football, so we arbitrarily decided to cheer for New York, and they didn’t let us down. The broadcast here in Costa Rica is a direct feed from NBC, so we got you see all the commercials everyone makes a big fuss about. We’re not sure what the big deal is –most of the commercials were as lame as they are during the rest of the year – with one possible exception: we quite enjoyed the Doritos spot with the dog and missing cat. That one made us laugh out loud.

One of the most annoying aspects of travelling in the tropics is the number of insects that exist only to bite or sting touristas. Daytime seems to be okay, but after dark, despite liberal applications of various anti-bite creams and sprays, we’re being eaten alive, and we’ve been cautioned to shake out clothes and towels in case scorpions are hiding in the folds, waiting to sting us!