Viva Las Vegas...

Ah so...Carlos and I were en route to Seattle on Sunday 21 December and everything had gone pretty well: we made it from San Jose, Costa Rica to Phoenix, Arizona then to Las Vegas, Nevada. Once we hit Vegas however, we got stuck -- US Airways canceled our flight (along with about a billion others) -- it was a mess. Soo after a lot of waiting, Carlos and I were able to be booked (supposedly a confirmed ticket too) on a flight out of Las Vegas and into Seattle on the night of the 24th.

I am really, REALLY lucky that we were stuck in Vegas since my sister lives here and she is letting us stay with her! I also haven't seen my sister for 2 years so it is really nice to see her again. I am sad that I am not in Seattle yet, but I am happy to be able to see Shannon!

I hope the weather in Washington improves prior to Thursday so that I can get to Seattle to visit my mom, dad, and friends. I'm not there yet, but at least I am stuck in the best place possible!

PS. Today Carlos, Shannon, and I are going to go wandering around the strip!

Lemon ginger tea

I had a really delicious tea a week or so ago. My friend Arietta was cleaning out her office and discovered a veritable treasure trove of tea. She gave me a whole bunch of Stash brand lemon ginger tea packs and they are great! The flavor is very strong spicy ginger with just a hint of lemon. I usually drink flavored black teas with milk and sugar so this herbal tea was a change of pace for me. I will definitely have to find this tea again once I return to Washington!

One week countdown!

Wow, I just realized that a week from today I will be back in Washington with my family! I am really excited to be returning to the states and especially to be visiting Washington (it's been 2 years since I've been home). I will be in Washington for almost 2 weeks before me, Carlos, my mom, and dad all drive to Las Vegas to visit my sister and to celebrate a late Christmas all together.

In Washington, there are lots of things I am planning to get done -- visit the dentist, get a haircut, shop for new, non-field clothes (I barely have any!), and plan out the drive back to Miami. I am also excited to do a bunch of fun things with my family and friends. Here are a few places I plan to visit during my Washington stay:

- Woodland Park Zoo
- Seattle Art Museum
- Half Price Books
- Todai
- Uwajimaya
- Trader Joe's
- Capitol Hill/Broadway

I still need to do a little Christmas present shopping, so I will also be able to visit a couple malls during my stay -- it is going to be a big culture-shock to return to Washington after living and working in Costa Rica for 2.5 years!

DS pocket case

Last night I made a little pocket-like case to hold my Nintendo DS Lite. I have needed one for a while and decided to make my own out of some felt that I had. I am pretty pleased with the end result: one side of the pocket is turquoise blue with a stitched sea monster -- the Kraken -- on it (the Kraken is a monster from one of my favorite video games). The other side of the case is made of grey felt (I didn't have enough turquoise for 2 sides).

The top of the pocket doesn't have a closure, but I may work on it when I return to the states. I am really pleased with how this project turned out and it fits my little pink DS perfectly!

Choco Keks

Today after lunch I bought a little snack (for about 50 cents!) from the gift shop -- Choko Keks! Choco Keks is a little milk chocolate bar that contains a cookie layer and a cream milk layer. It is really good and nice for a sweet snack -- it kind of tastes like a s'mores. I have absolutely no idea what "keks" are though...maybe someone thought it sounded cool?

Tropical biology course logo

My friend Jeff (from my 2005 OTS course) conducts research here in Costa Rica and also leads educational tours around the country while on research hiatus. Recently, he asked me if I could design a logo for one of his college-level tour groups (a group from OWU). He wanted a logo that incorporated their mascot (the grumpy-looking "battling bishop"), a toucan, a palm tree, and some cool shades for the bishop. Here's what I came up with:


I recently finished up the logo and I am pretty pleased with the results (Jeff really liked it too). It is pretty fun to be able to do little projects like this on the side of my research (to also make a little extra dough!).

MORE flooding!?

