Costa Rican Sketchbook

Michael Leveille

2007-03-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

1745 March 16, 2007
Mr. Leveille looking at the terminals in Newark airport to see if our flight to Ottawa is cancelled.

Taylor and Tapirs

2007-03-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

845 March 15, 2007
Stone animal garden, near the butterfly garden (Monte Verde).
These are tapirs.

Espresso machine

2007-03-18T13:52:00.000-07:00

1045 March 15, 2007
An espresso machine in a little cafe/bakery where I stopped to get an espresso.
Double espresso in a styrofoam cup.

Handpainted Oxcart

2007-03-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

1545 March 15, 2007
Hand-painted ox cart in Sachi, at the El Rio restaurant where we had a late lunch.
One of the artists who hand-paints facsimiles of these carts for a shop in Sachi drew this after some coaxing.

Anthony

2007-03-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

930 March 15, 2007

Anthony sitting on a bench at the butterfly farm near Monte Verde.

View of Arenal Volcano

2007-03-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

1500 March 14, 2007
View, from a watch tower, of a volcano (Arenal).
The summit was not visible, due to clouds.

Peter in the Cloud Forest

2007-03-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

1400 March 14, 2007
Monte Verde cloud forest.
Plants growing over other plants ad infinitum.

Morgan

2007-03-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

1330 March 14, 2007
Morgan, who hurt her knees at the hot springs pools.

Selvatura employee

2007-03-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

1220 March 14, 2007
S[a]lvatura staff who helped me get out of my harness.
The canopy ziplining was incredible.

Dana Clarke

2007-03-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

920 March 14, 2007
Dana Clarke in Monte Verde. It was too hot for the coat 20 minutes later.

Iglesia

2007-03-18T13:42:00.001-07:00

1400 March 13, 2007
Iglesia near the escuela.

Mambo #5

2007-03-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

1325 March 13, 2007
A group of six students put on ridiculous hats, painted their bellies, and used sticks to simulate arms.
Dancing along to "Mambo #5".
Meribe Maben Dylan

Taylor, reading

2007-03-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

735 March 13 2007
Taylor reading a novel at the breakfast table, in the hotel at Arenal.
We only stayed here 1 night.
"Storm Front" by Jim Butcher.

Self-portrait

2007-03-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

2050 March 12, 2007
At the dinner table in the hotel at Arenal.
There's a mirror in front of my seat, which can only mean one thing: autoportrait.
I'm surprised I got 50 pages done so far. 4 days down, 4 to go. I'm getting more self-critical as the days go by, though, so I may slow down [the pace] a bit.

Super Futbol

2007-03-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

1545 March 12, 2007
Super Futbol.
Soccer themed gambling game found in front of many supermarkets and small grocery stores, usually 2 or 3 at a time.
"RETIRAS CREDITO"
Multipliers 1x to 128x

Kathleen

2007-03-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

1850 March 12, 2007
Kathleen requested that I draw a portrait of her.
I warned her that it would be bad.
On the bus, coming back from the hot springs.

Phil on the bus

2007-03-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

1130 March 12, 2007
Phil resting and listening to music on the bus trip to Arenal.

Tortuguero rainforest

2007-03-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2007
Rainforest in Tortuguero.

Caiman

2007-03-18T13:24:00.000-07:00

1200 March 11, 2007
Tortuguero Canal
4 ft. long caiman near the shore. We got very close.

Howler Monkeys

2007-03-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2007
One had a baby on its back.
Howler monkeys in the treetops.
Tortuguero Canals, where we met several groups of them. It was neat seeing them walk and jump from branch to branch.

Leaf-cutter Ants

2007-03-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

1630 March 10, 2007
A convoy of leaf-cutter ants near the conservation place in Tortuguero.
Most had leaves (or nothing) but a few had flowers.
The mighty leaf-cutter ant[s], who farm fungi in their underground cities.

Crab and Colones

2007-03-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

1515 March 10, 2007
Small crab found in some leaves near the [Tortuguero] canal.
A 10 Colones piece to compare sizes.

View from a hamac

2007-03-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

1430 March 10, 2007
View from a hamac in Tortuguero.

Brahmin cow and feeder

2007-03-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

1050 March 10, 2007
Humpback cows raised for BEEF.
Brahmin cows?
Covered structure with old tyres and corrugated roof.
Used to feed old bananas and "feed" to cows.

Tree Fern

2007-03-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

900 March 10, 2007
Tree fern at small restaurant where we had a second breakfast.

Vegetation

2007-03-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

1300 March 12, 2007
Plants near our restaurant.

Hercules Beetle

2007-03-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

1045 March 12, 2007
On road back from Tortuguero.
Hercules Beetle[s] live in trees and leave when they are ready to mate.
Stopped at Banana plantation (Del Monte) and saw a couple of giant beetles on sugar cane sticks.

Rio Sucio

2007-03-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

800 March 10, 2007
Dirty River (Rio Sucio)
Hirazu Volcano is the source of this sulphur rich river.
The two sources of the Dirty River, as seen from a bridge overlooking them.
They mark the division of 4 provinces.

Hotsprings Bar

2007-03-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

1655 March 12, 2007
Water bar at the Baldi Hot Springs.
I can't help but imagine that they pee as they drink :(
The hot springs were neat, though.
Baldi Hot Springs is in Arenal.

Poor Man's Umbrella

2007-03-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

730 March 10, 2007
Poor Man's Umbrella
By the side of the highway, a wall of vegetation up a sheer cliff. Poor Man's Umbrella, used because of its large size, is pictured.

Mr T vs the Giant Stone Armadillo Statue

2007-03-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

1730 March 13, 2007
Giant stone armadillo statue in downtown Monte Verde, in front of a shoe store. I went walking by myself.