Typical - you wait months for a crocodile then they all come along at once!

 

 

Our friends Jon and Nicola were over from the UK for 2 weeks and bought us luck with the crocodile hunting.  We went along to the creek Dave and I had visited several times before and there in the water were 3!  This was literally 50 yards from where we'd seen small children swimming a few weeks before.

 

 

It's interesting that the health and safety in Costa Rica means a 'do not feed the crocodiles' sign whereas I'm sure in the UK there'd be fences and you simply wouldn't be allowed anywhere near.  As it was we stop on a small bridge whilst a local woman fed them the remains  her picnic!  This isn't encouraged as it's really not in the crocodiles' interest for them to become too 'tame' around humans.  Wild animals like this can start to cause a nuisance, and have a greater risk of harming if they don't remain wary of people (I remember the signs in Yosemite 'A fed bear is a dead bear') an animal like this attacking someone will certainly be shot.

 

 

Later we spent a few days on the Osa peninsular, a most amazing place, difficult to get to - involving a 1.5 hour boat journey, but so worth it.  Miles of truly wild beach and a nature reserve of both primary and secondary jungle.  Amongst other animals (more of in a future blog), we came across crocodiles sunning themselves on the opposite bank of an estuary and also swimming in the sea!  Makes you think a bit about where you're best off going in for a dip!

 

 

It was a real privilege to spend time watching these creatures and their behaviour.  This chap was apparently cooling down by opening his mouth and allowing the skin of his lower jaw to stretch, thereby exposing a greater area of skin to the air.  The American crocodile is less aggressive than those found in other parts of the world and they only usually attack if you stray onto their territory or are seen as a threat, it's very unlikely that they would attack a person purely for food.  In fact it was intriging to see fish swimming past a crocodile's nose and coming to no harm - although I think the fish were simply lucky and that the croc had already had lunch!

Now you know you're not in Doncaster!

 

Possibly one of the strangest New Years yet!

 

The rodeo came to Samara for about 4 days.  The wooden ring and stand was gradually constructed with fun fair rides and dance floor for 'non-bull' entertainment.  Rodeos appear to be a major tradition here for the New Year, and into January, and is even covered nightly on television. To be honest I approached this experience with mixed emotions and am still uneasy about the use of an animal for fun in this way. However, this tradition is part of normal life here and I wanted to see what was involved.

 

 

Unlike Spanish bullfighting the bull isn't killed (even if it kills a person), and can build up a reputation over years. I ended up thinking of it more as 'bull worrying' than fighting, especially with some bulls who looked particularly uninterested in all the young men trying to persude it to run after them and would occassionally break into a run more as if it was trying to 'join in the fun' than chase anyone.

 

 

The tradition has evolved from the cowboy/ranching work that is still a huge part of the culture in this part of Costa Rica and the expertise of the cowboys was something to see.  The horses were beautiful, well trained and totally controlled, whilst the cowboys could tear around the ring and lasso the bulls with incredible skill and accuracy - also avoiding all the young men in the ring. 

 



 

Each bull came into the ring with someone trying to ride it - a real bucking bronco. Obviously all the riders fell at some point and the crowd cheered louder the longer they managed to say on. The bull is then encouraged to chase the people who choose to go into the ring (this is a really macho event), and this is obviously not without danger (although self inflicted). Luckily we saw no nasty accidents, although one bloke did get his leg trampled on when trying to escape under the barrier, but he was bandaged and back in the ring later.

 



The only other casualty we saw was one of the riders who was unconcious when he fell off the bull.  He was quickly carried by 6 men and pushed through a square hole in the wall of the ring (a bit like a kitchen dumb waiter) where he was treated by an on site medical team.  I was horrified but the show wasn't stopped and he later appeared and walked across the ring (to much applause) although with his ribs bandaged up!

 

All this and a chap coming round to sell kebabs in any quiet moment in the proceedings!

The Pacific coast and close encounters (now will you shake out your trousers)!

A wonderful trip on the Pacific coast gave great opportunities for birdspotting and we enjoyed an amazing breakfast watching toucans, humming birds and scarlet macaws (although the macaws were in a nearby tree not on the bird table)!

So far we've had many close encounters with wild life - most brilliant but some not so good!  Such as the time I put on the trousers I'd worn last when walking in a very wet jungle only to find a black scorpion 1.5inches long, on the bottom of my trouser leg!  Dave didn't know what was happenning as I screamed whilst rapidly taking off my trousers - I was so frightened it would sting me!  Once he realised what was going on he threw the trousers outside and rushed, not to comfort me but to get his camera!  Unfortunately the scorpion had taken the opportunity to rush for freedom so the photo opportunity was missed!

Other local residents have not been so shy, including this beautiful frog who stayed around whilst we enjoyed a long evening glass of wine, and my favourite - a sweet geko who wasn't at all worried about either us or the camera and decided to make himself at home on Dave's glass.