Here is one of the cuties we saw this morning.
There were many many of these little tiger crabs attached to the logs,
A pretty good sized iguana
November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving! It is morning again and I’m hoping to catch up before today’s activity--a sunset cruise for which we are being picked up at 1:30. In my zeal to tell you about the monkeys yesterday I never even got to tell you about the boat trip through the mangrove jungle. We went by van to the edge of the Damas Estuary under the capable tutelage of our very young but knowledgeable guide, Mau (short for Mauricio). Soon we were boarding a small boat which held just the eleven of us and a pair of newly weds, plus Mau and the boat driver.
I had been in a mangrove before in Florida although I think this one is even thicker and more lush. The water was chocolate brown because of the rain storm the previous night but Mau told us that it is full of many varieties of fish and other wildlife, many endangered. “Endangered” is such an ominous word, but Mau said that if a prowler tried to break into our house we would be “endangered”, but as long as the police protect us we do survive. The same with the endangered plants and animals who were previously ravaged by the hand of man but are now protected and thus flourishing. He pointed out different birds, “endemic” to the area which Tom promptly whispered to me that he meant “indigenous” not “endemic.” Later we looked up both words and Mau was right. Your vocabulary lesson for the day: endemic—native to a particular region and NOT found elsewhere; indigenous—native to a particular region but can be found elsewhere. A small but important distinction.
Anyway, we got a thorough lesson in the varieties of mangrove ((red, white, black and pineapple), all of which are protected by the government and no longer used to make furniture and other objects despite their hardwood desirability, and the ecosystem in which the flora and fauna are all inter-related and part of the food chain. Mau scooped up a little tiger crab from an overhanging branch and though only an inch wide, it had claws that could draw blood from a finger and which serve as protection from certain predators but not from hawks and other flying things that ultimately do in the poor creatures. Old age is seldom in their future.
Both Mau and the driver could spot birds, iguanas, crabs and snakes hidden in the trees and at one point from about twenty yards pointed out a boa constrictor coiled up in the crook of some branches. We approached it and I couldn’t see it until we were practically on top of it. But there it was no longer coiled, slithering along a narrow branch. There are crocs as well, but we didn’t see any. And of course, monkeys. We were told that because of the rain we probably wouldn’t see any but just as the tour was about to end the trees started to move and just like in the morning they were suddenly alive with leaping, swinging, acrobatic capuchins. Some of them were picking coconuts and trying to puncture them with more or less success. One guy had gotten inside his coconut and was scooping the innards out with his fingers and then licking each finger daintily just like people do. One or two leapt onto the boat top which created a clatter not commensurate with their small size. If you didn’t know better you’d think they were performing just for our benefit.
Lunch was included back on land, surprisingly good, mahi mahi, rice and beans and fried plantains, an exact duplicate of what I had had the day before at the beach restaurant. And last night we had our personal chefs cook for us again and we had mahi mahi yet again. No problem, it’s always delicious. I incorrectly identified the chefs the other day—they are Renzo (not Gilbert), and Ivan, pronounced EE-von. They are coming again tomorrow night and we are having steak, not fish, even though David and Kelly are leery of the Costa Rican cuts of beef. Renzo assured us we would like it so we shall see.
Today is Thanksgiving Day, but there is no turkey on our agenda. Instead we are being fed on our sunset cruise and if the bill de fare is mahi mahi, I for one shall be muy contente.
A very happy turkey day to all.
