Jeanette McDermott

January through April is known as the dry season in Costa Rica, but it has rained more times than not since my arrival nearly four weeks ago. Some days the rains are a brief interlude, but other days the rains pour incessantly for hours on end or all night long into the dawn. While I […]

Since leaving Samasati a week ago I have been staying in a bungalow that is 30 feet from the sea. Sleep comes easy in the bungalow here in Cahuita, as I am lulled into slumber each night by the rhythms of the Caribbean Sea and wake each morning to a splendid sunrise on Costa Rica’s […]

The White-Faced Capuchin monkey has become one of my favorite animals to observe in Costa Rica. The Capuchin is active by day and moves throughout the treetops in a row that is led by a young male, followed by the dominant male and then the females and their babies. They are slim and agile, able […]

My arms and the full length of my legs are now a knotted mess of welts from bug bites. I have become the daily buffet for every mosquito, sand fly and set of screaming invisible flying teeth along the Caribbean coast. Anti-itch spray and Benadryl are keeping me sane, without which I would be ripping […]

Jodie (left) was one of my roommates at Samasati. She’s a bright, adventurous young woman from Plymouth, England who has much to offer life. After we both left Samasati, Jodie and I spent four days hanging out together in Cahuita before I left for Monteverde. She stayed on in Cahuita to explore the depths of a new […]

A young man from Maryland came to Costa Rica three years ago not knowing Spanish and not having a skill from which to open a business. Today, the 24-year-old is the owner of a highly successful restaurant in Puerto Viejo, which specializes in homemade breads and hand-crafted chocolates. The food is delicious, and the coffee […]

Last week I went with a group of people from Samasati to visit a reservation where the Bribri Indians live. Bribris are native to Talamanca, which is the region where Samasati is located. They and the Cabecar Indians are the earliest known peoples of this area. The Indians scattered to escape persecution when the Spanish […]

I’m in the Caribbean Talamanca coast region, where pirates pillaged and patrolled the area in the 1700s and 1800s, robbing and killing Indians in an attempt to force them to reveal where gold mines might be located. These “Pirates of the Caribbean” operated out of a base at Bocas del Toro, Panama, where they could hide […]

The small village of Cahuita on the Caribbean coast has become one of my favorite places to visit. It has good gathering places with friendly people, a gorgeous coastline and is known for having one of the most beautiful parks in Costa Rica. The park has white sand beaches, miles of coconut trees, a calm […]

On one of our eco-expeditions, Fernando, a native of the indigenous Bribri tribe, guided us into the jungle to experience the phenomenal beauty of the region where the Bribri live on reservations. Fernando is a master in the art of rainforest knowledge and can answer any question about the flora, fauna and history of the […]