Galapagos day 3

6pm local time.
We are back a bit weary after a long day outdoors, visiting one of the small islands called North Seymour. It is 45 m above sea level and smallenoughto walk around in an hour, and was formed by a seismic event uplifting a block of seabed. being national parrk as most of the place is you cannot vivit it by yourself but only with a guide, who registers the trip with park authoroties. Even when on the island you may only walk the prescibed pathways with no deviations. However the reasons are obvious when there its a breeding colony fior varous birds etc and this system keepsit in pristine condition. The wildlife is so unfazed by humans in any instance, that you almost have to clear them off the track in places.We went there by launch and diembarked by inmflatable, a group of 10 people all up. On the standard black basalt shore line 2-3 m high werelarge red crabs and some very indolent looking sealions including pups. Visible even from a distance were birds wheeling overhead and once on land their various (usually strange) calls were evident. The two bird species with heavy nesting activity were the magnificent Frigate bird and the Blue Footed Booby. The frigate bird is unique and has tio take the title as the worlds best gliding machine. They have a huige wingspan and can glide flawlessly. We see them around including from our hotel In particular we have noticed that they can turn direction without banking their wings, probably by ruddering their long forked tail. There is not a flicker of their wings as the wheel about, drifting on the slightest sea breeze. On the island the nesting males had the large inflated red throat sac that im sure you will have seen in photos. They nest closely to each other on low trees, puffing their pouches up and opening their wings in a dramtic sound accompanied display. Impressive rather than beautiful is the best description of being in close to them, they have something of that unsentimental, is it edible attitude about them that you see in gulls for example. There was however a very beautiful gull there, the swallow tailed gull -a stormy grey with red eye ring.By contrast the Blue Footed boobies were both beautiful and a comic entertainment. Thjey are a gannet species and look like one, but with an unmissable chalky blue foot. In the air they are like darts, scything about, intently examining the sea surface below, then diving in a flash to hit the surface with a puff of water. When nesting however, they pair up andconduct ongoing courtship rituals, involving an exagerated lifting of their lovely feet (if youve got it flaunt it type of thing), in a slow charlie chaplin like walk. As they walk around each other, their bodies sway a little and occasionally the male crouches forward but with bill pointing directly upwards, and half opens his wings and lifts his tail in a brif but dramatic display. All with the whistling calls of the female and the crooning honking notes of the male. The Boobies were nesting on the ground and while separated rather than packed in they were everywhere, so we were surounded by courting birds including some we had to step around. I had to remove my telephoto lens for a short lens as it was otherwise too close. You could sit down as close as you like and watch these beautiful things dance and burble away in front if you.
We also watched the overhead traffic as birds came and went, pasing at low level. In one area we met some land iguanas, much larger than the marine versions and the male with handsome yellow and orange markings on his head region. Again, completely approachable an not challenging photographic subjects, knowing exacly how to strike a fine pose.
The sun was intense and though you could do this forever we were pleased in fact to get back on the boat and under cover, for lunch. The afternoon was recreational we were dropped off at a white sand coral beach and snorkelled and generally messed around. We had a very successful snorkel out over some of the rocky sections of the bay, not coral gardens but with nice fish. Our favourite was a 30cm long dark blue fish with a bright yellow tail, called a yellow tail! They were in shoals of scores of them and would let you in close so you were surrounded. We also saw a manta ray below us then later saw one from the beach as it swam in the shallows against the shore line. I also had an all too brief visit from a white tipped reef shark, about 1.5m long, slender, graceful but not an agressive species so I wasnt bothered just wishing it would stay around not glide off.
We stopped off in town for refreshments and are now sitting about watching the light go. We have had a good taste of some of the specialties of the place but its hard to have to leave, tomorrow,
sx

Galapagos day 2

8 pm local time.
Today we explored the so called highland of the highlands Santa Cruz.While only a few thousand feet high the vegetation changes markedly in short altitude steps, presumably reflecting rainfall. The island is a shield volcano, a gently sloped basalt volcano made from very fluid basalt. The archipelego is very young, no more than 5 M years so younger than the Dunedin volcanics. So the plant and animal communities all arrived here relatively recently, and being very isolated at over 1,000 km from the mainland they have not experienced any interbreeding with mainland populations and have developed their own unique local forms. So its a world unlike any other, in terms of what is here and how it has evolved since arrival.
We started at the top in lichen and moss covered trees, a stunted forest on virtually no soils just rock, the canopy being about 4-5 m high. In it are large sink holes, a couple of hundred metres wide and maybee 100 deep, where the roof has collapsed as larva drained below them, through larva tunnels. Now they are very rich in plants and bird life. We moved lower down the island and saw some of the known larva tunnels, some several kilometres long. They wind underground down towards the sea, from underground sources towards the cap of the mountain. We walked for a while in some, they are broad, smooth walled tunnels about 6m wide and high. As larva drained form thje molten areas under eruption, they gradually cooled until only a network of tunnels drained. They emptied, leaving the tunnels behind and only known where they break the surface and have been found.
We had a guide and went looking for giant tortoises in the wild, with great success finding 7. A memorable experience to come across these colossal animals in the wild. We were walking in dry forest of slender trees, reasonably open. Often you would hear the animals before seeing them, they move about with an audible thump not to mention the cracking of vegetation under their feet. On the first occasion I presumed there were people ahead of us but two male tortoises were pushing each other around in a slow motion shove contest, territorial apparently. We sat down and waited as they approached us, with their slow unsteady gait. They breath audibly, deeply and slowly not unlike our good friend Darth Vader in Star Wars. They were quite intimidating from a seated position and virtually were on top of us before they stopped, and looked. One had moved on but the other approached us and stayed. The beady eye of a giant tortoise on you is quite something, they definitely look at you. Seated it doesnt concern them but if we stood up or moved too much it would exhale in a loud breath, their version I suppose of a hiss. The guide had some passion fruit and dropped them in front. The tortoise ate them with relish and huffed passion fruit breath on us. Up close the animal seems to be from the dawn of time, with its deep laboured breath, dinosaur like head, watchful eyes and deliberate movement. We sat entranced but also considering what to do if it decided to tread onto us! But they are more observant than that and we saw a number more wandering, feeding and in one case wallowing in a mud pool. I have photographed them trying to catch the ridiculousness of a a huge tortoise living in a dry woodland. They summarise the place well its as if some kids designed it and made everything the wrong size and threw in a few oddities such as iguanas the same colour as the rocks, browsing on seaweed at the wave edges.
The highlands were full of interest but its the coastal margin that is most recognisable to us, having seen images of a barren land with its bird and reptile life. The huge cacti are another sight we cannot get over and this afternoon did a longish walk on a good pathway through one of these forests, a deep jumble of black larva boulders and a prickly scrub cover that you wouldnt want to venture into, punctuated by these surprising and dramatic prickly pear cacti,the size of a medium tree in some instances. We reached a beach and at its rocky corner it was dripping with marine iguanas enjoying the sun, climbing into heaps of several and spread legged in the heat. We didnt, but you could poke them before they would have shown any concern. We have found the same with the bird life being so curioous and unafraid. Today we had several instances of seeing a new bird, going all quite, getting the camera going click click, then the bird does the exact opposite expected and flies in and sits right in front of you, obviously curious. A very engaging and delightful experience to be treated so trustingly. More tomorrow we have a treat in store and are sailing to an small island clogged with sea bird life.
sx

Galapagos day 1

Galapagos is instantly recognizable we have seen images of the strange landscape and creatures on it, but oh to be here!
There are a dozen or so larger and a dozen or so smaller islands, a volcanic archipelago in deep water. The island we are on is the one large one, Santa Cruz, low in profile, black basalt boulder fields with patchy dry scrub, like a desert. The rocks are so black and sharp they even hurt to sit on. The vegetation is punctuated with cactus trees, thick trunked and with flatted leaf blades, a surreal effect. The ocean starts abruptly with dark larva cliffs, not high, then a turquoise sea. We landed, in a half empty boeing, on an adjacent island, flat and no larger than required to land. The terminal was close to a wool shed in effect. We then ferried a narrow passage onto this island and drove to the opposite side via a road that went virtually straight through an alien looking terrain. On the other side was the principle township of the islands, a pretty fishing village now a tourist centre. However the vast majority of visitors stay on boats offshore, while we elected to stay on land where a much fewer visitors stay and certainly not the flashier ones.
The wildlife is everywhere and largely unconcerned with humans. Sea lions lounge in the harbour and haul themselves up onto boats where they can, boobies and pelicans are diving in the harbour, bright crabs and larva dark iguanas scuttle on the sea walls and we have particularly loved seeing some of the many finch species. They were the bird Darwin studied most closely here and referred to in his landmark publication The Origin of the Species. They are largely non descript but charming, and little afraid of being approached. Darwin posed the question how can you explain the range of different species on each of the islands, and along with evidence from many other locations he answered that question with an exceptional insight, particularly as he was not armed with knowledge of the mechanism of inherited traits, the gene. He made sense of the diversity of life and the changes visible in the fossil record, and galapagos is the location most associated with his work so it is a thrill to be here.
This afternoon we visited our first must see, a centre breeding and releasing the giant tortoise. You see the little ones and can walk in open compounds amongst the adults. Its a shock to see them, a male being as much as 300kg. A sight to behold as they walk, eat, and huff like something from a prehistoric epoch. All the way we were diverted by other wildlife sights but made it back home to a swim in the sea, and now dinner an early night and preparation for tomorrow, when we visit waht they call the highlands, the highest wild areas of this island.
lol
sx.

