HazMat incidents for one… all I’m saying is that chemical warfare on the face is cruel & unusual punishment.

I switched airlines in Denver which is where my checked luggage ended its journey for a while.  I could picture it sitting on the tarmac all forlorn, watching me fly away.  Oh yeah, first time they’ve ever lost any of my bags and it would be this one. They promised to send it on to me in a couple days. Managed to bum some soap at the hostel so at least I didn’t stink the place up.

The city is dirty & poor like every other city in the developing world, it was dark driving to the hostel which made it worse. My hostel was clean but bare bones. I must admit I sat on my bed with the bare light bulb glaring down at me and had a bit of a cry. Travelling alone of course has its good and bad and this was definitly a bad. When things go the shit it is always nice to have someone to laugh about it with… and to borrow her shampoo.

But a new day dawned as they are wont to do and with the sun came a lighter feeling. And lets face it coffee just makes things  so much better. Caught the Inter-Bus and started making my way to Proyecto Asis with no new problems – a good sign. We stopped part way for a break where I took this picture of a mail box, I’m thinking about applying for a job, what do you think?

Two-ish hours later I arrive at P.A. where I had a warm welcome by Adrianna & Albeo, who is the son of Don Haime, the vet who started the centre. Adrianna is in charge of marketing and she is a star at it – she bubbles with enthusiasm and ideas & seeks out new ideas… which, as you can imagine, I am somewhat reluctant to give. :}

P.A. is behind huge metal doors that slide open…. much of Costa Rica is behind metal of some description, whether solid or bars – but the people are quick to assure me that Costa Rica is very safe. Hmmmm. When they slide open there is a special world of people committed to the care of all animals. They are known around the area as being the place to leave all sorts of critters – domestic or otherwise, so there are a good many dogs and cats that call it home. Past the gravel parking lot it  teems with a phelthora of greens with splashes of vibrant colours . Tucked into the folage is a large building, on the main floor is the lunch area where you can sit, eat your lunch on the lanai and watch for the caymin, the two caymin turtles and the multitude of birds that know a good thing when they find it. The top two floor is where Adnrianna and Aphonso? and Fabia, his sister, lives.

All around are large cages and pens surrounded by lush foliage. The first that you meet is Pela, the Picary – a very large boar-like animal. If you are very careful she will deign to allow you to scratch behind her ears. Beware to always keep a careful watch for those killer incisors that would lope a hand off in a flash of temper. There are 2 more Picaries behind, away from visitors who are not so social, when you feed them & they fight over the food you can hear the teeth gnashing from the other side of the compound. Truely scarey.

There is a little White Faced Capuchin that is stuck beside these monsters and is terrified and is constantly trying to watch them through the wall between them. The people are building a new pen for him but things came to a grinding stop when the store ran out of the fencing material.

I will share more later. At this moment I am in Fortuna for the weekend at a coffe shop drinking Vietman style coffee and enjoying lots of free internet and english speaking people, so be assured I am not suffering much.

Love to you all….. donnae

ps I haven’t figured out how to get spell check on wordpres yet so I apologize for all the errors.

pss I packed up my camera already so I will post pics asap