Everywhere insects

In the past three days, there have been various tree climbing works to do. On Wednesday, I drove to the forest with Duaro and Sara. There we had to haul various equipment up the mountain with heavy ropes. Duaro then climbed the 40-meter high tree, heavily laden with carabiners, water bottle, and tools, and dismantled an old nesting box. Sara and I waited below and followed the instructions. On the tree trunk where we were waiting, an ant crawled up as big as a hornet. I asked Sara if it was dangerous, and she told me that if the so-called 'Blood Ant' bites you, you can have such severe pain for up to 24 hours that you think you're dying. She recently experienced that herself.

The next day we went to another huge almond tree where Duaro had recently seen a supposed natural nesting cavity. Since he had never climbed that tree before, he had to shoot a weight with a so-called setup line over a fork in the branch using a large slingshot. He then pulled up the correct safety line. Finally, Sara was able to climb up. But when she reached the top, she called out that she had to come back down immediately because she was surrounded by a swarm of bees. Those three hours of work were apparently in vain.

It seems like you have to get used to all the insects here. Yesterday, for example, a 10 centimeter long giant grasshopper flew into my face. Now I appreciate all the geckos in my room, even if they are sometimes as long as a beer bottle.

Yesterday morning, I went to the beach early in the morning. Although this is a huge beach, I was completely alone there. Wonderful. But the Costa Ricans don't seem to find it so wonderful alone because on the horizon, I saw a man running towards me to ask me if I could take a photo of him and to tell me that he was an artist. He then showed me dozens of photos of his paintings on his phone. Each one depicted a realistically portrayed animal on a white background. A toucan. A macaw. Another toucan. I couldn't imagine that he made a living from it. But who knows, maybe Costa Ricans really love that kind of thing.

Afterwards, I had an appointment with a gardener nearby who wanted to sell me his surfboards. I chose a fantastic surfboard for only 100€. I can't wait to try it out. In November, there are usually big storms in the Caribbean that create particularly large waves here. But until then, I still have to practice!

After the second feeding, I stay on the platform at the top until sunset to take photos of all the birds and monkeys that I see here. Sometimes I take about 300 photos, of which I only like five. It is quite difficult to photograph individual parrots or monkeys in the shade of the jungle, as they are usually very far away, move around, and only show themselves briefly.

However, yesterday evening after the feeding, I did my weekly shopping. For that, I have to ride a half-hour on a red, shaky bike to Puerto Viejo and haul the heavy groceries two kilometers up the mountain. Afterward, I look like I've taken a bath. But as a reward, I made myself a big pot of rice with curry. However, there is still a small kiosk nearby (see picture) where I sometimes buy very delicious empanadas for lunch.