| Some
adventurous drivers have found a relatively short detour past the
lake road washout, enabling travel between the north and south sides
of the lake. A one-lane road runs 17 kilometers (about 10.5 miles)
from Tierras Morenas to the paved Tilaran-Canas Highway. This back
road is much improved over last year and the trip takes about 35 minutes.
Tierras Morenas is about 25 minutes from Nuevo Arenal. To get to the
road, drive past the front of the Tierras Morenas church and then
past the cemetery. The road emerges at the half-carved-away hill about
8 miles below Tilaran and thus 4 or 5 miles from Canas. (There's a
hand-made sign there). Otherwise, one may travel by bus to the washout,
walk through the gully, and board another bus on the opposite side.
Those
who enjoyed a rare evening of dancing near Tronadora on Sept. 8
may now think that all roads should lead to the Arenal Country Club.
New owners Alan and Sandy Carey provided a beautiful setting with
a spacious dance floor where those not thwarted by the washout cavorted
to music provided by a DJ. After a trip back to the States the Careys
intend to resume the dance evenings by November. Some of the well
exercized dancers are hoping that next time the DJ will include
some shorter tunes and a greater variety of pace and mood. The club
is open for use of the pool, tennis courts and fitness room at 1500
colones a day.
Our cell
phone photo of the Aug. 25 lake tornado didn't print clearly in
the Sept 7 edition of the Tico Times. One can get a better and prolonged
view by going to Laura Mora's video on YouTube at http://es.youtube.com/watch?v%3dvsI2bAR97_Q'
. ..
Cristine Krishnan of Desafio Adventure Company in La Fortuna reports
an overhwhelming success for the Children's Day festivities she
and husband Suresh hosted on Sept 8 along with Fundacion Proyecto
Asis, the Spanish Institute, Animal Rescue and Volunteer Center
near San Carlos. Over 600 kids showed up for games and activities
|
that
aimed, according to Proyecto Asis founder Dr. Jaime del Castillo Riggioni,
to teach the children to encourage in their communities the love of
nature. 50 other businesses and organizations contributed to the day.
Proyecto Asis has a website at www.institutoasis.com. Among participants
were youths from the indigenous Maleku tribe (who performed a traditional
dance) and other youths from the Bosque Eterno de los Ninos (Children's
Eternal Rain Forest) at Monteverde.
The Ladies
of the Lake are still eating together at least once a month, the
next bash coming at noon on Sept. 27, probably at the Café
Macademia, an open-air establishment reported to have good food
as a well as a great view from its lofty site across the road from
Rock River Lodge. This time the ladies will be indulging in a commercial
meal at $5 or so instead of doing a potluck at a member's home.
Roberta
Ward Smiley had both the bad and the (mostly) good to report in
a Sept. 10 entry in her environmental blog at www.lareserva.org.
Illustrating each side are two good photos. Her foundation will
be paying two neighboring ranchers to plant trees in a wide swath
along a stream but a third not only refuses to join in building
a natural tree bridge between La Reserva and a distant primary forest
but sprays to kill growth on his property by the stream. She also
tells of encountering a group of howler monkeys and eating with
them the fruit of a Nispero tree, saving the seeds to add the Nisporo
to her nursery's collection of 70 native trees. The La Reserva forest
Foundation will be paying the ranchers $300 per hectare per year
for native forest regeneration. Visit the website to find out how
to support the foundation.
|