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Manaus

Before I knew it, it was the start of a week break and I was off to fly to Brazil. I had planned to fly into Manaus, Brazil for two days and then spend five days in the Amazon. Of course an old injury in a ligament in my ankle happened the week before. I was now in a boot on my ankle butt made plans be careful before and during the trip.

On the second flight I was able to get a
row to myself to put my foot up for a bit.

One of the first things I bought the next morning was Portuguese egg tarts. So amazing and delicious.

In Manaus, my hotel was close to Teatro Amazonas.

Teatro Amazonas is a historic opera house located in Manaus, Brazil which is in the heart of the Amazon. It was constructed during the late 1800’s during the rubber boom. At that time Manaus was one of the wealthiest cities in the world due to the rubber trade. It was designed by an Italian architect and is opulent with French and other European touches. You can see both Renaissance and Baroque influences. The dome is beautiful and covered in 36,000 ceramic tiles. The theater hosted numerous performances by renowned artists and became a cultural hub for the region. As with most landmarks, it fell into disrepair and was restored. Teatro Amazonas still hosts operas, concerts, and other events.

The pink fabric helped in soundproofing.

The beautiful dune and chandelier in the concert hall.

The governor’s box surrounded by curtains.

In the ballroom where the floor and materials
found in the room are original.

There chairs on the left are courting benches. Two single seats flank a wider bench in the center. The man and woman sit on the single chairs with their families in the middle. Across from them is a mirror. It is so designed so that you cannot see the other person in the couple but the families can see everything.
Such an interesting custom.

Outside the theater are really cute places.

The Provincial Palace is another historic building constructed during the rubber boom. The architecture is beautiful and served as the seat of the government of the state of Amazonas. There are displays of art in the downstairs.

Guarana is tasty and is an energy drink here. By afternoon I needed the caffeine.

In the centro historico is a bar on the Street of my hotel. It was called Gringo’s bar and they played 80’s music which is my jam. People were very friendly and I stopped to talk in Spanish. Summer people speak both Spanish and Portuguese. I had a beer and a sandwich while I waited for the rainstorm to pass.

A local bloque party which was pretty chill though it was early in the night yet by party standards.

Carnaval

In my school they have a carnaval celebration that turns the school a bit upside down. It is a long standing tradition. The 10th, 11th, and 12th grade nominate and vote for a representative to be on student council but is much like the carnival queen contest that used to be the tradition. What is really spectacular about it is that each class uses a theme, they plan a day of games for the 7th through 9th graders to court their votes for the winner.

Lots of water to keep everyone cool and of course fur fun. Combined with powdered dye…

The 10th grade whose theme was Peter Pan

12th grade theme of Aladdin. Pretty much everyone had a slip and slide. Some played soccer on it.
This one had giant bowling pins you slide into.

Some videos from end of the games:

That night was the show for each of the three grades. They coordinated costumes and dances to fit the theme. At the end of each of the class choreography, the representative candidate was introduced and brought to the stage in a carriage float. Then there is a speech from the escort and then the candidate.

I took some videos of portions of the dances. Students have been working on this for several months and it was very exciting to see them work collaboratively for such a presentation.

The next day was voting. And the 11th grade one. Their candidate is now on student council and the grade had the bragging rights for the best coordinated plan and fun.

Weird days of late in Quito

During school in January, reports came out about curfews and other changes to crack down on notorious drug gangs and problems in the prisons as most were under the control of the inmates. It was mostly due to one of the biggest drug lords having also escaped.

At first, we were not sure what to believe as there were many fake news stories just to create further panic. But we went home, stocked up on food (not like the US where everyone is buying toilet paper) and we prepared to go to online learning. Originally it was for 3 days but ended up being two weeks.

We are still under a curfew of midnight until 5 am which is fine for me. I am hardly out late as it is. Many of the cities near the coast do have a problem with crime and prison control but in Quito not as much to worry about. They have regained control of many prisons and also conducted raids that extended into other countries. The latest is a dual operation in Ecuador and Spain that uncovered illegal activity involving criminal organizations from multiple other countries. Much information had actually not been reported so as to not tip off those criminal organizations.

Regardless, I did not venture out for much of the first week except to get food. After that, I did some walks around the neighborhood and a few other things:

The hardest part was not riding bikes for the first two weekends until they allowed the bike riding route (ciclo paseo) to resume.

We have a few people in our apartment building and we met on the roof to enjoy yoga and get fresh air.

A walk in the neighborhood Park close to my house

We walked through the little village that is part of the park. Very tranquil and a beautiful day.

Though I did not take pictures, there was a good police presence in the park where they also use horses.

In the park, the native villagers had their llamas out!

Afterwards we ate at a little cafe in the neighborhood. Everything is made with plantains. On the left is cups made of plantains and filled with shrimp. On the right is the Bolon Verde with peanuts. So delicious.

On a bike ride I saw a person milking their goat
and selling the milk fresh on the street.
I missed that picture but saw another person
not far from there with their goats.

Of course a favorite is watching street performers at intersections. This one had enough time to set up a low tightrope and walk while juggling across it.

