Jungle Fever

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Hey ya´ll, first off I hope all is well with everyone back in AZ and abroad and that that searing heat hasnt got too you too much. On Tuesday while working I was stung by caterpillar. My hand became instantly numb and within a few minutes I began to feel an aching pain in my armpit, as if the poison was being absorbed directly into the lymph node. I thought the pain was going to spread to the rest of my body so I had to retreat to the farm house and get an opinion from Roberto, the finca owner and one of the most respected farmers in the region.

Did the pain really really sting? Yes. Do you have localized pain in your armpit. Yes. Is your arm becoming more numb and difficult to move as we are having ths conversation? Very. You have been stung by a guanesa. I showed him the picture of one I took the other day. Yes, that is the one. Pour coca-cola on it, you will be fine tomorrow. Coca-cola? Yes, or any carbonated beverage. You will be fine tomorrow. Piece of cake.

I think the climate here is only a little less tolerable than AZ, with the humidity always managing in the complete drenching of my clothes, especially while working. This week has been busy and spent mostly working on a shade coffee farm here in Copa Buena. Coffee plants are self regenerating and while the top of one tree and its beans are being harvested, another stem, or multiple stems are already rising just below it. Eventually that stem will be cut and its beans harvested and so on and so forth. My job lately has consisted of pulling, or desilando (or something like that) of the newer, baby stems that are sprouting on the mature stem of the coffee plant. If these new branches were left to grow they would inhibit the sunlight that the secondary stem below needs to grow. I´ve also been learning about the techniques used to curb erosion and maintain soil stability along the steep inclines, where most fincas (farms) are situated; with the rain and the incline,reducing floodways and the potential for mudslides requires a specific combination of terracing and the planting of native trees. A lot of digging and sweating—Pura Vida.

A couple days before we trekked through the jungle for about 1.5 hours down a steep, muddy, I could sprain my ankle at any moment type of hill. We were led by two guides who very nice, helpful, and there is no way we could have done it without them then or anytime in the future. Finding the trail took an expert eye for the terrain and a certain know how with the machete. One portion of the trail was particularly dangerous, with thick brush growing from deep below and shooting up through an old rock fall. You could either be stepping on slippery rock or some brush that was disguised as earth but underneath just air. After some careful stepping we finally arrived to our destination, a waterfall that by my estimation was very very high, around maybe 150m maybe. I was told it is higher than Niagra Falls. The pure force of the falls was so intense that when we got about40 ft away it was as if we were in a rain storm with 30mph gusts of wind. One of the most beautiful places in all of Costa Rica, if not Latin America. The guide said only thirty people had been there all year. The place is still yet to be named, and we tentatively decided on ‘No Name Falls.’ What a treat.

Today, we head to Pavones for a surfing lesson and some good food and company. Pavones has the largest left hand break in the world I am told. Surfs up bros and bras, until next time…

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