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Bird Watching in Costa Rica

Just as divers think of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as that ultimate diving locale, bird watchers flock to Costa Rica. In a small country the size of West Virginia, you can find more than 850 species of birdlife. Take the entire United States and combine it with Canada and you won’t come up with that many birds. And we’re not talking ordinary birds in Costa Rica like the backyard sparrow, but spectacular toucans, scarlet macaws, quetzals, 50 types of hummingbirds, and tall storks. The great multitude of birdlife in Costa Rica stems from its diverse terrain sandwiched into a sliver of Central American terrain. Within a relatively short driving distance, you can be atop 12,000 foot peaks or down at sea level on the Pacific coast, immersed in the dense rainforest or slicing through the hazy cloud forest. Sendero Tranquillo in the Cloud Forest, La Selva Biological Station, and Carara National Park are great places to start.
 

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The Lowdown on Extra Virgin Olive Oil

With concerns over mislabeling and outright fraud, extra virgin olive oil isn’t looking so virginal these days. Even New York Times is getting in on the joke with a recent slide show suggesting that “Made in Italy” EVOO is actually made from Spanish, Portuguese, and Tunisian olives. So when I heard that Italian wine and olive oil expert, Bill Marsano, was going to be in Boston to talk about the controversy, I jumped at the opportunity to question him. Last Thursday, Marsano spoke at the Seaport Hotel’s spanking new Action Kitchen as part of the Flavor Your Life Campaign, which seeks to promote the benefits of cooking with EVOO. 

 
Yes, Marsano, said there are many blended extra virgin olive oils on the market that are not nearly as healthy as a singular farm or village hand pressing its own olives. He mentioned a fortified village in Tuscany, Volpaia, whose olive oil is high on his list, along with most olive oil coming out of the region of Puglia on the Italian boot. But he noted you don’t have to pay an exorbitant amount for genuine Italian EVOO. Marsano showed me a bottle of Belluci Premium, found at Costco, where on the back of the bottle is a QR code. Scan the code with a smart phone and you can trace each bottle back to its origin and the Italian olive grove it came from.
 
Marsano also gave us several important tips. Never buy pomace extra virgin olive oil, produced with the help of a large amount of chemicals. Also your olive oil has a shelf life of about 4 months once opened and always store in a shaded spot away from heat. You cannot detect rancid oil from smell. Rancid oil has a nutty taste. Good olive oil has a silky smooth texture with a bit of spice at the end. Hope this helps the next time you hit the grocery store. 
 
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September is the Best Month to Paddle the Allagash or Penobscot Rivers in Maine

Mid-September is my favorite time of year to paddle the legendary Allagash or Penobscot Rivers in Maine’s North Woods. Mosquitoes and congestion on the rivers are gone, replaced by early foliage colors and moose standing in the shallow waters. The first week of the Maine moose hunt takes place September 23-30 in 2012. So it’s best to get here before that time, unless you like to see your moose dead, on the back of a trailer bed. Go with a reputable registered Maine guide like Mahoosuc Guide Service, who know these waterways like the back of their hand. My story on canoeing the West Branch of the Penobscot River with Mashoosuc co-owner, Kevin Slater, can be seen in the pages of Sierra Magazine. 
 
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134-Mile John Muir Way to Debut in Scotland in April

Most folks associate John Muir with his boundless efforts to make Yosemite a national park and as the father of the Sierra Club. Yet, the great naturalist is just as celebrated in his homeland of Scotland. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Muir’s death in 1914 and as part of the yearlong Homecoming celebration in 2014, the country has developed a 134-mile route called the John Muir Way. The trail begins in Dunbar, Scotland, where Muir was born, and concludes in Helensburgh, where Muir set sail for America in 1849. Estimated time to complete the route is 8-10 days on foot, 4-6 days by mountain bike. Along the way, hikers will savor the following sights: the famed Arthur’s Seat, with stunning views over Edinburgh; Glengoyne Distillery; historic castles and palaces such as Blackness, Dirleton, Balloch and Linlithgow; and Antonine’s Wall, a World Heritage Site. Keith Geddes, Chair of Central Scotland Green Network Partnership Board and the man who came up with the idea for the new John Muir Way, recommends the section from Helensburgh to Balloch and onto Strathblane (27 miles) as the perfect 3-day hike. You’ll be rewarded with stunning views of Loch Lomond against the mountainous National Park backdrop. 

