Church Merced San Jose Notice the high fence surrounding the church Photo Courtesy of Artist Hubert Steed http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/profile

How about going to a country that is absolutely beautiful, but the inhabitants live behind fences, windows with bars and razor wire on top of the fences? Welcome to Costa Rica.

Judy and I went to Costa Rica recently, along with a friend that owns property there. In San Jose, capitol of Costa Rica, we were informed at the car rental agency not to leave our SUV unguarded.  If we get a flat tire, keep going, thieves there slash your tires, than come by on the pretense of helping you, but instead proceed to rob you. That’s right get a flat, ruin the rim, but keep going until you get to a service station.

Judy and I were eating at a restaurant in San Jose and I said, look at the front door. She said what? I said, there are two men there with steel pipes in their hands.  They are guarding the entrance to prevent being robbed here. Walking back to our hotel, a taxi cab driver went by and stopped to tell us, watch out for thieves, be careful. Nice.

Going to a local bank, there were two guards at the entrance, both with guns behind locked bullet proof glass. They would let one person in at a time, lock the door, search the person, than let repeat the process after a few minutes wait, so there were not too many people in the foyer.

Leaving San Jose, we found much the same thing throughout Costa Rica. Private homes with eight foot fences with razor wire on top, guards at restaurants, stores shuttered at night, windows with steel bars.

Arriving in Nicoya, we broke the rule that the rental agency gave us, leaving our SUV unattended. I parked the car downtown and looked at the street. I saw a lot of school children going home and thought, well, our vehicle should be save.

Wrong, came back thirty minutes later and all our luggage was gone.  We called the police and after much jabbering, we were told to drive to the local police station. When we got there, there was an identical vehicle to ours. Robbers had taken a screw driver to the back door lock and stole all the luggage out of this guy’s SUV.

Gone was all of our suitcases, everybody’s medicines my new Sony camera, laptop,     I-pad, Bose earphones, Judy’s Kindle and new binoculars, as well as a few gifts we had purchased.

So Judy lost all her luggage which her home insurance policy will not pay because she has a $2,000 deductible.  I have AAA and my home policy will pay for most of my loss.

After that, we drove straight to San Jose, got a room for the night and flew back to California.  Along the way, we talked to at least three people who knew of similar robberies during their vacation in Costa Rica.

One incident, as told to us, involved a case where armed robbers went into a hotel room and stole everything the tourist had, including the wife’s wedding ring.

Than after we got home, I talked to one of my former clients who had a friend that went to Costa Rica last year and was robbed at gun point while a policeman across the street completely ignored the situation. Then, to top it off, another friend of my told me his cousin went down there with his grandmother and was killed when he resisted the robbers. He was 27 years old

If you are going to Costa Rica, just be careful.

For further information please go to the following sites if you are considering a trip to the land of crime, Costa Rica.

United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security Crime in Costa Rica 2011 

British Foreign & Commonwealth  Office  Travel Advice

 
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Saint Domenic is draped in snakes

By Judy Pinegar

But along came the Roman Catholic Church, who could not approve of such paganism, so we now have the Festival of Saint Dominic (who is the patron saint of the town of Cocullo). Saint Dominic is of course known for many other things, the greatest of which was founding the Dominican order within the Catholic Church. However this legend has the village fields overrun with snakes, and when Saint Dominic cleared the fields of snakes the villagers of Cocullo came up with a lasting show of gratitude, where the effigy of Saint Domenic is draped in snakes and paraded around in May of each year, also known as the Feast of the Serpari. The snakes are primarily of the local variety, four-lined aesculapian, grass and green whip snakes, and are released into the fields at the end of the day. (Humm, I guess we need Saint Dominic to come back and clear the fields again!)

But on feast day the statue is draped in snakes and carried around the town, while many people also allow themselves to be draped with snakes as well. Of course the snakes are all non-poisonous, or have had their fangs removed, but this is not a festival for the faint of heart or anyone with a snake phobia! The festival is held to seek the Saint’s protection from snake bite.

It is believed that the snakes, once on the statue can predict the future. The people in attendance watch the snake behavior carefully. According to custom, if the snakes wind around the head of the statue it is a good sign. But if they go in the direction of the arms or body something bad is ahead.

