Faux Toes
Note from the year 2017: When I made this, frustration with Blogger caused me to put my photos on Facebook instead. Then a couple years later, Facebook rolled out Timeline and I emptied all my photos out of it, not remembering that I’d pointed to them from this post. So below the original post I’ve tossed in some of my Costa Rica photos, though I have no idea whether they’re the ones I had in that album.
Original post
So, I finally got my pictures uploaded. Since I’ve got so many, I’m taking a break from what I usually do, which is putting them here, and instead I’m going to send you a link to the Facebook album I made out of them. Facebook assures me that you can get to the album even if you don’t have a Facebook page, just by clicking this link: [dead Facebook link].
You may also be interested in this album, which includes pictures of the whale that I made back in winter: [another dead Facebook link].
And I’ll put one picture straight onto this page. It’s stitched together from a video of me jumping off the rocks at the chorro, so there are three of me in it:
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/Stitch.jpg)
Enjoy!
Photos that actually exist
Costa Rica
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_108.jpg)
This was the first international flight I had ever taken, and I was enthralled by seeing the landscape of a new country materialize below me. It was also the first time I’d been to the tropics, so the landscape was exciting and different from anything I was used to.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_115.jpg)
When we got to the ground, the landscape continued to amaze me.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_118.jpg)
We were in San José briefly before we got to the cooperative we were studying, and in that time I appear not to have taken many pictures of people—maybe there weren’t many on the streets—but I found some signs.
This one says, “Making peace is reducing your speed.” Costa Rica has no standing army, and peace is a national point of pride.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_120.jpg)
And, though I have no grasp of Costa Rican politics, this one shows a politician some people clearly don’t like.
We’re going to recover
andmodernize THE TREASURY
privatize
traitor [lit. homeland-seller]
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_122.jpg)
El Silencio was the first town I’d ever seen where chickens roamed the streets.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_121.jpg)
The bus stop and the mural, which was painted with the help of a previous group of tourists from Québec.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_123.jpg)
The schoolhouse has an outside area reminiscent of a carport, where a lot of class takes place because why wouldn’t it in Costa Rica?
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_128.jpg)
I tended to assume that to see the really cool wildlife, you have to go deep into the jungle. Well, this fellow was hopping along the road in town.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_132.jpg)
This looks very lush and wild. It’s certainly green, but it’s actually a plantation of African palm, for which the native rainforest was almost certainly slashed and burnt.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_138.jpg)
There’s an ample soccer field. One must prioritize fútbol.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_148.jpg)
This little town half an hour from paved roads has a jungle-wildlife zoo. (A good clue that tourism has been making a mark here.)
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_169.jpg)
This highly inferior photo (sort of) shows Juan Carlos, our guide for the week, and what cassava looks like when you pull it out of the ground.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_173.jpg)
I remember nothing about where this frog was, but it certainly seems to be relaxed there.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_210.jpg)
A swim out at the chorro outside of town, the same place where this post’s one surviving original photo was taken.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_196.jpg)
A couple photos from a vacation-from-our-vacation that we went on, to the beach town of Quepos. Where iguanas run wild and challenge you to explain why you’re on their turf.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_205.jpg)
Beach in Quepos
The White Whale
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_038.jpg)
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_021.jpg)
Harpooned
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_025.jpg)
Though someone decided they’d rather the harpoon be an antenna and the whale be a caterpillar.
![](http://res.cloudinary.com/chuckmasterson/image/upload/c_limit,h_800,w_800/BackLog_040.jpg)
From afar its sirenian beauty lures you
File under: adventure, traveling, photos
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