Page 37: - No Return Ticket - Just a Ride Report /w Pics - From the beginning
Life in Costa Rica:
Every evening starting just before sunset we experience a super loud jungle buzzing sound. All day long we hear noises but ten or fifteen minutes before the sun is down the 'sound' begin. While waiting for the happening we sense a short silence before it begins. The first bug that starts sets off a chain reaction that explodes almost instantly through the jungle until the sound engulfs everything everywhere, the sound is an all consuming sensation. We can clearly hear it coming at us from afar, then after a peak it cycles back and forth all around. Sometimes it starts at a very low frequency, barely a beat or two a second then slowly climbing to several hundred hertz. Seemingly thousands of trees are buzzing in the background all at the same time but stopping and starting at different times. Suddenly a tree or bush close to us starts to slowly tick then explodes in sound. We can hardly hear each other talk. Usually at the same time a Howler monkey is grunting and some loud birds are screeching. It's like everyone wants to be part of the sundown serenade that goes on long after dark. This is the jungle……
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Monkeys:
I got the Howler monkey sound 'down'. Heidi thinks I'm attracting them and wants me to knock it off. We see them hanging out in the jungle and hear them grunting all around us. A couple days ago a monkey was hanging onto a telephone pole next to the pool. Then he walked right across the pool area and down the driveway. The hotel owner's son woke up with a monkey in bed with him once…..! (?)
Heidi does not want me talking to or encouraging the monkeys. We close our door after dark now. I like the monkeys. We hear them every day. They seem to roam in packs. There is always at least one nearby that we can hear but when the pack is in the area you know it. We see then swinging around in the trees and we hear them howling and moaning. Sometimes it's like they're having a contest to see who can bellow the loudest. I tell Heidi to listen to the monkeys. I say "They will tell you what to do……."
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Jungle:
Base-camp Costa Rica is surrounded by jungle. A few days ago I followed a primitive trail that leads into the trees where the Holler monkeys swing around. The trail goes back only 200 meters before it ends, probably to the hotel property line. I stomp down some tall plants to make a trail and continue hiking. This is raw 'new growth' jungle. The going is doable so time to get Heidi out here before progressing much further. (what am I saying?)
Heidi can sense my excitement and is wondering 'what the heck' is this all about. I deem this the "Monkey Trail" and we are going on the "Monkey Hike" We both prepare and try to hit the right time to do this. The sun sets at 5:45 now. 5:00 sounds good.
We head out. I wanted to keep the trail a mystery, but I should have suggested long pants. Heidi's legs got a little scratched at first but she continues on. Soon we discovered some old steps leading down into the jungle. They start in the middle of nowhere and go to nowhere. We have heard stories of bad energy on this hill. The rumor is it's a native burial ground. I proclaim these are 'ancient steps'. Later we could see the steps were made with stones and cement. It's still a mystery.
Near the bottom of the steps a short matted down path led off to the side. It looked to us like a spot where white-tail deer sleep in the woods. We deduce that the monkeys must sleep here or some other large creatures. Then we realize, don't' monkeys sleep in trees? What could this be from?
What is this guy doing perched at the top of this plant. We never saw it move. Is it waiting for food to fly by or is it just caching some sun?
We came across swarms of tiny butterflies. We hear unidentified creatures scurry off into the jungle. The monkeys have plenty of vines to swing on here. Often our feet get caught by thin and almost invisible vines growing along the ground. These long thin vines do not want to break. We can imagine how strong the big vines hanging from the trees are.
I encourage Heidi to give the vines a try:
We see some Howler monkeys off in the distance.
This is the dry season and this is the 'dry jungle' It is very pleasant to be here at this time. Some areas look a little brown and dry but the jungle looks beautiful and rich with color.
A person could hike through the jungle for days here and live with the monkeys.
We Like Costa Rica………………….
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