7/7/2017 0 Comments Dominical, take twoWhile I love Dominical, I'm happy that we're 20 minutes from this little hippie place. It's a fabulous excursion though with lots of great shops, restaurants.
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7/7/2017 2 Comments ReptilandiaWe spent the morning at a reptile lovers paradise today, Reptilandia. Might have been Mike's worst nightmare (if you haven't seen the previous posts, Mike has a real phobia of snakes). We chose today to go because they feed the reptiles on Fridays. It sounded like such a great educational experience when I was reading about but no one lasted very long before a walk around the grounds was much more appealing. The boys learned lots of new vocabulary including diurnal/nocturnal, viviparous/oviparous, venomous/nonvenomous (an important distinction). 7/7/2017 1 Comment A little faith...& a huge footThere are several beaches we have fallen in love with but Playa Chaman is at the top of the list. When you drive in, you have to maneuver your car in between palms until you find a good parking space 10 steps from the ocean. We typically find a spot with an overhanging palm at the beach which acts as our umbrella when we need a little siesta. Most Ticos take next to nothing on their beach visits. No towels, chairs or even shoes. This entire trip has been such a lesson in simplicity. We pair down every day and still have too more than they do. Yesterday a couple near by found a coconut and propped it on a stick, then gathered rocks and took turns throwing them at the coconut to see who could knock it off the stick first. Fantastic! Of course the boys adopted the game and this was entertainment for quite a while.
When we finally went swimming, I made the mistake of wearing my favorite sunglasses into the waves. They weren't huge waves so I thought I could just hold the glasses to my face at the break. I went under on one and came up too soon getting side swiped by a quick second which carried my glasses with it. I chased and reached and crawled and shuffled and no glasses. The boys and I (Mike was on a run) walked up and down the beach in hopes the ocean waves had washed them ashore. When the boys had had enough hunting, we went back to swimming and I couldn't get this crazy idea out of my head that I was going to dive into a wave and the gods of the ocean were going to gingerly place my beloved glasses back on my head. I can't explain how incredibly strong this feeling was. I couldn't let it go. We body surfed and played and swam but I just knew I was going to find those glasses again. Mike joined us about 45 minutes later, rode a few waves and do you know where this is going? I went under a wave and came up and looked at Mike who was wearing this fabulous grin and holding my sunglasses! His size 12 1/2 foot had stepped on them! Can't lie, I fell in love with that guy all over again. 7/5/2017 2 Comments A little afternoon readingOne of the main purposes of this trip was to have a lot of unscheduled time to be bored and get more comfortable with quiet time. It was quite an adjustment at first, no surprise, but we are getting the hang of it.
7/5/2017 0 Comments can you find me?I'm a New Granada Cross Banded Tree Frog and I was almost stepped on this afternoon when my family went out for a walk. Luckily they saw me in time and let me be, although they didn't invite me inside.
7/5/2017 0 Comments My spirit insectSome people have spirit animals. I, on the other hand, have a spirit insect-or maybe more accurate, I have spirit envy. The insect is the golden orb spider and she is pretty awesome. We discovered this rather large spider in the rafters of our porch, in between the pool and the cushioned platform where we spend most of our time at home. We were equipped with a long bamboo stick to make webs, nests, etc. disappear when needed but something kept telling me not to disturb this graceful little creature. She has this amazing web, more intricate than I've ever seen. She's alarmingly large, probably 4-5 inches from end to end and there are these beautiful yellow markings along her legs and back. She doesn't move much at all so we've all just gotten used to her presence. Mike finally decided to look her up to make sure she wasn't poisonous (ever the pragmatist) and check this superhero out.
7/3/2017 0 Comments Our morning wake up callWe were awakened this morning to the sweet sound of Howler Monkeys. Felt very Jurassic Park. 7/3/2017 1 Comment Rio Sierpe & Cano islandWe signed up for a tour to Cano Island yesterday which we knew was going to be a haul from here. We had a 1 hour drive to the Rio Sierpe where the tour began, then an hour boat ride out to the island, we thought. While the day was well worth all the effort, the boat ride was much closer to 2 hours each way. I think we even heard the boat yell "what the hell?!" when we reached the ocean at the mouth of the river and saw the island in the hazy distance. The flat bottomed boat that navigated the river with ease, was not built for the 6-8 foot swells of the open sea. The water was calm thank goodness and the boys were incredibly patient but both were asleep by the time we arrived and Mike and I had some seriously aching heads.
I am definitely not the biggest fan of ants. Prior to this trip I would quickly smack, spray, swipe or any other number of methods to rid my house of them. The leaf cutter ants of Costa Rica - Atta cephalotes - have transformed me into an ant sympathizer. And to think they are Costa Rica's only standing military. Just kidding, Costa Rica doesn't have a military, how cool is that? Plenty of machete wielding folks here though so I'm not recommending you completely let your guard down but I digress.
7/1/2017 0 Comments A visit to dominicalThis afternoon we visited Dominical, a small surfer town about 20 minutes from Uvita. It has a huge hippie vibe (pictures lots of dreadlocks) and we loved popping in and out of the souvenir shops. I picked up some beautiful little hand made bracelets by a couple who had a table set up on the dirt road by the beach-I snagged both for under $5. Woop! After some shopping, we found a tree house oasis of a restaurant and brewery called El Fuego where we all got some liquid refreshments. And wait for it...they had Kombucha on tap! I think I cried a little bit with excitement. After we refueled we headed to the beach which was much rockier than the beaches in Uvita. The boys had no issues with it but I thought I was stepping on stingrays every time I put my foot down. My fear stemmed from our surf instructor, Jhonny, telling us we needed to shuffle into the water rather than step to encourage the "stingers" to swim away. Each time someone shares a new hazard, I find myself wondering if I am better off now or in my prior state of ignorant bliss. Apparently one must get the barbs of a stingray out at the hospital which is about 40 minutes away. I don't think I've lifted my feet from the ocean floor yet. In fact, my entire gate on land has now shifted to a shuffle just to be safe. |
aboutWelcome to my blog Photos + Footnotes. I am Tyler Cunningham and I love taking pictures. It is the best way I know how to express myself and my view of the world. It's when I'm behind the camera that I'm most comfortable. I see colors and details, I observe connections between people. I see joy and pain, abundance and poverty. I am my least judgmental behind the lens, simply seeing and recording. It is how I process the abundance of information the world throws at me. ArchivesCategories |
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