“Pura vida” is the most commonly used phrase in Costa Rica. The literal translation is “pure life,”
but the saying goes beyond its simple translation: it’s about enjoying life and
being happy.
_________
One of the few Latin American countries without gold to
mine, Costa Rica has been spared some (but not all) of the strife that has
beset its neighbors over the years. Christopher Columbus gave it its name,
which translates as “rich coast” because he mistakenly believed that what he
was seeing here was gold. And that was his idea of rich. Costa Rica has no
gold, but he had the name right for another reason: it is rich in natural beauty.
Occupying a land mass that is a tiny fraction of one percent
of the earth’s land surface, Costa Rica contains six percent of the planet’s
flora and fauna. In recent years, it has built itself as a major tourism
destination, primarily for the Americas, but also from around the world. And it has done so by striving to
protect the nature that gives it its beauty, while the people preserve the
spirit that makes them some of the most hospitable in the world.
Alas, our ship was in this harbor only for 13 hours, so we
needed to choose activities carefully, as few were near the small container
port where we docked. Beth and I
opted for a “crocodile safari” on the Tarcoles River. Fortunately, on this hot day there was a nice breeze on the
river and thus a pleasant journey.
The crocodiles were not easy to spot—they matched perfectly
the soil on the banks of the river.
So they were easier to see in the water. I had gotten—I thought—a great photo of a baby on the bank,
but see if you can find it in the photo above.
It was, according to our guide, about three years old, and looked to be
less than 2 feet long. Compare
this to the adult in the photo below.
Also according to the guide, crocodile mothers remove their
babies from the nest at about one week, drop them in the water, and
disappear. From that point, it is
each croc for him or her self. They must figure out how to find their own food
and protect themselves from predators, which include other crocs who may attack
them to lessen the competition for food.
This is one reason crocodiles can be so aggressive—they find it
necessary from an early age in order to survive.
Another phenomenon is taking hold now. The gender of a
crocodile is determined by the air temperature at nesting time. Below a certain
temperature, and you have females; above the temperature and you have
males. As the climate warms, there
are fewer and fewer females being born, creating a shortage of mates for the
males, who have been increasingly attacking one another—fighting over
women. The scientists studying
here realized this as they started to see more and more blinded crocs. At first
they thought it was some form of pollution causing it, but after some croc
autopsies came to realize that it was other crocs doing it, and then noted the
growing shortage of females.
During this trip, we spotted a number of other wildlife,
primarily birds (including the stunning macaw) but also iguanas and “Jesus
lizards”, so named because they appear to walk on water. Alas, none that we saw
were demonstrating their name at the time.
Next up: San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
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