Land of the Oomycota*

Everything molds here.  The climate is so moist and humid that anything left outside, and half of the things inside, mold within days.  Today was the second time we've done laundry ourselves, and I fear that mold is growing on the clothes we have hung out to dry.  In our bathroom there is a fern growing next to the toilet, and the toiletry bags we brought are covered in mold.  The fruit and vegetables we now keep in a mouse-proof bin mold within days if not used, and even bread kept in a plastic bag will mold within a week.  So when our electricity cut out on Saturday night, I was almost inclined to blame it on a molding wire.

Holly (temporary manager) called three electricians to sort out the problem, but it only took two to sort out the problem.  There was a bad breaker in the hydroelectric system. Other than that, nothing exciting has really happened in the last week or so.  Business as usual here, as the rain continues to fall, the trees continue to grow, and we--slowly--continue to mold.

* Oomycota is a class of water-molds formerly thought to be fungi, but recently have been found to be eukaryotic micro-organisms.  Commonly, these are water molds, like the ones that grow in the grout of your shower. More here.

Beach Time!

Last weekend Matt and I took a vacation from our vacation and went to Manuel Antonio National Park. This is Costa Rica's smallest park, at only 3 sq mi, but it is also the second most visited. So, while we saw lots of the animals and biodiversity that the park is famous for, we also got to observe many interesting two-legged animals with cameras!

Manuel Antonio is on the Pacific coast not so far from us. I made the mistake of googling how to get between San Isidro (the big town down the valley) and Quepos (near the park), and learned that it would only take an hour and twenty minutes by car. Sadly, as budget minded backpackers, we did not travel by car. Instead, we started our vacation at 4:15 am when we left our house to walk the 45 min to San Gerardo, where we caught the 5:15 bus to San Isidro. As I think I've mentioned before, this is only 16 km, but takes 1.5 hours via bus (and still 45 min in a car, the road is terrible). In San Isidro we ran across town to catch the 7 am bus to Quepos, which took another 3.5 hours. Exhausted from a full day of travel, we still managed to arrive in Quepos at 10:30, which allowed us to go to a pretty little park on the edge of town (and the ocean), where we saw a baby sloth right away (adorable!).

After this brief stop, we hopped on another bus for about 20 min to get to the hostel where we were staying, and after checking in walked to the beach (we were expecting a 20 min walk, but it ended up taking about 40...). The beach was wonderful! Beautiful, in a protected cove, we got in the water expecting to be back on land soon, but couldn't drag ourselves out. The water was warm (in fact, nearly as warm as the hotsprings near Cloudbridge, which are more like warm springs) and clear.

Our second day we woke up early to get to the National Park when it opened. This turned out to be well worth it, because we had a relatively quiet couple hours walking the trails before the busloads of tourists arrived. While in the park we saw lots of capuchin monkeys and sloths, as well as a double toothed kite (a bird of prey that follows the monkeys, eating lizards and such that they scare up) and a basilisk.

 

 In the afternoon we headed to the beach, and spent the afternoon relaxing while scaring away racoons and capuchins that thought our bags looked interesting. We also saw a caiman, and I saw howler monkeys and a large black snake far up in a tree. Overall the park was definitely worth it, even if it was a bit overrun. In the evening Matt and I watched a great sunset from a bar overlooking the ocean. It was a lovely weekend, and as the guidebook says, Manuel Antonio is the Costa Rica that you dream about.

My camera was naturally dead as soon as we arrived at the beach, so these pictures are from our friend Kyle.

The Tale of Despereaux, cont.

Oh! what despair for Despereaux 6! Yes, we are on to the sixth mouse, and have released two others into the wild already.  But those mice are inconsequential, as this is is the story of a brave mouse.  Yesterday, as Sama and I were sitting around the dinner table waiting for our pizza to bake in our quasi-functional oven, Despereaux 6, the brave young mouse, ventured out into the light to behold the lonely humans of the house. . .

He scurried out from the dark closet and scaled the counter in a flash.  Noticing that the humans were startled but not angry, he continued along the counter looking for tasty morsels.  He knew that the humans considered him adorable, despite his rodentine appearance, and this gave him courage.  For a full ten minutes he scampered about touching all of the clean dishes and dirty utensils used in the preparation of the pizza which was to be the humans’ dinner for the night.  He nibbled at the floury cutting board, but the pizza dough crumbs were tasteless and sticky.  Hiding under pots and pans, he spirited away crumbs and tasty morsels the humans had left.  When the people noticed him climb into the pitcher holding the utensils they cooked with, however, they became annoyed , knowing they would have to clean all of them before cooking the next time.  But this did not perturb Despereaux, because there was a sticky spoon in there that tasted of Gallo Pinto.  The female human became anxious about the plantains left on the table, and got up to move them into a storage bin.  At this point, however, Despereaux had gained so much courage that he ventured out in front of the human and taste the plantains before her very eyes.  No more than three feet away, the female human was astonished.  She quickly picked up the bunch of plantains and deposited them in the mouse-proof bin, exclaiming, “you should set a mouse trap!” 