Wow, this is one of the rainiest times I have ever seen here at La Selva -- the forest is flooded (and closed) yet again. This is getting to become almost routine! The waters started rising last night and when Carlos and I walked home (~7:30pm) we had to wade through a shallow stream forming across the road. While we were wading, we saw a little crocodile off to the side. We watched him until he slowly backed into the grasses and plants nearby -- really cute! I hope that the rains will stop soon so that I can get out into the forest and check on a few of my seeds...

Thanksgiving dinner

Last night was a nice fairly low-key Thanksgiving dinner with tons of food! There were a lot of people there (from all over the world) and the dining hall was decorated for Christmas. It was a pretty fancy event -- so I was sure to not wear my muddy rubber boots!


After the station director related the history of Thanksgiving (in English and Spanish) we all traveled through the buffet line to get our treats.


I had turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, a sweet potato, cornbread, cheese, an egg, and ayote (like pumpkin) pie. There was a LOT more food offered, but I couldn't eat any more.


After dinner and chatting with friends for a bit, Carlos and I walked home and who was there to greet us but Chola and Shakira! We didn't have any turkey for them, but we gave them each half a hamburger bun and they were pretty happy. Who knows where I will be for Thanksgiving next year?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving and my last one at La Selva. Even though I am in Costa Rica, there is a big celebration here at the station (since most of the researchers here are from the states). This will be my 3rd Thanksgiving at La Selva and it is always really fun -- tons of good food, wine, and even fireworks! Ticos love to set of fireworks -- the louder the better (I prefer the quiet, pretty fountain ones myself). I will bring my camera to dinner tonight to take pictures and I will try to post everything tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving to all of my family and friends back in the states!

The flood is over!

Yay, yesterday, the flood waters started to go down and today things are back to normal after about 4 days of forest closure here at La Selva. This was a pretty big flood and I am really happy to be able to return to the forest now to check on my seeds. I am also lucky that all of my seed depots are located on high ground that doesn't flood so now I don't have to contend with any wayward water-mediated seed dispersal!

Still flooded...

Wow, this is the worst flood that I have seen during my 2.5 years here at La Selva! We are still unable to work in the forest due to the floods and yesterday we even had to ride a boat to the dining hall (a first for me). The soccer field next to recepcion is super flooded with the full-size goal nets almost completely submerged!


Carlos and I had to take an alternate boat home last night since a fast-flowing river had newly formed across the road where we normally exit the station. This was a real-life jungle cruise -- so fun! We boated through the flooded soccer field to the Ariera-Zompopa trail, through a gate until we hit the un-flooded hill on the main road.


The waters had subsided slightly when we came on station this morning (the fast-flowing river that formed yesterday was gone now), but the forest is still closed. Maybe things will be back to normal tomorrow?

Flood!

We have been receiving a lot of rain (and rather chilly weather, for La Selva anyway) recently and they have actually just closed the forest for the day due to flooding. When the rivers and streams start flowing backwards, things can get a little dangerous out there and it is best to stay inside. I am keeping busy cleaning up the office, organizing, packing, and readying things for my return to the states (only 28 days left!). I am starting to get really excited about visiting Washington (I love it there in the winter) and seeing my family and friends.

The rain isn't coming down too hard, but it must be pouring in the mountains. I am going to try my best to stay high and dry!

Earthquake!

Apparently there was a rather large (6.2 in magnitude) earthquake that occurred last night (after midnight) centered near the Panama/Costa Rica border. I didn't feel it, but it was strong enough to wake a lot of people up here and really frighten them. Sheesh, I am too heavy of a sleeper!

Bocas del Toro -- Day 3

Today, we planned for a very easy-going day filled with visiting shops, wandering, and planning our trip home for the next day. Arietta and I went to a little German bakery for breakfast where I had a delicious latte and a disappointingly stale cream pastry (boo!). We also stopped by Om again for strawberry smoothies. We had a few things to do (visit the bank, pay for the hotel, purchase our boat tickets for tomorrow morning), but for the most part the day was very relaxed. We visited a curious store called Pet Tienda (pet shop) which had lots of funny dog outfits for display outside, but it wasn’t that exciting. We also bought some more snacks at the Super Gourmet grocery store and browsed souvenirs. I didn’t end up getting anything since all the items were waaaaay overpriced and fairly crappy. I used to like the artisan market since the Kuna Indians would sell their hand-made goods there, but now it is inhabited by creepy old men.


