Posted by Ted Hopton on March 6, 2008
Another country heard from! Check out Maureen’s photographs from our Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers Costa Rica trip. Her pictures include the Volcano Irazu that she and Andrew visited when they arrived ahead of the rest of our group. Thanks for posting these, Maureen.
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Costa Rica, La Danta Selvaje, Puerto Viejo, rain forest, Travel, Video, volcano | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 4, 2008
Here’s the latest online gallery of photos from our Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers‘ trip to Costa Rica — Tina’s pictures are now available for your viewing pleasure. Since the monkeys in La Danta Salvaje’s rain forest particularly liked her (they expressed their affection the same way young human males do, by throwing objects at her), she was able to get the best photo I have seen yet from our group of a white-faced capuchin monkey.
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Animals, Costa Rica, La Danta Salvaje, monkeys, Outdoors, preserve, rain forest, white-faced-capuchin | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 3, 2008
One of the highlights of our trip to La Danta Salvaje in Costa Rica was swimming in a pool of icy water at the top of a 500′ waterfall. I can’t say I had ever done that before, and I don’t know when I might ever do it again. I’m happy to report that we recorded most of the memorable event on video, so I can share it with you.
While Andiana Jones was the first one in the water, Big Mike proved to be the boldest pioneer among us. Not only did he discover the spot to climb up to for a fun leap out into the water, but he was the only one who went directly under the pounding cascade of the waterfall. (Ooops, found out later we weren’t supposed to go there . . . too dangerous . . . as Mike learned when the water pushed him straight down and there was no bottom that he could find.)
I happily followed both of them into the bracing cold water, which actually felt quite good after a long, sweaty, muddy hike to get there. After the initial shock, we got used to the water and played contentedly in it. Even Kimsan (El Heuvito), who is aquatically challenged, got in and splashed around.
Although my video camera started to steam up at this point in the trip, due to the high humidity in the rain forest and at the waterfall in particular, I got enough footage to put together my first Costa Rica video, with an appropriate soundtrack. Enjoy!
Posted in Costa Rica, Music, Outdoors, Travel, Video | Tagged: cataract, Costa Rica, La Danta Salvaje, Outdoors, preserve, rain forest, swimming, Video, waterfall | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 1, 2008
“Nah, I’m not going to do a surfing lesson. I don’t have that kind of balance.” That was the negative attitude I began with, based on my experience trying to balance on skateboards in the past. They always flew out from under me. Something about that side-to-side balancing on wheels just does not come easily to me.
Andrew, who has surfed before, insisted I would be able to do it. Tina was psyched to try it, and so was Mike. Finally, I decided to take a chance and try it, why not? So what if I fell in the water a lot. Plus, even though I wanted to go on the Medicine Hike and learn about all the plants that have medicinal uses, my feet really really really did not want to do any more hiking any time soon.
When we got to Puerto Viejo we had determined the best day and time to do the surfing lesson would be the next morning, but we had nothing set up in advance. No problem, Dawn knew just who to call, and she set up our lesson with Beto, the local surfing guru from Uruguay with dreadlocks and a completely laid-back vibe. After a brief description of what the lesson included, Mark was in, too, so there were five of us. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Sports, Travel | Tagged: Beto Torres, chillaxing, Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo, surfing, surfing lesson, Travel | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 1, 2008
Easily the prettiest wildlife I saw in Costa Rica was the Blue Morhpo butterfly. I did not get a good picture of one, but I selected the image at right because you can see how large these bright blue butterflies are.
The first one I saw startled me — I thought either my eyes were playing tricks on me, or someone else was. As we sat eating lunch in La Danta Salvaje after swimming in the 500′ waterfall’s pool, I saw what appeared to be a nearly neon bright disk flashing blue, disappearing, then flashing bright blue again, on and off in an erratic pattern in the air going across the river. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Travel | Tagged: Blue Morpho, Costa Rica, insects, La Danta Salvaje, Outdoors, preserve, rain forest | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on March 1, 2008
We did not actually see many “wild” animals in La Danta Salvaje’s rain forest preserve. I’m sure our group of hikers was far from discreet in terms of noise as far as any wildlife was concerned. It would have been pretty easy to detect us and avoid us. But we did have some encounters with wildlife.
