UPDATE FROM THE JUNGLE RAINFOREST

It turns out that they do have the Internet in Costa Rica, sort of, so here is a brief report with CrapCam photos.

We flew from Miami to San Jose, then changed to a small plane. And when I saw a "small plane," I mean "a plane roughly the size of the bathroom in the plane that took us from Miami to San Jose." This was the view from my seat:

When we were getting ready to take off, the pilot said, "If an abnormal situation occurs, please do not leave your seat." This was unnecessary, as there was no way to leave your seat without getting into somebody else's seat.

After a short but exciting flight over some mountains we landed in a little airstrip.

This is the plane (shown here actual size).

This is the terminal.

Now we are in the rainforest. Allegedly we have seen a sloth. I did not see the sloth, but I did see people pointing at a tree, and that in itself was pretty exciting.

I will have further reports as events warrant, assuming there are no abnormal situations.

Comments

[Mike Antonucci]

I'm surprised the pilots didn't tell the passengers to hang on to their colons.

[slyeyes]

That is just the cutest, tiniest little plane I've ever seen! What does it want to be when it grows up; an Airbus or a regional jet?

[crossgirl]

is that a motorized beer cooler waiting at the gate?!

[Margaritaville]

I bet you are glad you didn't ask what an "abnormal situation" was since you probably have to fly out the same way. There are scary ugly beasts in the rain forest! Head to your local alcoholaria immediately and just forget the rainforest!

[Steve Haller]

So you won't feel left out...

[Siouxie]

*snork* @ cg!!

That's great service if they have the cerveza ready when you land. I'm sure you'll need it after the exciting mini-plane flight.

[nora]

you are braver than me!

[eilbeback]

Hey, I flew on that plane to the Bahamas! My nails were bitten down to the quick by the time we landed, but (and this was the '80s, folks) I stayed at a private collection of cottages where the property supervisor had just found a bale of (insert drug name here) and emptied the lobster traps. We were the only 2 people there for days... Hope your trip is like mine, Dave!!! (There were no monkeys, but there was one wild Australian.)

[Meanie the Blue]

Do the passengers have to take turns pushing down on the propeller to start?

[lil rascal]

Hope you get a great tour guide

[lil rascal]

With any luck Leonora Jimenez will be your guide

[OtheU(manity)]

Thought-provoking quote from lil's link:

It is important to notice that Costa Ricans are used to talk doing different gestures or using hands to empathize a very important fact during conversation.

I can not emphasize enough, the need to empathize very important facts ... I think ...

[oneblankspace]

In weather news,

1. A LARGE TROPICAL WAVE HAS ENTERED THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND IS CENTERED JUST WEST OF COSTA RICA. THIS SYSTEM SHOWS SOME SIGNS OF ORGANIZATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS COULD FAVOR SOME SLOW DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.

according to your friends at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo_epac.shtml or SW 17th St in Miami.

I seem to recall hearing that the McDonald's in San José has internet access.

[Annie Where-but-here]

My brother had a plane like that. Very exciting landing at small airstrips. You had to call 'dibs' on your own runway and hope no one else was trying to use it at the same time. Sometimes we had to 'breeze' the runway first to shoo away the deer. Like I said, he 'had' a plane like that....

[pogo]

Note that in the event of "abnormal situations" it is much easier to find a place to put a plane that size down safely than it is for a larger one.

[WriterDude]

The trick with planes this size is not to wind the rubber band too tight.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Ah, the Pacific coast! Major tides -- great for shelling.

[Cheesewiz]

Dave:

Doesn't the pilot sit in the left seat? I think you took a picture of the steward.

[Mot the Hoople]

I've got a radio controlled model that's bigger'n that.

[christine]

One time back in the 70s I flew in the exact same plane from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas. The flight was Ralph City. THEN we landed on an airstrip the size of my patio, that was located right next to a big mountain. Fortunately, once we landed there was plenty of Rum.

[WriterDude]

Hey, Mot, LTNS! Any word on if you'll make it back to the States this year? (BTW, just got a new computer, so I'll be less scarce these days...)

[frodolives]

OK, Steve, jus' sayin', but that link was wrong... very wrong, jus' sayin' LOL!!!

[crossgirl]

*snork* at writerdude's rubber bands.

[frodolives]

Rats!!! O the U... stole my thunder (and my line)... good on ya' mate!

[frodolives]

Hey christine, Captain Morgan's? Coral Bay? Let's open up the blogbar!!!