We spent more time at the hotel enjoying TV and had a late lunch/early dinner at a pizza parlor in the center of town. I had ham and onion thin-crust pizza and it was the best pizza I have eaten in a while! I saved half for a snack later that night.


We went to bed early since we were scheduled to take the 7am boat from Bocas to Changuinola and from there, take a bus back to La Selva. This was a very successful trip -- I renewed my visa (last time before I return to the states), enjoyed a relaxing island beach, and ate good food. I would highly recommend anyone visit Bocas del Toro, but only if you don’t have to travel far to get there (the trip from Puerto Viejo is a killer!).

Bocas del Toro -- Day 2

After a restful night’s sleep at the hotel (such a nice place!), Arietta and I woke up hungry and left the hotel around 8am to search for some breakfast. Nothing was open yet, except for the Indian restaurant Om so we decided to have a delicious breakfast there. Om is only open for breakfast and dinner and the breakfast menu was extensive -- there were American-style and Indian-style food offerings. I ordered a Masala Chai and a plain toasted bagel with cream cheese, tomato, and cucumber. It has honestly been years since I’ve eaten a bagel and this one was great! The chai was also excellent -- thick, sweet, and spicy.


After our leisurely breakfast, we stopped by the hotel to pack for the beach and we also went to the Super Gourmet grocery store to pick up items for a picnic on the beach. We caught a taxi/bus (colectivo) at the park in the center of town and after about 40 minutes, we were at Boca del Drago on the back end of the island. This beach is absolutely gorgeous and we were very lucky to have bright, sunny weather. I love this beach since it is very quiet (you hardly see any people here), has tons of coconut palms lining the beach near the water, the water is clear turquoise and warm, and Boca del Drago is extremely easy and inexpensive to visit.


Around noon, Arietta and I ate our picnic (a fresh baguette, havarti cheese, and an apple for me) next to the water and beneath the shade of a large palm. After a snack, we walked around the water’s edge and saw many large sea stars and sea cucumbers through the clear water. We stayed until around 3pm whereupon we took another colectivo back to Bocas town.


We took a break in the hotel until dinner -- we decided to return to Om in order to have delicious Indian food. I really like this restaurant -- it is a good deal and the food is excellent. I had another Chai to drink and for dinner I ate naan bread, daal (spicy lentil mixture), raita (cucumber and yoghurt mixture), curry potatoes, and tons of rice. After dinner, Arietta and I waddled back to the hotel and went to bed awaiting a relaxing day of wandering and shopping tomorrow.

Bocas del Toro -- Day 1

-- (NOTE): Sorry it's taken me so long to post about my Panamanian adventure. Things have been super busy recently (I cannot believe that I only have 35 days left in Costa Rica!) --

Today (6 August), I awoke early to catch the 5:30am bus from Puerto Viejo. I met my friend and fellow researcher Arietta at the bus stop and we rode until the cruce (crossing) where we disembarked the bus and waited to flag down another bus that should pass by around 7am. This part of the trip was a little stressful since that bus isn’t necessarily guaranteed to stop, but we managed to catch it and continued on down the Caribbean coast for about 5 hours until we reached the border crossing town of Sixaola.

There weren’t many people passing through the border when we arrived and we went through with no problem. After that, we took a half-hour taxi to Changuinola to catch our boat to the island. The boat ride is my favorite portion of the trip from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro, Panama. There are a lot of interesting wetland birds (egrets, jacanas) and (allegedly) manatees hanging out in the canals. If you have ever been on the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland -- that is similar to the canal trip...but with fewer evil hippos wiggling their ears!

