Day 6 – Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua
Filed Under international travel
Laguna de Apoyo, Nicaragua – December 2nd, 2008
¨Life is good in Nicaragua.¨ This is the preset message that is sent when I activate the OK feature on my SPOT beacon. When I turn it on and send the message, I also find myself thinking that life really is good down here in Nicaragua and I couldnt be happier.
I´m camping at the Biological Research Station along the shores of Laguna de Apoyo, the country´s deepest crater lake at 3,000 meters. I came down to the lake with a few travelers and stayed for a night at the Monkey Hut Hostel before I moved over here and they moved on. I´m glad to be on my own, for the first time on this trip. Being by myself has allowed me to do what I had hoped and planned to do here, photograph as many insects as possible. Finding subjects isn´t the problem but everything leading up to capturing the insect and getting it ready for its moment in front of the camera is somewhat difficult. The weather here is so hot and humid, it makes even the simplest of chores seem like running a race. That said, its not easy lugging around 22 pounds of camera equipment looking for bugs.
And I don´t even want to get in to the difficulties of attempting to photograph butterflies! I´ve seen over 15 different species but have only been able to photograph a few of them. If only I brought a net!
But for all the effort, I´m excited as ever for all the interesting things that I have found and photographed here – beetles the size of match boxes, geckos chilling near most outisde light fixtures, a praying mantis 8 inches long, stingless bees the size of tictacs that are inaudible in flight, and last night, a moth with beautiful translucent wings. I´m considering self publishing a 40 page book of photos when I get home of some of these beautiful insects.
There are five volunteers from Germany and Denmark staying here at the center. They payed about $300 for a month of helping out with small noble tasks like planting trees or clearing areas in the forest. In return, they get to stay in one of the most beautiful places in Nicaragua. They work their own schedule and do hard work for a few hours a day. The rest of the time is sitting around or swimming in the luke warm lake.
I have convinced one of them that photographing insects is very cool and he has helped me capture and prepare insects for their close-ups. Most insects have a tendancy to want to scurry away immediately after being released, but with his help, we were able to invent techniques to keep them still enough for me to photograph. Catch, photograph, release. We did this with about 10 insects in just three hours last night. In just the last two days, I´ve photographed over 40 creatures. I´m certain that I have enough shots even this early in my trip to self publish a book when I get home. I don´t think about what would happen if any of my gear failed, knock on wood!
I have had to define what I want to photograph here at the lake or I would have a camera in front of my face all of the time. Although with the beautiful jungle lake, the countless birds, and the beautiful flora, I cant stop myself from snapping a few shots.
I´ll be staying here at least another day before heading southeast towards the island of Ometepe, most likely spending the night in Rivas or Granada before taking the boat out to the island.
I hope you are all doing well. I don´t know what the internet situation is on the island, but I´ll continue to send my SPOT messages to those I have added. When you read that ¨All is well in Nicaragua¨ know that I mean it.
Kolby