[Green Living]

That's just funny.

Good to know that you can get Internet Access there. It's a place we'd definitely like to see.

Keep the posts coming from the jungle!

Jonathan
Greenjoyment.com

[WriterDude]

frodo -- you wearing the apron tonight? If so, you just got your first customer. Please set me up with a Rum Runner; it'll be a new one on me.

For anyone who is extremely bored, I will soon have a post up about the new computer. Should be good for at least a couple of laughs; almost done with it.

[Moon]

OK, maybe this has already been answered in another thread, but, you live in Florida, why would you want to go to Costa Rica in the middle of the summer?

[WriterDude]

Okay, frodo, the post is up. Now can I have that drink? ;-)

[WriterDude]

Moon - LTNS with you, too. And I'm with you too -- there aren't enough colons in the world to sufficiently pay me to go to Central America this time of year. (I'm a Colorado boy; anything over 20% humidity qualifies as "intolerably muggy".)

Given Dave's choices, I'd be hanging in Idaho with Ridley. But he's on a book tour and Dave has both the RNC and DNC on the horizon, then the Olympics (Remember the Typiotki!) and come October, he starts the Year in Review column. Got a lot of hands on his time for a semi-retired guy, no?

[Wyo Cowboy]

hell, writer, you could be hangin' out here in Wyo with me and Med.

[Barney Lerten]

Dave, Dave, Dave of the Jungle... friend to you and me... watch out for that... TREE!

[CJrun]

Moon, they've gone for the exotic language and immersion in a foreign culture. No...wait....

[Siouxie]

um...Wyo?? I'll pass on the hayin'. Let me know when it's "cowboy season" in Wyoming and then I'll go handle those ;-P

(good to see Med made it)(and that's she's having fun with the hay)

[Cheryl Howard]

Note to self: Vacation at Wyo's looks alot like actual work.

[CJrun]

*psssst, Daniel, I gots an idea; when y'all leave for the drive home, start singing, " Na na na na, Na na na na, Hay Haayyy, Goodbye"*

[Siouxie]

*snork-groan* @ CJ

HAYYYYY yourself!

[Jazzzz]

hello all....*smooches* to Siouxie
How ya'll doin'? Things are good in Arkansas. Still cold though, only 90 today with about the same humidity. Waiting for warm weather. Of course, Miami and Costa Rica may be colder ;-D

[lil rascal]

Dave didn't mention the nightlife. He didn't look close enough, I guess

[CJrun]

Hmmmm. Well, judging by all the scattered debris around that cart, I think cg was right and that was a motorized beer cooler. I also think the guys driving it were supposed to be erecting that new sign, but decided to prop it against the fence and secure it with the barbed wire.

I also think that you probably shouldn't try enetering that strange web address in and seeing where it takes you, because after you get past all of the Chinese sites where "flysasa" apparently means something, it might steer you to a very rude place that is NSFP (Not Safe For Play). Not that I did that.

[daisymae]

Looks like Jurassic Park. Hope you don't meet any dinosaurs.

[Siouxie]

heh! CJ said erected

*smoooch* Jazzzzzzzziepoo!!

[Jeff]

That's either a motorized beer cooler waiting at the gate, or Wall-E's cousin.

[Afkat]

This is way off topic, but I thought I'd share this with my American friends. I grew up with the knowlege of literally everyone I knew being a war veteran...after all, in WWII, Canada, with a population of 12.5 million people, had 1.2 million people in her armed forces. So virtually every adult I encountered had either a war wound or a war story.

Last week, we lost another soldier in Afganistan...in the normal course of events, not necessarily a big deal. Except...I knew this kid...and I'm devastated that a fine young man is no longer with us....personally...I'm crushed....and I grieve for his family....

But, given the number of our soldiers that have been lost in Afgan...a spontaneous memorial has developed...as it happens now, the plane carrying the body of our fallen soldier lands at AFP Trenton (Ontario) and is taken, by car to Toronto for autopsy.

But what has developed is that on every single overpass over the roughley 120 miles of the highway between Trenton, rain or shine, tens of thousands of people show up and salute the fallen member. And the government has responded by re-naming that stretch of the road "Highway of Heros".

If you are interested in seeing an example of either gratitude or patriotism, click here

[Siouxie]

Afkat, I believe you've shared that with us before?? Very heart-wrenching yet extremely moving tribute. Thank you.