Once we arrived on Isla Colón (the main island of the Bocas del Toro island group), we checked into our hotel (Hotel Dos Palmas) and went out to wander the town in search of food. We settled on a quick bite to eat at a diner where I had a pretty decent cheeseburger and banana milkshake. It was fairly late in the afternoon by this time so Arietta and I went back to the hotel to nap and watch TV. Tomorrow would be our first full day in Bocas and we planned to visit Boca del Drago -- a beautiful beach on the back of Isla Colón.

Home again, home again

I am back from Panama and trying to catch up with all of my work now. The trip was really fun and relaxing -- everything is really nice in Bocas del Toro. I am going to work on the blog posts for each day of the trip and try to post them soon. I had a nice time on the beach, but I really like being here in La Selva -- back in the forest!

Off to Panama

Tomorrow morning (at 5:30 am) I set off for Panama to renew my visa here for the last time before going home to the states. I will stay in Bocas Del Toro for three nights and I am really looking forward to a little break. Unfortunately Carlos can't come with me, but my friend Arietta is and she is great. I will take lots of pictures so that I can blog about my trip retroactively when I return!

Hurrah!

I must say that I was very relieved and excited to turn on my computer this morning and learn that Obama is our new president-elect! I was cautiously optimistic that he would win, but after 8 years of idiocy and 2 suspect elections, I wasn't putting anything past the GOP -- they are pretty tricksy!

Anyway, I am not really into politics and I don't preach to convert others, but I think this is a good step forward for our country. We are already receiving a positive response from so many world leaders and this is very heartening news. Obama will definitely have his work cut out for him as he tries to repair all the damage done by the Bush administration...

In other news, last night while walking home across the bridge, Carlos and I saw a young 2-toed sloth! He was the cleanest and fluffiest sloth that I had ever seen and he was definitely in reach of petting (although we didn't pet him). He had a super wet and squishable-looking nose (my mom wouldn't have been able to resist squishing it!) and his face was so cute with his little blinking eyes. While we admired this little sloth, we also saw a wooly opossum walking amongst the branches overhead. So many nice animals!

Tuti

This morning, we ran out of milk at the house so Carlos walked to the little general store across the main road while I took a shower. When he came back, he had a box of milk in one hand and a little white kitty with black spots in the other. I recognized this kitty -- it was Tuti (pronounced tooty)! This was our neighbors' cat that ran away a few months ago -- he is really nice and we always petted him when we saw him around. It was definitely him. We could tell by his markings, but more by his friendly personality! We kept Tuti for the morning, petting him a lot and feeding him chicken and milk. We was purring all the time and loved all of the attention.

After breakfast and on our way to the station, we stopped to give Tuti back to our neighbors -- they were so happy to see him again! Woo-hoo, another success story from the Animal Rescue Team!

Rescued a brown wood turtle

A couple of days ago, Carlos was out collecting plants + beetles on the main road that leads into the station and he saw a little turtle in the middle of the road. No sooner did he pick up this little turtle, then a car zoomed by and would have surely squished and killed her! Carlos is an animal-rescue hero. He took her to the office so that I could see her. We identified her as a brown wood turtle (Rhinoclemmys annulata), then we released her into the forest -- Animal Rescue Team saves the day again!

Fobby

I drew a picture of this little fella -- a Fobby -- the other day in my notebook. He is a funny, poofy, orange-ish enemy from my favorite video game EarthBound. Random!

VISA run to Panama

In early November I need to renew my VISA (yet again!) and I will be traveling to Panama with a friend to do this. Gringos automatically get tourist VISAs that are valid for 90 days after the date of entry into Costa Rica soooo...every 90 days I travel out of the country (my last trip was to Colombia) and remain outside Costa Rica for 72 hours. After that, I cross the border again and get another 90 day VISA. Woo-hoo! It is a lot easier to do this than to apply for a VISA extension (or temporary residency) through the immigration offices!

