Ya'll wanna hunt some river shrimp?
Thats right- river shrimp- aka- camerones del rio and if Im not mistaken- crawfish- crawdaddy's etc... But I don't really know because in the States I never have eaten a crawfish- but if they are indeed the same thing- yum yum yum. End of discussion . . but not the end of my blog.
So I had been in Samara for a little while at this point, and I kept hearing people talking about river shrimp. Either they went 'hunting' for them when the moon was new (no moon= new moon) so its dark and you can see better, or a man walked by their house and was selling river shrimp and they made lunch and it was amazing, or I met people that go on these adventures. SO color me intrigued!
Its a random tuesday night and I decied to hang with some peeps from work, meanwhile my friend Jorge was going to go look for his connection to river shrimping and they we were going to go with some other friends around 8pm.. So I hang with the chicas and head home around 830 (tico time- I wasn't late) to meet up with the gang to go for shrimpers-- but no one comes... SO I figure, maybe in a little bit.... two hours later- Im hungry- where are they- maybe I've been ditched- you know, when you don't know you think the worst... so I head to town- Im trying to hunt them down- no dice and I just feel dumb- so I head home, by 11pm I give up hope and head to bed- at 12am- midnight, I hear a knock on the door- it's George and he has a bag- a big plastic bag filled with river shrimp! WOAH- they're like little lobsters! COOL! So por supuesto we fry some up! yummmers! Next time Im going! No doubt...
After about a month- then the moon is new- we decide to go Shrimping... My friends are pumped- we got flashlights, one wetsuit- adventure sandals, and hunting weapons- woah these things- okay one is like a little trident and the other is a spike with a rubber band on the end and what you do is hold the rubber band and pull back the spike, when you see the camaron you release the spike and it impails the shrimp= done and done- so now we just have to find the hot spot.... we head out into the night- We are a group of three- plus a pup- destination- I have no idea. We head out of town, past la bomba, then all of a sudden Jorge says to stop- we are outside of a house- He's friends house- he needs to ask him where the good spot to go is, but he first has to get through the mama tica- He could just ask the momma where the guy is.. but she's not about to give that info to just about anyone- but the problem is Jorge can't remember he guys name- he only knows his nickname- apodo- and often times the moms don't know there sons nicknames (all the young guys have them- and they change amongst friends- its different, but I like it) so we are kinda stuck- momma ticas not giving us anything--- so we keep on our way- stopping at a random pulperia (neighborhood store/ like a convience store without the franchise) because Jorge sees a guy chillin in front- and this persons name he knows... so they talk, and he gets the name- we turn around and head back to the first stop- this time prepared. He name drops and they info drop- word on the street that the friend is out hunting shrimp as we speak- we just have to follow the road until the first right turn, then take that road until the first bridge- there we should be able to go down to the river and find the friend- or at least get some shrimp...
SO thats what we do- they guys get ready and I- with my adventure sandals and head lamp (sexy I know), and we head to the river- woah its dark- woah the river is chilly. Its on average only about maybe a foot deep, and I watch Jorge dive right in- thats how you do it. You can't see the shrimps for the surface so you have to be in the water, underwater looking around--- I decide that this isn't what I want to do- I nominate myself to be the lookout and the carrier of the shrimpers... Plus if you know anything about me, I was more interested in looking for frogs and spiders with my head lamp then anything. Plus I would hang back and just take in the darkness of the forest. Its beautiful. All you hear is the water rushing, insects and frogs calling out into the night- pure jungle- pure HUNTING FOR RIVERSHIRMP! jejeje (oh and if your interested... I learned with technique in Panama- when its dark- take a flash light an put it up to your eye (facing out- don't blind yourself) then scan the area. If you see a green light its a spider- So you see the flicker- then go all the way up to it and you'll find a spider at the other end. If it's a red light its an amphibian; frog, lizard, toad, alligator etc. And this I learned on the hunt.. Crawfish- I mean river shrimp have pink eyes! cool huh!?
Status- River shrimp hunting in the jungle for about an hour- cosecha? three shrimp- one big guy but this is no good. We decide that the friend must be ahead of us and they must have gotten all the shrimps- otherwise there would be more. Plus the other sign was that the water was a little stirred up- detective in us knows that means someone has been there- so we turn around. I really could care less- for me it was cool to watch the guys jump facef first into the river looking for shrimp- I mean really? Imagine it. Dark Jungle- Warm air- cool water- we totally could have been stalked by a puma or a wild jungle cat and not even known it. After we returned to the car, the guys dry off and we sit on top of my friends super cool, super old school toyota mountain vechile and chill- watch the stars- look for falling ones. Even if we didn't get a single shrimp I was still happy as a clam- or happy as a girl can be- in the jungle on a beautiful night.
