Things on the Osa remain relatively quiet on the world news front. Our biggest information-mood-swings is much more local.



The OSA Mirror

In the News- There is a big expansion of the road on the other side of Puerto Jimenez. It is being built by the Chinese. They are destroying some of the river systems as they dig out all the gravel and use it on the road. No one knows why the road has to be so big. But the community is now mobilized and looking for answers.

In Entertainment- Kevin Bacon is in Carate. We are hoping he just drops in for a glass of water so we can quiz him on his involvement with the Ponzi scheme.

International-There was also some sort of comical illegal drop in Corcovado National Park. Two guys, believed to be not from Costa Rica, found out that even in the remote jungle there are eyes everywhere. The police arrived in airplanes, grabbed their swiss army gear, closed the park, and headed in to retrieve the boat that was stranded on the beach. There are rumours that the wildlife in the Park have become agitated and the monkeys are now hooked on bananas dipped in white powder.

The Weather- We continue to have no rain here in the rainforest. Everything is super dry. We are almost afraid of the first rainfall as everything has a layer of dusty dirt on it. The days are sunny and the nights are full of stars. We had Venus in the western sky for about 10 days and we had the full moon rise on the eastern horizon. The sun is now setting on the Corcovado point and is no longer on the ocean. See attached picture.

Opinion- The Spanish have been trying to push through a tuna farm in the Golfe of Dulce without an impact study. Very scary. More information to follow.

Sports- At the Rio Oro festival, The Luna Lodge team took the soccer title for the 2nd year. Their aggressive play during intense heat out-lasted all other teams. It was a true battle of man against nature.

Business- Finca Exotica has been moving forward with their sustainability project. The owner, Markus, made a special trip back to Germany to raise funds for the Casa Grande. This beautiful building will be located just above the tree line with a gourmet kitchen that will bring new meaning to dinnng in the jungle. The yoga platform will be just above and have this amazing view out through the valley to the ocean. The year 2009 will be one of development at The Finca.

Developments- StepOut Experience Productions is in post productions of the RainForest Aid 2009 video. The goal of the festival is a 5 year plan to build a new sustainable garbage dump on the Osa. During filming we were able to visit local people, a chocolate farm, and emu farm, the guaimi native people, a few other eco lodges, and a chance to live in a 4 story tree house. This project is pro-bono and it is our pleasure to continue creating awareness of the importance of the Osa and the Corcovado National Park.

Editorial- From the StepOut Experience Blog

The iLIFE!

by Amory Tarr

I am back home, if you can call it that anymore. I didn't want to leave the OSA frontier, but felt it was time to go back after six months inrural Latin America, see the family and regroup while I sort out what's next in life. I still cannot believe I'm in the same world as last week. Now that I can feel how few frontiers are left, I realize even more what an incredible place the OSA really is.

I was sitting in a cafe in San Jose, on my last day, surrounded by four million people and found it quite unnerving to see so clearly everything that people take for granted; their world as a good-normal-reality. For me it is so foreign, wrong and out of place. More and more I feel I'm from a different world and will shortly awaken from this cruel dream that we call "modern civilization" aka "the better life." I cannot believe that so many trade their lives for so few unnecessary comforts.

Continues on the StepOut Experience blog below