Quito

pm local time.
Today we hired a guide to see the city, $US70 for an english speaking Quito guide including his vehicle - pretty good value I think. We discussed what to do then headed off. Being earlier ijn the morning we took a cable car to the top of the nearby ridge, to look at the city. It fills the valley for 40 km, being up in the andean highlands flat country is scarce. We had to walk a feww hundred metres up to the cablñe car and were surprised to feel breathless and heart racing. A few minutes later we were another thousand feet up at 4,000m, which didnt help. We walked quite clowly up up path to an observation point.
The city is a curious colour, whitish pink. The houses are so packed you dont see a lot of detail, just a strange wash of colour which reminds me, if I may say so, of what seagulls leave behind when the krill is running in the harbour. Apparently they use local pumice deposits to make their aggregate and thats the colour. We saw one of the high points briefly, a nearly 6,000m volcano with a snowy cap. The snow levels starts about 4,800 m or so, compared to our snow line of about 6 - 8,000 feet 2-2,700 m or thereabouts. Thats the tropics, pushing these altitude parameters well up from what we are used to.
The local volcanoes are active, and there was ash and pumice deposits where we were viewing.Our guide says he has experienced significant ash deposits twice, in the city. We learned that these mountains are the Andean chain, but rather than being aggessively uplifted by plate movement as they are further south, it is an area where one plate is subducting below the other with volcanism resulting, pretty much the ame as our south Island and north island situation.
Nexr we visited a famed landmark, a statue of the virgin mary with wings, on a hill over the city. Its a fact and a bizare commentary on humans that the walking paths up the hill to the stature involve a virtually guaranteed mugging experience. So we thought why not drive up, and did. On the way we stopped to view an old city cemetary, which to save space is a vertical wall where your remains are posted, in a slot.
We then moved into the old part of town to see the city section the spanish built in the 16th century and onwards. Fabulous moorish, gothic, baroque and spanish influenced churches and civic buildings. The most ornate was the interior of a church so ornate it looked frothy with detail, all covered in gold leaf. No photo permitted by we were hushed by the specatacle of it and walked round soaking it up. We visited the presedential palace in front of the main square, once an inca market then converted by the spanish to a central plaza. The armed guards at the gate are dressed in the uniform of Simone Bolivar, a political figure revered on many latin american counties including Cuba. We saw the changing of the guard as one shift replaced another, very comical like the marching soldier in Sebastians home in the movie bladerunner.
We loved our day here and feel a lot more comfortable with the place compared to initial impressions which probably reflected the location of our hotel and the streets we first wañked out into. The hotel is excellent very comfortable and home like, with charming english sounding owners, an older couple. We had a brilliant meal last night and even decided to test the advice for travellers at altitude, to eat lighly and refrain from drinking or smoking. We ate vigorously, consumed a bottle of wine then retired to the fire (it is cool enough to warrent one in the evening) and sipped a cognac. Sadly they have this attitude of not lighting cuban cigars otherwise that woul have been included. sp much for medical advice we slept well and woke up fine!
I have to get off this machine but have to comment on what fascinated me most, the mountain people, short stocky people with hats like trilbys and ponytails, brightly coloured hand woven clothes and a lkarge box on their bag secured with a sling across their chest. They are in town selling produce.
Above 10,000 feet all down the andes are villigers living in the alpine terrain, speaking in their old tongues and raising animals, growing produce and weaving. They cannot really be considered citizens of this country or that they are their own peoples of the Andes. We are looking forward to seeing and learning more.\sx

Quito Ecuador

5.30 pm local time.
Culture shock. It doesnt seem right to have such a comfortable tranfer from the San Jose hotel to airport, easy check in, nice Boeing flight and effortless disembarking and customs process, to walk ou into this place. The city is at 9,200 ft, and is the second highest we will be visiting. I definitely feel a bit tired several hours on, but shanti claims she does not. Quito is a connection point to the Galapagos, being Ecuador territory, but we are staying longer (2 nights) to acclimitise for our later visit to the Inca ruins at Machu Pichu, which will be through 12,000 ft.
The city occupies a valley between two volcanic mountain chains. From the air the city is a bleached colour with tiled roofs in orange. On the ground its cooler, dusty dirty versus wet dirty, and sprawling up and down the valley.
The area has hosted 4 cultures to date, the native south americans, the incas who moved in from the south and built a city here, the spanish conquistidores who obliterated the inca buildings and built a colonial city on the ruins (some of which are still here, dating from 16th century),and now the modern section of the city with some high rise buildings. We will see it tomorrow as we are hiring a guide to take us around.
The sight of the city running up the valley with high hills and mountains both sides is striking. The land is very dry and barren looking, covered in intermittant scrub but mostly rocks and rubble from the hills, it seems. The city has a daunting reputation for violent and armed muggings, so when we went out we carried almost nothing, including taking off my watch. We needed a new lock for shantis suitcase, which was smashed open somewhere in the baggage handling but nothing taken, as we had all valuables in hand luggage. Thank god not my bag as it has the cigars.
We found it immediatly a strange experience to walk in such unknown and different territory. The people are very unusual to us, we saw native indians in their heavy woven woollens and hats, but also every manner of other local of native, spanish and negro decent from suit wearing, to black american ghetto culture. Loads of people everywhere, considerably less english speaking and not many visitors. Trafic pouring through the often narrow and one way streets, street stalls and vendors of trinkets, fruit, and in one case toilet paper. A colourful, strange smelling place, mostly single storey. We found our lock, had an excellent cup of coffe in a not very savory smelling cafe which looked ok from the outside. The grimy half toothed proprietor offloaded all his useless Costa Rica coins on us for change, as we soon found out. Twice in quick sucession this happened with small purchases so now we know to examine the change.
We are in a small hotel which is a refurnished house, in the thick of it. The safe would hardly hold a mouse so I took our monstrous binocs to the desk for them to hopefully store. The place is quite cute or at least we think so at this stage before dinner, afterwards might change! They have even put on some tinkering piano music as we sit in a small lounge shanti reading in the dim light and myself typing. Tomorrow will be fascinating and all the time our excitment is building at the prospect of the Galapagos on the near horizon.
More pics on flickr but very rough labeling as yet.
sx

