Playa Hermosa / Punta Mala

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Monday the 19th we had Juan drive us up to Punta Mala to begin our volunteer work. Punta Mala is about 5 km north of a small town called Estarillos, and a little bit further south than that from Playa Hermosa. Almost that whole stretch from Estarillos to Playa Hermosa is protected beach for turtles and other marine life. Punta Mala means "Bad Point" and you can probably see from a picture or two that there are huge rock formations that jut out into the ocean a couple hundred yards. They were fun to climb around on during low tide, but dangerous for boats, swimmers, surfers, etc.

It would be nice to say we had a great experience there, but unfortunately it was bad timing. The turtles don't start arriving till June (although occassionaly one will show up before that), and when there aren't turtles there isn't much work to do. So we basically did yard work, and not too much of that because it was too hot from 9:00 - 4:00 to be doing that. We pulled branches off coconut trees, learned how to use machetes (I think I could chop down a tree Costa Rican style now), get the water out of coconuts, tell if a watermelon is ripe... not terribly stressful, and at times painfully boring.

The best part of the experience was our host, Don Carlos. Carlos didn't speak any English. He did say "maybe" a couple times near the end of our stay. He was a great cook (used to have a restaurant in Estarillos), fed us three times a day. Very friendly guy and we'd recommend staying there for turtle season.

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Photos

Rustic Showers
These were the two showers for the cabin. The day we arrived there was a snake in the one on the right. We used the one on the left the rest of our stay. They had 1-inch 90 degree pvc fittings as shower heads, no temperature control - meaning it was usually pretty chilly, except when the sun was beating down on the pipes that lead to the shower. Then it was scalding hot.

Bathroom Sink
Used for brushing teeth, shaving, and occasionally washing clothes. We built a miror frame similar to the one on the right, but it broke, twice. Bamboo shrinks a lot.

Sitting Room
Fortunately when we were really bored we could flip on the Tele. It was broken so it only showed black and white.

Kitchen
Where we ate all our meals. The only rule I remember is you couldn't go into the kitchen without a shirt on. Nikki had trouble remembering that one.

Raking
Typical daily yardwork.

Coconut vs Machete
Guess how many fingers Chris has left?

Coconut Water
Carlos told us the best coconuts are the young ones because the water is less acidic. This one was a little too old.

Sardine Graveyard
There were tons of these fish stranded in tide pools. Some lived till the tide came back in. Most died when the water got too hot and then the vultures would eat their eyes. (No lie) Sometimes smelled a little fishy.

Nikki on a rock
This was during low tide. The volunteer cabin is almost directly behind her on the shore. A friend of Carlos lives in the house on the hill.

Tide Pool Fish
This guy was one of the cooler fish we found in the tide pools. He was also in one of the deepest tide pools so the sun didn't heat it up enough to cook him.

Croc Hunting
I'm trying to call crocodiles. It didn't work. We went back a few days later though and did see a couple crocs swimming around further up river.

Toucan
He lived in the tree right next to the cabin. He was the first toucan we saw in Costa Rica, and I think we remembered to get a photo on our last day there.

What the heck?
Sunset through the door of our room.