We are now at the Tabacon resort near the Areal active volcano about to hike the rain forest in the rain.
I have posted a video of our horseback riding, zip lining, swimming and butterfly watching at the Sueno Azul resort two days ago on YouTube at the link listed below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diWNutnwWEA
Hi,
Yesterday we took a 2 hr boat ride on a river that paralleled the carribean shore and then turned inland to a dock where we loaded into a bus. It was another ride on a bumpy road through farms and banana plantations to a main road. We then had lunch and left the bus for our rental car. I signed a lot of papers and hopefully none will come back to bite me. The Costa Rica chip for my Garmin GPS worked well and took us right to the Sueno Azul resort. The final mile of this journey was over two rickety suspension bridges that were just wide enough for the shoe sized care we rented to fit through. The resort is in the jungle boarded on one side and by the juncture of two rivers on the other side. Our room looks into the jungle across a pond with many bird and one large brown Iguana on top of a tree. This resort was recommended by the horse trainer Paul Stirberry of Southern Pines. He gives clinics here in February. This morning we rode horses through the jungle to a Zip Line area and zipped through the tree tops on eight different lines. You sort of zip from one platform to another. Then we walked a short distance to a series of waterfalls that end in a very large pool with a water slide. After an hour’s swim we went to a butterfly garden with then flying all around us. In Costa Rica they have a large butterfly with bright blue wings and others whose wings look like a owl or snake to dissuade predators. After the butterfly exhibit Wendy road back and Carl because of hip problems road back in a truck with the crew. The horse was a lot smoother. Wendy and a worker who didn’t speak English seemed to gallop most of the way back. We had a great lunch overlooking the pool and rivers followed by a lot of just lounging about.
We have made it to Costa Rica flying in on Nov 22nd. We had to catch a bus for a trip from the capital over the continental divide through the impressive mountain rain forest to the plain leading to the Caribbean. We toured a banana plantation and saw a lot of small farms including those with horses. Then we boarded an open boat for a trip to the shore and the Hotel Pachira Lodge near the Tortuguero national park for the preservation of sea turtles among other wildlife. The only way to this lodge is by boat or plane. We have taken a couple of boat tours into the jungle seeing much wildlife since being here. On the shore Wendy protected a young turtle hatchling from a local dog and we all watched it scamper to the shore and into the water. Good luck turtle. Only 2% survive. We also took a walk through the jungle that required rubber boots supplied by the lodge. They were needed but we saw a number of monkeys (howler and spider) among other wildlife. There also has been significant swimming, drinking and eating. Tomorrow we hop in the boat again for a two hour ride to a bus and then to a rental car office. I brought my GPS with special maps for Costa Rica and hopefully it will all work. None of the resorts we are visiting have a street address. That makes sense for the current resort as there are no roads anyway. We will drive to Hotel Hacienda Sueño Azul Resort, in Sarapiquí. a friend of ours Paul Striberry from Southern Pines gives riding clinics at this resort but will probably not be there during our stay.
While cleaning my desktop I found this picture from last years safari in Kenya. We are high over Masi Mara early in the morning viewing the wildlife. After a gentle touch down we all enjoyed a champagne breakfast.
While cleaning out some things in the basement I found this copy of the Journal of the Parenteral Drug Association that includes a lecture I gave in 1977. In this presentation I provided an overview of the Limulus (horseshoe crab blood derived test) lysate test for pyrogens (fever producing chemicals). All pharmaceuticals must be tested for these molecules that can cause fever and in some cases anaphylactic shock and death. Before the crab blood was used the test involved measuring the anal temperature of rabbits. Racks of rabbits would have temperature probes in their rear ends to see if there was a temperature increase after the pharmaceutical was injected. This chemical test was a great advance over the rabbit test although it resulted in a lot of out of work rabbits. By the way, the crabs lived through the removal of a considerable amount of their blue blood. We marked their carapaces before returning them to Barnegat Bay. We actually retrieved some the next year.
ts on everything from the latest science to history. It is much better than the junk on radio and is always with me on my iPOD Touch. One of my favorites is the Skeptics' guide to the Universe which debunks the latest pseudoscience. Led by a neurologist this podcast not only dumps on bad stuff but provides a weekly update on aspects of real science.An acquaintance of my was just acquitted of felony possession of a class D substance because someone was growing marijuana in pots in the woods near his place. His place is on state land and leased by a fox hunt for which he and his girlfriend are hound caretakers. He was acquitted after the prosecution presented it’s case because they did not establish that the plants were his. The trial was attended by about 50 middle schoolers who listened in rapt attention and the policeman on the stand described in great detail how to grow marijuana in the woods in pots. Also, a sample was sent to the State toxicology lab who never tested the samples chemically but said the dried stuff (dried by the local police force) looked to them like marijuana. They also presented that the “drug” dog didn’t give a hit on anything in the area. It turned out but was not presented at the trail that the dog was not a drug dog but just brought in to unnerve the suspect.
Beware of folks potting near your property.
