A Monkey Primer for Costa Rica

Costa Rica monkeys range from cloud forest to coast, and here are scenes and stories of the Top 4:

Howler Monkeys are the best known.  They make a huge racket -- at passing planes, people, thunder, sunrise and sunset, and sometimes even in the middle of the night, if someone wiggles their branch or otherwise upsets them.  They can be heard up to 3 miles away!

Haven't heard what Howlers sound like?  Here's your chance! 

They look like this:

but travel in gangs of 20 or so, called Troops, so you typically see them like this:

swinging through the branches on their famous prehensile tail!


White-headed, or White-faced, capuchins are much smaller, and just as common.
They love to eat insects and bark, but fruit is more than 60% of their diet -- and it was there, surrounded by small red clusters of berries in the low bushes alongside the canal,  where I met my white-faced friend in the Tortuguero jungle.   He wanted to jump into my canoe:

They are incredibly smart monkeys -- they've been known to use barks of tree to rub on their bodies medicinally, and they make and use tools out of the jungle materials.


Squirrel monkeys are the smallest of the CR species. They roam along the Pacific coast, and typically are referred to as red, since their backs have orange-y fur:

Lots of info on their Manuel Antonio habitat and footage of the little squirrel monkey is in a great video. Check out Minute 3, on the video, for a very special encounter:
A visit with Squirrel Monkeys in Manuel Antonio!


Geoffroy's Spider Monkey is the 4th main species, but I have never met one.  Not surprising, since this species has the highest endangered rate of all the top 4.

He's the largest of all the monkeys -- can be 25" and has arms which are comically elongated past its body. (want to be technical?  Its arms are 25% longer than its legs!)

It forages by day in small groups, often on the ground, and needs large tracts of land to support its enormous exclusive-fruit diet.

This is what a geofrroy's spider looks like:

Meet the Cesarines!

The Cesarines of Italy!  Pronounced with a ch-, they are the "little old ladies who stay in the kitchen and cook all day".
Let me tell you:  they are neither old, nor are they still in the kitchen.  In fact, they recently did a mini-USA tour, sharing their recipes and techniques in Miami, LA, and NYC -- and promoting their regional cookbook, too!  
I had the privilege of rolling out some dough with these talented ladies, and I'd love to introduce them (from left to right):
Paola, from Bologna... Flavia, from Rome... and Louise, from Tuscany...

In Italy, they host travelers in their homes, on select evenings each month, for 5-course homemade meals,  spotlighting their family's recipes and showcasing local ingredients -- down to the Nocina, an after-dinner liqueur homemade from green walnuts!

In NYC, Paola showed us how to make ravioli and tortelloni, just as her grandma had taught her as a 7-year-old.
 You start with 00-flour (unlike our all-purpose) and 2 eggs.  Cici, here, who's a producer for a Chinese TV Food show, maybe knows more about "eating" than "mixing" foods, but we all-- novices and cesarines alike -- had fun!







Paola was the expert at rolling the dough so thin, that you could read the newspaper through it!  And an amazing fact I learned:   it is important to roll dough on a wood board, with a wooden pin, because the textures of the wood make actual tiny holes in the dough, which help the noodles absorb the flavors of the sauce more fully!  Who would have thought?






The process:   roll it thin, and then either cut it into long strips called pappardelle,











or layer it with ricotta mix, for raviolis.  I also learned a new use for a plate!   It's perfect to roll between the rows of ricotta, to seal in the new stuffed pastas!

And look what I made!

In fact, you can even put the filling into small squares, fold 'em into triangles, pinch the sides, and give 'em a twist, and you have tortelloni!

 The simplest recipe is sometimes the best!   Tortelloni are cooked, when they rise to the top of the water in the boiling pot (only a minute or so).  Fresh sage leaves and butter make a perfect sauce, topped with fresh parmigiana!

Mangia!

For your own cooking classes, or to enjoy a dinner party in the home of a local when you're traveling in Italy,  give me a shout:  Email me or call 609.923.0304!

The Gandoca-Manzanilla of Costa Rica

Take this photo tour of the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica --  complete with national parks, vegan cafes,  monkeys and surfboards, and the lively Gandoca-Manzanilla Reserve!


Click this link to the slideshow!

A Celtic Country Puzzle: Ireland or Scotland?

Watch the show...

How much do you know?

of the land of castles and cliffs.

pubs and political tiffs?

