We have finally posted our wedding photos!

Sorry for the long delay in getting this all together, but as you can imagine we had only just returned from our honeymoon when we found ourselves in the middle of Christmas.

Thanks to everyone for your good vibes and generosity during our special day on November 11th. We had an amazing time. It was truly a wonderful evening that we will always remember. Please click on this picture to see all the photos. enjoy!

I’ve posted 4 galleries containing our honeymoon pictures, which you can access directly by clicking on the photo thumbnail at right. We took about 575 photos, so it took a little while to edit them.

For those of you anxious to see wedding pictures, Sanaz and I just received them from the photographer on Monday. Once we’ve gone through them together we’ll post some of the digital pics online and maybe scan a few of the prints too, probably the weekend.

Today was our most eventful day to date. We awoke at five thirty a.m. in the Refugio Nacional Silvestre Curú, in our own private cabina overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya. Curú is a wildlife preserve in the Southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, itself located in the nothwest part of Coasta Rica.

After a brief survey of the beach, we sat to watch the sunrise. The vista was dotted with small islands and our beach curved outwards to form uniquely shaped peninsulas on either side. At a distance, we could observe the hazy mountenous ridges of the coast from which we came. We had arrived the day before via Paquera, via Jaco, which we left by bus to Puntaneras to take a ferry across the gulf. In Paquera, we me Luís Scutt, of Curú travel – a small service he runs out of his livingroom/office/porch. Luís organizes day trips to the Park followed by snorkeling at Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island) — all for $25/person + $5 for the snorkeling gear.

We opted to stay overnight inside the park (an even more affordable option) and set out in the morning for Tortuga, as sunset was only two hours away by 3:30pm. Instead of paying a taxi driver, we paid Luís to chauffeur us, since we were cutting into his profits by not taking the full package. We crossed the bridge from Luís’ his porch, over the small bog which fed the fruit-bearing Carambola (aka starfruit) tree at the side of the house, to his new white European-made compact pick-up.

Thirty minutes later, we passed throught the gate of the refuge. The 4×4 was soon flanked by lethargic cattle of the bony, humpbacked, off-white variety. Moments later, we’d sight teeny tiny deer grazing in the meadows created by passed deforestation, as well as our first white-nosed coatis. The coati, a member of the raccoon family, have an upturned snout which they use to forrage the forrest floor, short, yet agile legs and an extemely long, faintly ringed tail which sticks straight up in the air when it is looking for food. Equally agile on the ground as in the trees, the coati has adapted marvelously.

After a few minutes, the transport stopped completely, and Luís directed us to look by the side of the road, which was garrissoned by small orange and blue crabs which were quick to dart back into their sand burrows at the slightest gesture on our part.

The park administration belied its name, consisting of a collection of farm equipment at all stages of thier lifecycle, and a group of shacks: some on stilts, some on concrete slab, one on the dirt directly, and all wood-pannelled. Luís bid us farewell and we were shown to our cabina, which is where our story began, but much would happen still before we would sleep in it.

Tavelling light, we quickly settled and headed towards a trailed billed as a 45 minute hike. Off the main road, the trailhead was signaled by a long series of interconnected rope and wood bridges (Indiana Jones style) that crossed a fast moving river, which in the dry season have been but a stream, but was now engorged due to heavy rainfall over the past four days, which also flooded most of the trail. To be more accurate, the path we followed was shared by the streams that fed the river. The water performed a kind of natural maintenance, keeping ground cover from overtaking the path and depositing sediment in the network exposed roots, forming steps and slopes for us.

The smells, vegetation and vistas were impressive. At one point, I noticed a baton sized stick hovering at waist level right before me. Fascinated, I stopped, then followed its orientation upwards to a sturdy, extra-large pizza sized web with, at its centre, located right in front of my face, a menacingly large spider. Daylight fleeting, I charged the flash and snapped away at this curiousity. In reaction to this foreign light, an animal in the distance began a frightening, deep, groaning wail.

Something was after us! On first impression, I thought it might be a wild boar, notorious for charging through woodlands after its foes. The word was out in the jungle that the best defense was a good offense.

By the second growl, it was unmistakable. Images of dark, hulking, angry primates baring yellow fangs flashed before my eyes. The thought of being lost in a jungle where scary creatures abounded this fast approaching night was not appealing. Sanaz’s fight or flight instinct had kicked into high gear; she plowed around and ahead, leaving me behind as an appetizer.

We moved hastily over root and stone, through mud and stream, over bridges, under branches, and back to camp by dawn. Barely.

We’ve landed in Costa Rica. It is really beautiful here. The clouds form almost at ground level. It is the tail end of the rain season. Everything is in bloom. The bananas and plantain are not ripe, but oranges, papayas and coconuts abound.

Although the country is small, the roads wind and go up and down, so time between cities is a little longer than anticipated. We got a cab from the airport to the gringo town of Jaco, which was a two hour drive at a reasonable price. The driver was very nice. We stopped at a bridge to peer over its side and see corocodiles lying in the river bed, while water buffalo grazed nearby (if I were a water buffalo, I would’ve kept a greater distance, but these buffalo looked good at their jobs).

I’m totally shocked to see what we might consider houseplants growing in the street. bushes consist of exotic wildflowers and ferns. Where, along our streets, there would be trees, here there are cactii. I imagine it makes it more difficult to lock your bicycle.

Our hotel is on the beach, which is too dark to see right now. I’am real excited. about tomorrow.

Thank you so much to everyone that made it out to our marriage celebration. We are off tomorrow morning for Costa Rica and will have photos to share with you of our wedding and honeymoon then.

Much love,

Sanaz & Andrew

For those of you coming in a day early or staying a day later, I would recommend, if you are even one tenth as passionate about art as I am, that you check out the TIAF this weekend.

Here is a link to their website: www.tiafair.com

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL ART FAIR – ART TORONTO 2006
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
South Building, Exhibit Hall E
November 9–13, 2006

SHOW HOURS:
Friday, November 10 12 noon – 8 pm
Saturday, November 11 12 noon – 8 pm
Sunday, November 12 12 noon – 7 pm
Monday, November 13 12 noon – 7 pm

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building entrance is located at 255 Front Street West, two blocks west of York Street.

The South Building entrance is located at 222 Bremner Boulevard, one block north of Lakeshore Blvd., west of York Street.

The North and South Buildings are connected to Union Station via the Skywalk.

The Skywalk entrance is located at the west end of Union Station, on street level.