This is a video of the current day celebration

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine

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Women celebrating Bona Dea from: abitabout.com/Bona+Dea

By Judy Pinegar

Meanwhile, the Romans who always had to re-name the Greek gods and goddesses to fit their “new” civilization seem to have adapted Angitia into Bona Dea, an ancient and holy Roman goddess of women and healing. Women also referred to her as Fauna, but men were not allowed to use that name, or attend her secret ceremonies and festivals. Bona Dea, “the Good Goddess” protects women through their changes, and is believed to watch over virgins and matrons especially. She was skilled in healing and herb lore, and snakes and wine were sacred to her. As a healing goddess, the sick were tended in her temple garden with medicinal herbs. Bona Dea was portrayed sitting on a throne, holding a cornucopia. The snake is her attribute, a symbol of healing, and consecrated snakes were kept in her temple at Rome, tended by her priestesses.

Under the laws of the Roman republic, patrician women were not supposed to drink wine, and could be punished, if caught. But by calling it “milk” the ancient and sacred practices could be reconciled with the rules of Roman Society. Bona Dea’s secret festival for women was held at night during the First of May, in the house of the chief elected official ( although he was not allowed to attend), the Vestal Virgins officiated, and a great jar of wine was in the room, although it was called “milk” and the jar was called a “mellarium” or honey jar. After making libations to the Goddess Bona Dea, the women drank and danced to music. It is said that later in the history of the empire this festival “degenerated” into wild and extravagant affairs, such as the Greeks had with Dionysus, the God of Wine.

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine
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Angitia, Snake Goddess of the Marsi from www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/angitia

By Judy Pinegar

While the region of Puglia is the “heel”, and the Gargano Pennisula is the “spur”, the mountainous regions of Abruzzo and Molise (united until 1963) are the “ankle” of the “boot” that is Italy. The area was settled by Apennine tribes in the Middle Bronze age (2000 to 1700 BC), was later taken over by the Romans, by the Normans in the 12^th century, then by a succession of rulers out of Naples. In spite of all this, the Abruzzo region, dominated by the Apennines Mountains, to this day is a brooding, introspective land, with precipitous drops from mountain sides, endless tracks of forests, small towns clinging to mountainsides, a semi abandoned, poor area, one of the last wildernesses of Italy.

Yet the first Thursday of every May, ophidiophiliacs (snake-lovers, often accompanied by their own snakes) come from all over the world come to the town of Cocullo (with a population of 316 persons) for a festival, the Feast of the Serpari (Snake Festival) that has been re-created possibly three different times over the eons of time to become one of the most multicultural, ancient and historic festivals in all of Italy.

Town of Cocullo (Google pictures)

In pagan times, the tribe of the Marsi ruled this area east of Rome. A tough warlike, mountainous tribe, they were ruled from about 800 to 580 BC (before Christ) by the Eutruscans, and then until 325 BC under the Samnites. The chief divinity in their society was the ancient snake goddess, Angitia.  She was an early goddess of witchcraft and healing, associated with verbal and herbal charms, especially against snake bite. Her name referred to killing snakes through enchantment, possibly with just a word from her deific lips.  The Greek myths say Angitia was one of the three daughters of Aeetes along with Medea and Circe, two of the most famed sorceresses of Greek mythology. Angitia lived in the area around the Lake Fucinus (later drained) and specialized in curing snake bites.

Judy Pinegar is a writer. Part of this three part series appeared in the Corriere della Valle Magazine

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Photos courtesy of Abilmente:

By Judy Pinegar
Corriere della Valle Magazine

In north eastern Italy, on the flat landscape of the Venito region, with the spectacular Dolomite mountains in the distance, sits the city on Vicenza. It is home to one of the premier art showcases around the world, called Abilmente, with a spring showing on March 3-6, 2011, and a fall showing  on October 20 to October 23, 2011 at the Fiera di Vicenza (Fair of Vicenza) located at Via dell Oreficeria 16, Vicenza, Venito, Italy.

