Isla Damas is actually Da Mas meaning to “to grow” and not “lady” because the island would grow in size.

Costa Rica and Quepos particularly is a major exporter of bananas

2% of population are indigenous out of a total of 5 million

98% literacy rate

95% renewable electricity, very ecologically minded and the lands are protected.

Mangrove roots are filters of the mud that gets washed in and the makers of land. Crabs clear the silt away from the roots.

Note-we saw animals or birds with asterisks.

*Lesser night hawk…. migrates to and from Canada…. was almost undetectable sitting on a branch.

*Spiny-tail black iguana… “chicken of tree” name in Spanish is “Garrobo”

*Capuchin monkey… most aggressive

*Tiger Heron on branch

*White ibis

*4-eyed possum… omnivore… little, little with fur like a labs ……and teeth!

*Cattle egret

*Jesus Christ iguana… can run on water…actually ski

Mangrove trees are most important oxygen producer in world after plankton …

-Pineapple mangrove.. like fan going into water

-Black mangrove… no obvious roots but little spikes coming up in soil around it .

-White mangrove… looks like termite. The nodules on trunks is how it gets rid of salt… roots come out of 1/4 way up trunk..

-Red Mangrove roots almost don’t look like they have a trunk… lots of roots

Mangroves protect the coastline in case of tsunamis

*Woodpecker

*Green heron

No shrimp farms are allowed anymore because of pollution that they create. Tilapia farms are allowed on land with absolutely no access to the river or ocean. That is what should be done in. Canada!!!

Damas Island was created by a hurricane that split it from part of the coast mangrove area.

*Silky anteater… smallest anteater in world.

Palm oil trees

*Weavers…males make the nest

*Tiger-faced crab

Lunch across beach before Manuel Antonio

Parasailing @ Manuel Antonio

Stay at Villa Romantica… probably a 2 star but quite sweet….. and it had a pool…. yeah!

First go off to Manuel Antonio Park to look for wildlife on our own (US$16) but we’re not very successful. It was so hot(30C) & so very humid we just went to the beach in the park to cool off. Even that wasn’t very successful ….water temperature was apparently 24!!!

I cannot believe the price of food (bbq chicken….$13CAD)& liquor in grocery stores and food and drink in restaurants….. way more expensive than at home in Victoria. We went for dinner later (at El Guarato) that was excellent but required a small loan! All prices include taxes plus 10% tip whether you want it or not. But on the other hand local bus is about .75 CAD and a taxi $6.75.

More pictures to follow. Too hard to download very many!

n

Street mural

Mexican Embasy

Fish mural

Reminds me of Rail station in Maputo… designed by Eiffel

Rotary park…

Street murals

Rotary Park

n

Attention-getting entrance

Mural inside hotel restaurant

You all know the there is air pressure when on a flight, right? On first leg of our journey I had my metal water bottle with me in my backpack. I had refilled it after clearing security. While on the flight I decided to take a sip. Well…… the damn thing sprayed water like a geyser all over my face, hair, the top I was wearing & the seat I was sitting in. It looked like I had an accident …..lol! Well I did in a way. I told the couple I was sitting with on the next leg what had happened on the first only to have it happen AGAIN! They said they had never seen that before and neither had I. Let this be a warning not to take any water in sealed containers on board a flight and make sure to have all containers of liquids in sealed plastic.

We arrived late to the airport (10pm) but Jeanette was there waiting (she had arrived around 2:39) along with the GAdventures transfers guide. The drive in from airport to the hotel was very long, arriving at to our hotel ….. finally around midnight. It was a long day!

January 25/19.

Not too exciting day…. slept in, rearranged suitcases and went for a short walk. It’s a kind of scuzzy area we are in but as we walked farther afield, it got better. We found a lovely little park maintained by the Rotary Club. I have to mention too that there are quite a number of murals on the buildings….. beautiful! Pictures to follow….I hope!

This is a test for me to see if I can add pictures without too much difficulty and to resize them. Okay that wasn’t too bad. Please tell me if the pictures came through without being too big or should I make them smaller ś

We hung out in downtown Halifax on Friday, first going to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. The major exhibits there are on the explosion in Halifax in 1917 and the tale of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. I had an aunt who was an infant in her crib during the explosion. It was caused by 2 ships, the Imo and Mont Blanc, one an a munitions ship colliding, killing over 1650 people. My aunt was left deaf caused by that explosion when the glass above her crib shattered down on her. From there we walked over to the casino that is right down on the harbour too……to have lunch and enquire about the lobster dinner we had heard about. Then we walked up the hill to the Public Gardens…..the first in Canada. Did you know there are lots of hills in Halifax? It was quite lovely although compared to Beacon Hill park and Butchards Gardens in Victoria, well……..

Next day we travelled out to Musquodoboit Harbour so that Jeanette could connect with a childhood friend, Patsy and her husband Marcel. What a hoot the two of them are. I left her there visiting while I went to visit my cousins, etc. in East Chezzetcook where my mother was born and raised and where my husband Floyd died when we were here in 2003 on the trip planned to attend the celebrations at Lunenburg. I spent a fair amount of time with cousin Weldon and wife Bernadette reminiscing. He took me over to see cousin Diann’s husband Keith (she passed away 2 years ago) , around to other cousin Lloyd and wife Jeanne’s but unfortunately they had to go out so we missed them…..and around to significant places in the area. Thank you Weldon! We returned to Halifax in time to take in the lobster dinner at the casino…..a $14.99 deal with a players club card. Wow! And it was fantastic!

Sunday the 1st of July, Canada Day, we took the bus down to the waterfront first going to the immigration museum and refuge museum…..amazing and sad! In it we both had the opportunity to enquire as to some of our ancestors. Mostly it was through census’that we were able to find out anything. My family the “Miseners”, that arrived in 1753 to Lunenburg…that information wasn’t available because that was before the records that the government kept. And so I enquire about the “Grants” and Jeanette, the “Galarneau’s” and “Ryan’s”. We both need to delve deeper. Interesting! There was entertainment and shopping in the farmers market. The waterfront walk is beautiful. We then took the transit ferry to Dartmouth and back. It was free today as was a lot of things because of Canada Day. By this time we decided it was time to take the bus back to the “dorms” because we had had enough walking. Alas, there was an accident that screwed with the bus traffic route. We walked and we walked only to find that we were on the wrong side of the road or the bus didn’t stop there or, or, or. Finally after almost walking the whole way back, we made it…….almost 13,000 steps!!!

Monday the 2nd, we checked out of the dorms and headed up along the Eastern shore toward Port Hawkesbury where we stayed the night. Definitely better accommodations that what we had in Halifax. The whole drive is dotted with tiny villages that don’t even have a store or a gas station. We did stop at Sheet Harbour (scenic bridge and waterfall)….they had a tourist info centre and bathrooms…..yeah! I thought it was there that there was a cable ferry but instead it was at Isaacs Harbour. The ferry had left just as we drove up. Well…… didn’t you know it but the “captain” stopped the ferry, backed up to come for us….even though it runs constantly back and forth….every 10 minutes. That was pretty much the highlight of this part of the journey. There really wasn’t a lot to report…..lots of trees. We arrived at Port Hawkesbury but trying to find a place to stay…..well……. had to pay quite a bit more than we were used too! Oh well!