Kutztown
Geology 2007-2008 trip to
Hike in the park and swim in
the Pacific Ocean
We started the hike on the beach,
crossing a small creek. I think all hikes in Costa Rican national
parks start this way!
We took a photo so we'd have a map
of the trails while we hiked.
This hike was
not nearly as muddy, but had more vertical relief and tree hazards.
Chris
ultimately went native, shucking his sandals in favor of bare
feet.
The beach at Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point)
was a popular place to swim. Aside from the very numerous hermit
crabs, our only other encounter with wildlife at the beach was Lauren's
run-in with this blue-tentacled jellyfish. The sting hurt for a
day, but she appears to have survived.
The Pacific was much warmer than
I've experienced in California. What a big difference some
currents and sunlight makes!
The hermit
crabs battled one another over the crumbs that fell in the sand when we
ate lunch. They seemed to much prefer battling one another over a
single crumb rather than picking up their own crumbs an inch
away. Watching them made me think of people.
We had no idea
that bamboo could grow so big!
The beach near the entrance to the
park had zones of coarser pebbles, bits of coral, and snail
shells. Beach sediment is a cornucopia for geologists!
The coarse zones differed in
pebble content, so we studied several zones.
Souvenir sellers were keen to
display their wares to us. They drove hard bargains, but prices
were negotiable. Manuel Antonio is built up for fairly wealthy
tourists, so these salesmen were pretty stiff on their prices.
Soda Sanchez - my favorite
restaurant in Costa Rica. For $3, the Casado meal was the best I had
anywhere and the servers were friendly!
Zip line tour of the tree canopy
(need
a photo for this part)
After several days of swimming in
the surf, hiking through the jungle, and general excitement, we were
all in need of rest on the drive back to San José. I
suppose this photo could easily also be everyone singing soulful songs
to the swaying of the bus on winding mountain roads!
Kutztown
Geology 2007-2008 trip to
