12 August - Departure
Arrived in Costa Rica, left on expedition today off of Playa Herradura, traveling north.

13 August - Curu Wildlife Refuge
Hiked through forest, ending in becah. Here there were mangroves, littoral woodland, and semideciduous/deciduous forest. Also scarlet macaws, sea turtles, and spider monkeys. Later in the day stopped at at unihabited offshore islets called "Tortuga".

14 August - Islas Murcielagos and Bahia Huevos
Stopped at teh Golfo de Papagayo. Short hike, then swimming/snorkelling/kayaking. Lunch. Then watched a presentation about Costa Rica's geology and volcanism. Later arrived at "Bahia Huevos, where we took a zodiac to the shore for more kayaking.

15 August - Haienda Guachipelin and Rincon de la Vieja Volcano
Landed on Coco beach. Wet landing on a beach (get off in water). Horsebackriding, then hike through forest and to an active volcano. Swimming off stern of boat, nice sunset.

16 August - Nicaragua
Arrived at Rivas, which is on an isthmus between Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean. Saw local kids perform folk dances. Later there was a soccer game with the locals.

17 August - Cabo Velas and Tamarindo
Back south landing at Cabo Velas, with a nice beach. Went snorkelling and kayaking. Had lunch, and went into town after. Later afternoon we listened to a presentation on Costa Rican History.

18 August - Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
Very important ecosystem here. First thing in the day, went zip lining through rainforests. Fun! After lunch went on Sloth valley walk and to Punta Catedral.

19 August - Herradura
The expedition ends here.

Random notes from trip
Kwati mundi
Acacia tree and ants in symbiotic relationship
Ceiba - cotton; belly spikes
Espavel - cashew must roast otherwise toxic
Ficas
Balsa - heart shaped leaves; wind dispersion
Bright orange fungas - poison dart frogs lay eggs in long tail manakin
Heliconias tree and butterfly
What classifies primates?

1. Mammals - hair, mammory glands
2. Larger rain weight compared to body mass
3. Binocular vision
4. Opposable thumbs
5. Complex social structure and behavior

Eye contact could be threat. Bare teeth (like smiling) is threatening too. Geology and Vulcanology
core then mantle, then crust (75 km deep)
cocos plate and Caribbean plate in Central America
Cocos plate is higher density and heavier. Creates south Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama.
Intrusion - magma comes up (doesn't explode out) then surrounding rock erodes away.
Pyroclastic (fire and rock ashes) flow.
Non-acidic lava flows in rivers opposed to exploding
Shield volcano - Mauna Loa: 4700m above sea level
Strato volcano - steep slope, most in Costa Rica are these.
Poas - most acidic pool
Caldera (collapse) has multiple craters (explosions) in it.
In the Sea
Giant damsel fish - blue white stripe on tail
King angel fish, Cortes angel fish, barber
Brass fish - female takes over after alpha male dies and becomes male. Behavior first, then anatomy.
Humpback whales - make bubble circles and capture krill inside and eat.
Streak back oriole, mut mut
Costa Rican History
Rich coast for gold 1821 Sept 15 - Independence day. No confrontation, no war, etc. Spaniards coming out of domination from Arabs, coming down with nothing to lose. 400,000 indigenous people --> 10,000 people.
Pirate Caribbean keep stealing stuff 1st Chief of Stat: Jean Mora Fernandez held printing press instead of sword/horses/weapons
Braulio Carrillo - benevolent dictation
William Walker

25th - Saturday
Had separated seats on the plane. Early morning, slep whole way. Arrived in morning. Explored Condado (in wrong direction), including first walk on beach. Sat at Best Western Hotel and attempted to book some tours, while waiting for check in at our hotel. Cute hotel - Oceana Hostal Playero. Walked in right direction of Condado, found festival. Quesadilla appitizer and margarita (in glowing cup) street food. Walked around a bit. Ate at Tijuana's for dinner. Chicken margherita and sopes for dinner. Mango margarita. Came home went to sleep.