A feature of Abilmente are the “Workshops”(or Ateliers), spaces where the practical aspects and exhibitions combine. The settings will highlight the work of leading artists in each sector, providing plenty of ideas to others. There are chances to participate in several courses held by the leading associations and artists in each sector. The planned workshops are: “A Voyage into the World of Color”, “Patchwork” “Natural Dye” “DIY Fashion: Bijoux and Accessories” and “Creating with Paper”:

This year in honor of the 150^th Anniversary of the Union of Italy, there was a special Creative Workshop, on October 20-23, 2011 presented a workshop called Patchwork Atelier. Here the Associazione Nazionale Quilt Italia, the star of this workshop, presented the Italian cultures, images and landscapes of the regions that have united to make Italy a truly great nation. The show displayed, through original pieces of patchwork quilt, the distinctive features that characterize each individual region.

Article courtesy  Corriere della Valle Magazine

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091

DRE# 00669941

Tapir browsing in the jungle

By Judy Pinegar

The day dawned (it was a 4:30 AM start) without rain and clear skies promised, and it lasted dry all day which I feel was a near miracle, given the amount of rain we have been encountering so far in Costa Rica. We had opted for the longer trip, by boat to La Serena Station (reached only by boat or small plane), although San Pedrillo station was closer to us, because the word was the animal “finds” were much better at La Serena.

So it was an hour and a half, out of the bay and through the open Pacific on a small boat holding 15 people  max, to a beach unidentifiable to my eye than any other, but the guides knew. With the tide out, and no dock, we landed in the water and quickly got to a huge area of old lava flow, at least 150 feet of it, before the sand and then the jungle started. At about 9 AM, stowing some stuff on shore we were quickly into the jungle and our first sighting was a Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, beautiful in black and yellow. A while further and we saw a pair of Scarlet Macaws.

Within an hour we had also seen three of the four species of Monkeys in Costa Rica, and had heard the fourth, the Howler Monkey. First was the tiny Squirrel Monkey, then the largest, the Spider Monkey, a whole family, and then a family of the White Faced Capuchin. Then we saw some cute, tiny Leaf Tent Bats, who bite at a leaves by the main rib until both sides fold in, then they attach upside down within the leaf.

By then we were back on the beach and following the tracks of a Baird’s Tapir, which had traveled quite a way up the beach, so we rapidly walked up the beach in the now hot sun, when we found a group of tourists with cameras, there he was… HUGE really, with a funny elephant like nose with a prehensile finger like structure on the end. And boy could he eat, our guide said he ate 80 pounds of leaves a day. He continued to graze, ignoring at least 20 people who got within 3 feet of him for pictures for over 30 minutes.

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Costa Rica Shoreline

Looking up we found a White Nosed Coati, resting, after a feast of what was a nest of turtle eggs laid last night, we could still see the tracks of the poor mama turtle, and the eggshells left over, now being nibbled by Hermit Crabs. By now we had also seen the fourth species of monkeys, the Mantled Howler Monkey, and more toucans and macaws too, as well as the other monkey species. So we moved to the river, where a large American Alligator was resting with his mouth completely open (because he was lying in the sun and was hot).

A noise behind us and it was a small Collared Anteater, who however quickly moved away, our guide said it was unusual to see them. Moving back into the forest, a Three-toed Sloth was resting high in a tree, after more monkeys, we came to about four Collared Peccaries, including a baby about 8 inches long… sort of grey instead of black and so cute. The monkeys were eating and dropping many of the nuts so the peccaries were having a feast.

We came to the ranger station for a rest, seeing another pair of Scarlet Macaws, one of whom had been nursed back to health there and keeps trying to come back to get food (which everyone was forbidden to give them of course). Then a walk back through the jungle with more sightings of the same animals, to arrive at the beach about noon, for the boat trip home. It was an extraordinary 3 hour jungle hike, full of seeing fantastic mammals, birds, and a reptile in a well protected rain forest.

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

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Hermit Crabs in their shells

By Judy Pinegar

Oops we lost some days…all three of us are now sick in various states… Ted being the worst now as ours started earlier. All three of us were scheduled for the boat ride to Cano Island to go snorkeling and hiking, but due to the rain no hiking was possible now, so Ted decided he didn’t want to go, then at the last minute John decided to take a day of rest, so I went snorkeling with a nice English couple, David and Rosemary.