I took another tour in Old Town just to get out.

And eventually joined a book club with others from school. Great to get together even for a short time.

Lunch with friends including a new one. Loved meeting Kim and talking about common countries and realizing people that we know in common.

Life feels pretty normal except for curfew, but it has changed whether I will need traveling some areas anytime soon.

Rescate wildlife rescue center, San Jose, Costa Rica and New Year’s Eve

After relaxing in a thermal spa for an hour, I started traveling to San Jose from La fortuna. The plan was to make a stop at the Bosque Nubosa el Cocora but the rain was heavy at the time. Instead I stopped at this rescue center for wild and domesticated animals in San Jose. These animals cannot be released back to the wild. Sometimes I am not sure about rescue centers but this was very nice and like the rest of Costa Rica everyone is friendly and helpful.

I don’t mind the entrance price for a rescue center as some animals cannot be released because of their injuries.

Tufted ear marmoset, the smallest primate

After lunch at the rescue center ( I had casado again, amazing to see the regional differences), it was a short drive to the hotel. Villa San Ignacio has a pool, not heated, but still swimmable especially in the sun. It is a beautiful place with small hiking trails on the property, traditional decor, and beautiful rooms. It is only 20 minutes from the rental car place and close to the airport.

It is New Year’s Eve and here is to another great year. I originally was going to find a place to go out but not the best idea the day before I leave as I would have to drive a few kilometers. Instead I had a few drinks at the bar and talked to a few new people I met.

There were fireworks staring before midnight and I could see some off them from the balcony outside my room.

New years day was gorgeous. The view from my breakfast table.

I had also intended to drive around San Jose but most places were closed and I enjoyed doing laps in the pool instead of walking around. A relaxing and recovering way to start the new year. Now to return to Quito….

I thoroughly enjoyed the laid back, relaxing life here (still a contender for retirement) and especially driving some off of the fun roads! I still need to go to the Caribbean side next….. Costa Rica, I’ll be back…..pura vida!

Caño Negro from La Fortuna

The next morning I woke up early to go on an excursion to the Caño Negro Reserve. It is in the north of Costa Rica along the Nicaragua border. It is the 3td most important wetland in the world. It is one of the first refuges to have managed a delicate balance between ecotourism and management of resources and is an area of extreme biological importance.

It took about 90 minutes to arrive and I was glad to see that it was not a paved road to get there. We boarded a boat to vote areas along the river.

Caiman. Did you know that when their mouth is open, they are actually making vitamin D?

Snake bird that drives to catch prey in the water

Emerald basilisk also known as the Jesus Christ lizard as it walks (runs) on water.

After the boat ride, we had a lovely meal of casado

We then had a tiny explanation of cacao and coffee and also how they extract the juice from sugar cane. We smoked raw cacao beans and then ground into a powder and mixed to make chocolate. They also shared moonshine made from sugar cane juice. To chase the shot, you suck on the sugar cane and bite the juice from it. We also sampled coffee.

Causa, a Peruvian dish made from potatoes

I went to the hot springs again after the tour and one more time before leaving La Fortuna.

Monteverde

I drove from Manuel Antonio to Monteverde. Originally I was to spend three days there but decided that much of what I could hike would not be good for my knee. I changed my hotel which unfortunately was cancelled by the owner. The next day, I found another.

The roads were not as bad as I thought. Along the way there was a place to stop at Crocodile Bridge to see the crocodiles underneath.

I had a snack which was a walking ceviche taco.

The mountain roads reminded me of some of the Backcountry Western PA roads but there were some rougher areas and larger potholes. The views were amazing but not many places to pull off and take a picture.

Eventually I arrived in Santa Elena which is below Monteverde. Unfortunately, the hostel I booked was full with workers from the area and the poor manager did not know it had been advertised in the app I booked it from. She was so sweet and I had a great opportunity to practice my Spanish. She offered to find me an Airbnb but I found another hotel instead. I was lucky as there were few accommodations left, let alone for that night.

This restaurant I almost passed by but looked at their reviews online. They were great so I stopped.

I ordered casada which is a typical Costa Rican dish. I ordered the pescada (fish) but they had many options.

I felt like a snack and picked up treats made in the country. I had tried the coconut cookies before.

The next morning I took a tour to Selvadura park near the montaverde cloud forest. They have a great system of 8 hanging bridges that overlook much of the canopy of the forest.

This looks at the Continental divide here in Costa Rica. You can equally see sunrise and sunset at this point (depending which way you are facing).

After the tour of the bridges, I took the sloth sanctuary tour. There are only females here and they were unable to be returned to the wild and will spend the rest of their lives here.

This one was asleep.
What better place to wait for food?

Some sloth facts:

There are two toed and three toed sloths. There three toed are down south on Costa Rica and the two toed in the mountains.

Two-toed sloths primarily eat leaves, fruits, and shoots. Their diet is low in energy, leading to their slow metabolism and slow movement.

Despite the name “two-toed,” they actually have three toes on their hind limbs. They do, however, have only two fingers on their front limbs.

