Back in the U.S.A...

   We are now back in the United States, but not home in Durango yet.  We are visiting Michael’s parents in San Diego for a few days.  Tomorrow we fly home.  Our last few days in Costa Rica were nice.  We went for walks on the beach in Nosara, went to the Farmer’s Market one last time, watched sunsets, and Michael surfed.  One night we decided to walk down to the beach after dinner and when we returned, we interrupted a break-in in progress at the unit next to ours.  They hadn’t gotten very far, but had started to cut and bend back the bars on one of the windows.   They ran off when they realized we could see them with our flashlight and were aware of their presence.  As no one else was home at the Villas at the time, I called the manager on Skype to let her know what happened.  She showed up with her father in tow (for security!), and later the police came.  Nothing was taken, as they hadn’t gotten in yet.  We’re told that sometimes thieves watch from the jungle until they think no one is home.  It was a bit of excitement, but certainly not the first time it’s happened in the area.  We were told many times to use common sense about safety while in Costa Rica and to be particularly careful not to leave valuables in view, whether in the car or in the house.  In fact, it’s pretty much a given that you can’t leave ANYTHING in your car at any time.  We followed these rules and consequently,  we never had any problems or felt unsafe. 

   Our last night in Nosara we went out to dinner at La Dolce Vita which is a nice Italian restaurant down the road a little ways.  Since we already had our rental car for the return journey to San Jose, we took advantage of the easy transportation.  Monday morning, Michael surfed one last time and returned his rental board to the Frog Pad.  We went out for breakfast and then loaded up the car and headed for the big city.  The drive wasn’t too bad and we made pretty good time, but it still feels long.  Most of the road was easy to follow as we were retracing our steps from our initial journey to Nosara.  However, we had to find our B&B in the town of Alajuela near the airport and that required some navigation.  Thank goodness we had a decent map.  Costa Rica is notorious for not having street signs or even much signage on the roads at all.  The center of Alajuela is laid out in a grid pattern, but the streets are mostly one way and absolutely none of them are marked with names.  It’s all very well to have the map say Ave. 2, but if there is no sign saying that on the street, it doesn’t do you much good.  Nevertheless, I managed to get us to the hotel using landmarks and counting blocks etc.  Michael did a great job avoiding the other drivers.  We checked in, unloaded our bags, and then found our way to the rental car office over near the airport to turn in the car.  It all went smoothly and we took a taxi back to the hotel.  It was late afternoon, so we walked around the city a bit, bought some rum at the grocery store, and found a spot for a cold beer.  Then after a short nap back at the hotel, we wandered out for dinner.  The hotel manager had pointed us toward Monteleone, which turned out to be a cute bar/restaurant around the corner.  It was clearly new, and at first, we were almost the only people there.  But then others came in and it took on a lively atmosphere.  It was the first place we had been where no one spoke English.  There were local people from the neighborhood and a couple of students enjoying a drink or some food.  Our dinner was quite good and quite reasonable.  This was actually one of the most authentic experiences of the trip. 

   In the morning we took a taxi provided by the hotel to the airport, paid our departure tax, checked in for our flight, and found our gate.  Everything was going smoothly until some indicator light came on as the captain was leaving the gate.  We had to go back to the gate and have a mechanic take a look.  They were able to fix it quickly, but it still put us an hour late leaving San Jose.  Since our connection time in Dallas was only an hour and twenty minutes and we had to go through customs, we were pretty doubtful that we’d make our connection to San Diego.  Fortunately, American rebooked us on another flight before we even got there.  That’s the first time that’s happened!  We cleared customs and re-checked our bags without mishap in Dallas, and then rode the Disney style train around to our new terminal.  Since we had been rebooked on this later flight we were stuck in the very back row of the plane going to San Diego.  This proved noisy as we were next to the engine, but we got there on time and Michael’s parents met us at the airport.  It was a long day, but when is international travel ever short? 

   Now we are trying to get used to cars and traffic and clothes and shoes etc.  The news on the tele is just the same as it always is, so we didn’t miss much.  My toe is improving and I have found I’m able to put on a pair of shoes.  Thank goodness Keen shoes have a big toe box!  It will be a while before most shoes are comfortable, but I have at least graduated from flip flops.  One thing that strikes me is the incredible abundance all around us.  We are very fortunate people.  And yet, we are often very wasteful too.  It is possible to live fairly simply and still live a rich and rewarding life.  These are things I will be thinking about as I try to resume life at home.  I look forward to seeing our dog, reconnecting with our friends, and to the flowers that will bloom from the bulbs we planted last fall.