David had been in the navy for England, and she followed him to many of his stations, even after they had a family. Then since retiring they have traveled all over. I ended up asking where in the world they had NOT been (and it was very few places), mostly in the Orient in unusual places. Anyway we there were lots of fish and the water pretty clear, I saw tons of little fish, some coral fish, a school of what looked like small sharks to me, some large flat incandescent  ones, yellow and black striped too. Sorry for the non professional description but my guide book isn’t very hot on fish.

Cano Island is a national reserve, one part of the 25% of the country that is protected!! There were some wonderful shells, but we weren’t allowed to take them, or the rocks. We stopped for a picnic lunch and a rest on a beach by a ranger station, the only place on the island that boats are allowed to land, and you had to leave before 3:30 PM too. It was a very clean, sandy beach (have I mentioned the one here at Drake Bay is littered with leaves and pretty murky, due to the rivers nearby and the way the tides work) framed by some neat black rocks (sorry no pictures I left it in the cabin with John). It was not raining while we snorkeled, the first sun I had seen (so of course I got sunburned, forgetting about my back while snorkeling)

I spent some time watching the Hermit Crabs, they are so funny, from tiny little spots you almost can’t see to plain shells to some really fancy and colorful shells. The crabs have to continually change their shells as they get bigger, but it sort of seemed that the personality of the crab matched the shell! When they hear or feel (?) that you are nearby they stop and become just shells on the sand, unmoving, but if you wait, or look behind after you walk they soon all come back to life. It is really fun to see.

That afternoon and the next day it rained ALL DAY, and we were glad we had postponed our trip to Corcovado National Park and the jungle walk, instead catching up on our sleep. Next up…our exciting time in the jungle!

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

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DRE #00669941

View from Hotel Jinetes de Osa

By Judy Pinegar

Guess what … it was raining this morning and all last night. We left Dominical about 8:30 AM with plans to get breakfast in Uvita. But we all must have blinked at the wrong moment for soon we were past that town wherever it was and still hungry. So we saw a sign for the Lookout Hotel and Restaurant and ventured up the unpaved road to the top. It was beautiful, and their rooms start at $55… shoud’a stayed there! Breakfast was also excellent a combination of German and Costa Rican food.

Tearing ourselves away from the view, a few minute conversation with the hostess confirmed that driving to Drake Bay on the Oso Peninsula was probably a bad idea. She suggested a boat from Sierpe (only 45 minutes away), down a long river and across the open ocean to Drake Bay was the better plan. She even handed us a very not-to-scale map to guide us. Luckily a gas truck helped us to find the town. Sierpe was a very mellow town on the river and we arrived just in time to catch the 11:30 boat for only $15.00 each!!

The ride was something else, a beautiful river, jungle on all sides, gradually getting huge before we entered the ocean. We stopped for pictures of crocodiles, for a tour through a mangrove forest with a very narrow passage, and in the middle of the ocean the boat suddenly stopped cold in the water. Someone said “Well at least there aren’t any crocodiles here, and the reply was but “Watch out for the sharks though?” Turned out to be a piece of wood caught on the propeller, soon extracted and we were safely on our way.

Arriving at our destination we quickly noticed that there was no dock, so the last few yards were going to be wet. Yes indeed and we were on the beach. Soon however hotel staff arrived to carry our luggage, and we were welcomed to lunch upon arrival. We are staying at Hotel Jinetes de Osa, which I would recommend.

So after spending a few hours on a hammock, listening to the waves crashing 10 feet away and seeing through the typical jungle plants to beautiful birds, flowers and butterflies, I was conscripted to write this piece. Hasta Luego until manana and la Isla de Cano.

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

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Upper Cataratas Nauyaca

November 21, 2011

By Judy Pinegar

Waking in Dominical, Costa Rica at 6:45, far before our usual time, at first we thought that the rain that had poured down during the night was still with us… but no, it was gone and the weather report said clear, but we knew better than to expect that by now.

So we packed our daypacks and waited on the veranda for our ride to the gates of Cataratas Nauyaca. It was a $50 fee for each person consisting of a full day’s tour, horseback riding, breakfast, horseback riding, hanging at the waterfall(s), horseback riding, lunch and more horseback riding back to the entrance!

