Costa Rica part 2

After we completed our tour of the gardens and had an amazing traditional lunch, we boarded our bus and headed out to the river. This was the only time we encountered rain. As we started the tour, we experienced a warm rain shower. It only lasted a few minutes; we did get some sunshine back and it was warm.
Our tour guide....he's been doing this for several years and was quite entertaining!
One of the boats going by...ours was similar to this.
Birds were prolific in this area and just beautiful.
Iguanas were fun to watch. They are quite skitterish and didn't like hanging out for pictures.

This bird had the most interesting tail. It actually was in sections and the bottom part just appeared to be hanging by strings! This bird nests in the mud and there were times when we could only see the very tip of his tail.
Sticking out his neck!
Mama alligator......
watching her babies. The mama stays in the water next to the babies on shore. The babies don't get in the water until they are about 4 months old so mama's job is to make sure they are safe. She becomes quite aggressive if anything/anyone comes even close. We kept our distance in the boat. Greg captured all of these shots with the 300mm telephoto lense.
Meet Osama. He is about 18 years old and lives on the river. Alligators are very territorial and Osama has been tagged and watched by the naturalists to study his behavior, habitat, etc. He got into a fight with another alligator named Tornado. They believe he was fighting for more territory. Tornado lost the battle and an eye and now Osama has taken over the end of the river. Our tour guide was able to get this guy to swim up next to the boat and show his teeth.
Osama is about 30 feet long and this is the end of his tail. We literally could have touched it from the boat; that's how close he got to us.
More interesting birds.
These are pink hawks. There were about 10 of them roosting in this tree.
Pink crane.
Local fishermen/woman trolling for dinner. Most of the boats are wooden and are powered by oars.
The trees in the river grow their roots from above the ground. It's an interesting site. The saddest part of the tour was seeing all the garbage that has collected at the mouth of the river. The people who live in this area dump so much garbage into the river and it floats down to the mouth of the river at the ocean and collects there. The country has now developed strategies to improve this situation and is providing more education about recycling, etc. Part of our fees for this excursion went to support this effort.
The insects on the trees in the rain forest region of the river were big and ugly! These spiders were creepy! It was a great tour, though and we learned so much about the Costa Rican lifestyle and country.

Back to cruising...Costa Rica part 1

It's now back to our Panama cruise. We arrived in Punteranus, Costa Rica on a day that was supposed to be somewhat overcast and rainy. We had booked an excursion into the jungle and then onto the waterway that leads back out to the ocean. After an hour bus ride, we arrived at this gorgeous national park area where we were escorted onto gondolas. The weather cooperated throughout this part of the day...no rain....some sun...warm temps.
Our chariot!
Looking back over the jungle canopy as we arrived at the top of the gondola ride. We didn't get off, just rode it back down.
Amazing how things grow in this dense plant land.
We saw many native birds....
and monkeys...
He even stopped for a photo shoot!
This bird was hard to see at first but had brilliant colors.
Once we were back down we strolled through the rest of the park where flowers were in full bloom....we took many, many pictures of them but here is one example.
And Greg thought he would be funny....in the middle of this beautiful bed of flowering plants, he spotted this "flower!" It was really hard to see unless you were looking for it!!

{Ouch!}

It's been a humbling 2 weeks. I broke my foot, being somewhat of a klutz. We were at our friends' home for a 60th birthday party. Having been there only 10 minutes, I was headed out to the living room to take a picture with my new camera (its first official outing with a crowd of people!!) when I missed the two steps into the sunken living room. Trying to protect my camera at all costs, I twisted then fell on top of my foot. I knew immediately it was broken and after about 15 minutes of swelling and intense pain, Greg took me to ED where I was fast-tracked and casted!
So for you medical buffs, I broke the top of the talus. You can click on the x-ray above and see exactly were the bone fragment is "floating." There is a fair amount of certainty that the tendon and/or ligament was also torn away from the bone, but that's for the next x-ray to show. Too much swelling had occurred! And yes, it hurt!
This is a temporary cast....it has "openings" in the front and the back to allow for the swelling. It weighs about 4#. I am not supposed to put any weight on this foot (hence, non-weight bearing) but do use my heel to balance....I don't need to fall and break something else here!!!
My improvised "stair-climbing!" I just haven't mastered the crutches and stairs so I scoot down and pull myself up the stairs. I mainly wear sweats and scrubs as they are the most comfortable and easiest to manage right now.

