Caldera Beach and a Additional Photos
weekend close to home
¡Hola, pura vida!
This last weekend I only left town on Friday to go to a beach near the port town of Caldera, which is about a half an hour south of Puntarenas by taxi. The beach is aptly named Caldera beach, and is well known to be a good surfing beach. After the taxi drops you off outside the gate to Caldera, you have to walk along the rocky shoreline for about 15 minutes or so to get to the best stretch of sand and breakers. Like playa Doña Ana, playa Caldera is nestled in a small cove, but its remoteness makes it much more peaceful and serene. I went boogie boarding and also tried out my snorkeling gear to prepare myself for next weekend, which is shaping up to be a blast.
Speaking of next weekend, Thursday a couple friends of mine are accompanying me to Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island), located about two miles off of the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula for some snorkeling and hiking. Then, at six the next morning, I'm heading over to the Caribbean side with most of my Tropical Marine Biology class for our field course. We'll be staying at a hotel in Puerto Viejo, and snorkeling on several coral reefs in the area. Although I'm sure I'm going to have plenty of fun in the sun, I'm going to be graded on the notes I take during the field course, and I also have to complete a rather large packet of reef exercises.
 This is the mailman's ride in Puntarenas, a Honda XL 185. With the low amount of mail and high cost of gas, this is definetely the better alternative as opposed to a gas guzzling mailtruck.
I've also been spending a lot of time getting to know my neighbors, and have made plenty of new tico and tica friends. I make a point of practicing Spanish every day, whether it’s at a friends house, playing futbol (soccer) or futbolín (foosball) with ticos, or at home with my host family. Although many of the other students seem to be perfectly happy hanging out with strictly other Americans or English speaking ticos, I'm determined to learn as much of the language as I can during my stay by immersing myself in the culture.
 On the right is a juvenile iguana found in front of my house. If you look closely, you'll notice the iguana is missing the better part of its tail. Iguanas and many other kinds of lizards have special vertebrae that can break apart on command, if the reptile so chooses to confuse a would-be predator while it makes its escape. The tail grows back the first couple of times; but after all the special vertebrae are gone, the reptile is stuck with a stub.
I hope I'll be able to get more pictures next week. Although I know I won't be able to take photos of the reefs because I lack a waterproof camera, I will try to take as many of the surrounding countyside and beaches as possible. What I can't provide with my camera I'll try to make up for with words, hopefully painting the picture for you. Well, that's all for me until next week.
¡Adios!
Additional Photos
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