I have been to Panama a few times and the region we are traveling to (Bocas del Toro) is located only 32 km from the Costa Rican border so it is a convenient place to stay for 3 days. Bocas del Toro is a group of forested islands in the Caribbean with Bocas town (the largest populated area in the province) located on Isla Colon. I don't really want to take the time out of my research to leave the country, but I have to and at least I will get to relax and enjoy nice beaches and food while in Bocas! I will probably have more information to write about later as our departure date nears. Yay for traveling, but boo for inconveniencing my research!

What an odd little day...

The morning started off with a little drizzle and rain storm, but I was a little confused because the sun was out and shining away and there weren't any clouds overhead! Hmmm...oh meteorology. Anyway, it has been a funny day of off-and-on rain showers and I usually end up getting a little wet when I am out in the field because I never bring my umbrella (I really don't mind it though). My umbrella is pretty broken anyway and if I am in the forest I get wet from all the incident moisture on the leaves of plants that I walk into -- not from the sky! We have been having pretty regular thunder and lightning storms each night too, but the days are nice and I am able to get a lot of work done in the field -- I am really glad that I work with diurnal (day-active) animals -- thanks agoutis and peccaries!

In other news, in about an hour there will be a little "happy hour" over in the station director's house. These little get-togethers are pretty fun and full of delicious snacks and sodas (along with wine and beer if you are so inclined). Today all the researchers are meeting to chat with a pair of wealthy donors that like science and might want to make some donations to La Selva. Woo-hoo!

PS. Today I wished that we would have cake for lunch (this happens sometimes but is VERY uncommon). It was a researcher's birthday and someone brought a tasty cake! Yay -- maybe I am psychic? ...or is that psycho? Hehehehe. He. he...

Mega Man 9

A little over a week ago a new 8-bit styled Mega Man game came out for download on the Wii and it sounds and looks like a lot of fun. Some of my favorite games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) were Mega Man II and III. These games were so much fun to play! It was really cool to hear that Nintendo made a game hearkening back to its 8-bit roots.

Here is a drawing I did of my favorite robot master from Mega Man II: Bubble Man. He shoots bubbles!

Felty crafts

I have been making more felt crafts recently -- I have been in an artsy mood the past few days. Here are two recent crafts I've made recently.

This is a blue-ringed octopus and was probably one of the most difficult felt crafts I have made thus far -- the stitching took a long time and was pretty difficult. I most likely won't be making this guy again. I drew the blue rings on with a light blue sharpie and aqua Copic marker.

I stitched this pumpkin last night in honor of the fall season we are currently in...well not in Costa Rica, but I would be enjoying fall if I were in the states. I also really like pumpkins!

Winter road trip planning

I cannot believe that I only have about 2.5 months left here in Costa Rica before I fly back to Washington and from there, drive back to Miami. Since I like doing research (duh!) and planning things, I have been giving a little thought to the road trip that Carlos and I will take after Christmas.

It looks like we will travel from Redmond, WA south through Oregon (I want to try and visit Powell's Used Books in Portland on the way). From there, we will travel south through inland California where we will also stop in Fairfield to take a tour of the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Factory (yay!). Next, I think we will travel east to Las Vegas where we will stay with my sister and visit for a few days before hitting the road east towards New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee until we hit Atlanta, GA. From Atlanta, the drive should be pretty easy and we might be able to make it all the way south to Miami in a day's drive (unless we decide to visit friends at the University of Florida in Gainesville).

This epic road trip will probably take around 10 days -- give or take a couple of days depending on how the driving is going. I will definitely miss Costa Rica, but it will be great to be back in Washington for Christmas and to see my friends and family!

La Selva 40th anniversary

La Selva Biological Station celebrated its 40th year of existence last night! It has been 40 years since OTS (the Organization for Tropical Studies) purchased a large tract of old-growth forested land from biologist Leslie Holdridge and transformed it into a research station. In four decades, La Selva has really grown and become a prominent center for neotropical forest research -- if not the most prominent tropical research station in the world. I feel very lucky to be able to conduct research here and interact with the many eminent tropical biologists who also work and pass through La Selva.