Next is the visit to the surgeon, hopefully this week. I'm told there is a 20% chance of surgery to reattach everything but that decision will be made with the next diagnostic test. For now I'm NWB until the end of February. Still working but with reduced hours. Working in rehab I had a good understanding of what my patients go through but now truly can say I feel a strong affinity with those trying to navigate our environment, which is so lacking in access. I use a walker in public for the most part as I am not good with crutches on wet, slippery surfaces (that's what living in Oregon does for you!).

There are blessings in all of this as well:

• Pain has been minimal for the most part and managed by ibuprofen (thank goodness!)
• My husband has taken over ALL of the household duties, including meal preparation. I just don't seem to manage carrying food/drinks/things with crutches!! I can't say "thank you" enough to him as he as willingly helped out and not complained even once!
  
• I have had to accept help from others, which has always been difficult and am learning to ask for help and to be grateful for it, rather than whining about not being able to do it myself.
  
• I am accepting that God has a plan for me in postponing my running dreams and is teaching me to solely rely on Him to figure this all out. I have a peace about that now and am willing to work hard to return to running when I can.
• I am keeping a positive outlook on all of this now. That wasn't the case last week when pity parties seemed to be everywhere, everyday. Thank God those are over!
  

So I'll keep up with blogging and posting my progress and status and hopefully have some good news to post later this week!

Resolutions

For those who follow this blog, I have taken a hiatus. Brief for me, longer for others (I had my sister say "get going again!!!") but am now ready to tackle my pictures and life story. I made a list of my resolutions to keep:

• Set aside one night a week to work on my blog. This will include editing, eliminating (this will be a hard one for me!), and posting as I finish my pictures.


• Read one night a week on Photoshop and complete a lesson (I have LOTS) each month.


• Read one night a week and focus on one aspect of my new camera.
  

Now this might not sound like a lot but I am involved in my family happenings, a weekly bible study, running (well, that's on hold now too...but more on that in a future blog), and a women's philanthropic educational group (it supports young women in higher education endeavors).

It also means giving up TV; not that I watch a lot of it, but it really is not meaningful time for me to spend. And not spending so much time on the computer with social networking and emailing. I do spend a lot of my evening time websurfing, working puzzles, and chatting with friends. I love to keep in touch but am limiting that time to 2 hours/week! That's 1/2 hour per night on nights I'm not working on my blog/pictures/photography skills.

Whew! I'm committed to getting through this year and getting caught up on my "piles." So stay tuned. My desire is to do an update once a month to keep me honest and committed. Say prayers and think good thoughts, my friends and family! Here's to a great 2011!

Fuerte Amador

After leaving the canal, we arrived at Fuerte Amador, which is on the Pacific entrance side. We had decided to take an excursion that would give us an understanding of the people and culture of this area.
Dolphins frolicked in the waters along side our boat.....
and birds flew in formation!
We took a bus ride to the river where we sat in hand-hewn canoes (with motors!) and took a 20 minute journey through the jungle and river. It was amazing. The water was murky and swift and I, for one, was thankful for the motor!
Here are the people lining up to get into the canoes.
We passed several villages, some under construction/repair, and others fully functional. The land is owned by the national park service of Panama and they allow the natives to live in the area as this is their homeland.
We were greeted by the men of the tribe as we arrived on shore.
They watched us get out of the boats - wonder what they were really thinking of these American tourists!
Their music was very rhythmic and inviting.
All over the village were hibiscus in bloom.
We were served a native meal: tilapia caught the night before our visit and plantain. All of it was wrapped in banana tree leaves.
The women who served were dressed in their native dance attire. Their normal dress is just a skirt and the men only wear loin cloths.
Washing up was very refreshing - warm water and mint leaves.
The natives then performed a traditional dance for us.

and the men played their instruments. One of the instruments was a turtle shell.
During the dance, the men and women asked the tourists to join in. The male does not look directly at the woman he is dancing with - pretty strange to dance with someone who won't look at you!
The kids were adorable. They sat around the dance area and played.
The young girls asked to paint tatoos on our wrists. They are quite good, but it was so hot, the ink just smeared - it just didn't get dry fast enough.
It was an absolutely amazing experience and one we won't forget!
Back in the boat - we were so loaded with people (some were super sized!) that it took 6 of the men to push us away from shore.
One of the canoes following us back down to our bus.
Back at the harbor, waiting to catch the tender out to the cruise ship.
Our cruise ship awaiting our arrival. We were sad to leave this beautiful country but we were now on to Costa Rica.

Formal Night

We had 3 formal nights and these are probably the most fun for me! The guys in tuxedos, the gals in formals and good times. It's not something we do very often - much to Greg's delight!!
Four gals: Eileen, me, Kathy and Diana (Kathy and Diana are Eileen's sisters-in-law.
Four guys: John, Dennis, Greg and David
Four couples: All dressed and ready to dance!