My, how things have changed.

It's been a while since I've had access and time to kill on an internet-ready computer. The past week or so has seen me furiously traveling and photographing in the magnificently beautiful country of Costa Rica. Today we're all in Monteverde, a Quaker town on top of a mountain in northern CR, home to a sizable preserve of the most amazing forests I've ever visited in my life. These cloud forests occur at the altitude where water vapor in the atmosphere condenses and turns to rain and fog, so they're wet all year round. The plants here love it. I'm overwhelmed by the diversity. It literally boggles my mind.

We explored a stream in some primary forest yesterday, taking data for a grad student working with our program. Oh, the wonders of the cloud forest... I saw (and photographed!) four different blooming orchids, among many other plants and flowers of the superexotic variety. Bromeliads and unbelieveable ferns cluster on the trunks and branches of hundreds upon hundreds of different species of trees and shrubs. White flowers float down from the canopy to collect on the forest floor. Bird sounds fill the air. Praying mantises scurry and bob along branches hunting for insect prey. Butterflies in more colors than you would believe flip-flop through the understory, alighting on vibrant flowers to drink their fill of nectar. Moss hangs from the branches, dripping water into the pools in the stream where tiny ripples spread outward, obscuring the view of the pool's bottom where freshwater crabs scuttle around collecting debris. Sunlight filters through the many layers of vegetation, illuminating the arboreal flowers of epiphytic plants, growing far above your head. Like gaudy airborne jewelery with wings, tiny hummingbirds investigate human visitors in their forest with the vain hope of retrieving nectar from our orange and red clothing. This forest is beyond comparison.

For some inexplicable reason, there is a rainbow every morning ouitside our cabin, arching up from the lower slopes of the hills which overlook the town of Puntarenas and the Gulf of Nicoya, tens of kilometers away. The view is exceptional We can see the entire Nicoya Peninsula and out into the Pacific Ocean. Every night the setting sun lights up the sky like a fireball disappearing over the horizon, only to return again the next morning, to make that very same rainbow right over our heads. On the radio a few days ago in Santa Rosa the dj said "it's another beautiful day in paradise." I couldn't put it better myself.

Last weekend we hiked to the beach from our campground in Santa Rosa National Park. The mighty Pacific bathed us in its glory and raw, tireless power. Some of my travel mates had never before swam in the ocean. What an experience for them! We bodysurfed, got thrashed by waves, drank too much saltwater, and generally had the time of our lives. Then we went and investigated the mangrove swamps. A few people braved the crocodile-friendly waters to get a deeper look at what the interior of a mangrove swamp looks like. They returned with all appendages intact, fortunately.

I have accumulated over 400 worthy photos so far, and my pace shows no sign of slowing anytime soon. My camera's ability to take great pictures continues to impress me. I wish could upload some right now, but patience, I suppose, is called for instead. This connection is far too slow to handle anything of that magnitude.

Well, time's up. Next up on the schedule is an early dinner and then bat netting tonite. That is bound to be an experience to remember. Buenos tardes, amigos! Hasta pronto!