Now I seek my own volunteer crew or even better... my permanent sailing companion

Well I guess I’ll post again.. although I’m not sure it’s worth it.  Really, I started blogging about 2012 so my dear old (now deceased) mom could keep up with what I’m up to, such as volunteer crewing and other travels.  I had gotten her an iPad and subscribed her to my blog.  She enjoyed getting my emailed blog posts even though I was not sure she ever remembered to click the link but more likely just read the email and looked at the photos in the post.  As she grew yet older, she lost her ability to use the iPad so was much more isolated from my travels.   I was not impressed with Jaco..and didn’t do much other than take a swim in the surf and hike up to a overlook of the beach with some other hostel people.  We got to one spot but knew there was something more impressive.  I continued on at a faster pace than the other 4 but took a wrong turn.. I climbed and climbed but saw no structure painted with a mural..  Back at the hostel I learned the others had found the mural painted str

I think it was sometime last winter while doing some online research concerning sailing and Costa Rica that I came upon the Ceiba project.   SailCargo.org    I thought it was pretty interesting so I decided to invest..although at a minimum level.  I just wanted to be a part in supporting the project.  Obviously with my traveling to Costa Rica this winter I wanted to visit the shipyard.  I asked about volunteering for a couple weeks but was told they have all the volunteers needed at this point.  Also, I think a longer than 2 weeks period is much preferred.  I  camped at the shipyard 3 nights. My visit coencided with the winter solstice with a full moon and an end of the year party.  I even got a Christmas gift.  There are about 18 people living here and working on the project.  It’s amazing the high degree of wooden boat building credentials and experience the volunteers have.  The team is made up of people from Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Argentina and the U.K.  I t

Today, I took the 8:30 shuttle to another Cloud Forest Reserve.  This time no one else from my hostel was with.  I walked around the bigger outer trail and came upon a group of 5 or 6 people looking at somthing...monkeys!  For a change, a naturalist/guide did not spot the monkeys.  They really do have an eye for spotting wildlife.  It was actually just a gathering of couples or 3 friends, not all one group.  I was told about the monkeys by a woman heading the opposite direction of me.  I was just a few bends in the trail away and she had just seen the monkeys but decided to leave.  She said she saw one brown with a white face although didn’t know the kinds of monkeys.🐒 I told her it sounded like a white faced capuchin.  I got there and finally saw the the monkey everyone was looking at.  It was lounging on a branch not too far from the trail but up in the air at least 50 feet.  Looking with my binoculars, I could see it was a spider monkey.  It was only partially visible using a plant

Three of us from the Mi Casa Tica Hostel took the 7:30 am bus to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.  I joined Julie and Lea from Denmark and Belgium hiking to the overlook.  After they were anxious to make the 11 am bus back to go zip lining so we went our separate ways.  As it turns out soon after we split they happened upon a guided group who were viewing and taking photos of a pair of Quetzals.  That’s the bird every body wants to see in the cloud forest.  They managed to get great photos of the male Quetzal which was perched quite close to the trail and not very high.  I ran into them and they told me where it was so I went but the male had flown off.  I did see the female but only through the guide’s spotting scope.  Tomorrow  morning I’m going to the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. You see and hear a lot of birds in the cloud forest.  I didn’t even try to take pictures.  Lots of warblers.  One large bird I forget the name of but had also seen over in La Fortuna during the volcano