Flowers of Jalopeno

Haven't blogged for a while. Last entry in 2009? Oups!

But I'm back. And besides blogging about my adventures (next one coming up early July in the form of a sailing trip from Portugal to somewhere in the Mediterranean) I shall be blogging about my pepper plants.
WTF? Pepper plants? Yes!!! Chillies man! I now live in Monza, and am growing 10 different species of peppers on my terraces. Chili plants are very rewarding plants. They are sweet to look at and hot to eat.

Let start listing the species I cultivate:
1. Cayenne
2. Jalapeño
3. Jalapeño early 
4. Habanero red 
5. Peperoncino Calabrese
6. Royal black (or as the Italians name them: violetto fuoco nero)
7. Ciliegia Piccante (AKA Satan's Kiss)
8. Krishna Jolokia
9. Lemon Drop
10. Inca red drop

I also planted some Tobago Seasoning seeds, but none of them sprouted.

Cayenne pepper

The Cayenne I  have because I couldn't afford the Porsche, but like the name. And cooking with them off course. It's the plant that has the most peppers so far. Here's a picture of it.

Little jalopeno plant carrying three chillies allready

The Jalopeno is doing great aswell. And whilst the Jalopeno early should give me chilies earlier. It does not. The Jalopeno, is a tough little critter. It's small, yet already carries three massive fruits! Next to it, I have planted a some wrinkled basil to keep parasites away.

Will post updates as the plants get picture worthy...

Dubai: The unfinished city

I just got back from Dubai, and can’t help to share a few thoughts about it because I cannot wait to see where Dubai is headed in the future. Why? Because I get the feeling that Dubai has won the lottery a couple years back (they found oil) and started having a party. And… I personally have gone to enough parties to have learned that … they END. Actually they end sooner than we would like. We want it to continue as long as possible because we are afraid of a hangover and everything else that comes with reality.

From what I have seen, I would estimate that 85% of Dubai is still under construction (not counting stakes in the ground). The first question that popped into my mind when seeing Dubai was: who is going to occupy these buildings once they are finished? From what I have been reading… 85% of the party attendees are expatriates and many of them are starting to apply their exit strategy (Hung over?). Or will the question prove to be obsolete in a couple of years because many of these buildings will never be finished?

Second question was… where does Dubai get its power and water from and how much are we talking about? Apparently, most of its power is derived from Oil and gas plants and the water comes from desalination plants (they use electricity). Well… my name might not be Einstein, but what will Dubai do when they run out of Oil? (Estimates show that they have between 10 and 15 years of Oil left).

Third question, who is going to pay for the maintenance of the infrastructure to be? Let’s be honest, Dubai does not have a lot going for itself at the moment except that it’s tax-free. Alcohol is hard to come by, you will be locked op for 4 years when in possession of so much as a poppy seed, you have to import your own women and, I have noticed that not a lot of people smile?!? (Just the tourists) So, the day Dubai will start charging income tax it will go back to being a desert overnight if you ask me.

But Dubai is fun for those who are not hosting the party. Because it’s a good party for now... and who cares what the house looks like when it’s over? It’s not yours! Right?

Oh... and don’t forget to spend as little money as possible when there, for Dubai is an environmental and ecological catastrophy (to busy partying I guess).So…the less you spend, the faster Dubai will be the scene for the next Mad Max Movie, the better for our planet, our future and our children :)

Corcovado Part 3: The beach scene

The day after arriving at La Sirena we took it easy. We knew it's not a place someone is likely to return to soon, so we figured its worth staying an extra day. We let our stinking feet dry some more and explored the surroundings. We saw a great variety of animals and insects, some very much appreciated, some not at all .... (Damn ticks!)

Well rested, feet still sore and a 12$ breakfast we set of to hike from La Sirena to La leona. Apparently it advisable to "consult" the tide tables, because there is multiple stretches of beach that are hard to access around high tide. If you Ignore them like we did however, you are in for a whole lot of extra fun. Meaning: running like a madman from one rock to another while the ferocious sea retracts! The fun part -obviously- is looking at the other not making it, getting wet and smacked into the rocks by the upcoming wave. What a Thrill, I felt like a kid again!

The trail is beautiful, there are parts that go inland through the forest, but most of it goes along the beach. Both sandy and rocky bits. There are some beautiful lagoons where you can have a refreshing dive...and so we did. Paradise you ask? My guess is that if you can stop your mind from thinking about an ice cold beer, it comes pretty close.

(Do be careful, as you can see in the pic, the sand is extremely hot!)

A couple of Km's before the end of the park we were slugging ourselves over the sandy beach using the side of our feet. It was the only part left without open and bloody blisters. From the end of the park to the little village (hardly a village at all) it was still an hour. What a bummer... we had not been expecting this. All neurons had been shouting for a rest and some accompanying alcohol for the past 5 km's allready.

And there it was... Finca Exotica, what would become our Serendipity of that day. Marcus (the owner) was just cutting up the testicles of one of his pigs to be prepared for dinner, when he noticed us stumbling in. "Common'in guys" He said. 5 minutes later we were drinking an ice cold beer and had our feet duct taped by Martine from Step Out Experience. (Thank you!). Needless to say, we slept like babies that night in one of the Tiki Huts (yes.. after having tasted some lovely pig balls).

