South America / Letter 9
Wow! So much has happened since I last wrote.

Phones and E-mails are a little more difficult to find and not as popular in Costa Rica. Hopefully Panama will be easier.

Entered Costa Rica at Penas Blancas and drove to Playa del Coco near Ocotal. This is on the pacific northern coast. I arrived in Costa Rica to what is truly a coast of riches. This country has the Pacific and Atlantic coasts which is divided by rain forests. I spent 3 days swimming in the ocean, birding (parrots flying over every morning and evening), watching white faced Capuchin Monkeys, green iguanas, and had a great Thanksgiving feast with many of the resident Americans living in Costa Rica. This has been a great time to decompress, write, relax, and get acclimated to the heat. The mugginess and heat is increasing as I continue south.

I took a day trip up to the Vocan Rincon de la Vieja. This is a national park with a gently active volcano. The drive was about 1 _ hours of the most unbelievably rutted road. (Almost as bad as Mexico!) I watched 5 Toucans sitting in a tree next to the road. It is very difficult to explain the vivid colors of the (Fruit Loops bird) Toucan. I was so excited and hopefully got a few pictures with the big camera. The volcano is covered in clouds, but did see fumorales, boiling mud pots, and steaming rivers. This is very similar to Yellowstone Natl. Park, USA except for the outside temperature and lush vegetation everywhere. My hike brought me face to face with a White-nosed Coati. It snuffled through the tree roots and between stones looking for insects. At one point it came right up to the camera lens and was neither afraid nor aggressive. It has a very long nose and tail but acted like our raccoons. Then, I almost stepped on a Coral snake that was about 6 inches long. This snake has orange, black, and white stripes. . .and very poisonous! Yikes!

My next adventure was to see the Leatherback Turtle lay her eggs. This turtle has a carapace (shell) up to 1.6 meters long and an average weight of 360 pounds. She travels over the sand leaving about a 4-foot swath about 5 inches deep up the beach to lay approximately 100 eggs. I was able to watch her dig a large square hole about 4 feet deep with her hind flippers/legs and then lay her eggs. The leatherback is an endangered turtle so all the eggs are being taken by a conservation group for hatching because of pollution, dogs, human consumption, and disease. The conservation group has had a 90% reintroduction rate. Watching this huge reptile struggle to climb the sand, dig a hole, and lay eggs was one of the most powerful, moving events and so different from the disaster of Hurricane Mitch.

I traveled from Playa de Coco down to Nicoya to Puerto Moreno where I took a ferry across the Gofo de Nicoya. From there I traveled to the Reserva Biologica Monteverde (Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve) at Santa Elena. I ascended to 1100 meters into the most delightful mist/cloud, one minute it would be pouring rain and the next minute a gentle mist. The temperature was cool and needed a light jacket, which was most amazing after the coast. I hiked in a reserve and walked over 5 suspension bridges that looked down over the rain forest canopy (so many shades of green). Costa Rica is trying to preserve its rain forest through park reserves. Throughout the Americas', rainforests are being destroyed by deforestation which is habitat for many of the endangered birds, plants, and animals.

The money of Costa Rica is the Colon and is equal to 270 colones to $1.00.

I traveled south on road CA 1 going through San Jose to San Isidro. This route took me through more tropical rain forests at 3300 meters and the most spectacular views of lush vegetation, volcanoes, and birds galore. I descended to 702 meters in 30 Kilometers. I then traveled to Palmar Norte and then into Panama. This has been an area of lush bananas, sugar cane, coconuts, and papayas. The roads have been great in this agricultural area. It rains in deluges for about 15 minutes and then you see some sunshine.

I arrived into Panama City by crossing the Canal. What a site! Ships of all sizes at different locks in the canal. The canal stretches for miles. It was a welcome site after a very long day of travel. I have started to gather information on shipping, air freighting, or selling the car. I have decided to go directly to Ecuador or Chile because of the problems that are occurring in Columbia. Will let you know more in a few days.

I hope all is going well for everyone at home.

Adios, Ben