Curu and Cecropia Goodbyes
Our last morning continued our streak of incredible luck with avoiding rain during the rainy season! With a half page list for our daily scavenger hunt, we made an early landing and were off into the forest. The rewards for our early arrival were the voices and songs of the birds. Descending scales, thonks, rattles, short wavering calls. You could easily close your eyes and consider it to be an avian symphony playing just for you. Were they a greeting of the morning? Or a farewell to our week spent in Costa Rica? The mammals of the forest were a little slower to waken, but when we returned from breakfast and walked again, coatis, an assortment of monkeys and even a coyote were sighted.
Isla Tortuga was our afternoon destination with snorkeling, a white sandy beach, kayaks and aerial cable rides all as possibilities. Everyone had the opportunity to choose what they would like to do. All of these options also offered different perspectives of Costa Rica and its beaches, rain forests, animals, birds, fish and plants. Are the bright orange bracts of the heliconia (first picture) an attractant for the nectar hidden in wait for hummingbirds? Or is it the ultimate camouflage for the eyelash viper that preys on the hummingbird? Are the large hand-shaped leaves of the Cecropia tree (second picture) a food for sloths? Or are they a lofty vegetative farewell waving a hasta luego as we walk in their shade on our last forest walk? The perspectives are always different, depending on whom you ask. Shared below are a few contributions from our guests, showing their different perspectives from a week of exploration in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Report: Linda Burback, Family Program Coordinator
Contributions from our guests:
Hike
Always bring some water
Sunscreen and binos as well
It’s time for a hike.
-Peter Kempson
Dark enfolds the earth
Deep mists roll from Mounts unknown
Only fear remains.
-Dan, Emily and Ken Kempson
Five kinds of wild cats
Spots, stripes and skull crushing jaws
In the end, we’re dirt.
-Catharine Kempson, Ginger Mackay-Smith, Peter Kempson
We’re going down hill
It’s easy until you fall
Down the hill I go.
-Peter Kempson
Rain falls on the sea
Deep gray on deeper charcoal
Midnight takes its hue.
-Ginger Mackay-Smith
Up, down, up, down, up,
Will this walk ever stop? Oh,
We’re done already?
-Peter Kempson
Don’t run from problems, from difficulty
As you soon would find, running won’t help
Because, no matter where you are, you’re there.
-Bill Banning, Young at heart
Tourists
Tourist
Money spender
Worldwide traveler
Buying lots of souvenirs
A.T.M.
-Peter Kempson
A roaring storm, boom,
Well-lit cabin, safe afloat
Boundless sea, small boat
-Peter, Ken and Emily Kempson
Gentle games, small talk,
Lives are traded, reasons bought
Night falls-as it ought.
-G. Mackay-Smith, Emily & Catharine Kempson
Seabound
Helping us see the world
Impossible to top
Possibly the best.
-Peter Kempson
Our last morning continued our streak of incredible luck with avoiding rain during the rainy season! With a half page list for our daily scavenger hunt, we made an early landing and were off into the forest. The rewards for our early arrival were the voices and songs of the birds. Descending scales, thonks, rattles, short wavering calls. You could easily close your eyes and consider it to be an avian symphony playing just for you. Were they a greeting of the morning? Or a farewell to our week spent in Costa Rica? The mammals of the forest were a little slower to waken, but when we returned from breakfast and walked again, coatis, an assortment of monkeys and even a coyote were sighted.
Isla Tortuga was our afternoon destination with snorkeling, a white sandy beach, kayaks and aerial cable rides all as possibilities. Everyone had the opportunity to choose what they would like to do. All of these options also offered different perspectives of Costa Rica and its beaches, rain forests, animals, birds, fish and plants. Are the bright orange bracts of the heliconia (first picture) an attractant for the nectar hidden in wait for hummingbirds? Or is it the ultimate camouflage for the eyelash viper that preys on the hummingbird? Are the large hand-shaped leaves of the Cecropia tree (second picture) a food for sloths? Or are they a lofty vegetative farewell waving a hasta luego as we walk in their shade on our last forest walk? The perspectives are always different, depending on whom you ask. Shared below are a few contributions from our guests, showing their different perspectives from a week of exploration in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Report: Linda Burback, Family Program Coordinator
Contributions from our guests:
Hike
Always bring some water
Sunscreen and binos as well
It’s time for a hike.
-Peter Kempson
Dark enfolds the earth
Deep mists roll from Mounts unknown
Only fear remains.
-Dan, Emily and Ken Kempson
Five kinds of wild cats
Spots, stripes and skull crushing jaws
In the end, we’re dirt.
-Catharine Kempson, Ginger Mackay-Smith, Peter Kempson
We’re going down hill
It’s easy until you fall
Down the hill I go.
-Peter Kempson
Rain falls on the sea
Deep gray on deeper charcoal
Midnight takes its hue.
-Ginger Mackay-Smith
Up, down, up, down, up,
Will this walk ever stop? Oh,
We’re done already?
-Peter Kempson
Don’t run from problems, from difficulty
As you soon would find, running won’t help
Because, no matter where you are, you’re there.
-Bill Banning, Young at heart
Tourists
Tourist
Money spender
Worldwide traveler
Buying lots of souvenirs
A.T.M.
-Peter Kempson
A roaring storm, boom,
Well-lit cabin, safe afloat
Boundless sea, small boat
-Peter, Ken and Emily Kempson
Gentle games, small talk,
Lives are traded, reasons bought
Night falls-as it ought.
-G. Mackay-Smith, Emily & Catharine Kempson
Seabound
Helping us see the world
Impossible to top
Possibly the best.
-Peter Kempson