And so it came to pass, in a few short minutes young Despereaux found himself trapped in a rectangular metal box with two fermenting strawberries in it.  The night grew dark and cold, but the young mouse was not scared.  “Courage” he whispered to himself repeatedly, “and plus, it’s not that bad, I have strawberries!” Thus, Despereaux spent the night eating strawberries and getting drunk until morning’s light when the two humans came to release him into a new world.

That is the children’s version of the events that transpired, but the real fact is that Sama and I woke the next morning to find Despereaux laying on his back dead.  Or what appeared to be dead.  Upon closer inspection, we concluded that he was still breathing, though his breaths were shallow and belabored.  We don’t know whether he got too drunk on the fermenting strawberries we left for him, and was just unconsciously drunk, or whether he died because he ate the strawberry caps (apparently they are poisonous).  Either way, he was not in good shape, so we tossed him into the compost bin and left the lid open in case he wanted to escape if he sobered up.  When we went back later, he wasn’t there, but it looked like more compost had been tossed in and mixed up.  It still remains a mystery if we accidently killed Despereaux 6 or if we just got him drunk to the point that he woke up with a hangover in the compost bin. 

Anyway, we still have mice.

Matt

Food! Are we starving?

 

Far from it!  Sama and I cook every day, using mostly local food to make delicious yet simple meals.  You may hear us say we eat rice and beans a lot, but unlike plain boring rice and beans, we eat Gallo PInto, the Tico national dish.  Here is a picture:

A steaming, heaping plate of Platanos, Avocado, and Gallo Pinto, topped with a fried egg.  We mainly save the Platanos for desert because they are so sweet, but everything else we scoop enthusiastically into our eager maws.  A tortilla is an acceptable vessel of transport, but not necessary.  I like mine with lots of hot sauce, and Natilla to cool it down.  We haven’t completely figured out what Natilla is, but as far as we can guess it’s some sort of sweet cream, which you crave after several bites of spicy bliss.  A garnish of Cilantro is a bonus, but happens once in a blue moon.  Not to dote too much on the accompaniments, the real secret to Gallo Pinto is the Salsa Lizano:

A mysterious and revered condiment here in Costa Rica, Salsa Lizano is a secret blend of seasonings and spices that is only described with the epitaph Salsa de vegetales y condimentos naturales.  From the ingredients, I have gleaned that it contains sugar, molasses, mustard, celery, vinegar, and chiles.  It also has an aroma of cumin.  Despite the fact, we add cumin to our Gallo Pinto in abundance; you can never have too much! Even though most Ticos eat Gallo Pinto for breakfast, Sama and I make lunches and dinner out of it.  We eat Gallo Pinto at least four times a week.

Other food in our repertoire include Risotto (with regular long grain rice), Pasta with fresh tomato sauce, Grilled cheese, and Arepas.

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Mmmm Hot and gooey Arepas.  This traditional Colombian hockey puck is made from corn flour and filled with cheese, then fried or grilled.  We fill them with the local Mozzarella made by a family that learned how to make cheese from a Swiss tourist (all of the Swiss know how to make cheese, apparently). 

We also have been known to fry our own potato chips/fries, and once we tried to make yucca fries, but I boiled them too long before we fried them so they were a little mushy.  Other than that, we don’t eat much else, but if we eat out in town we’ll usually get chicken or fish (also served with rice and beans--but in my opinion, ours is better).

 

Enough about us.  on to our other housemates. 

Despereaux, our mouse companion likes to eat the following:

Understandably, the Platanos are a target.  But Despereaux doesn’t clean up after himself.

Our soap and Sama’s razor.  I think He has a dirty mouth and his mother washes his mouth with soap so he’ll stop cursing.

Socks. Towels. And the last straw, our Avocados.

Thus, we have resorted to catching Despereaux 1, 2, and 3 in box traps, then carrying them several kilometers away to our work site. 

 

Despereaux 1 was small, but numbers 2 and 3 were much larger.  The second one got it’s tail caught in the rap, and he skinned it pretty badly.  When we let him loose, he looked like a miniature opossum.  We’ve put our clothes in bins, and are now hiding the fruit, but we still have a mouse or two, or a dozen.  Despereaux 4, you’re in our sites.  DON’T GET COMFORTABLE.

We haven’t really seen what Leonardo the Lizard eats, but I assume he dines on flies and other moths, though he hasn’t really made a dent in hordes of insects that come into the house.  But it’s the effort that counts. Leonardo, you can stay.

More delicious updates to come!

Matthew