thunderstorms and poweroutages

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Rain is a lovely thing. I know after virtually two straight months of it, all of you back in SF are relieved for some sun; but here in southern costa rica, the rain is aplenty and my heart is ahappy. This of course is coming from a person whose dream for many years was to move up to seattle, in a large part for the weather. I expected a lot more of it, being down here in the rain forest, but have had as many days of rain, as months that I've been traveling... well maybe a bit more, but not much.

I am in a lovely mood, such a contrast from my previous blog. I have had just a fabulous 2 weeks, filled to the brim with exhausting hikes, intense volunteerwork, a high speed flight through a Costa Rican cloudforest, a great guided bird/nature walk, succesful job interviews (I hope), and now find myself in the beautiful mountain terraine, 5 km from the panamanian border, working on a farm, learning about reforestation, and farming, eating good food and relaxing quite a bit.

Tomorrow I leave for Peru. Catch the bus at 5 to San Jose, and fly at 3:30, crossing my fingers that the bus won't break down, because I gave myself about a 2 hour leway if the bus comes across some problems, or goes a bit slow. I like living on the edge.

I had been hoping to write last week to describe my turning point on the beautiful island of Ometepe and my incredible humbling experience in Managua, but the adventures have kept on coming and it is a bit tough when living on a farm. I can give much more indepth accounts when I come back, but while it is still somewhat fresh, I'll write a little something.

I was on Ometepe, the largest freshwater island with two volcanoes, for 3 nights only, but got to see most of the island. I walked around the enchanted laguna of Chaco Verde, with Concepcion, the huge volcano, hovering overhead. Got to walk around a bit and talk to the locals, who are all super friendly. Then I went to the southern part of the island, to a town called Merida, which is located on the lake at the slopes of lush volcano Madera. I stayed at a hostel which had some really great people. Got to see some beautiful sunsets, eat some great buffets, hiked up the Madera, which despite being the easier of the two on the island, was pretty tough, especially because I was so sore still from Chirripo in Costa Rica. It was really worth it though, especially the last part of the climb, which was through a dwarf cloud forest, and we literally climbed from branch to branch in the trees to get to the top. As it should be in a cloud forest, it was extremeley foggy, providing a kind of magical, mystical atmosphere. It provided lousy views, however, upon arriving at the top, as if on cue, the clouds parted, the laguna at the top was perfectly clear, as were the surrounding forests, and breathtaking views of the island, lake, and volcano. All in all a very great, much needed couple of days.

So my refreshing experience on the island was followed by an intense 3 days in Managua. I checked out a program called Los Quinchos (don't know what it means, though I should)....

sorry guys.... my computer turned off and erased the rest of what i had been writing for the past hour, but now I have run out of time.... frustrating to say the least...but so it goes. so I will have to either tell the rest in peru, or when I get home.

Meanwhile (this part I wrote earlier) I can really seeing the lights of the golden gate at the end of this wonderful ride which has been nothing like a tunnel, but a rainforest full of experiences. But yes, 2 weeks from today, I will be landing at sfo, and will be ecstatic to see all of my wonderful family, friends, girlfriend, and cat. I also have so much awaiting... Jesse's graduation, Jonah's wedding, Ben & Mars' new baby, Lawrence, hopefully doing some better, the new gelateria, all of our wonderful restaurants, the bbq's and a's games... the list goes on and on. I am really excited, ready to return and share my experiences. Yet it goes without saying.. I am so excited to see Peru.

Talk to you all from south america. Stay well.
miguicho

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