Through my own eyes.

It's yet again been a very busy few days, as I joined Project Managers Mel and Diego on their Project Planning Visit to La Cangreja National Park for an environmental project, which is properly out the sticks.

We set off from Fieldbase at 5.30am, got the bus to San José, another bus from San José to Puriscal, where we stopped for a spot of breakfast, and I learned something very exciting about a traditional Costa Rican breakfast...

Steak! For breakfast!

It's perfectly acceptable to eat steak for breakfast in Costa Rica! I swear this country just keeps on giving! There was several hours until our next bus to La Cangreja, which was passed in the sunshine, in a park...

Not sure what's with a monument made from the McDonald's arches. Art yo!

The scenery on the way to the park was breathtaking...

So was the bus driver's driving: super-mega-windy-narrow road, and the bus driver was alarmingly chilled, drinking a can of Coke and throwing it in the bin when it was finished, which if either side of the road didn't mean plunging to certain death, wouldn't have bothered me in the least, but it would have been nice if he pretended his driving had his full attention. Especially when the road stopped being a nice finished road.

Where we're going, we don't need roads.

When we got off the bus outside La Cangreja, Diego pointed out a plant they call 'sleepers'. Proper witchcraft.

When we stepped into La Cangreja National Park, we were immediately greeted by a toucan singing at us. All I wanted to do was put a pint of Guinness on its beak.

The ranger came and met us and said he was now the park administrator, and whatever the previous administrator had said was happening was now off the table completely. This was disappointing because there was an exciting new and different perspective to this environmental project, which was why I was sent along. It became evident that we were somehow caught up in a big old internal political storm, which I can't be arsed detailing and which wouldn't be appropriate anyway. You can make up your own story and insert it here:






All done? If you didn't make me out to be a Jack Bauer/John McClane-style hero, who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time and had to save the day, please go back and start again. Thanks.

Done now? Great, thanks.

Here's a picture from the top of a hill.

Some more faffing later, and it was our second night. We were staying at the ranger's station, where frogs came to hang out at night. Here's one coming out of a hole.

Toad in the hole! It looks nothing like a sausage in a Yorkshire pudding.

We got as far as San José on the way back, when we phoned in with our scheduled check-in with Fieldbase, and let them know it'd be about 7pm when we'd be back. We were told that despite our average age of 27, we were to find somewhere to stay in San José because we weren't allowed to be travelling after dark, despite the fact that the last time travelling back to Fieldbase in the dark was at 2am, from a bar.

We rocked up to the hostel I stayed in when I first got to San José almost three weeks ago. Our initial frustration was quashed by the sight of a pillow on the beds, a beer by the pool, the thought of a hot shower, WiFi, a pool table... sure we'd be grand!

San José was full of life, as it was the day before the presidential election. It was such an wondrous sight! People had the flag of their preferred candidate hanging out the windows of their cars, honking their horns and shouting their support. The complete opposite of Irish and UK political elections where people are very reserved about who they are supporting. It was exciting to watch, and it was all young people in their twenties.

Finally made it to Fieldbase this morning. I was informed that Head Office in London liked the corporate blog. Yay! I washed a load of clothes and had a bit of a grooming session - shaved head, shaved face, showered, brushed and flossed teeth. It was nice. I wrote and translated a blog, had lunch, started working on a quiz, and here I am finally catching up with my personal blog. Busy day.

One of the many things Diego pointed out to me was the presence of a bar everywhere, no matter how small the settlement. Every one of these bars will have a sign like this outside:

Apparently the Costa Ricans refer to it as 'The Bat-Signal'. I like that.

Over the past few days, heading through the winding roads up and down to La Cangreja, I've really been struck by the sights of the mountains and valleys. I really found it bizarre, and I guess couldn't quite believe that I was seeing all of this through my own eyes. Not pictures on the internet or television. It was all me. I was seeing all this. It was a bit overwhelming.

Maybe I need to get out more?

Pura Vida! ;-)