Costa Rica

Osa Peninsula

Paul, Yitzi, Claire, and I spent two wonderful weeks together in Costa Rica, beginning with six days in the Osa Peninsula. Claire has created various connections with talented community members as coordinator for the University of Vermont environmental study abroad program in Palo Seco. Because we visited in between semesters, we were fortunate to meet many of Claire's friends (some are like family) and educational partners.

A three-hour sunset kayak tour of mangroves and bioluminescence. Paul and I were the oldest people there.

Paddle fatigue, having to pee and fear of the open bay feeding into the vast ocean gave way to appreciation of the awesome sunset and bathtub warm water lit up by bioluminescence.

Corcovado National Park Tour, Osa Peninsula

Paul, Yitzi, Claire, and I woke up at 3:30 a.m. for a 90-minute motor boat to Corcovado National Park where we were scheduled for a tour. A school of dolphins magically gave me a burst of energy.

Sweltering in my high-tech REI outfit that was supposed to be protective while whisking away sweat on our four-hour hike, I found myself vacillating in my mind between awareness of sweat and fatigue and the bliss of being in the most densely biodiverse area in the world with people I love and a fantastically knowledgeable tour guide who is also a good friend of Claire. Tapirs, sloths, anteaters, snakes, many plants and birds were observed. See Yitzi's poem below for more details.

A poem by Yitzi Gittelsohn that expresses our experience

I realize I don’t know what peace is

I was in paradise

What I thought was peace on earth

And yet the ants kill plants around the tree they live on to help their tree grow

And yet the termites chew through trees to eat and build their nest, and they feed other animals with their lives

And yet the strangler fig kills its host tree and hollows it out, which provides habitat for other animals

And the anteaters were wrestling up in a tree, and I watched them push each other out, dropping and falling 30 feet to the ground

And yet they hit the soft forest floor, bounced back up, and scurried away as if nothing happened

Is all of this, together, peace? Or is it violence?

Or does nature not know the difference? Or does nature not care?

I ask of myself, of humanity, of God: “what is peace?”

What am I striving for? What is this vision I so badly want us to attain? That I pray for in my morning prayers? That I yearn to see in Israel-Palestine, in the USA, in my family, my relationships, in myself, in the world?

The forest did not give me clear answers. Neither does this life.

And yet I believe I know glimpses of peace. The fully calm waters of the sea, as the sun rises, the mountains to my right, dolphins playing in the wake of our boat, arm around my sister.

The big picture. An inner calm. A sense of wholeness.

I no longer know if peace is a permanent state to be achieved, or a passing feeling to know and return to.

And yet the sloth hangs in the tree, growing algae on its back, and 1000 bugs and moths live in its fur, and it eats leaves, and once a week, it climbs down the tree, and leaves some fertilizer for its host tree, and moves on to another tree, and it’s slow. And maybe I want to be more like the sloth, or the tree, or the sloth and the bugs and the moth and the tree, living and growing together.

But the forest has opened me up, broken me down, complicated this idea, this yearning for peace, and given me a sense of the real movements of this wild, varied, harsh, soft, vibrant, still, huge, beautiful world. It speaks to me in different languages, ones that might be hard to translate into human terms. And yet I’ll try carry its teachings in my heart, asking it questions, curious, open, and rooted in the wild nature of my soul.

Night Tour, Osa Peninsula

From tropical rain storm to drizzle to bliss. We were excited to see frogs, sleeping lizards, and many plants. Claire's friend Juan Luis took us on a great night tour! Small is beautiful and adorable.

Finca Cobo Chocolate Tour, Osa Peninsula

For years, Claire has been bringing us the best cacao I have ever tasted. Finally, we got to tour Alex's farm/paradise in the form of chocolate, vanilla beans, and rare, diverse plants collected from the jungle. You must go there if you are ever in Palo Seco, Osa Peninsula. Cacao bean tastings and a snack with a sensational chocolate fondue are included.

Puerto Jimenez vegan dinner by donation, Osa Peninsula

Puerto Jimenez is a slightly larger town in the rural tropical Osa Peninsula where you will find a combination of people from Costa Rica and independent-minded expats Two lovely young women and a Mom abandoned cold Chicago winters to prepare communal vegan dinners once per week and pursue other creative activities. We met other ex-pats who are artists, farmers, and ecologists. The Osa is for the adventurous. We also met Costa Ricans, who created a community in the 1980s by clearing the jungle and living off the land. The vegan dinner was delish, though we did not have quite enough of the cauliflower coconut soup and vegan lasagna with sunflower seed cheese. This was a good sign because there were many more people than expected, meaning that business was increasing.

Hip Beach Town and Mountain Village

We traveled to another slightly cooler, dryer beach to sweater weather mountains over the next six days. Costa Rica is diverse and has even more dramatic skies than Vermont. The weather is fast-moving and unpredictable. Claire smiled politely if I attempted to plan our day based on the unreliable weather report.

Costa Rica has the best lime

Sculptures made from coffee plant roots.

Adios, beautiful Costa Rica. The next stops were Mexico City for me and Paul, back to graduate school in Boston for Yitzi, and a few more days of travel and back creating a great study abroad program in the Osa Peninsula for Claire.