Enjoying ourselves still!

This is a very cool part of Costa Rica, although getting around it a touch tricky. Today we kayaked in an estuary and in a river that is bordered by mangroves. These trees are adapted to living in the salty water that flows up the river from the ocean at high tide. Some have leaves that actually gather and release the salt, other species have tall roots that hold them above the salt water. They provide habitat to crabs, fish, birds and many other species, and create a shadowy, mysterius, very beautiful forest. We saw several white ibis, ringed herons, green backed herons, a tiger heron, and many flycatchers. At one point a brown pelican landed near our kayaks and swam with us for a while... it seemed curious! We also saw a Pacific Ridley sea turtle swimming in the estuary... it would lift its head above the water for a few seconds, then dive. I also talked with a woman who is involved with the Community Rural Tourism movement. We stayed on a farm that is connected with this movement in Bijuaga a few weeks ago. The idea is to use tourism to bring income into local rural communities where farmers are losing their land to agribusiness interests. Visitors learn about local peoples´lives and share information with friends at home. We are both very interested in this movement, and plan to promote it when we get home. Tomorrow... the JUNGLE! Monday we will start to head south into northern Panama for a week or so. Then we will move north through Costa Rica again, to catch our plane back to the States. I will try to check in tomorrow evening if we are not too exhausted. What is going on in the US anyhow? We have heard there are huge wildfires in Colorado and other western states, and that the Supreme Curt upheld the health care plan. Other than that...¿Que pasa?