We found tapir tracks, including some very large ones. The trails we hiked on were originally tapir trails, so we were really the trespassers on their pathways. Seeing a tapir is rare, however, and we did not have the privilege.
We did see a jaguar track, however, which was really cool. They are quite rare, so to find that one was in the immediate area was exciting. Although we never saw the cat, we may have had an encounter with it, just the same.
On our third day in La Danta Salvaje, Mike and I found ourselves trailing the rest of our group, which was being led by Bernardo that day (Bernardo and Lydia live just down the mountain from La Danta Salvaje, and they consist of the staff at the lodge when groups stay there). We were on the monkey trail in search of monkeys, and then headed down to a swimming hole at the river. As we walked through the dense forest, I heard a strange sound. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Costa Rica, Outdoors, Travel | Tagged: Animals, Costa Rica, jaguars, La Danta Salvaje, Outdoors, preserve, rain forest, Sasquatch, tapirs | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on February 29, 2008
On our first night in La Danta Salvaje, the rain forest preserve in Costa Rica, we were fascinated by the exotic fireflies that came by our outdoor kitchen/dining area as we relaxed sipping hot chocolate and rum after a wonderful meal. At first, they seemed to be ordinary fireflies such as we encounter in North America — nothing much remark upon, except that they seemed to be rather larger.
But when one landed on the table, I was startled to see two glowing “eyes” on the top of it — never saw anything like that when I was growing up in New Jersey! The little bug flew off before I could catch it, and as I watched it flitting around, it was eerie to see those tiny glowing eyes zig-zagging through the dark. Sometimes the abdomen would glow, too, like a regular firefly but brighter, and sometimes just the pair of eyes would be circling about.
Here’s a video that lets you see what these glowing click beetles look like when they fly about at night.
David, our host and guide, took a log from the fire and stood at the edge of the railing waving it so the embers glowed and sent off orange sparks in the night. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Costa Rica, Health, Science, Travel | Tagged: Outdoors, Costa Rica, rain forest, mosquitos, insects, La Danta Salvaje, preserve, bioluminescence | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on February 28, 2008
Andrew is clearly the speed-leader when it comes to posting multimedia content from our trip to Costa Rica. Check out the video he has already put together. Keep in mind, too, that he shot all of it with his digital camera, not a camcorder.
Nicely done, ‘bro! Good soundtrack choice, too, as always!
Posted in Costa Rica, Travel, Video | Tagged: Costa Rica, La Danta Selvaje, Puerto Viejo, rain forest, Travel, Video, volcano | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on February 28, 2008
Ah, we’re on a roll now! Here’s the link to another Costa Rica travelling companion’s pictures, taken by Get Out Philadelphia Adventurers‘ esteemed and exalted founder and Grand Poobah, Amy 
I haven’t even had time to look at them yet, but will do so soon. Enjoy!
Posted in Costa Rica, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Casa Viva, Costa Rica, La Danta Selvaje, Puerto Viejo, Punta Uva, rain forest, San Jose, Travel | No Comments »
Posted by Ted Hopton on February 28, 2008
One of my travelling companions to Costa Rica, Andrew, has posted his photos from the trip and I want to link to them here. He’s got a great eye and many of his pictures do a better job than mine of capturing the beauty of Costa Rica.Plus, he’s got a few photos of Beto (to the right), our surfing instructor extraordinaire! Andrew also arrived a day early in Costa Rica and went to a volcano with Maureen (also on our trip) and a new friend he met at the Hotel Aranjuez, so you can see those volcano pics in his gallery, too.
Posted in Costa Rica, Photographs, Travel | Tagged: Beto Torres, Casa Viva, Costa Rica, La Danta Selvaje, La Salsa Brava, Puerto Viejo, Punta Uva, rain forest, San Jose, surfing, Travel | No Comments »
