Trusting

The other day we were watching this couple (of sloths) as they moved around the canopy.  I think this is mating season since we have seen them in the same spot a couple of days before.  Anyway, the big male (this shot was taken from a long ways away) was out grabbing a bit to eat (sort of speak).  If you notice you see the bright orange and black strips on its back (female does not have this coloring), if you look real close you can see the female hiding in the leaves just off it’s right.

After a while, the male sees some really good leaves down below.  So what does he do?  He hangs upside down from this little limb as he reaches for the prize.  There is nothing between him and the ground at this point.  I wonder if he had an engineer inspect that limb before doing this or maybe he just trusted that it would not break and have him and the limb go down.

These creatures have survived for a long time and I guess they know what can and can’t be trusted. 

Banditos

Yesterday afternoon I spotted a bunch of thieves up in the tree, our papaya tree.  These guys were going to town on all of our fruit.  Now I guess I don’t have to worry about how we were going to get the fruit off the tree, there won’t be any left after these guys get through.  I am sure they will be back to finish what they started.

Something else appeared yesterday that we have never seen before in the wild, a two toed sloth.  This one was in a hurry to climb up since there were three squirrels harassing it.  The tree was in our yard.

This sloth is more genetically advanced than the three toed variety and is much more aggressive. 

Migration of the Birds

This is the first time I have lived in an area where we are directly in the path of migrating birds.  The only thing is these birds are vultures.  Hundreds and thousands of them almost blackening out the sky (well may be not that bad), but you get the picture.  If you are dead somewhere lying around these guys would be picking you clean in no time.  With all of these birds, how do they eat and where?  They roost in the trees at night and turn the green to black.  They all seem to get a long.  The Talamanca canton has been recognized as a key site to track and study raptor migration, which takes place August to December, with October the peak observation period. Between 50,000 and 500,000 birds of prey, of as many as 17 species, pass by the Kéköldi observation towers in just one day.

 

The other thing I have noticed (now that the sun is back with us today), is the angle of the sun.  As the earth tilts northward the sun changes a lot in a short time here.  I remember living up north and it would usually take a week or so to see a dramatic change but here it is only a few days.  We used to get sun in our living room in the morning now it is all in the shade. Soon it will be long pants and long sleeves (not)!

Just Hangin Out

Nothing else better to do on a Friday afternoon than just hangin out and chewing on a few tasty leaves.  This female was right across the road from us and spotted her while sitting in our living room.  She was kind enough to pose for a few shots.  Shortly after this it started to rain and rained for most of the night.

 

Some Observations

After living here a very few months, there are some things that stick out in your head and wonder.  Not being completely fluent in Spanish it strikes me as odd as when you go to a governmental office or bank you are talking to people behind glass windows.  Most of the time you can not hear what they are saying since there is no amplification of their voice.  Maybe this is why so many things get done wrong since no one understands what the other is saying and leave thinking that what they said was understood.

Another thing is that there are some many things that live here in Costa Rica that you do see, mainly since they live in the upper reaches of the canopy.  One such creature, a very seldom seen Canopy Lizard is just one of those things.  This one just happened to fall out of the tree right in front of us.  Had we not been there it too would have gone unnoticed.

 

We have seen and recorded some 40 different kinds of birds that visit our area and as the seasons change so will the birds.  Yes, the seasons do change here, they go from warm to not  quite as warm.  Mainly it’s the fruit in the trees that bring in the various kinds of birds and each tree has its own time table.

I know that as time goes on there will be many more observations to report on and I hope to bring those to light as they happen.  Ah, but for now it’s back to Pura Vida!

News from around our rainforest

A few things have happened in the past few days, our neighbor’s house was broken into and things were taken. Their house is located at the end of the road and is hard to see, but there is also nothing else around it. Their house sitter was at work and away from the house. I feel really bad for them. We all live and learn from others experiences, may they be good or bad.

On a lighter note, we have discovered the wonders of fresh black pepper, and I am not talking about the stale stuff you buy at the store. I am talking about it being picked off the vine, ground and sold the next day at the farmers market. I have never tasted anything quite like it before since I am used to the stale old pepper you buy at Safeway. This stuff adds a whole different dimension to food. It has a very distinctive taste to it and lingers for quite some time after eating it.

Some of the trees are also bearing fruit that is bringing in a lot birds. The other day we saw 5 new birds we have not seen here before. Right now the birds are migrating so we expect to see a lot of new ones. Some of the clowns of nature always have to act up. Here a Toucan is trying to get the best one.



Almost falls out of the tree.



Comes up with the prize.



And yes they can fly as odd as they are.

Doctor Visit

We had asked some friends of ours who work closly with the local BriBri tribe if they would introduce me to the local BriBri medicine man, Don Candido to see if he could help me with my hands. I had suffered some nerve damage from using an orbital sander (for a long time) while refinishing all of our kitchen cabinet while getting our house ready to sell. Good thing is it sold, bad thing is now I have damaged nerves in both palms of my hands.

After a full examination of pressure points both on my hands and feet, Don Candido said that I was "en bienestar" and the nerves were damaged and said he would be able to cure them within a month of treatment. Even after the first application of plant material, my hands do feel better. For the next few days I will do a mixture of different plants in water, boil them, breath in the vapors and once it cools put my hands in the water and then apply more plant material. My next appointment is next Tuesday when he will assess the progress. As things progress the treatment will change. He has been able to crue many different types of illness and cured two people who had Parkinson's Disease. The jungle holds many crues that can not be found in the pharmacy.




The Office


Checking out the application of plant material.


Got my drugs to take home.