The festivities last night included a screening of a video chronicling La Selva's history and current outreach programs, snacks and wine, traditional music and dancing, and (my favorite) fireworks. They shot the fireworks so that you could see them burst over the canopy while walking across the bridge -- kind of weird, but really cool at the same time!

I hope La Selva continues down its path of scientific excellence for at least another 40 years!

Toast badge

Last night, I whiled away the time by making a little felt badge of a happy toast. It is inspired by a plush craft I saw once and I think it turned out pretty cute. If only I had a toaster...then I would definitely earn my toast-eating merit badge!

Cookies!

I like cookies and I had some the other day that are among my favorites. These small donut-shaped cookies are orange-flavored and covered with dark chocolate. I ate these for the first time last Christmas when Carlos and I were vacationing in La Fortuna -- and I hadn't been able to find them since then. Until...I was in San Jose a few weeks ago and they were in a supermarket there! I stocked up with 3 packages and have been having them as little desserts/treats ever since. I really like dark chocolate and orange together!

Chu Totoro in felt

Last night, while watching a movie, I made this little felt Chu (blue) Totoro for my friend since her birthday is on Monday. Sheesh, there are so many birthdays in September!

Chu Totoro is one of three forest spirits that inhabit a big tree in the animated film My Neighbor Totoro. This is a great movie -- full of cuteness! I think this Totoro turned out pretty nice, but it was hard to make -- but maybe I should make another one to keep for myself?

Birthday party

Woo-hoo, yesterday I turned another year older and another year...wiser? Anyways, I had a nice laid-back get-together last night with all 4 of the other researchers that are here right now (yay low season!). We ate chips, drank soda and wine, and made the chocolate chip pumpkin cookies that I mentioned in a previous post. I was a little worried about the wonky oven here, but we let it pre-heat for an hour and it worked pretty well. The cookies turned out great! They are more cake-like than cookie-like, but that is even more delicious in my opinion. The recipe called for an entire package of chocolate chips but I only put in half -- I don't like chocolate to overpower the cookie. We watched the Simpsons in spanish while we baked and chatted -- it was a nice time and we ended up with tons of cookies! I highly recommend this recipe if you like soft cakey pumpkin and chocolate things. What a good birthday!

Neighbors robbed

A couple of nights ago, our neighbors' house was robbed. They are currently on vacation and the person watching the house returned late at night to find a gaping hole made in the wall and lots of electronics and other items missing. This is nothing new (a bike was stolen from the front of their house a few months back) and robbery around here is very common. It takes something like this to remind you that this is still a third world country. The police came over and took statements, but they will never catch the person or recover any of the stolen items...it's just the standard bureaucracy.

Carlos and I are very careful about our safety here, but the houses are built so shoddily that all it takes is a crowbar or hammer to get in through the wall or window at an opportune moment. We never tell anyone when we leave our house for a few days (you can't really trust anyone here -- even neighbors) and we leave lights on. We also have no items of value in our house whereas our neighbors have every luxury imaginable and live like well-off gringos. I am a little worried that the robbers will come back for more, but we will be very vigilant and careful as usual. Although Costa Rica is a fairly advanced country, there are constant reminders even here in the little town of Puerto Viejo Sarapiqui that crime is rampant and you must be vigilant with your valuables and general safety.

ATBC 2008 T-shirt

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but every time I brought my T-shirt to the office, I forgot to take a picture (until yesterday that is). Here is the T-shirt from the ATBC conference in Paramaribo, Suriname this year.

Unfortunately, I was unable to go, but the president of ATBC sent along 3 T-shirts and lots of goodies for me anyway! I really think the logo turned out nice -- the colors were perfect and they were able to print it large without losing resolution. I am currently working on the logo for the 2010 Frugivores and Seed Dispersal conference to be held in Montpellier, France -- that is definitely a top priority for me and I can't wait to go (in 2 years). I will probably post a picture of that logo once I have finished it and sent it off.

