Campanario!!!

On Christmas day, we had to wake up at 5:00am so that we could drive all the way to the Osa Penninsula which is more than 200 kilometers away. We left our house at 7:00am and, after a short ferry ride and a long drive down the coast, we finally made it to our final destination in the town of Sierpe around threeish. In Sierpe we met up our friends from the US that we hadn't seen in four months! The next day we had to wake up at 5:00am AGAIN so that we could eat breakfast and then get on a boat at six that would take us to Campanario. The boat trip was two HOURS long, but it was kind of neat because you go down the Río Terrabà and out into the ocean.

On the boat trip alone we saw things that I had never seen before, like squirrel monkeys. We also learned a lot about mangroves. Did you know that there are four types of mangroves in Costa Rica? The white, red, black, and piñuela mangroves. Once we were there we had a couple hours of free time and then we had lunch. The food at Companario consists normally of rice, stuff to put on the rice, and a fruit or vegetable. 

After lunch we went on our first hike. We hiked for a couple of hours and saw all sorts of stuff, like, tapir tracks and birds (lots of birds) and we crossed many quebradas (streams).

During the hike, my friends tasted termites. Ok, say it with me now...GROSS! They said that they taste like celery.

One thing about Campanario is that you hike everywhere in rubber boots. It is muddy and you walk through a lot of streams so the boots are very practical, but sometimes it feels like you are carrying around several pounds of mud on each boot.

The next day we went on another hike with a different guide and everyone, except me and my sister, covered their face with mud!? The guide said that it was a jungle facial and it makes your skin feel really soft. 

We checked out all kinds of things like this hollow tree!

After our hike we went and caught bats. No, I am not joking. We stood outside the entrance to the bat's cave and held up this big section of mosquito netting. When the the bats fly into it, you close it up. I was surprised how easy it was to catch them. Most of the bats we caught were Parnellis and Personatos. We didn't catch any Gymnonotus but apparently there are some that live in the cave. :-(  

We recorded stuff about the bat such as, what species we caught and if it had parasites living on it.

We measured and recorded how long their forearm was,

and how much it weighed.

Did you know that a bats wing looks like the human arm?

Bats are actually kind of cute up close.

On our last night we used a trapiche, which is a simple machince used to make sugar cane juice. You press down really hard on this long pole that is in top of the sugar cane and squeeze its juice out.

Earlier in the day we hiked to Corcovado National Park. It was a long day, we left at seven and got back around four. We stopped to see a waterfall, have lunch and cool off at a swimming hole. Being at Campanario was truly one of the best experiences of my life.

Pura Vida!!

JB