Day four part two

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Today was a bonding day full of downtime after our big hike. We are resting up for the crazy 9mile hikes at 4000- (8000-12000) ft to come. Luckily we do not have to carry our big backpacking bags ( my 20 kg one) but only are carrying our day packs. Merino I think his name is told us of his family history. Their lives were so simple that charcoal to learn to write their names was a luxury. They had one toy made of wood and wheels that all th kids played with. They worked all day and learned at night. He couldn't sleep he was so excited to hear he was actually going to get a pair of shoes during his child hood. One pair of rubber boots.

They worked hard raising lifestock. They moved to their current location one day. They had to push two cattle and a bull Up the steep steep route while tying rope around the horns to pull them as well. Eventually after a full days work, they did it. They breed the cattle. They cleared land for crops and more cattle. Only the land was infertile after one harvest. They wondered how can this land that supports the diverse tropics not be able to support their crops. It was because the natural cloud forest was self sustaining. Little is wasted in the cycles. Also, leaf litter decomposes which supports the life. Without all the trees, the land was low in minerals. They also noticed they could see their home from quite a distance. They realized that their grandchildren would not get to witness the natual beauty they had if the forest kept getting cleared. They decided to run a trout farm in the eighties. This became a tourist attraction until birds became the next big thing there. Eventually, people from all over the world would come to see these magnificent sites. Now there is an amazing restaurant and the place has really modernized while holding traditional values.

I love their perspective on materialism and consumerism. They celebrated their best gift of their childhood, a single pair of shoes while we upgrade to the newest iPods each year. I love my technology and comfortable lifestyle, do not get me wrong. But when is enough, enough? They were talking how happy they were with what they had, because want was never a reality. We on the other hand, want want want and are never happy until we get our temporary satisfaction out of an upgrade. We call ourselves minimalists yet that is as much of a fallacy as calling Cowls mountain an actual mountain. Some people would be nothing without their entitlement displayed through their possessions. I feel sorry for people who replace real valuables, the resl things that matter such as prioritizing people in your life, with possessions instead. They will always be unsatisfied and will not find a permanent contentment.

I got a cool new costa rica plant book and was able to label majority of the plants I saw. you can spend an hour in the same location and always find something new. The blue eared hummingbird is beautiful. I found my love for the magnificent hummingbird. That's an actual species. I would love to get a tattoo of them. And I got SiCK footage and photos. They basically posed and danced in choreography for the camera. They even chill on your finger. I'm writing a 20 page paper on them upon my return.

It's hard to appreciate what all this is, until your actually surrounded by the wild for a prolonged period of time. It's a cool experience. It's different on paper. Enjoying our last day of electricity for next four or so days. After all that, we visit San Jose. That will be interesting. No more wifi.

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