CLICK HERE to play the game: Do YOU know which is Ireland? Scotland?

Address to a Haggis

In honor of St Patrick's Day this week, here is a reading of the seasonal favorite written by Robert Burns (1759-1796),.  Purists insist that haggis -- that pate-like pudding made of sheep organs and spices -- is Scottish, while St Patrick's Day is Irish.  But in the spirit of a shared love of all things Celtic, I present  Address to a Haggis:

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut ye up wi' ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they strech an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent like drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit!' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bluidy flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o 'fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a Haggis! 

Robert Burns

Eating Tomato Pie with Sophia Loren

Far from Florence's Duomo and David lines -- 2 dozen blocks, it seems -- there's a little pizzeria called Il Pizzaiuolo!  

It's only about 14 tables -- a snug, little nook,  on a dark side street, in the neighborhood of Santa Croce, where tourists rarely wander.  It's owned by a Naples transplant who, clearly from the decor, never left Naples behind. 

The short walls are collaged with charming frescoes and photos of Naples...
the Vicoli (iconic narrow alleyways)... 

the historic port with the UNESCO heritage, the 80-km Underground, the seaside Lungomare...
and beautiful views from the Posillipo lookout. 




But the centerpiece is a 4' long colorful print of The Last Supper -- Last Supper, Naples-style, that is!

Instead of the two Simons, mean Judas, or doubting Thomas, you'll see the rich and starry, singers and actors of Naples.   Is that Carlo Guiffre? Toto, or the De Filippo brothers?  One face you recognize for sure, though, is Sophia Loren! 

Reigning as Christ, she regally centers the photo.  She looks more like she's working a party, than communicating serious business, but it's clear, just as with Christ, that all eyes are on her! 

Her fame really ignited Italy in 1962 when she sang Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano in the movie trailer for Five Minutes to Midnight!    But did you know her early story?


Loren was born in the Clinica of Pozzuoli to a neglectful construction engineer father and an aspiring-actress mother. 
During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives.
After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.
When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film Quo Vadis, launching her career as a motion picture actress.


So what about the pizza here? 
They call it "tomato pie", and it's classic Neopolitan pizza, with its high border and thin center.

They don't open til 7:30, and you better have your reservation since every table fills up! 

We met the couple next to us -- not hard, since our elbows literally bumped as we reached for a new slice! 
They were wonderful ambassadors -- professionals who worked in journalism in Florence, loved their tight neighborhood, and were "regulars" at Pizzaeoula. 

They recommended pies to us, which was helpful since the menu's in Italian!    You should try the burrata (that fresh mozzarella with the buttery center),   or the arugula!

Wine comes by the glass or bottle, and while you want to linger, the place is too raucous, almost chaotic.  As the crowd pressed, we headed out, settling for a lovely gelato on the stroll back to our guesthouse.
Best review on Il Pizzaiuolo?   Cristjian, on TripAdvisor writes, “I should not be allowed to tell anyone”

some photos compliments of TripAdvisor

As intimate as a Space Station

A Southern Right with telltale callouses

When it comes to animal mating, nature gives many great shows. There are the "courtship dives" of hummingbirds, and the giant red-balloon throats of frigate birds. Clownfish change spontaneously from male to female (and back again), garden snails shoot pre-mating darts at each other, and red garter snakes ball together by the 100's. And the snapping turtles in the canal?  I swear, they're trying to drown each other.

But the mating of the southern right whale -- as BBC documented on Giant Lives -- more resembles the refueling of the Space Station than an act of love.

These whales thrive in the warm sub-polar waters near Peninsula Valdes in Argentina and, between May and November, each year, they give birth and nurse young in the shallows.

The baby has gestated for one year, having been conceived in these same waters the previous year.

Unlike raucous humpbacks who chase and divebomb each other to mate, southern rights are friendly and affectionate. Their gentle nature is a striking contrast to their colossal size! They can weigh 100 tons!

And they're easy to view, since their gregarious natures bring them close by shore and boats, and their slow movements make them easy to capture (I meant in a photograph, but it also historically made them hunting targets!)

In fact, they are one of the only whales that prefer sandy, shallow shoreline areas to deep water!

So, here is the act, caught on video:

Love, Southern Right Whale-style!

Watching Space Station re-fueling videos will never be the same.

Southern Right Whale mating is on MY Travel WishMap!  Is it on yours?  For more info, call Melanie@609.923.0304!