26th - Sunday
Late morning. Took free bus to old San Juan. Shower pressure bad... apparently whole city has a water pressure problem. Lunch at Mojito's chicken pesto with rice and beans. Bruchetta type apitizer. Walked to San Cristobal Castle. Explored, iguanas, free trolley to other fort (El Morro). Got pina colada from street vendor. Big field with lots of kite flying. Totem pole, fountains shooting water. El Morro closed. Passion fruit/pina coada ice. Walked through town. Chocolate place closed. Weird dude. Walked around. Dnner at Berlin Cafe. Free manjito with map (mango mojito). Chicken parmesan sandwich with fresh bread spread with hummus. Fettucini with pesto. Bus home, went to bed.

27th - Monday
Early morning 8:15 pick up for Catamaran trip. I fell asleep on the long bus ride out. Catamaran stopped at Icacos and Palaminto Isands. Toured with Traveler (<- company name). Free drinks sandwich lunch "buffet" fruit. Ab's frist time snorkeling. Aw. Saw fish and jellyfish. Dude got taken off trip. Went off slide at end of boat. Got back, jumped in hotel pool it was small, cute, and had a mini waterfall. Headed out for errands, snack food, internet cafe at Radissons business center to book rainforest craziness. Quick email check. Dinner at Ummo - Argentinean Grill. Chorizo, Empanadas: one with goat cheese peppers and corn, the other with beef. Chicken and spinach ravioli in 4 cheese sauce. Delicious. Day end.

28th - Tuesday
Got breakfast at hotel right before early morning pick up. Craziness at hotel because of commercial shooting. Education ride to forest with Miguel. Hike along path to Waterfall!! Swam in waterfall Yay! Same path back. Camera battery died aw =( Observation tower. 96 + 2? steps. Steps to see profile of dude and scenery. Last stop in rainforset was large waterfall. Saw in forest: snails, huge waterproof leaves to make hats, lots of spider webs, lizards silver-leaf (weather predicting) trees,e tc. Last last stop at food. Got bad rice and beans. Spur of moment decision to go on bioluminescent kayak wour with same company (Eco Action Tours). Back to hotel, tried to book other stuff (zip line) ... failed, not enough peope =(. Went to Subway in search of smoothies, failed. Pick up for LONG buss ride (similar schpeal from guide) full van. In kayaks, went on scary path through mangroves. Skinny, dark, crossing other groups in opposite direction, sensitive kayaks. Came out to a beautiful night sky and stars. Grazy glowing in bay. Awesome guide talk. Jumped in water, glowed like crazy (though not supposed to). Saw fish that glowed because of plankton. Looked like slow shooting stars in water. Back through mangroves. LONG ride home. BK for dinner, as it was the only hot food available late at night.

29th - Wednesday
Late morning. Bus to old San Juan. unch at Lupis Mexican Grill. Miami Vice, Pina colada, Chimichanga, burrito. Good salsa (with corn). Ferry to Cantano. Van to Bacardi factory. Mojito. Disneyland type tour. Cuba libre, Big Apply + lime juice + spash of cranberry, Coconut rum + pineapple juice + splash of red. Back ferry. Researched places for dinner, and chose hip Asian fushion restaurant: Budatai. Duck and lo mein. Expensive, very hip atmosphere, not much veg choice. Had some sort of martini cocktail. Borrowed hotel lady's umbrella to get there and back via walking, as it was raining pretty hard on and off. We figured we'd splurge our last night in Puerto Rico.

30th - Tursday
Early morning pick up to go to ranch for horseback riding. Awesome, went through forest, came out at beach, go to gallop some on beach. Only a few are allowed and only on paths as sea turtles nest on beach. I liked my horse, his name was Roi (for king). Awesome adventure. Came back took cab to San Juan Hotel in Isla Verde. Quick lunch at some small place, not that great, spaghetti and meatballs and fettucini alfredo. Went to beach, swam for the first time in the ocean for real. Hopped in cab back to hotel, showered. Had trouble getting cab to airport, cab guy was being weird, and we were late already. All was well and we were at the airport for a while before boarding.