Antonio Manual, Costa Rica

5.45 pm local time
Having reported we were leaving Costa Rica we checked our itinary to confirm flights, and thats interesting, we have a stop over en route to San Jose, with two nights at Antonio Manuel National Park on the pacific coast directly opposite San Jose. We did remember planning it but somehow we had lost the timing plot.
We packed and left Monteverde in the rain, and took a different route to that we drive in on, heading towards the pacific coast. Not a main road, it decended very steeply from the hotel at 5,500 ft to near sea level (the coastal plain) in about an hour and a half. Early in the piece about a 1 km section was so steep it was concrete surfaced, like one of those driveways to a cliff edge home on Portobello read. In a fully loaded van of not new pedegree I wondered about the brakes and the drivers plan if they failed, but that was not required and we continued on down, down, down the steep windy road through beautiful forested ridges and spurs. Some of the hill sides the road crossed over were possibly as much as 60 degrees slope in places. There was plenty of evidence of digger activity,it would not be an easy road to maintain. In some ways it reminded me of fiordland except for the large leaved tropical vegetation. On the way we surprised an Agouti, a long snouted animal like a racoon. Earlier we had also seen grey squirels, quite large, and a huge guinea pig whose name we dont yet know. But all native mammals.
As we dropped down out of the cloud forest the mist shredded up and the coffee plantations appeared on the less steep and on the sunny slopes. Being so hand tended the plantations are immaculately groomed even the roadside hedges are trimmed.
Once on the coastal plains we drove south, towards the park. Its an area of coastal rainforest that includes its beaches. We stayed very nearby, and on the next morning took a guided walk into the park. They let visitors into a marked trail, in groups of 12 with a guide. There were so many groups you could see one or more both ahead and behind. But it turned out to be not an issue as the guide gave us a lesson in sharp eyes and the ability to locate wildlife in proximity.
The 2.5 hr walk followed a track parallel to the coast about 500m from the beaches, then dropped down to the waters edge and returned to the start point. We saw sloths, an owl, a forest kestrel, snakes, bats roosting under a tree limb, lizards and iguanas of various sizes and orchids and the usual range of facinating plants and insects. But the highlight and what the area is renowned for are its monkey troops, four species of treetop monkeys that live in extended family groups. They move quite swifly feeding in the canopy, but give you glimpses as the pass through. The cheekiest of them, the white faced (or Capichun)(sp?) monkey is a capable thief and we were advised not to let go of possesions if they came to ground level. They are also masters of the art of bombing, so when a few hefty fruits started to whack the ground in our vicinity we shifted our position and they moved on!
We saw the small and rapidly moving squirrel monkey and also another band of howlers. They have frustrated all my effors to photograph them so far, usually staying well hidded behind foliage, peering at you from a concealed position, or dropping out of sight. This group that crossed over us gave voice directly above us, no doubt in reponse to our presence, and we all froze in our tracks, pop eyed, as this intimidating challenge roared out.
We came away realising that there is a lot of detail we missed in the forest we have walked through, but is not that easy to spot. The snakes for example sat motionless and even when told where they were it took a while to see them. My eyes hurt and brain was wobbly with looking by the end of it, but the rain came in, hard, so we had no choice but to hole up inside with some reading and sleep.
As I write we are in San Jose, flying out in the morning. Its time to get everything clean and dry, and prep ourselves for a new place with a new currency.
Thinking and talking together about our impressions of Costa Rica, its very dominated by its geography with a high mountanous spine and broad foothills, and various widthed coastal plains. The hill country is heavily forested and sopping, the flat country largely farmed for fruits, which we thought were absolutely superb in their quality. Rivers and streams run out of the hills, everywhere, some filthy brown others pure, probably depending on the human activity in the catchment they are draining. Getting around is not easy, roads are narrow and windy and often congested with trucks, if its an arterial route. They are shifting fruit produce to the ports for export. The roads are not great because they are often wet, heavily lined with roadside growth and ususally clutterd with power lines. The dont run a couple of power lines there might be 20 of them crossing a pole, sometimes on both sides of the road and regularly crossing overhead. Apparently the country had a more developed railway system but lost it to earthquakes which are very frequent and sometimes very serious.
The place has cottoned on to its wonderful wildlife and are basing the tourist industry on it. We found the encounters with birds and animals to be something special in terms of their abundance and spectacular nature. Our optical gear has been wonderful, the rainproof nature of our binocs and camera being perfect in the changeable weather. And man it rains.
On the wildlife front the country is in love with everything eco, a word you see splashed absolutely everywhere. There will be eco undies for sale somewhere im sure. I dont think it requires them to actually do anything, but at least its a recognition of value in their natural heritage which should increase their chances of preserving it. There is development apace in the more desirable regions, much of it foreigners buying in, a gold coast in the making I hope not. For the moment its not 3rd world, but not first world it falls somewhere in between.

We are in getting organised mode. Talk again soon, sx

Monteverde day 2.

4.30pm local time.
Today we were children of the cloud forest! The sky grumbled, flickered and spat all night but clear first thing in the morning. We headed off to do an early 2 hr walk in an area of forest where there are zigzagging tracks then wire bridges (good ones) across a number of gullies. As a result you walk up through the canopy in effect then over it, as the land drops away into the gully below you. The longest bridge is 300M long (but angled and secured in the middle so its really two 150m sections, and the highest piont above ground is 50m. We were at altitude 2000m at the base of the cloud forest, which is defined as a belt of upper hill country forest with 100% humidity almost all the time. It happens in certain areas of the divide, where constant moist air condences at these elevations. The rainfall is 4m pa which is solid but not heroic, so its about the mist content as much as direct rainfall. But as a result of this phenomena the forest supports an unusually high abundance of living communities in the crown of the forest. In particular you see it as a solid belt of epiphytes. There are large numbers of species of plants, birds and insects even mamals who live in that belt and dont visit the ground (well maybe once, if you get it).
Thats the reason for the bridge walk to see into and over the canopy. It was superb to be there. The canopy is rich in fruit and flowering plants, that must be the basic driver of the ecosystem. We heard birds all the time but they are not easy to see. It would probably take a lot of time and quiet observation to start seeing all that is going on. We loved seeing the first skeins of mists starting to form and drift over and through the canopy, as time progressed. The pattern is that that the airflow, early morning, is warmer as the lowland air is heated. Carrying more moisture as a result it reaches this condensation zone and cloud build up starts. By late morning there are belts of mist everywhere and the place is clagging in. The warmer air reaching here causes convection activity and atmospheric instability, so by mid afternoon the first thunder is grumbling and then the rain sets in, deceptively gentle and pattering on the forest canopy, then building to decent rain and if active enough electrical storms that flicker through the night but petering out before morning.
After this walk we headed back up to the hummingbird observatory, to spend more time and photographic effort on them. Then we walked again in the forest and fulfilled an ambition with a good view of the Quetzal,(pronounced Ket-zil), a bird of mythical stature and for good reason. Monteverde is famed for its accessible Quetzals. We got a good binoc view but much harder with the camer, however I photographed them in RAW, a high resolution format so we can edit them to be clearer. About now, early afternoon, the forest was becoming pea soup. It is very atmospheric, we noticed the forest interior had those acoustics, where bird calls seem to almost echo and resound around you. One bird call fascinated us, Shanti managed to describe it very accurately as the sound you make rubbing a damp finger around a wine glass rim. Imagine you are at the stage its not quite working properly. Your finger shudders a bit and the sound starts, becoming very clear and beautiful for a moment then the sound roughens and you lose it again. A wonderful sound to hear in the forest along with all the other unfamiliar sounds. We also noticed, particularly above the canopy, how nice the forest smelt and with many wafts of fragrance, from perfumed flowers. We smelt a fragrance like Earina autumnalis, one of our own species with a very narcissus like smell. It seems to be a forest fragrance theme - maybe it travels well in that environment.
The Questzal was an ooh and aahh experience, but rain was coming and by the time we got home it was hosing down. But a memorable experience walking in and around forest for a day not to mention another dose of hummingbird close encounters.
I have got some more photos on flickr but no videos as yet, and the Quetzal pics need attention before showing them! Sadly thats the end of sx

