I have to tell you, I wasn’t that thrilled with the idea of going on this trip when I first heard about it. It seemed kind of odd. I mean what kind of career is Doctor/Tour Operator? But hey, it was a trip to Costa Rica and I like going places and doing things, so even though I joked that it was a cult-vacation, I didn’t for a minute think about not going. Really, it’s a trip to an exotic location, a chance to get away from it all and have a little adventure at the same time, who wouldn’t want to go?
That said, I really enjoyed the food and the lectures that Dr. McDougall gave. I learned some stuff that was truly shocking. For example the Bovine Leukemia Virus is found in milk, antibodies to it have been detected in something like three quarters of people tested, and high levels of milk consumption are associated with higher incidences of leukemia. Now, I’m not saying you are going to catch cancer from milk, BUT I certainly don’t want to expose myself any more than necessary. If you want more information on this topic see this article in Dr. McDougall’s newsletter archive, complete with references. I don’t usually trust Doctors at all, but Dr. McDougall struck me as being someone who really knows what he’s talking about. No doubt he’s passionate about his diet, but it seems to stem from a genuine desire to see people healthy, and he isn’t pushy about it at all.
Ok, so what did I do when I wasn’t being converted to the whole-plant-based-diet point of view? Well, The first day was a day of “rest” and orientation. We actually got up very early for a 6:00 AM nature walk. The fun started right away. As we were waiting for the resort transportation cart to come pick us up I spotted some monkeys in the trees above our little bungalow. Then, we saw some amazing birds just a little way down the road from the entrance to the resort where we were staying. My favorite bird was the Turquoise-browed Motmot. I tried taking pictures, but the birds were too far away and back lit. I did get a decent picture of a Boa constrictor that one of the guides had found near his house and brought on the walk to release. Then, later in the day we went into the town of Liberia to see a giant tree and wander around the marketplace a bit.
For our first adventure we went out on a sailboat (not under sail) and the sun was intense. I have apparently gotten old at some point because I was afraid of loosing my balance and falling off the boat. I just sat and baked and listened to the conversation around me. We did go to a beach and snorkeled a bit. There wasn’t that much to see, although I did see a couple of pretty fish. But it was a nice time at the beach. Once back on the boat, I reapplied my sunscreen. I thought I had gotten everything but evidently I missed my feet because they ended up burnt.
The second adventure was a river raft trip. Class one and two rapids – nothing very exciting. It was just a nice trip down the river with some amazing wildlife and more birds. My mother had been to Costa Rica before and knew about the birds, so she rented some super duper binoculars for us to take on the trip. Boy was I glad we had them! In addition to birds we saw a lot of different types of trees, and there was a rumor of a crocodile, but it had disappeared by the time we got to it.
The third adventure was a trip to Santa Rosa National Park. Costa Rica has put aside quite a bit of land to be protected, and the park system has an interesting history. This area of the country is what is called a tropical dry forest. This is the rainy season so it was quite lush, but during the dry season it is supposed to look like a desert – most of the leaves are gone. Costa Rica is the only place where this type of forest can still be found. Unfortunately most of the tropical dry forest was cleared to make Big Macs and Whoppers. But Costa Rica is dedicated to preserving this forest and it is actually growing. So kudos to the small country with no military but big wildlife. We also saw monkeys during our walk in the forest. Here the binoculars came in handy again. It was amazing to see their faces as they went about their business.
The fourth adventure was the canopy tour. This was a series of 11 zip lines going from tree-top platform to tree-top platform. Some of the platforms were connected with suspension bridges. This was probably the most scary of all the adventures even though we had harnesses and always had a backup clip-thing-a-ma-bob. I don’t know the proper terminology. All I know is that at one point I was standing on this little platform high up in the trees, and I had to step up with no railing and then jump up to connect my main clip-thing-a-ma-bob onto the line. I was scared. But I did all 11 zip lines, and I came out unscathed. I did actually enjoy it a little bit. All in all, I’m glad I did it. And now I know that I am not crippled by fear – they did have to carry one guy down because he was so scared.
The last adventure was my favorite, I think. We went to Buena Vista Lodge to ride horses to some hot springs. I got a good horse – it didn’t like being behind the other horses or packed into a group with them, so I had a nice ride. We saw a toucan in a tree as we were leaving on the horse trail – it was awesome to look up and see a toucan just sitting there. Once we left the horses, we changed and sat in a steam room for a few minutes to open our pores. Then we slathered hot volcanic mud all over ourselves and stood around conversing while it dried. The showers to rinse off the mud were a little cool, but not too bad. After the cool shower, we got into hot spring pools and floated around for a while before changing back into clothes and heading back to the resort.
And then we went home. All in all I would have to say I had a pretty good time. I have a much better appreciation for Costa Rica as a country. They seem to be committed to some good causes. Besides a commitment to preserving their land, there are high taxes to discourage automobiles. Of course this means they have to have an efficient bus system to move people around. I have to say the roads were not great in Costa Rica. But no matter, they appear to have invested in their school system and have a 98% literacy rate. Also, as I mentioned they do not maintain a military, so they have the resources to put into education and conservation. I saw some great wildlife – even if I couldn’t get photos of most of it. I still can’t get over the monkeys in the trees over our room or the toucan in the tree at the ranch. And, we ate some great food. It was nice not having to worry about what to eat, and not having to cook, and not having to clean up. I almost didn’t want to come home.
This is a bead that I made after the Gathering but before the trip to California. I got this glass at the Gathering from FlameTree Glass. I love the way they display their glass – in a rainbow of colors all around the table. This year they also had goblets that Lance had made, each one filled with small beads made of different colors of glass. It was hard to restrain myself, but I did. I got a good amount of this colored glass though, so I figured I’d better use some of it.
My cholesterol also dropped about 20 points – which was a little surprising because I have theoretically been on the diet since January except for Louisville, and possibly some Doritos the week before the trip. So, that just goes to show how quickly cholesterol can change, and what a big effect food has on your health. I also got to stop taking the ulcerative colitis medication, and I don’t have to go to Birmingham for gastroenterology appointments anymore – that’s good. I met a lot of really cool people, and saw how in just a week of eating the right diet their health improved. Physical fitness jumped several notches in my list of things that I need to pay attention to – that will have very positive long-lasting effects. And finally, I got some articles about schizophrenia and gluten, and a contact for getting more information on the subject.