Two-toed sloths are slow-moving and spend the majority of their time hanging upside down from tree branches. Their slow movement helps them conserve energy.

They are mainly nocturnal, being more active during the night. This behavior helps them avoid predators and cope with the heat of the day.

They have a slow metabolism and 4 chambered stomachs, that extract nutrients from their low-energy diet.

After the tour I drove to La Fortuna. It is on the other side of the mountain and across the Arenal volcano area. Not many kilometers but it took time to go around all of the mountains. A beautiful drive. Along the way I saw this animal. It is a coatimundi.

I tried to get a good picture but first wanted to make sure it crossed the road completely.

One shot of the countryside with windmills.

It was a beautiful drive through the mountains and around the Arenal lake. There were no places to pull over to get a good picture.

After arriving in La Fortuna and checking into my hotel, I went to a nice thermal pool resort to relax!

Night tour, Manuel Antonio

The night tour was pretty fun, looking for things that want to hide and even some that are poisonous if disturbed.

Cats eye snake. Not poisonous and waiting for a pretty to cross his path.

This is really how small he is. He is at the junction of three Middle Branch with the trunk.

This is a tailless whip scorpion, an arachnid and his fourth pair of legs is actually antennae.

A tropical crab that monkeys love to find for food.

Indigenous people would dip the end in the secretion from the poisonous dart frog to poison prey by shooting the darts through bamboo straws.

A scorpion that fluoresces under our flashlights.

This Fer DeLance snake is poisonous. He really did not want anything to do with us but was alert in case he needed to protect himself. Most notes from this snake are accidental when someone stepped near him.

This spider is poisonous and many bites are accidental. It is known as a banana or a type of wandering spider.

A smooth helmeted iguana which is a mock chameleon. So tiny.

I loved the night tour. I have been wanting to do it for some time in different places. Of course it is better with a guide as they see things that we can’t. They also know what to look for. Other than a tarantula, nothing was on the path we were walking but often it is the poisonous snake that is there!

Manuel Antonio Patk

This park is near the southern part of Costa Rica and has extraordinary biodiversity and is along the Pacific Ocean. The tour took us to find wildlife and then have some time to spend on the beach.

The white faced monkeys were pretty photogenic but some were not happy we were there.

Grasshopper. This is a juvenile and will be twice this size when full grown.

The beach at Manuel Antonio

Pura Vida

After spending a good part of Christmas morning in the airport (Ryan’s flight left 4 hours before mine) and a flight to Costa Rica and drive from San Jose to Quepos, I could relax! The drive was beautiful in Costa Rica.

I am staying in Quepos for a few days to hike Manuel Antonio to find sloths and other wildlife. For the first day, the park is closed so I walked around Quepos and planned other tours for my visit.

Snorkeling

I booked a snorkeling tour that started just before lunchtime. It was decent snorkeling in the first spot but the great barrier reef and summer other places I have been had more fish. Of course it was low tide which could make a difference.

Cotopaxi and Pichincha

Ryan and I traveled to Secret Garden in Cotopaxi. It was easy as they transferred you from the Secret Garden in Quito to the one near the volcano. It is an active volcano but lessening in activity over the last year.

Secret Garden

Secret Garden is an amazing hostal. We started in the hobbit house which was for a single or family. The food was amazing and there is so much to eat and the views were incredible.

They have llamas that love bananas. Since they are an everyday snack to take at will, there are many skins saved here for the llamas that we are encouraged to feed. This one comes running.

Cotopaxi

Cotopaxi is in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador and is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world. It is 5,897 meters (19,347 feet) high, and its almost perfect cone shape at the summit always has snow. The volcano is part of the Cotopaxi National Park. From the hostal, you can see it and two other volcanoes.

Though it is still active, climbing can occur up to the glacier but not to the summit.

This is Ruminahui which is a dormant and heavily eroded volcano. Climbing it requires rock climbing.

Iliniza north and south volcanoes. These twin mountains are literally 1 km from each other.

Pasachoa is another notable peak near the hostal but with my knee still not at 100%, it was not worth the risk. Ryan went on that hike though.

The paramo

A paramo is a unique high-altitude ecosystem found in the Andes Mountains, and is found between 3,000 and 4,500 meters (9,800 to 14,800 feet) in elevation. It is alpine tundra. The vegetation is grasses and shrubs that are adapted to the harsh environmental conditions. Temperatures can be cold and the weather changes drastically. The UV radiation here is high. Paramos play a crucial role in regulating water. Paramos support diverse wildlife, including unique bird species and mammals adapted to the challenging mountain environment. The horses and llamas here are wild.

I took a horse back riding tour across the paramo. It was amazing and very beautiful.

We stopped to have a snack midway through the hike.

Cotopaxi glacier

The glacier is at an altitude of 5100 m or 16732 ft. It was tough in breathing but not very difficult. The volcanic ash made for summer find descending back down.

Ryan rented a bike to ride down from part of the volcano.

Pichincha

Earlier in the week we went to Pichincha which is not far from my house and the city. It is an active volcano but the part that you can climb is not active. We did not climb the whole route but had impressive views of the city.