Day 1 Monteverde

4 pm local time.Yesterday we drove the short distance then walked on the old larva fields at the base oif the mountain, and learned more about it from the guide. Arenal is very active but unpredictable, currently spilling larva and building a cone but on the other side of the mountain top so out of view. The mountain needs a ring road so you can get around it, but it is forbidden to climb on the mountain or to fly around it because the terrain, weather, and intermittant but sometimes violent eruptions are considered too high risk. Personally I disagree, but risk aversion must have reached Costa Rica. The larva fields are boulder covered, being a steeped sided cone rocks tend to reach the bottom and must make an impressive sight careering dowwn the slops, still red hot. They are dark with iron content, and extremely rough and abrasive with their gas content which froths the rock up as it is ejected. On the way down we saw a small, bright yellow snake, coiled and sitting on a limb. Highly agressive and venomous we were told, and we had to keep 3 m distance. None of us initially saw it for all the world it might have been another fallen leaf. The story is that it likes to position itself in flowering shrubs and whach hummingbirds that come to feed.
After the walk we visited the Tabacon hot springs, several streams in a valley with the mountain at the top. There are areas of hot ground rocks, so these strams heat to various degrees - they are not sulphurous ground water. The facility has both areas of natural stream, in the bush, then fancy pools at the bottom with a poolside bar and restaurant. We spaked happily in the water sipping another cocktail, and admiring the views up onto the mountain very nearby. Lighting started as it got dark, then we had an excellent meal and drove home as rain started to get serious. In the night we had the brightest lightening, loudest thunder and heaviest rain we have experienced probably anywhere. We sat in bed with the blinds open on the sliding door, lightening flahes almost dazzling us. We had all the electrics off but our room lights flickered with the waves of electric charge in the storm. It was a splendid sleeping night with the sound of heavy rain. Next day you wouldnt know it had even happened. If we had that rain at home tghere would be chaos.
Today we drove from Arenal to Monteverde, a seeming short distance but a 3.5 hr drive in a van with 3 young spaniards, from Valencia. The driver was excellent as soon as he knew we were intereted he was on the lookout for wildlife and found us first a 3 toed sloth, then some howler monkeys, all at roadside. WE had good views of both and loved every second of it, getting some photos to show you. The sloth has a shaggy coat, like an old fur rug in the worst of repairs and needing urgent throwing out. Its face was small and round, flushed pink with embarrassment at being seen in that state. The three clawws were long and visible, pale coloured hooks to grasp with. The howlers are called "Congo" by the locals. We saw one large male sitting in a roadside tree, who turned his suprising dark round eyes on us. Over the next few minutes other monkeys moved - thats how you can spot them the foliage moves- and soon we were looking at a troop of about 8 includings some wee fellas. They werent 100% about us walking below them and a couple of times burst into very loud and gruff "huff huff" noises. Yahoo we thought.
Our trip took us round to the back of Lake Arenal, with dwellings all the way. There a real estate boom going on as outsiders buy in and build, for lake and mountain views. Its very pretty and charming. We climbed away from the lake and started ascending, with very windy roads reflecting this steep gullied terrain Ii mentioned previously. All the way to Monteverde there were homes, initially local famers running cattle on hill pasture with bush filled gullies, then higher (and wetter) it was into coffe plantaions; neat rows of dark bushes often on quite steep hillsides, with forested areas on shaded slopes. The occasional small towns of a few more buildings were very cute with their narrow roads, people on horerseback and motorbikes, but obviously indigenous families.As we climbed higher the road deteriorated and the forest was starting to impose more. We reached the township of We did get into the forest, which smells wet, is just what you expect alush tropical forest to be like, is ringinmg with strange bird call, and mysteriously lit with the mist that continually drifts through in wreaths. We loved the atmosphere of it and hopefully will see a lot more tomorrow. However a large fly started locating us and my bare legs, and one went undetected for a few seconds, biting a chunk out of me and drawing blood. Well f that we thought, time to go home. About then a thunder roll cmae through and a few spots of rain started. We now know what that means, not a passing shower but the onset of torrential rain. We were on the money and got to walk home for 3 kms of it, but through gorgeaous bush which glistened as the rain pounded down, It is still bucketing down so Thank you for the emails we have been getting, we love having the contact and sorry I have not responded as yet. These places have time limits so I am focussing on the blog comments but I will write back when I can.
All well this end, lol, sx

Arenel day 1

We thought we had died and gone to heaven thought shanti, sitting on our veranda last night looking across an idyllic forested scene, up the 35 degree slopes up the side of the perfect cone shaped mountain to a summit probably not even 10k away, in the evening light. We enjoyed a last few hours at Tortuguero, before a 7 hr trip here. There was a rain storm coming, not that we knew that, and we sat beside the canal while the howlers went off in the distance. They were the perfect lead in to mighty thunder that rolled through then rain that just upped and upped in intensity. We finished packing in near dark, with the heavy cloud cover, then onto the boat (with top covered but not sides) for the ride out. We and gear were well wrapped in plastic covers and off we went for an hour and half trip. We followed a different canal system north then put on life jackets to turn west into a smaller system, with a decent current. It had plenty of timber some visible and some not, so we slowed often to crawl over drowned, fallen trees. A good idea in that waterway, with only one outboard motor and no back up. It hosed down all the way, and eventually the forest started opening, with the occasional building and then some smaller plantations of bananas and other fruits. The residents had access only by boat, the occasional one skimmed past on the way down, very long narrow vessels with an outboard. Finally we reached a concrete slipway in a muddy bank and walked out to meet a van. The roadway was surprisingly good with gravel on it and we soon found out why. The area was well populated with extensive plantations, homes and even schools. We left the lodge 9 am, and by 2 pm we transferred vans for the drive to Arenal. It takes us north and to the uplands, rolling hills at the foot of the main divide. Very pretty country and temperatures becoming a little cooler. It reminded me of the rolling hill country in the nz central volcanic plateau, the way the soils erode to produce distinctively shaped hills and steeper sided gullies. We were approaching an area dominated by active volcanoes.
We could have spent more time in Tortuguero, just at the lodge and gardens to marvel at the wildlife. There would be a tiger heron, all banded and with a dagger of a bill sitting on the wharf. Around the trees might wander an occasional iguana or their smaller, bright green cousins, They seemed to like habitations, the roof making a good sunbathing spot in the morning. They are impressive and I wouldnt imagine you could leave an infant kicking on the lawn with one of those things around. They have a curious disc on the side of the head that grows larger with age. It looks like and eye (that may be its purpose) but the real eyes are evil little yellow things that track you as you walk around. One bird that fascinated us was the Montezuma bird, a long crow like bird with bright yellow tail, strangely marked head and a dark metallic black body. I couldnt photograph them well, high in the canopy. They emitted a periodic call, a´high volume burst of turkey like gobble, with an accompanying whizzing noise and high frequency clicks. This was accompanied by falling forward, still holding the branch, lifting the tail forward and fanning it, and half spreading the wings. Very bizzare. Other life was every where, from marbled fish in the shallows, to birdlife through the garden, toads and large water beetles in the pool, and turkey vultures overhead.
But our time was up and after a long but not an uncomfortable trip we were sitting in the splendid place, with a spacious room and excellent air con, to wash and dry out all our clothes which seemed otherwise destined to become mushroom farms.
The mountain could be Mt Taranaki, except clothed in rain forest until the larva and boulder fields take over, higher up. A gas plume climbs out of the crater and bends away down wind. There is a nearby tourist town La Fortuna, but we are 10 kms closer, not the nearest place to the mountain but almost. I could walk in minutes to the foot slopes so it is very imposing and we look straight at it from our room. We had just checked in a sat down and we had a decent earthquake to remind us where we were. For 30 seconds at least the ground shook and quivered, We couldnt get over the fact that the hedge in front of out veranda shook visibly, the ground is very soft and wet a it all quivered like jelly. It must have either been related to the plate boundary we are sitting on, or maybe the magma chamber below the mountain (and no doubt below us) released some pressure into one of the volcanic vents. Unfortunately no eruption followed. The mountain erupts regularly often daily, but nothing as yet. It also is covered with clouds much of the time, but heres hoping. At its best, it erupts at night with the booming very audible, molten rocks thrown to height and larva flows on the top section of mountain being visible in the darkness. But its a long shot and even without an eruption its a wonderful and beautiful place that photos do no justice to.
Its about midday on day 1 here, following yesterdays travels. We spent the morning with our fist good views of hummingbirds. We found a bank we could sit close to and just above flowering shrubs the birds were visiting, and had a couple of hours watching two species. Shortly we will see many more as we head, for the next stage, into a higher location in the so called cloud forest. But I have my first photos and will stop now to try to load some on FlickR.

Tortuguero day 2=

Our day started 5.30, first light, with a knock on the door, time to join an early morning group to baot through the forest and watch it wake up. The area is an extensive lowland rain forest, very diverse in swpeciesw, and laced with waterways. so con can boat it as a way to view the forest. We had 2.5 hours out, a cooler time of day, and cruised in a small open topped flat bottomed boat, along the margins. A lot to see such as Caimen alligators, otters, turtles, not enough snakes but wonderful birds. Just to putter along the forest wall for that time looking for anything was sheer joy.

