Of sharks, capuchin monkeys and sloths

After four days in Costa Rica, I have already seen and touched them all: monkeys, sharks, sloths, the president,... I mean, of course, the colorful, collectible card-like banknotes. Gotta catch 'em all! Plus, I now know that my Visa card is gracious to me here.

However, smaller animals have already been spotted, such as a caterpillar, a millipede, spiders, a gecko, a black hummingbird, giant ants, bats, and many oropendolas and their companions. Unfortunately, they are always as quick to disappear as they came and it's not easy to photograph them.

What looks like a construction site is actually a hall for coffee production. The beans are harvested on the nearby plantation, and then cleaned, sorted, dried, and packaged in the hall before being exported. By the way, Germany is among the top ten countries in the world with the highest per capita coffee consumption. The coffee is also shipped to us from here by boat. Throughout the process, from harvesting to packaging, only organic materials are used to harvest and wash the beans. Even the energy for the hall is generated from a private hydroelectric power plant in the nearby river. This is true throughout Costa Rica. Only renewable energy sources such as water, wind, and solar energy are used here. Some countries could learn a thing or two from this.

To better understand the Ticos, I will now learn their slang in my Spanish class. There are sometimes significant differences and entirely new words compared to school Spanish. ¡Hasta luego amigos!