The next day, before taking the collectivo back to puerto Jimez, Marcus kindly showed his around his sustainable property and had us taste a masive variety of fruits that I had never seen or even heared of. All and all we can look back on a wonderfull experience that has taken us on step closer to nature and a giant leap further away from the consumer society. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Corcovado Part 2: Wet wet wet

We started the first bit of rain forest trail from Los Patos to La Sirena with not a lot of spare time on our hands, since we started at 9.45 AM and the trail is estimated to be an 8 hour hike. The slightest mistake would result in hiking in the dark (since sunset is around 5:30). No matter how bright your flashlight is, the Jungle is probably one of the most scaring places on earth to be moving around in at night. This is when all the creapy insects come out! This is when you get bitten and have no idea what it was. You'd be going frantic, jumping up and down trying to find the invisible bugger, probably still undiscovered by mankind. The doctors would be speculating for ages what caused your nutsack to grow the zise of your head and grow glow in the dark pubes.

Anyway....... The start was bad. I slipped from a stone trying to cross the river, and using both hands to protect the borrowed DSLR (my DSLR and video camera traded owner against my will in Puerto Viejo the weekend before) I hit my knee, and got both of my feet wet. I learned two valuable lessons. 1) Shit also happens in the Jungle. 2) You want to keep your feet dry in the jungle at all cost.

After about 5 km's in we heared a waterfall in the proximity. A huge one... it was the kind of waterfall you do not go to....it will come to you. And it did! It stayed with us for about 3 hours. There was no hiding. We got wetter than a horny mermaid.

But we continued.. and after sogging on until 17:15 we finally arrived at the ranger station. Dinner was served at 17:30 and at 19:00 we layed down on a bug infested piece of antique foam. But we did not care... our legs and feet (or what was left of it) needed rest because we had hiked for almost 30 km's that day. Besides that, there was not much else to do at the ranger station anyway.

Part 3 soon to be posted.

Corcovado Part 1: Ogling down on the rainforest

The colorful twin otter from Nature Air containing me and my brother landed in Drake Bay (from San José) in heavy rains for a 5 minutes layover. I did not mind at all, two thrilling takeoffs and landings in the jungle for the price of one! After dropping some luxury resort saps, we continued to Puerto Jimenez.

I was happy, and could not believe that we where soon be hiking underneath the thick canopy I was now ogling down on. Boy oh Boy... Nature in its purest form was waiting for us... and so of course where the 17 species of deadly snakes. (Three days before I had almost stepped on a bushmaster, barefooted!)

After a good night sleep in La palma, we climbed in the back of a pickup truck to be dropped of at the first of 27 (or so) river crossings that would lead to the first ranger station "Los Patos" the official beginning of the prime rain forest. We arrived there at 9:45. Little did we know that you were not allowed to set course to the next ranger station ¨La Sirena¨ after 10:00, so we were lucky timing wise.

p.s.
Prior to going to Corcovado I googled for some waypoints but found little to none, so I marked some myself while hiking from Los Patos to La Sirena to La leona for sharing. Altough GPS reception is poor under the thick canopy of the rainforest, there are some open spots allowing you to check if you are going the correct way and how far to go still. The trails are very doable without a guide. Take the waypoints and Enjoy your hike.

Waypoints Corcovado National Park Costa Rica.

Los Patos Ranger station

N 08˚34.345'

W083˚30.488'

Old Patos Ranger station (from here it is 17km's to La Sirena)

N08˚34.258'

W083˚31.332'

La Sirena Ranger station

N08˚28.827'

W083˚35.375'

La Leona Ranger station

N 08˚26.860'

W083˚29.312'

Drinking source (on La sirena- La leona trail)

N08˚26.454'

W083˚32.615'

Pulperia Carate (Beer selling point and Stop for the 'Colectivo' for Puerto Jiminez)

N 08˚26.620'

W083˚27.730'

Corcovado Costa Rica....

I have some thrilling news for all my trusty reader(s) (Hi Mom, Dad and Ross!). I shall soon (15 May 2009) be endeavouring a hike in Corcovado park and shall report back on it, right here… on this Blog. YES!

I expect the trip to be of sublime nature….and here is why:

The owner of Mrtico, will be venturing with me ... to explore all posibilities of bespoke and exciting trips to meet demand of its adventereous customers…..and… it is supposibly “the most biologically intense place on Earth" according to the National geographic.

If you are now thinking that you made a big mistake by booking an “el cheapo” two week all inclusive near the red sea with your future ex-wife and your mother in law …. you are right. Even if you have opted for the adventerous ” PADI diving course” for minimizing “quality time”.

I mean ... with the amount of poiseneous snakes, bullsharks, alligators, africanized bees and even pumas and leopards, the chances your mother in law surviving a "Corcovadian" trip are practically nihil.

Luckely, soon you’ll be able to book a similar trip on http://www.mrtico.com/, without the incumbrance of extensive preparations and planning.

To be followed….