The highlight for us both were the Howler monkeys. I never thought monkeys would interest us, being just bum scratchers of one form or another, but in the wild they are a quite different story. I can hear a howler right now, 8pm at night as I type. We heard them first, then saw a troop of about 8 high in the canopy. The sound is hard to describe. There is a deep chested barking, like a a mighty hound but not quite, very deep and resonant. The so called howl is not well described by that term. It is like an extended lions roar, but with a strange sonic quality that I can only liken to a high performance engine. It seems to come from everywhere and nowhere in particular, the primal sound of the forest itself. We talked about how top predators and top food chain animals seem to capture the whole essence of a place, the Condor in the Andes, the Wolf on the arctic tundra and the Falcon in the Otago hills for example. Here the Jaguar and Howler are top members of the forest community and they say it all in both sight and sound.
We then saw a Howler troop of about 8 monkeys. After a night browsing in the canopy they were lying up in the tree tops, perched in comfortable branches soakinh up ther early sun. They sat hunched, dark shaggy mounds with head sunken onto their big torsos and limbs drawn in. Only with binocs could you see their dark eyes watching us, deeply set into their shaggy coats. They have joined my short list of wonderful things worth being!
We were back for a late breakfast then pushed out again by boat, this time into the smaller canals protected ftom the hot sun. Another heavenly two or more hours pushing up tight waterways, seeing the sights and sounds of the forest interior. We turned back when it started to rain. Waterproof capes came out and before we were halfway back the it was in downpour. The noise of heavy rain on forest canopy is something else. A couple of hours break, we were stuffed and slept, and we went walking for 2 hours on forest tracks. By 5 pm the mossies were diabolical so back to the cabin, looking and i must say feeling like a sack of A holes. Sopping wet with sweat and not a stitch of dry clothinmg left. That was sorted by going to the pool and submerging ourselves and drinking fruit and rum cocktails till dinner. The frogs and night birds start teeing off by 6 pm and the lightening flickers in the nearby mountains.
Im losing control of my use of my (writing)tenses and having to back edit everything, so that means time for about shower number 6 for the day and bed, under the fan going full T. Shanti hyas already vanished shes a trooper but probably needs more sleep than me and maybe thinks even less than me of being permanently red faced, pouring with sweat and in sticky clothes 24 7. Im going to set the alarm to turn the fan of about 5 am so it doesnt compete with the howlers in the morning. we have a big thrill tomorrow weather depending, moving in super close to a very active vocano, Arenal.
Talkl soon, sx

Tortoguero day 1

Today. Shantis birthday, was massive. A 5 am start and driving west through the central mountain spine of Costa Rica. We were on the main east west highway and it was clogged with vehicles mostly trucks, in both directions. What a drive 5 plus hours at a crawl or even stopped in lines of traffic. The driving antics such as overtaking were a sight. We stopped midmorning at some touriosto food place, complete with an armed guard to watch for bandits. Eventually we turned north towards Toroguero, and followed an unsealed and a bad road that deteriorated until not much more than a boulder field. But as we got deeper into the rainforest area it was exciting to know it was getting very remote and the birdlife was getting increasingly exotic. I felt a bit sorry for Shanti as for her birthday she had little sleep and now was being pummelled by the road and the heat, a very shabby story. And the skies had opened and water ran in streams both sides of the road. Parts of the final journey were through banana growing villages, large scale enterprises in this wet fertile area. Evenually the back road crawl finished where the road reached a river

Totoguero is a village on the coast in an area of unspoiled rainforest, where rivers from the mountains make many channels to the sea. We then boated for an hour and a half into our lodge, in an open boat (4 couples) with a canopy over us. The river was narrow in places winding through tall forest and very wide in others. Trees collapse into the river in flood so its a mess of tree trunks each side. Turtles were sunning on some of these and we distuirbed a crocodile and then a snake swam across our bow and climbed into greenery on the side. Beautiful birds like herons and kingfishers were visible and electric coloured butterflies flopped about. We were all fizzing at the excitment of it.
The lodge is where the fiver finishes, on a thin island maybe 200m wide, with the caribean on one side (surf and sharks)and the estuary on the other. The lodge is excellent with decks pushing out onto the estuary and comfy cabins. Extremely hot and humid we are losing moisture almost faster than i think i can drink it.

The local population is small and they are fishing villages on the estuary. We visited the main one (Tortoguero) this pm (and bought iris a toucan puzzle made locally). The wildlife astonishes us. We stepped out of our cabin and disturbed a 1.8m lizard - an iguana. It powered across the lawn and up a tree climbing right into the canopy. Other large green lizards run away from you on hind legs. We spent some time watching toucans - there are three species around us not to mention a wealth of other beautiful birds. Their calls drive us nuts we hear a burst of song and wonder what the hell is that? My camera is a great asset we are getting some good shots.

Tonight we sat on the waters edge, drank fruit cocktails and smoked the Trinidasd cigar from the factory we had seen them being rolled. Then dinner. I gave Shanti a field guide on local birds which she is thrilled with. The skies above were starry but lightening was flickering on the . Geckos are yapping around us, other night calls and we can hear the sound of the surf. Shanti has now conked out and headed to bed (its 8 pm) but we agreed it has been an unforgetable experince. I am it the keyboard sweat pourting of me, so will sign off and talk again later.
sx

Cuba to Costa Rica

We travelled across the Carribean to Costa Rica today, and are settling in for the evening and a 6 am start tomorrow - 5 hr bus trip to the Caribean coastline.
Leaving Cuba we were talking about the politics, something you cannot get away from or stop being aware of while here. The place is full of photos, monuments, graffiti, books and so an about the 1959 revolution, starring Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. The photographic record is excellent, showing these two exceptional young men, absolutely burning with passion but also great warmth and seeming humanity. Che in particular looks like something very special he certainly captured imaginations and was the face of an idealogy that went much further than Cuba. I remember the idealogy alive and well as a uni student. In a way the 70s ideals were his ideals - despose of institutional and vested interest by revolution, not evolution. Anti commercial, pro a more simple life with more equality across the board, and people power sweeping away the existing order of things. But it was deeply influenced by socialist idealogy in a way that was not apparent on the surface. The Cuban revolution stripped land ownership from individuals, the state took ownership and control across the board. They destroyed resistant idealogies and the state became the new power.
Today there is, in general, no individual ownership. The state owns all infrastructure, resources, all business exept some small enterprises heavily taxed so as to be not capable of amassing wealth. They own the farmers tractor and his bullock (if one dies you have to report it so officials confirm it is dead and they dispose of the body so it cannot be consumed). The population are mostly government incomes. If an enterprise does better, all wealth accrues to central govt, for example as taxi driver you work as required and receive the same pay rate regardless of effort. Average income about $USD 35 monthly although you hear different versions. A taxi driver told us he was on $US12.80 monthly equivalent. The result is an extremely poor population across the board, and an economy in a shambles. The only accumulations of visible wealth are in the standard of living of higher ranked govt officials.
To maintain this seems to require a police state and a massive bureaucracy, and a general state of paranoia. Countless individuals are employed to do nothing except check on other and fill out forms. Every transaction required paperwork and more paperwork, because everything that is done has to be documented, checked 10 times and any abnormalities reported and dealt to. There are arms of the party right down to street level, where feedback on local and individual activity is assessed and passed up the line if it warrents. No person has a job interview without a party official, briefed on you as an individual, present at the interview and influencial as to whether you are considered suitable. There are officials all around at roadside, continually stopping vehicles and checking peoples papers, and questioning what they are doing. We were amazed at one location our taxi driver became quite upset and worried because he had seen a certain someone twice in succession and believed he was being followed. He had said something tactless to his boss and was becoming fearful of the consequesces.
Education and the arts are very well supported, with full literacy, compulsory education and vibrant literary and arts scene. It is liberal on the face of it but at the cost of being politically correct. Not in the way we would think of it for example our unionised teaching profession and the need to hold the correct views (the so called liberal views) to progress in that profession. Political correctness Cuban style is about the state agenda in schools (I photographed a school billboard to show you what i mean) and the necessity of staying clear of any risky political content if you want to retain your freedom. It made me think about the old stand off between socialism and capitalism. To me they both ultimately involve wealth distribution but im definitely in the later camp because at the core of socialism as I see it is that human freedom of thought and opinion is collectivised into a set of common views (even if liberal) which in the case of Cuba has taken the further ominous step of being controlled by an unanswerable, self perpetuating state.

It will be interesting to see what happens next. It seems unlikely to continue in its present form as it is subjugation not freedom for its people as mooted in revolutionary dotrine. People are concerned but not able to individually act. One interesting person cited China as a possible future model that allowed economic modernisation but retained the power of the state.