[Meditrina]

CJ, Daniel sez: Wyo tole me I had to "earn" the vacation. Personally, I thought that was BS, 'til I spent the morning in church and the afternoon in the field.

Mom sez: BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! (Actually, it was fun and rewarding.)

[frodolives]

Sorry, Writer Dude, was called away for a time... Rum Runner IMMEDIATELY!

[Suzy Q]

Afkat,

It's nice to see that the people in your country are allowed to acknowledge and honor your fallen soldiers after their return. We, the American people, are being spared by the ever-diminishing "wisdom" of our current president from seeing our fallen comrades as they arrive back in the States. Somehow, he thinks it would be demoralizing and so has tried to ban the media from showing those sorts of images.

We, the People, indeed...

[Wyo Cowboy]

cj,,, hay, hay... goodbye

don' worry, I get it. Fact remains, I got a year's worth of hay put up pert near't for free. (silly city kids) ;)

(an' they got braggin' rights.)

[Siouxie]

Glad to know you made it, Med. Niters folks.

[Siouxie]

Glad to know you made it, Med. Niters folks.

[frodolives]

...still can't believe there's not been ONE comment on ("at the Costa, Costa la Rica, the hottest spot south of Tampica...")

[Siouxie]

Glad to know you made it, Med. Niters folks.

[Siouxie]

Glad to know you made it, Med. Niters folks.

[Wyo Cowboy]

frodo may live. but if he keeps that sh!t up, he's gonna die. just sayin'.

[Siouxie]

damn stoopid bot crap mumble mumble sh!t dummass typepoop.

Hasta tomorrow

[frodolives]

glad Siouxie said niters just before I typed that, otherwise, I would be ducking machetes again!

[frodolives]

Wyo, guess that should have come with a warning after all... can I make it better by buying you a blog drink?

[frodolives]

Oh, and yeah, I promise to serve it AFTER I've finished *SNORKING*...

[frodolives]

Siouxie, TRIPLE BOT? You go girl! (Let me see if I remember this... rock crushes scissors, scissors cuts paper, MACHETE WIPES OUT BOTS!!!!) *Snorks*

[frodolives]

Reviewing, it was a quadruple bot, Sioux... ("Waiter, I'll have what she's having...)

[frodolives]

Hey Wyo, what part? I'm in Aurora, CO (Denver metro area...) You going to the Daddy this year?

[Mot the Hoople]

WriterDude, hi there buddy, the family are coming to SA to visit in December so we are planning to get there next summer/autumn. We are definitely going to get together with you for a BBQ or something. OtheU said that he might be able to join us as well. I also notice another Denverite posting here, maybe Frodo would be interested in joining the party. I'm also determined to get up to Yellowstone and maybe also prevail upon Wyo's good nature and pop in to say hi to him as well.

[Not My Usual Alias]

When I first looked at the captions on the photo, I thought the three traffic cones surrounding the plane was the terminal.

I was glad there was a building that presumably has at least some of the comforts of home.

[crossgirl]

crosses wyo's place off the list of places i might want to visit.

begins writing invites to other bloggers to come "experience the real florida." i've got this big @ss yard that needs regular mowing. cj has bushels of grapefruit that need collecting....

[The Dread Pirate Chris]

Wishes to "experience cg's real Florida". I've got a yapply little dog I want to feed to an aligator.

[Wyo Cowboy]

Frodo, won't be in Cheyenne this year, prefer to go fishin', which is where we're headed for the next few days. Stretchin' the horses out up on the mountain, an' sippin some coffee an' other beverages.

[Siouxie]

cg! good idea. That reminds me that during the HUNT weekend, I need some landscaping done. I'll provide the beverages and promise there will be NO hayin' involved.

[Apple Annie]

You kids haven't flown until you get to ride in WWI J-3 Cub. Neat little thing, if you catch a head wind you fly backwards. My husband was a flight instructor and we flew in just about every size there was, including a C-130. Jeez, what a bunch of scardy cats.!!!

[jerry stonham]

Consider yourself lucky to be in a country that is gentle and kind, unlike ours which is really imploding with greed, failures, lazy jerks, bank foreclosures, crime rampant.....enjoy Costa Rica.

[jerry stoneham]

Looks like someone is using my name to paint a picture of my beloved USA as unkind. Whoever you are, please refrain. However, by all means enjoy Costa Rica which is protected by the US CoastGuard.
And, the other remarks are indeed correct. JLWS.