So I had been in Samara for a little while at this point, and I kept hearing people talking about river shrimp. Either they went 'hunting' for them when the moon was new (no moon= new moon) so its dark and you can see better, or a man walked by their house and was selling river shrimp and they made lunch and it was amazing, or I met people that go on these adventures. SO color me intrigued!
Its a random tuesday night and I decied to hang with some peeps from work, meanwhile my friend Jorge was going to go look for his connection to river shrimping and they we were going to go with some other friends around 8pm.. So I hang with the chicas and head home around 830 (tico time- I wasn't late) to meet up with the gang to go for shrimpers-- but no one comes... SO I figure, maybe in a little bit.... two hours later- Im hungry- where are they- maybe I've been ditched- you know, when you don't know you think the worst... so I head to town- Im trying to hunt them down- no dice and I just feel dumb- so I head home, by 11pm I give up hope and head to bed- at 12am- midnight, I hear a knock on the door- it's George and he has a bag- a big plastic bag filled with river shrimp! WOAH- they're like little lobsters! COOL! So por supuesto we fry some up! yummmers! Next time Im going! No doubt...
After about a month- then the moon is new- we decide to go Shrimping... My friends are pumped- we got flashlights, one wetsuit- adventure sandals, and hunting weapons- woah these things- okay one is like a little trident and the other is a spike with a rubber band on the end and what you do is hold the rubber band and pull back the spike, when you see the camaron you release the spike and it impails the shrimp= done and done- so now we just have to find the hot spot.... we head out into the night- We are a group of three- plus a pup- destination- I have no idea. We head out of town, past la bomba, then all of a sudden Jorge says to stop- we are outside of a house- He's friends house- he needs to ask him where the good spot to go is, but he first has to get through the mama tica- He could just ask the momma where the guy is.. but she's not about to give that info to just about anyone- but the problem is Jorge can't remember he guys name- he only knows his nickname- apodo- and often times the moms don't know there sons nicknames (all the young guys have them- and they change amongst friends- its different, but I like it) so we are kinda stuck- momma ticas not giving us anything--- so we keep on our way- stopping at a random pulperia (neighborhood store/ like a convience store without the franchise) because Jorge sees a guy chillin in front- and this persons name he knows... so they talk, and he gets the name- we turn around and head back to the first stop- this time prepared. He name drops and they info drop- word on the street that the friend is out hunting shrimp as we speak- we just have to follow the road until the first right turn, then take that road until the first bridge- there we should be able to go down to the river and find the friend- or at least get some shrimp...
SO thats what we do- they guys get ready and I- with my adventure sandals and head lamp (sexy I know), and we head to the river- woah its dark- woah the river is chilly. Its on average only about maybe a foot deep, and I watch Jorge dive right in- thats how you do it. You can't see the shrimps for the surface so you have to be in the water, underwater looking around--- I decide that this isn't what I want to do- I nominate myself to be the lookout and the carrier of the shrimpers... Plus if you know anything about me, I was more interested in looking for frogs and spiders with my head lamp then anything. Plus I would hang back and just take in the darkness of the forest. Its beautiful. All you hear is the water rushing, insects and frogs calling out into the night- pure jungle- pure HUNTING FOR RIVERSHIRMP! jejeje (oh and if your interested... I learned with technique in Panama- when its dark- take a flash light an put it up to your eye (facing out- don't blind yourself) then scan the area. If you see a green light its a spider- So you see the flicker- then go all the way up to it and you'll find a spider at the other end. If it's a red light its an amphibian; frog, lizard, toad, alligator etc. And this I learned on the hunt.. Crawfish- I mean river shrimp have pink eyes! cool huh!?
Status- River shrimp hunting in the jungle for about an hour- cosecha? three shrimp- one big guy but this is no good. We decide that the friend must be ahead of us and they must have gotten all the shrimps- otherwise there would be more. Plus the other sign was that the water was a little stirred up- detective in us knows that means someone has been there- so we turn around. I really could care less- for me it was cool to watch the guys jump facef first into the river looking for shrimp- I mean really? Imagine it. Dark Jungle- Warm air- cool water- we totally could have been stalked by a puma or a wild jungle cat and not even known it. After we returned to the car, the guys dry off and we sit on top of my friends super cool, super old school toyota mountain vechile and chill- watch the stars- look for falling ones. Even if we didn't get a single shrimp I was still happy as a clam- or happy as a girl can be- in the jungle on a beautiful night.
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