So those were our discussions, sitting in Havana International Airport, lights flickering as if whoever was peddling the dynamo was tiring. Hopefully thats the end of politics but in this case they are in your face and its what the place is all about <9that, and the cigars!) We had a grotty night sleep in a hotel with no ventilation and useless aircon, then a 5 am rise to leave by 6 am. Costa Rica did not start too well, Shantis bag did not initially arrive off the plane. It was not looking good but an upset Shanti fired some ground staff up and they located it, somewhere. Next none of my bank cards worked at the airport so we travelled into town to our hotel luckily by pre paid transfer. Then the hotel would not let us use bank cards for an cash advance and declared we had to go to the bank, several kilometres away somewhere in the guts of San Jose. So off we went on foot, being penniless, to find it. The traffic was intimidating and we maka de mistaka trying to cross a multiple lane highway with central rail lines, getting stranded and very nearly cleaned out - meaning very nearly. Then we saw a bike smash, motorbike parts sprayed around and the victim on the ground, with someone applying a plastic bag to his bleeding. The other charming sight was armed security guards carrying sidearms or toting a pump action shotgun - they are everywhere outside commrcial premises and accompanying security transfers such as shop cash pickups. Man we thought, its a jungle out there. In the meantime however plenty of people about of all ages, so we so we thought DOESNT MATTER, dumped the sunglasses and looking ALL around style of walking and found our bank, where to great relief the cards did the business. So loaded with more good target fodder we headed back to the hotel, then out again by taxi to an internet cafe to finally download a few flickr photos and back up an SD card onto memory stick. On the way we saw our first beautiful CR bird, a blue taniger. Apparently the wildlife will be something else.
San Jose is surrounded by high mountains, forest covered and clouded tops. The place is so green and plush. Despite previous comments regarding our walkabout (and being told to be careful to be back in the hotel by 8pm), it is immediatley obvious its a more wealthy country for example the aiport is international standard and this hotel is fabulous.
Its Shantis birthday tomorrow, we have found a Birds of Costa Rica handbook which I will give to her, plus depending on our state Im hoping we can shop at our destination for a light dress and go out for dinner. Anyway I will look after her for you.
We are both well, although the last 3 days from Las Terrazas to Havana to San Jose have rattled us a bit so hopefully a recuperating night and a reasonable bus to sit in tomorrow!
sx

day 3 La Moka

Thanks for the comments its great to have some messages from home and people we know in the misdt of everyone else we dont!
Today was lazy we slept in and when I woke no sign of shanti - she was in the (empty) bath reading, where it was cooler, apparently. I showered then heard a shanti squeak - we have a clothes line on the veranda with florescent pegs and a zum zum was giving them a hovering inspection. We have had several fleeting glimpses, but they are tropical sprites, there but not there, flashing irridescent colours but never still enough to really drink them in.
WE headed off on a track designated 'observacion de aves' (bird watching), but it was a mosquito feeding post and we were savaged if we stood still - biting us through clothing. These were big bastards, taking a chunk out where they bit you. Then a breeze set up and we found a concrete water tank to sit on, and had the thrill od seeing toe national bird a 'Tokororo'. Its a member of the Trogon bird family, not something we are familar with. Pigeon like, upright posture with a stout beak. Striking colours - they dont do drab here. Another denizen of the water tank was the Anolis, a dark chocolate gecko, who displays periodically by standing on tip toes all four leds, lifting the tail in a stiff incline and opening the mouth to inflate a white throat pouch. Absolutely comical to see several of them on tree trunks around the water tank, each puffing themselves up and posturing to keep each other in their respective corners.
We headed home and flaked out for the pm, a very welcome rest. Starting to feel better acclimatised and not so stunned mullet. We have just finished the evening with a meal and heading now for sleep.
Tomorrow we travel to Havana, a final look a round then a grossly early 6 am check in for the flight to Costa Rica. Talk to you from there,
sxx

Day 3 La Moka, Las Terazas

Hello,
Las Terrazas (the terraces) is a reforestation project in the hills an hour west of Havana. It was originally stripped of its timber then further cleared for coffee plantations. The soils washed away and the coffee growing moved out. About 40 years ago it was made a reserve and replanted - its a decent size. The forest got a smashing in the 2008 huricanes but is still well vegetated and atractive hill country, with a river. La Moka is a good hotel, best rooms yet.

The 'terraces' refers to the fact that a colossal undertaking was made by Castro, post revolution (1959)to bulldoze this formidible sized area of hill country into 10m wide terraces, so that flat surfaces for the initial plantings would not wash out in the torrentail rains. Thats communism for you - bring out the tractors. I photographed a picture of parts of the area to show you what they did. Dad might pick up a few tips for bulldozing Colinswood as part of the recovery process?

So the place is not quite the nature reserve we expected, but we are warming to it. There is a resident cuban village below the hotel and they all work on the forest project, running the hotel, guiding and forest maintenance.
We had a guide to show us round today. It started (yikes) with a rum and musicians playing, then we were driven high on the property to an old coffee ranch, abandoned but now restored. It was a slave driven business and the ruins include relics of those times. We were wondering why the native americam facial features (think hispanic) are not as prevelent in Cuba as first thought - apparently the spanish endevoured to eradicate them from cuba as they bought negro slaves in. So the people are very hispanic with degrees of negro influence although we think we notice a degree of separation between the two races.
The bird life was good on the hill top at last more humming birds. They will be impossible to photograph except at feeders they are as active as any insect.
We then visited an elderly woman (Maria) who had grown up as a girl at the end of the coffee production era and now lives beside a coffee shop bearing here name. What a fascinating looking woman - only 69 but apparently not in good health and looks much older - a very hard life said our guide. I asked to photograph her and she said yes. We had another memorable coffee in her cafe, then moved on to see some swimming holes in the river. There were busloads of Havanans pouring in, it is a popular weekend picnic area. The clear waters have fish in them not to mention loads of jumping splashing brown bodies, and gas cookers dotted everywhere as families cooked up lunch. Bit of a food day because next we went to a local farm, in the bush, for lunch. We sat outside under a thatched cover and three men sang for a while. Two were old fellers, one of them blind. One played the guitar, simply but sweetly, and the other two shared singing with great gusto, arm draped on the others shoulder. There were chickens, peafowl and guinea fowl everywhere, chased out occassionally by a small dog. The food was typical - some orange slices to start with, then bread and butter, then some greens, rice with black beans, and slices of port and bits of chicken. A small bit of icecream and coffee to finish with. We were driven home with thye intention of walking to chase some of birds we had glimpsed, but a bath and lie down got the better of us so thats for tomorrow.

The evening was a bit of a treat. We had dinner on the balcony and the local woodpecker population was out and about. Wonderful to watch such an unfamiliar and colourful bird at close quaters, and to enjoy the sound of their hammering throughout dinner! I have some good photos. Around the balcony are mostly teak trees, with surprisingly large leaves (for a hardwood, or so we thought). They are at least 35 cm long and not unlike an outsized poplar leaf. Then we had a rain shower - our first rain since here. It drummed on the leaves, building into a wall of sound and the smell of wet ground was almost immediate. Fingers crossed for more tonight it would be a good sound to sleep to and decent competion for the shot air con unit and spastic ceiling fan. Surprising how quickly you miss rain when you dont have it, and i remembered for a moment the sound of a southerly blast rattling the roof at home.

The mosquito bites are accumulating, Shanti in particular is sporting a few. She is not here to disagree, so I can comment on her habit of not wearing much cover, while refusing to consider that might have any bearing on the bite rate.

Rose will be pleased that as per her instructions we are swithching off the alarm for one morning and will get up tomorrow when we get up. We are devoting the day to tracking down more bird life so its binocs, camera and walking tracks coming up.

sxx

Pinar del Rio and on to Las Terrazos

Erratum.
I have had to put up with a fair bit of snigering from Shanti at my memory of the tobacco farmers name - it was Benito. And the limestone Karst are called Mogotes, locally. Other factual information may also be incorrect!

Today we said goodbye, sadly, to the Valle Vinales, where the mogotes emerge in the early light and sink back into it at night. They are the same type of structures as in few places in Asia including China, and are quite striking. During the day the valley is a picture of contentment as the farming community work the land at a quiet pace, with not a sound from their activities.

