Getting My Feet Wet

I’ve been meaning to plug the GoPro into the iPad since we got the things but techy-type stuff has always intimidated me. Well, I’m finally doing it, I’m typing with the iPad for the first time right now. Did you know the factory keyboard on these things is inoperable when the iPad is plugged into a case that’s equipped with an external keyboard? I didn’t know that! I did, however, manage to transfer all 52 images from the GoPro to the icon where photos go this thing, trust me, it’s a pivotal moment—my first experience with a device other than my phone. I haven’t tried signing into #steemit with it yet but that shouldn’t be a problem. Ultimately, we’ll record Pura Vida’s cooking, do all of the video editing stuff like time lapse and add music, etc. but we’re not there yet—baby steps.

@puravidaville and I went to Casa Orquidea yesterday, a 12 acre jardin botanico (botanical garden) on the Oso Penninsula in Playa San Josecito, Costa Rica. It’s only accessible by boat. You’ll leave Golfito Bay due north toward the Pacific Ocean on a 20 minute boat ride through Drake Bay, named after Sir Francis Drake who many believe left behind treasure as he sailed across the Atlantic, around South America and up through Costa Rica in search of North America in the 1500’s. We didn’t see an shiny precious metals in the sea but we saw a lot more than I expected—it was gorgeous out there! We even saw the property owner hand pollinate vanilla—the only flower that requires hand pollination. I began taking pictures at sun rise, continued during the walk to the pier, entering the boat, etc. picture, picture, picture, picture, 52 of them, all taken with a GoPro Hero 5 Black. It’s the only device I took with me, forcing myself to get a feel for it. It has three different settings for photos: wide, narrow, and linear, I alternated between all three—this is what we saw:

Like the beginning of most adventures, we need an ATM:

Exterior view of the bathroom, complete with a sink and an outdoor shower:

What the view would look like from inside the bathroom if you were a lady:

You'll notice quite a few signs identifying the medicinal uses for the majority of these plants:

You can just barely see Pura Vida off to the right—this was a massive tree that shaded quite a bit of ground:

This is the vanilla pollinating process—I had no idea. You have to gently open the bud of the flower with a toothpick, expose the pollen and then stick it back to itself—now its pollinated. You have three hours a day when this process is possible, between 8am and 11am, otherwise the flower dies and falls off of the branch. Once pollinated, a vanilla bean will grow over the next eight weeks—now I know why vanilla is so expensive:

Tada!

Pineapple

A lot of pineapple:

We made our way back toward shore, had a cup of coffee while waiting for the boat to return and went for the 20 minute boat ride back to Golfito Bay:

GoPro #adventure numero uno en Costa Rica: Decent WiFi is a must—noted! It’ll be a little bit before I’m ready for the big screen but I’m happy with the start, “progress.” Happy hump day!