 
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My Top 5 Places to Scuba Dive, Taveuni, Fiji

To get my mind off the cold in Boston and another snowstorm headed our way on Wednesday, I’m going to discuss my favorite places to scuba dive this week. I first dove off Taveuni, Fiji, on the way to the Great Barrier Reef after recently being certified in the Cook Islands. It would end up being far more memorable than any of my dives on the Great Barrier Reef. It’s not just the multi-colored coral they dub the Rainbow Reef or the myriad of neon-colored fish that provide divers with a kaleidoscopic view of the sea. No, it’s the big boys like white-tip sharks, sea turtles, and manta rays that make you feel like Jacques Cousteau. No wonder Jacques’ son, Jean-Michel, has his own resort in nearby Savusavu. He’s no fool. 

 
Northwest of Taveuni, Matangi is one of the many small offshore islands with a limited amount of bures (thatched huts), perfect for romance, not so great for writers traveling solo. I was hired by Bride’s Magazine to write a story on the resort and ended up on Matagi with four other couples, all celebrating their honeymoon! At dinner, I remember trying to act comfortable while everyone around me was kissing, wrapped arm-in-arm, feeding each other. I begged them to please get me off the island within 24 hours or I’d be dangling from a noose from that Treehouse Suite. 
 
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What’s Doing in Nairobi

First-time visitors to the Kenya have misconceptions that Nairobi will be some dusty backwater where narrow streets are filled with destitute people ready to pounce on your wallet.  Much of this stems from an outbreak of thievery that occurred in the late 90s, earning the city the nickname, “Nairobbery.” Today, especially now that the post-election violence of January 2007 is in the rear view mirror, Nairobi is a relatively safe and cosmopolitan hub of 3.5 million people in East Africa. The poor, who flood out of their shanties every morning to walk to nearby factories, merge with a growing middle and upper class, whose gated estates in the western suburbs of Karen and Langata have far more in common with Boca Raton than Bogota. Travelers are starting to realize that Nairobi is worthy of more than a one-night stopover on the way to safari. At the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, west of the city centre in Langata, baby elephants whose parents have been killed by poachers are raised by workers who actually sleep in their stalls to comfort the young. When they’re old enough, they’ll be brought back to the wild. The suburb of Karen was named after Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, who wrote under the pen name Isak Dineson. Visit the estate she lived in from 1913 to 1931, now home to the Karen Blixen Museum. The grounds, dotted with the prehistoric looking candelabra cacti, overlook the Ngong Hills, and are worth the price of admission alone.
 

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Villa La Massa, The Ideal First Stop in Italy

After the overnight flight to Rome and a 2-hour train to Florence, we took a taxi to our hotel for the first two nights, Villa La Massa. Only 7 km or a 20-minute drive from the crowds of Florence, this 16th-century former Medici family estate feels a world away. You’re whisked away to a serene setting in the Tuscan hills along the Arno River. Rooms are spacious with tall ceilings and glorious panorama views. We took a short stroll under the tall cypress trees and past the herb and veggie gardens before wandering along the Arno shoreline watching men fish and families bike. Then we had our first negroni and aperol spritz of the trip on the patio next to the outdoor pool. Dinner was also perfection, beef tenderloin with porcini mushrooms, washed down with local wines and served by a highly professional staff. A relaxing start to our trip to Italy, the perfect place to unwind after a long flight before facing the mass of tourists that swarm Florence. 
 

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