Im now writing from a hotel called La Moka in la Terrazas, west of Havana, where we have three days.
On the way here we had the special experience of visiting a small cigar factory in a town called Ria de Pinares, where they roll Trinidad and Romeo y Julieta cigars, both icons of the cigar world. No photos are allowed in the factory - or of other various government controlled activities. In the case of the cigar factories I can understand they want to protect the detailed processes that make their product so unique. We entered an unremarkable door off the street and were ushered into a small narrow hallway. About 20 workers in benches three wide were at work - each completing cigars from start to finish. Wooden benches, hot, fans whirring, the smell of tobacco - this time the mature product. They use a hand held cutter to prepare leaves which they rolled and wrapped to go into a press, then out of the press after several hours to be completed with wrapper and a cap in two sections. Around the factory floor move others carrying materials. A radio was playing - in older days workers were read to. We were mesmerised to see the process and to realise that each cigar must be absolutely identical in every way. Next we viewed an area where each cigar is weighed, measured in length and guage. The rollers were very swift and can perfectly judger to a gram or two the amounts to use, and can roll cigars after cigar that you could not distinguish one from the othere. There were men and women of various ages who flicked a quick look or maybe smile as we stood near them. We clapped several who raced through the [process top produce a perfect item, whicg got a smile from them. In an adjoining room, bales of tobacco were being sorted for distribution to the tables, with each wrapper being individually inspected as the finished surface must be perfect. Every whorl on the plant is named and its leaf considered to have special characteristics, plus the distinctions of which specific location which produced it. In the packing area each cigar is graded into a range of colour variations, so that on opening a box the colour is perfectly consistent. By hand the labels were attached and finally cedar boxes packed. There were 70 opeople in all in the factory, includings some serious characters. Our guide explained many of the details and impressed us with the devotion to detail from the farm, through the fermentation process, then to their factory for production. Top cigars are several years in the process and touched only by human hand. Even when completed they are held for months befotre final packing, for further maturation. When we were given a box to marvel at we could now appreciate what had gone into it and what a unique expresion of cuban culture they were. We thought back to Benioto and his rousing lecture on how he tended his crop, picked each leaf by hand, sorted them according to which tier of the plant they grew on and now we were seeing the culmination of the process, several years on. We bought a Trinidad as a special treat (Castro's choice for diplomatic gifts, althouigh he himself smokes Cohiba Esplendidos) and will deal to it when the opportunity arises.

In the afternoon we taxi'd to this location, maybe 100k away. The driver was a worry and air con = all windows open, but hey we got here. Its a wildlife and forest reserve, and we just settled in then noticed the woodpeckers and other birdlife around us. I fired up the 200mm lens and have our first good bird photos. The viewing was so good from the open air bar we repaired to that establishent and had a wee nip of rum. On the way, there had also been a quick stop at a rum distillery - another substance the locals love, and which you could get used to. It is the distillate from a by product of the sugar industry, aged in wood and flavoured with specific local fruits, such as a tiny guava berry.

Bit rushed sorry, typing a bit average at any time let alone at end of a long day! Shanti is writing a diary but i might talk her into a guest blog spot. She sends loves as do i,

Shanta

Velle de Vinales day 2

This morning we joined an 8 person english speaking tour, with guide and driver and people mover, to see the area. First the minuses - the van, a rooted unit, and several instances of being herded through tourist traps, for the milking of pesos. Sadly however none of the wooden, leather, seed and other fine artifacts on offer would have got through our customs.
We drove down into the fally, and made our way along various rodes through the limestons 'karls', called something else here. (Shantis not on hand to provide the language details which she always remembers.) Dotted around are farm houses and plots o red earth being ploughed by oxen, planted or tended as tobacco fields of various ages and stages. The ioccassional vehicle, or horse and cart or man on horseback are on the roads. Surrounding us these strange limestone mounds with steep sides make a distinctive sight.
\Firstly we viewed a mural, where a large face of one of the hill walls had been cleared and painted with the three standard governemnt paint issues of garish pink, blue and a maybe yellow. Apparently this was ordained by Castro on his first state visit, and is typical of the revolutionary slogans and bill boards throughout the country, but this one supposedly referring to the original indian inhabitants of the valley.
Next something pretty wonderful - we went into one of the farms, and into one of the tall, gable roofed, thatched barns on every farm. In it was the farmer, called Bertolino. He spoke only spanish but our guide interpreted, so we heard the details of his tobacco growing and sale to the government at the price they fix. The barn was a lattice of horizontal poles, right to the apex, with a lengthwise corridor. It was literally packed with hanging tobacco leaves at every level, in various stages of dryness from green to brown. The sweet smell was lovely - not like cigar tobacco which has been fermented, but more like sweet grasses. Bertolino showed us seed, shaken from a dried flower, and spoke in a grand, announcement style about the process. If a camera aimed at him his lit cigar went to mouth, and he puffed up into a fine pose. We followed him looking at various leaf batches, which are picked leaf by leaf from the various patrts of the plant for diferent grades of leaf and parts of the cigar which usually have about 5 distinct leaf types. Then he entranced us by sitting down with a wooden board on lap and rolling them. Ive heard of these 'country cigars' and even seen them on sale offer (via an NZ importer). They are very simplified versions of the real thing, for local consuption. He stripped sectuions of leave to give a stringy looking bunch about 20cm long, then wrapped them in a finer, parchment like section of trimmed leaf - the wrapper. The tip was cut to lengthe and the head trimmed and secured by vegetable glue. It took only a few minutes and was surprisingly even - it looked the part. Meanwhile he is puffing them the whole time. He has smoked 20 a day for 56 years he proudly announced, and he is now 59. Off comes the hat, leans forward to pat his crop of thick black hair and strikes anothe pose to indicate being a peak physical speciman. Then, as if to justify it, eyes wide he says 'but I only smoke half of every one'. He invited us to sit around on his bench and have a smoke. No one moved (pack of pussies) so I joined hime for a flourished presentation of cigar and a few puffs beside him. He felt I needed a hat, to look more bearable, so that was plonked on my head.
We went across to his farmhouse where his wife served us coffee, being another product they are self sufficient in. We had it very strong in small cups, with a good whack of sugar. Blissful with the smoke, which was only (by the way) my second puff since getting here).
Next we moved into an area where the limestone is riddled with caves. First we walked through a 200m cave, a fair way underground, then into a wide clearing mostly surrounded by these high limestone walls. In it was a reconstruction of a negro encampment - escaped slaves lived in numbers in the remote hill areas of the region.
While there we freshened up with a drink of rum, fresh fruit juice and ice. Rum is serious business here, like coffee and cigars. It also comes in many grades according to how processed and old it is. These fresh drinks use 'silver' rum being very clear.
Before the next cave system, at a different location we had a second one, so its late morning and everyone is fairly chipper! In the second cave system we walked 400m along a magnificent limestone tunnel, full of all the gfantastic weathering, stalagmites etc. Completely naturakl except the cdement floor and a strung up wire with intermittent lighting. (ps excuse the typing, spelling etc, im pushing through this without much back checking). Deep underground we encountered a stream - still enough for a light craft. We putted by outboard for another 400m or so to the outside wall. This cavern was extensive and impressive, photos dont capture its ceilings, fluted walls and weird shapes. Not a word of interest was spoken about the geology of the caves - the guide used her torch to point out what various shapes looked like - a horse, a bottle, the face of a saint etc. WE switched of and just enjoyed the enchantment of the place.
Five hours later we had enough energy left to hire a taxi, and take a brief trawl around the town and its outskirts, photographing some of the sights we glimpsed from the van but didnt stop to see. The reural areas are quite different we decided, very simple, largely self suficient, probably a lifestyle long followed.
Must go talk more later sx

Havana to Vinales

So Ive forgotten the date etc, but we had a last night in Havana (returning later) visiting a chocolate factory, where they make the stuff and pour it into animal shaped moulds. (Being a south american native product chocolate making and shops are everywhere.) Then you buy it by naming the animal (they are all different weights). The smell was mesmerising so we sat in their cafe and ordered a hot and a cold fresh chocolate drink. Rich plus. Popping with caffeine and endorphines we headed further into town for another lobster dinner. Cost for a salad, main dish, a drink (Daccary sp?)and coffee $16 CUC about the same in NZD. So far so good for the guts although I thought everything from my brains down might go south last night, but they didnt.
A 4 hour trip today west of Hasvana has us in Vinales, a town in the Valle de Vinales. Im going to try and drop a photo into Flickr and test the data transfer speed - it is glorious. WE drove here through flat, and frankly aweful country where the forest has obviously been cleared and has revegetated in dense rubbishy weeds. Here and there an area hacjked back and some scrawny cattle, but the soils are poor and it was fiarly bleak although at least the rubbish diminished as we left the city behind. The inner city is clean but the outskirts are getting towards slums.
Late in the drive we veered north towards hills, wound up through them (we are travellingt by local bus) then dropped over into this valley. It is dotted with rounded limestone mounds, with bright red plots of bullock ploughed ground where local famers grow some of Cubas best cigar tobacco. Our hotel looks down on the valley with the township of Vinales also below us - apparently a very well preserved spanish colonial rural village which we get to see tomorrow. We have just come back for a walk down sideroads - tobacco plots and tall barns with thatched roofs, where the leaves are hung to start drying then packed in bales to cure and age. Oxen (with saddles for riding), some horse and carts but no mechanisation except for vehicles on the road. Hence the havgana cigar claim of 'totalment a mano' (mispelt) meaning only by hand, from beginningt to end. Signing off early to see if I can load a view from our room. There is a breeze so we think we can leave our balcony open and sleep to the sounds on the night. Sx
ps back again because its nope to flickr downloads there is inadequate capability to browse my photos. Costa Rica in a week might be possible I will get a group of pics compressed and into a file in camera memory, for easier down load. Its a lovely evening, probably only 30 deg but the humidity near or at 100% which makes it hot. We are sweatheaps but getting more used to it. Most of our clothes will rot at this pace they simply dont dry properly, only losing the water that drips out. sx