Chocolate chip pumpkin cookies

For my birthday (in about a week -- eep!), I am planning to make some cookies. Since I love pumpkin-flavored things, I found this seemingly easy recipe for chocolate chip pumpkin cookies online:

CHOCOLATE CHIP PUMPKIN COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon (substitute pumpkin pie spice)
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbsp. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add pumpkin, oil, eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375º F for 13-14 minutes. Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.

I think this will be a nice treat -- it is like a chocolate chip and pumpkin bundt cake my sister once made that I liked. I hope these cookies turn out OK since the oven here is a little strange...I am also not sure if what I have is baking soda or baking powder...hmmmm...we'll see when I make these on the 15th!

"In a world..."

This was a phrase made famous by an omnipresent voice actor named Don La Fontaine. You have definitely heard his distinct deep voice in countless movie trailers (over 5,000!) and TV advertisements . I just read that he died early yesterday at the age of 68 -- it is really hard to think of what will happen to movie trailers now that they will not carry the awesome and iconic voice of Don La Fontaine.

My sister is the best!

YAY! In response to my post about the closing of Star Trek: The Experience, my sister braved the hoarde of trekkie nerds and managed to buy me a keychain to commemorate this fantastic ride/museum/experience. Thanks Shannon -- you are the coolest little sister EVER!! Did you talk to any borgs while you were there?

R.I.P. Star Trek Experience

Boo! Yesterday, I learned from my parents that Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas is going to close on Monday! Argh -- nooooo!! This was maybe my favorite thing to visit/do in Las Vegas. Now I won't be able to ever have another Warp Core in Quark's Bar or have conversations with Klingons and Borgs....waaaah! This is a sad day for America folks.

Well, at least the King Tut tomb replica at the Luxor is still in operation! And you can still buy Dippin' Dots at vending machines in the casinos!

PS. If anyone goes to the Star Trek Experience before it closes, could you pick up a Star Fleet Academy T-shirt for me (size: small)?

All done with Cartagena posts

Well, I am all done writing about my awesome trip to Cartagena. It was pretty fun to go back through my journal and sort of re-live the trip by writing about it here, but alas I must now come back to the present and start finding other blog-worthy things going on here to write about!

Day 10 -- Leaving Cartagena

Today we had to leave Cartagena and travel back to Costa Rica, but we were able to take a leisurely morning since our flight from Cartagena didn’t leave until 5pm (however we had to be at the airport 3 hours prior to that). Carlos and I slept in a bit, had a final breakfast and watched some more Olympics until we had to check out of Centro Hotel. I would definitely stay here again on another trip to Cartagena!

We were able to leave our bag with the front desk while we ventured out to lunch at a little bistro called Kokoriko. This is actually a fried chicken chain, but the Kokoriko we ate at was very fancy and more of a sit-down restaurant. I had a nice tropical salad with mangos, peaches, strawberries, and ricotta.

After lunch, we stopped by the hotel for our bag then took a taxi to the airport. The airport was pretty interesting -- lots of drug-detecting dogs and army officers. Every bag that went through the x-ray machine was searched (i.e. all the stuff was taken out). Any items in bags/boxes were sniffed, probed with a stick, or opened -- it was quite intense. The lady who searched our bag even broke up all my hot chocolate bars!

After two short flights, Carlos and I were back in San José. We traveled to Hotel Pacandé in Alajuela for the night and due to a reservation mix-up on their part we were able to stay in a fancy room with a private bathroom at the rate for a room with a shared bathroom! We watched more of the Olympics and saw Michael Phelps win his 8th gold. Our vacation was over, but Carlos and I had a really great time and we know that one day we will go back to Cartagena!

Day 9 -- Wandering El Centro and taking a carriage ride

Today was out last full day in Cartagena so Carlos and I decided to take our time to wander around the walled city, visit some of our favorite spots there, and shop for souvenirs. We made another stop at Brianzola and I tried a new flavor of gelato: veteado de agraz (vanilla with veins of agraz berries running throughout). This gelato was delicious, but I liked pistachio a tad more.

