Not much to tell you about today. I woke up around 5 a.m. with diarreah and vomiting and then slept for the next 24 hours pretty much full time. We did leave the Congo Real where we were staying (open sewers and all)and our cab driver Adolpho picked us up at 11 and brought us to Jim's house about a half an hour away. I fell asleep again right away, slept all day, went to bed at 8 and slept all night. Feel great today and am probably down about 15-20 lbs since arriving here.
Jim our host lives in Hawaii but gets out here about 10 days every month to go surfing. He says the surf here has one of the best "breaks" in the world. It's also home to one of the largest turtle hatcheries in the world The beach is the nesting grounds for Wrigley, Leatherback and Green turtles. Jim says you really have to be careful when surfing that you don't hit one! He also mentioned that the population of these endangered turtles had quadrupled in the 10 years he's been here. Every 10 years there's a weather phenomenon here and all the turtles panic and hit the beach at the same time. Jim said you could walk from one end of the beach to the other without ever stepping on the sand!
He owns quite a bit of acreage here and it's right next to game reserve so no one will be building in this area. Also we've noticed that this is the only house we've seen that doesn't have barred windows or the smell of smoke (The Ticos burn all there refuse like leaves, etc.) Jim has seen a jaguar and two cubs in the area just below the house and the toucans are all over place and eat the flowers. He's spent a lot of time planting trees, flowers, saving seeds and growing his own peppers etc. The watermelon here is out of this world! This house has everything!! Be sure and check out the facebook for pics of this place. Our guest bathroom is the size of my living room/diningroom. I was just telling Jo it's nice to see someone as successful as Jim stop and smell the roses. Most people like him only strive to work harder. He's a gracious host and very nature oriented. He also told us about the locals who have been in this area since day 1. The young boy in the caretakers house next door is able to catch snook in the river with his bare hands! These people have lived off the land all their lives and fish is a main part of their diet. They also used to eat the turtle eggs which is now prohibited Jim said if you'd ever eaten a cake using turtle eggs as opposed to chicken eggs there is an unbelievable difference.
The ceilings in the house are covered in what appears to be bamboo but it's actually cane (not sure if I've spelled it right) It's hollow and has an insulation factor. Outside Jim's bedroom window he has a flagpole that he can see from bed to tell him if it's worth getting up at 5 a.m to hit the surf. I'm typing this on Friday morning as yesterday was a writeoff for me. Fortunately it was a 24 hour bug and I'm feeling great having just had the first meal in about 40 hours. Now it's time to get out and head down the road (about 15 minutes) to see the beach, hatchery, and Jim surfing.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26541&l=d7ca4&id=680056043
