Our first night in Cabo Blanco was hard. The conditions were much more primitive than UGA, and I don't think anyone was quite prepared for that. Then there was the spider. A big huge spider was perched on the ceiling right above Courtney's bed. Needless to say she never, EVER, slept in that bed. I found two more spiders that night, but didn't say anything to anyone (good idea, T-Fast).
Cabo Blanco is an absolute preserve, which means no tourist will ever visit it. Only students, and only a handful of students at that, ever see the inside of the park. Something like only 12 or 13 groups get in every year, so we were all very honored to be allowed in. The preserve is beautiful. The coast is rocky and has a huge tidal flat that is completely submerged in high tide. The tide pools that appear when the tide is out are filled with creatures unlike what you'd expect. When one thinks tropical anything, they think bright colors. The species living among the rocks in the tide pools here all were very well camouflaged, and very well hidden. Except for the puffer fish. Bright blues and yellows. We got to see one all puffed up. They were fascinating to watch.
The geology is very interesting as well. Lots of volcanic evidence along with some obvious sea floor sediments that have been uplifted to all sorts of crazy angles. I even saw some cross bedded sandstone layers, evidence of the beach that must have been here millions of years ago.
And the hermit crabs! Holy cow, you could sit on the beach and watch them crawl over the sand like a little crab wave. There were big ones and small ones, some with colorful shells and some with boring ones. The funnest thing to do was to let them all get moving, especially crawling up a log or something, and then wave your hand. They'd all stop dead in their tracks, even if it meant falling off the log or down an cliff they spent the last 10 minutes climbing. Mean, I know. We also had a hermit crab Olympics. There was a marathon, and sprint, balance beam, tight rope, and a tractor pull. Our crab won (good find Kat!). We named him El Gringo Furioso.
We saw lots of wildlife. A large troop of white-faced capuchins were common on almost every hike we took. A few howler monkeys and ant eaters dropped by during breakfast. There's even a red crested guan that was domesticated before it was brought to the preserve that hangs around camp. The people there named him Kevin.
On our last full day there we hiked up a stream (literally up a stream, like walking in the stream) to a little waterfall. I didn't get pictures because I didn't want to ruin my camera, which I would have. The only cameras that were of any use were the waterproof ones a few of us had. It was awesome. You could sit in the plunge pool and lean back against the water and it would hold you on your feet. It was just what the group needed after a very long few days of roughing it in the jungle. If I manage to get a hold of some pictures I'll add them to the post.
Here's a really neat shot of the beach I took.
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