In our wanderings we made our way to Las Bóvedas (former dungeons-turned-souvenir shops that I’ve mentioned before). I found a few things for my family and myself here, but there really wasn’t much of an interesting selection of souvenirs as I’d hoped. Most stores in Cartagena seem more interested in selling emeralds to people rather than little handicrafts. While in the neighborhood we stopped at Exito (the big grocery store here) to purchase snacks for lunch. I made gouda and tomato sandwiches on baguettes while Carlos made his own shrimp ceviche with frozen shrimp, limes, onion, and ketchup -- it was really good!

We escaped the heat of midday by napping in our hotel room (he he he, we are like old folks!) and watching some TV -- such a luxury since we don’t have a TV at home. For our final dinner in Cartagena, Carlos and I decided to take it back to where we started -- to Crepes & Waffles of course! I had another delicious strawberry waffle with ice cream and Carlos ate a tasty crepe with crab.

After dinner, we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride through the walled city. We looked for a well-fed and well-cared for horse and happened to get one with a huge carriage bedecked with white flowers -- it looked like a “just-married” carriage. So...we drew lots of attention to ourselves with this carriage, but the ride was really nice and definitely a highlight of the trip. We started off in a little plaza near Crepes & Waffles then we rode through the center of town to Barrio San Deigo. From there we rode near the city walls until we ended up back where we started. The ride lasted about 30 minutes and our “driver” pointed out all the landmarks along the way. It was really nice and fun to take a slow horse-carriage ride through the old city -- it really made me feel as if I was transported back in history. Our horse was named El Abuelito (the little grandpa) and he was nice enough to let me pet him.

The carriage ride was an extremely nice note to end our vacation on -- the perfect way to revisit all of our favorite landmarks in El Centro!

Day 8 -- Islas del Rosario

Today started a little earlier than usual since we had to be at the port by 8am to check in for our boat trip to the Islas del Rosario. We boarded our ship (Alcatraz III) a little after 8am and we set sail at 8:30. The Islas del Rosario are a set of small coralline islands located south of Cartagena and the Bocagrande peninsula. There are many reefs surrounding the islands and the entire group of islands has been protected and designated a national park by Colombia.

Our trip began as we traveled slowly through the Bahía (Bay) de Cartagena (there was a lot of boat traffic in this bay). As we passed through the Canal de Bocachica into the Caribbean, we saw 2 forts that historically served as the front line of protection for Cartagena against pirates: Fuerte San José de Bocachica and Castillo San Fernando de Bocachica.

After a couple of hours at sea, we docked at Isla del Rosario and visited the small aquarium there for about an hour. At the aquarium we watched cat sharks feed on fish (while Snowy Egrets sat on their heads trying to steal some snacks from the sharks!), huge groupers, and a short little dolphin show. There was a little tide pool and some flamingos to look at, but nothing on par with the Seattle or Monterey Bay aquaria!

Next, we traveled to Isla Barú and visited Playa Blanca after eating a traditional lunch of fried fish (with the head and everything -- I didn’t eat the head though). The beach was very pretty with soft white sand and the water was a lovely Caribbean turquoise. The only drawbacks here were the vendors. They were absolutely everywhere and very annoying. Carlos and I simply went into the water to avoid them.

After 2-3 hours of playing on the beach, we got back on the Alcatraz III and set out to return to the port of Cartagena. We arrived back in Cartagena around 6pm -- this was a really fun day at sea and a very worthwhile day trip from the city.

Once back in El Centro, we took showers then walked to Brianzola to recharge with more gelato. I had pistachio again -- I wanted to try a different flavor, but the pistachio was so good! After our pre-dinner dessert, Carlos and I walked to Parque Fernandez de Madrid to order pizza at Pizza en el Parque (we ate here once before and the thin crust pizza was very delicious so we came back again). We ordered 2 medium pear and ham pizzas (same price as one large pizza) to take back to the hotel. Today’s trip to the Islas del Rosario was extremely fun, but also pretty tiring so it was nice to have a laid-back evening.