But the trail (though awful, rocky and wet for the horses) was beautiful, in the virgin rain forest jungle, crossing a very green river (over a bridge) and through at least three additional streams flowing into the river. Upon arriving at the waterfall, called Santo Cristo Falls, we discovered it was a two level fall, the higher was about 200 feet high with several tributaries into a very rocky basin. You got wet from the mist, just standing there.

Walking a fairly steep trail to the lower falls, which were broader and not so tall, but falling into a swimming pool area, the adventurous (not John and Judy) jumped right in. (I would have if it had been warmer but the temperature was in the low 70’s and the water was a little cooler). The guides set up a rope and inter-tube relay to the far side where the really adventurous climbed the cliff through the spray of the face of the waterfall, and jumped to the left, falling into a pool, reentering the swimming area. By this time it had started to rain, but everyone was so wet from the mist off the waterfall or the swimming that no one seemed to mind.

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Upper Cataratas Nauyaca

Breakfast was good, although simple, fruit and bread; lunch the typical “casado” of Costa Rica: chicken, beans rice, potatoes and salad. At the meal station they had a bunch of monkeys that they fed with bananas in the morning, and also two beautiful scarlet Macaws.

But the horses!! I swear everybody had a good one except me, and she was a devil!! Her name was Tequila and she acted like she had had a few shots! She did not like ANY of the other horses… If one tried to pass her she would bite, or lunge in front of the other horse to prevent overtake. If they even got close from behind she would sort of walk zig-zag in the trail to prevent either from passing us, and when they tried we would be into a race!! The first half of the trip (this being maybe my second time on a horse), I sort of let her go, but that just made her worse, so in the last half I was pulling on the reigns and shouting (in Spanish)!! Luckily we got back in one piece.

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

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Sunset beach off of Dominical, Costa Rica

By Judy Pinegar

Waking earlier than usual (8 AM), we found another totally new menu for breakfast, this time including French toast which Ted reported as excellent (we didn’t have any). Our ride to the rental car agency (usavecostarica.com – good prices) arrived at 9:30 as promised, and we were taken to the other side of San Juan. The nice people there answered all our questions, set up the GPS and even helped John buy a cell phone or $36 (Others had quoted us over $100 to $300!).

In very short order we were on the road, although Ted scrunched into the backseat of SMALL 4-W Suzuki was a sight to behold! (And it got worse as the day wore on… not sure that was the right way to economize.) Starting out due west we came to the famous bridge over the Tarcoles River. Stopping at a restaurant with a parking lot guard (the site is also famous for car break-ins) on one side of the river, we walked on a very narrow sidewalk toward the far side of the river to see the famous crocodiles of the Tarcoles River. Although some are reputed to be up to 18 feet long, the largest (of about that we saw was probably only about 14 feet long… but quite impressive all the same! It is said that the better way to view the beasts is in a boat with the guide dangling a dead chicken overboard… then you see some real action… but this was good enough for us.

Looking down on a crocodile off the bridge over the Tarcoles River, Costa Rica

Then off we went down the coast, past Jaco (say Hako), to Quepos, where we decided to have some lunch. The restaurant, El Gran Escape (recommended in Frommer’s was wonderful, with 6 kinds of fresh caught fish. John and I both had wonderful mahi-mahi – mine a fish sandwich and his – the catch of the day meal. Fantastic I would recommend it to anyone, and you could tell it would be a “happening” place later in the evening.

A few more Km’s and we were at Dominical, sort of a surfing village, unpaved roads, very close to the beach. We stayed at Cabanas San Clemente, on the beach, which I would only recommend to the bargain hunter willing to go sort of primitive. Unfortunately after a mostly dry day it rained quite heavily from Quepos onward and only stopped as the sun set over the beach. John took beautiful sunset pictures though. The water is not really warm, but much warmer than the Pacific in California… I am sure with some sun tomorrow I will be willing to go in!

Judy Pinegar is a writer and her articles have appeared in numerous publications.

Note most of my pictures are taken with a Samsung G20 camera with built in GPS.  The GPS tagging really comes in handy when you get home and wonder where you took that picture.  -John

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DRE #00669941