The sunshine is the root of all happiness here in Costa
Rica. Every person you meet greets you with warmth and smiles. We were
fortunate enough to spend about two weeks with indigenous people of Costa Rica
in a place called Kekoldi. Every
morning we awoke to beautiful bird songs and fresh bread/doughnut things that
we covered with as much nutella as you could imagine. We awoke in paradise, and
fell asleep to the pitter patter of rain on a tin roof. Although sometimes it
was much more then a pitter patter, the essence of a nighttime lullaby never
ceased. Our days were full of adventure. We hiked through the tropical forest
to a hidden waterfall oasis. The locals told us the water would be cold but
compared to the Maine coast, lakes, and rivers I am used to, the water was
quite warm. Never in my life have
I felt anything so naturally powerful. When the waterfall beat upon my back I
had to make sure I didn’t loose my footing and plunge into the white water
below. We hiked back to be greeted with a feast fit for kings. Kekoldi fed us way too good. They stuck
to traditional Costa Rican food, but flavored it like a bold Emerald Lagassi
and a comforting Paula Dean. Rice, beans, veggies, palm hearts, and pasta never
tasted so good.
Our
guide Pablo, a Costa Rican Biologist and Forester, was so passionate about
nature he dedicated his life to studying birds, focusing on birds of prey. His
ipod is not filled with artists and albums but instead 4 gigabytes of different
bird species and their songs. Kekoldi is the bottleneck for aviary migration,
and is the 2nd best place in the world to watch the raptor migration.
They have a 5-story look out tower in which well known biologists visit to
study various species of birds and their migration. We were lucky enough to
witness these bird tornadoes. Birds of prey are soarers. This means they fly
using the hot air thermals. They soar from one hot rising air mass to another,
spiraling in circles up so high in the sky they have enough momentum to soar
down to the next to repeat the process until they get back to North America. At
one point, we saw a fleet of 10,000 migratory raptors spiraling into the sky.
Words cannot express what an amazing site this is. Kekoldi is also home to
native birds of every color, brightly colored poison dart frogs, Katy-dids
(which look like flying leaves), Central American Bush Masters (the most
venomous snake found in all of the Americas), Scorpions, Bullet ants (holding
the most painful sting of any creature on earth), Boas, 3 inch hornets, giant June
bugs (and yes they suck at flying here too), Beautiful butterflies (Blue Morpho
being my favorite), 2 toed and 3 toed sloths, and tarantellas (Which I was
“lucky” enough to get up close and personal with… I had one IN MY HAIR!! Yeah,
hands down the most scared I’ve been in my life. I sure as hell will never
forget that).
Pablo introducing us to one of his reptilian friends.
On
the flip side, relaxing on the beach of the Caribbean Sea and stepping foot in
a warm ocean made everything okay. Kekoldi has it all. It’s a shame these
indigenous people had to fight for land that has always been theirs.
Fortunately, we have a reason to go back. Everyone in the group planted their
own tree. I made a promise to mine that I would come back and see how it has
grown. Sorry guys, my tree is going to be bigger than yours.
I’ll be seeing you all soon!
Pura Vida! Leeann
p.s. Love and Miss you Mom and Dad
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