Havana day two

Another wonderful 24 hours has passed since last comments. We have just arrived back to the hotel mid afternoon, sopping as dish cloths from a 5 hour walk and exploration. Time to refresh then out for the evening!
Last night we walked to the harbourside area at dusk, through more marvelous buildings - they never seem to end - several which housed art collections. Along with the open air bookstall and public artworks its a very literary and arts minded place. Tonight we will revisit them and go in, but last night we pushed on and had an evening dining on spanish food and watching live flamenco. A dance troop of 8 sang, strummed guitars, clapped, stamped and danced up a storm. In a semi enclosed courtyard on streetside they generated tremendous excitment with their explosive routine. The girls as you can imagine were slim, sinous, haughty nose in the air senioritas, who lept to their feet singly or as a group to dance, or with one of the menfolk. I felt just swept away with it then when it was finished we moved to a street side table, polished off the rest of the red wine in the heavy heat of the evening and smoked a havana - in Havana. Shanti had earlier that evening found our first hummingbird ('zum zum' to the locals), foraging well above us in a flowering tree. It was remarkably insect like - reminded me of those big black noisy flighing dragonflies you occassionally see in Omarama and Centrl - but with a thicker middle. But the motionless body with vibrating wings, and darting movement between flowers is not at all bird like. Thats was both ambitions knocked off (cigar and hummingbird) observed Shanta - we may as well bugger off home now and save ourselves some money!
We sat up till near midnight then out again this morning at nine, to revisit some of the locations we saw briefly yesterday. First we had to sort out a money concern - my credit cards not working at the one atm dispenser we found in town. We were down to 35 Cuban Pesos (dat not much) by this morning so that was first priority. Successfully sorted but the exchange rate and bank commisions would make you weep possibly up to 20% all included. Only the local currency is accepted so you can take it or leave, the latter not being an option.
Then we explored some of the massive buildings including the Capitol, with the inner chamber where parliament operated pre and post revolution, but not today. We have some good video and photo footage but no point trying to load anything on this old dunger machine at the rate of data transfer which is glacially slow.
Probably a highlight today was a very old church described as 'music in stone'. We cannot disagree it is wave after wave of columns and surfaces, beyond comprehension that it could be built at all let alone in the 1700's. I wouldn't have though a cities architecture would entrance me but it does and it goes on and on, not just a few buildings but a whole district of grand and beautiful contstruction, much of it of course in a poor state of repair - except the central showpieces.
Henry you would have loved the open air bookshops we oggled at the old books of poetry, cuban artwork, revolutionary propaganda and history. But not enough suitcase room so on with the wanders which thankfully finished at a bar, with a few beers. WE passed a couple of bars that Hemmingway frequented - they make sure you know about it and they were packed with people also outside. Castro declared him his favourite writer (wonder why - oh thats right he lived in Cuba!) so he is held in high regard by the population.

In Havana

Arriving in Havana a very exciting day. Started at 5 am in Santiago Chile to a very cool morning, and a long flight north. (least said about that the better!) Flight path was off the coast in international airspace rather than cutting straight over land. We veered east and crossed over the panama canal (saw it below with shipping traffic) then on into the caribean, decending towards Cuba. Great excitment stepping out into the airport where being white gringos we were sped through customs no inspection absolutely nothing except being waved through. We were met then by Louis a cuban guide who mopped us up and soon we were speeding into the city.(hotel transfers are good stuff). Louis settled us in then departed. We lay down for a while or perhaps were flattened by the heat and humidity, then not being there to lie around it was time to head out into the late afternoon. Careful prep in the room with copy of passport to carry and the right amount of cash but no card, we walked out the door and almost immediately into a large plaza, surrounded by magnificent buildings and music from at least two directions. We parked up at one, inside (air con of sorts, drank a beer and looked cautiously around. The street music is definitely everywhere, pretty much like buena vista social club led us to expect. Often quite large groups, unamplified music which sound wonderful live. Emboldened we walked a short loop in the streets around the plaza oggling at the incredible buildings and the people, not to mention the trickle of old cars - yank tanks - which rumbled around. We had dinner (lobster!) back at the hotel then tried to rouse ourselves to head out into the night. But shanti was reporting being dizzy and i thought i was on a spaceship somewhere so we realized we were past tired and didnt have the capacity for anything further so in bed by 8pm. Next we were woken and it was 9 am 9the next day)- our guide was back to walk us into towm.

We must have looked a fright with only a few minutes preparation, but Louis didnt mention it and we were off on foot for a 4 hour wander. It was a chance to take some photos and be introduced by a knowledgeable person. The old section of Havana was a bastion of wealth and spanish colonial riches, and it shows in the endless narrow streets of remarkable two storey ornate stone and timber buildings with high, hardwood doors opening into generous spaces and an inner courtyard further in. Most of these are now completely deteriorated and lived in by locals who peer at you from second floor balconies. In the main town centres huge grandiose buildings very spaciously located form splendid avenues and open spaces - parks and plazas. Down on the harbour front the original spanish fortifications line the harbour. There are so many canons and cannonballs lying around that they poke them into the ground anywhere traffic is to be resticted, and line the walkways in places with the cannonballs.
The locals are of spanish or negro ancestry from colonisation and slave trading. Very striking, varied and often unusual looking people- exotic. They live in a socialist state with very resticted freedoms, with all the wealth being in governement hands. However they are cheerful, engaging peiople and full of colour which comes through in their music, dance and dress. Some of the females are the most exquisite immaginable, like slivers of coal with black hair and dark eyes. There are children everywhere invariably playing baseball or some other game that involves running everywhere.
Those are some thoughts for now, we are going to hole up for a couple of hours in our cooler room, then heading out to eat and to see live flaminco guitar and dancing. Will try to stay up later this time for the inevitible exotica that will turn up in the evening. During the day its the oldies dancing beside the bands but that could all change later? I will try and drop a couple of photos in flickr although dont feel my photography is settled I felt a bit conspicuous aiming a camera at people. I should mention the cigar shop- Louis took us to one. The proprietor was a stunning looking black man smoking a cigar in a fragrant shop. I bought several cohiba to keep us going but more on that later. sSffice to say it was a thrill to walk into the shop and buy from source. Sx

Santiago Chile

I´d better comment before tomorrows events overtake us - the trip to Santiago went well: we flew backwards against the clock and had an extended friday. The pacific night flight was a bit gruelling in cramped seats, but all forgotten at day break crossing onto the South American coastline. The coastal strip is surprisimngly dry, with visible irrigation (crop circles and such like) at intervals, but otherwise brown and sparsely vegetated. Further inland hills of a particular green (southern beech?) lift up to the Andes. We couldnt take our eyes of them line after line of icy ridges, not unlike their southern alps but deeper, and extending to the horizon north and south - they border the whole western edge of the continent. It was in some ways familiar but not in its extent, and we thought about the south american indian villages, lamas in the foothills and maybe a condor or two soaring the ridges. So a big thrill to step out and to realise where we were.
Santiago is under a dirty dishwasher coloured cloud of smog, but through it you see the outline of high ridges and also some snow covered foothills in what is obviously a spectacular location. Maybe its built on a reclaimed dump - exposed edges along the river and elsewhere seem mostly made of landfill and urban waste. Not a soul speaks basic let alone fluent english so we did well to find dinner, a bottle of wine and to get back to the hotel. Shanti tried to commit kamakazi walking to the edge of the traffic to wave down a taxi. We found certain things crawled at snail pace like waiting almost an hour for bags to make it off the plane, but the traffic makes up for it with a insanity of speed, unsignaled and violent lane changes and a belief in the importance of the horn. Back to the language situation - even at the tourist information bureau it was a virtual waste of time trying to communicate. There were four of them, between them unable to string a sentence in english together. We left wondering what average Chilean tourist speaks? Anyway we had an awesome diner of local beef and a smashing wine and are now out of gas and off to bed for a 5 am start that will finish in Havana, by tomorrows end.