Sunday, January 17, 2010

Day 3, Part 1: Isla del Caño

We woke up bright and early to board a motor boat to Isla del Caño, known for its underwater wildlife and its Pre-Columbian spheres.

We began our day snorkeling. Thanks to our underwater camera case (a most excellent wedding gift from 2006), we got these shots and video with our old point-and-shoot.
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Cool, huh? Not nearly as awesome, however, as the snorkeling we did in the Galapagos. Moreover, the water was so choppy that I got pretty sick while snorkeling. Yeah, what a wuss! Luckily, I wasn't the only wuss. Another guy in our four-person group also got ill, so I didn't feel as pathetic. Later on, Mr. Monkey even admitted that he felt a tad queasy.

But at least we saw a sea turtle and a stingray! That was a treat!

After a full morning of snorkeling, we went onshore for lunch.
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We dined on sandwiches, salad, pasta, cheese, and fresh fruit by the ranger station.

Then we embarked on an afternoon hike through the extraordinarily quiet forest to see mysterious Pre-Columbian spheres.
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The forest on Isla del Caño is eerily hushed. While the rest of the Osa Peninsula is steeped with land fauna, Isla del Caño has almost no animals, save a few birds. Pretty weird.

Even weirder were the petrospheres -- perfectly round huge balls of granite carved between 200 B.C. and 1500 A.D. To this day, nobody knows why or how these Diquis Spheres came to be. Freaky.

After trekking down the steep hill, we found this coconut infested with hermit crabs while we waited for out boat.
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This guy quickly retracted when Mr. Monkey picked him up.

All around, this banana-like fruit was plentiful.
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Called a cuadrado, it is a type of plantain and is so named for its squarish shape.

On our way back to the chalet, we saw these.
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Dolphins! What a fun way to end our daytime adventure!

Next: Going buggy at night.

23 comments:

  1. The spheres are pretty cool! One looks like a metate?

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  2. Thank you! Those underwater shots are A-Mazing!

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  3. Great photos. The underwater shots are so vivid!

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  4. The underwater shots are amazing! You've got me thinking I may have to try to find an underwater camera case to add to our registry.

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  5. Wow I wish we'd had an underwater camera case. Those pictures are really cool.

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  6. beautiful, as always. what a fun time!

    i must admit that i'm even more of a wuss, as i'm not much of a snorkeler. :/

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  7. Ooh, great photos! As a side note, "mochila" is one of my favorite Spanish words. :)

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  8. I love snorkeling, but I think those really big fish would scare me.

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  9. Love the pictures once again! Those mysterious spheres look cool!

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  10. Wow, so awesome! The underwater pictures are beautiful!

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  11. I love your vacation. I even showed my mom your animals in the wild post. She was delighted. I think I'm headed to Costa Rica at some point! Hopefully not near the alligator though.

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  12. I loved the videos - so cool. I'm positive the spheres were made by alien lifeforms.

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  13. That sounds like a really perfect day.

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  14. Don't feel like a wuss for getting sick while snorkeling.. I barely even get in the water enough to claim that i technically snorkeled :)

    I miss the sun. your pix cheered me up today

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  15. These are fabulous pictures and descriptions. JealousE!

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  16. I love that first fish shot so much. I feel like you could put so many word bubbles on that photo. Or just leave it alone and imagine what that fish was saying to you.

    Also, the night before Wm and I got married, we saw a honu (sea turtle in hawaiian). we were sitting in the backyard of the house we were renting and it popped its head up and looked right at us. we sat in silence, hoping it would stick around. It did, just long enough (i imagine) to wish us luck with our marriage. They are considered lucky in Hawaii, and my grandma that I've written about before loved turtles, so sea turtles are close to my heart.

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  17. Hi weezermonkey,

    Wow, absolutely beautiful pics as usual! :) It looks like you're having a blast down there. Thanks for brightening up my day. :)

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  18. I love all the underwater pictures! Amazing!

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  19. I got scared snorkeling just right off the shore in Moorea. Nice underwater pictures!

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