Pura Vida

Sojourner Sarah

The torture of small waves....

It's not what you think!  For a seasoned surfer like Michael, small waves are tedious.  We've been having a lot of them this week.  He still goes out because being in the water and catching a few small waves is better than not.  For me the small waves would be perfect for getting in a lot of practice and really getting a handle on surfing.  The only problem is that on Monday I broke a toe, so now I can't surf.  Bummer!  And torture for me to see these good conditions (for me, anyway) that I can't take advantage of.  Oh well.  At least it happened at the end of our trip and not at the beginning.  And yes, I was surfing. The leash got caught between my toes and yanked hard to the side.  My second smallest toe on the left foot suffered.  I iced it.  I buddy taped it to its brethren on either side.  It turned black and blue and swelled a bit along with part of my foot.  I've been hobbling around and trying to stay off it.  There isn't a whole lot you can do for a broken toe, especially the smaller ones.  It's definitely improved now.  All the same, I went to the doctor yesterday just to make sure I was doing the right things.  Once again, Costa Rican medicine has proven both proficient and economical.  The doc was nice and gave me a thorough exam and explanation of what is going on with my toe.  He said everything is in line and to stop taping it and to use it, with the only limitation being pain.  So I am walking better today and someday I'll wear shoes again.  :)

In the meantime, Michael and I also moved out of our Canadian Villa for two nights.  We needed to vacate because they were already booked for those two nights when we booked our stay.  After getting back from Monteverde, we decided that we didn't want to get back in a car so soon and bump down the road for a few hours to spend a couple of nights somewhere else.  This turned out to be a good thing given what happened with my toe.  We got a room at Casa Romantica instead, which is very close to where we have been at Villas Canadienses.  Casa Romantica is a small hotel with a lovely pool and their own private path to the beach.  We enjoyed hanging by the pool, especially me, since I wasn't hobbling so well.  We saw a Coati (large raccoon-like thing) hanging out in the top of a coconut palm, as well as a nesting pair of Great Kiskadee birds which have bright yellow breasts.  It was convenient to have a restaurant right there since we no longer had a kitchen.  Breakfast was even provided with the room.  Today, we moved back again to yet another unit at the Villas.  All in all it was easy and pleasant and the staff were really nice at the hotel.  We are in the last week of our trip and it seems strange.  On Monday we'll drive back to San Jose and fly out on Tuesday.

This afternoon we went for a little walk on the beach at low tide.  This was a triumph for me as I didn't know if I'd be able to do that again before we left.  Yay!  We also had another good game of Gin Rummy. We've been playing Cribbage too.  We watch movies sometimes but TV seems a pretty foreign concept.  I guess we'll have a little culture shock to deal with when we get back to the States.  For now we are doing our best to enjoy the rest of our time here.

Cheers,

Sojourner Sarah

Monteverde and the Resplendent Quetzal

Sunday Feb. 26, 2012

Hola amigos,

We are back in Nosara again after a short trip to the mountains.  On Thursday Michael surfed early in the morning and we finished packing up our stuff.  Fortunately we were able to leave some of it locked up in the bodega here at Villas Canadienses instead of lugging all of it with us.  After picking up the car from the rental office, loading up, and stopping at Rosie’s Soda for breakfast, we were on our way at about 10:30am.  It doesn’t take long to figure out that spending a lot of time driving from place to place is not how you want to pass the time in Costa Rica.  The dirt roads are bumpy and jarring.  You get used to them, but it still takes its toll on your body and mind.  We were relieved to meet the pavement again when we reached the road from Samara to Nicoya.  After that it was smooth sailing.  We were essentially backtracking the way we arrived, so the road was familiar for a good part of the trip.  There were many trees that had started to bloom with flowers since we had come through on our way to the beach at the beginning of our trip.  Light and dark pink, yellow, white; it was quite beautiful.  Andres, an Argentine jeweler who lived in Monteverde for six years before moving to Nosara, recommended we take the longer route up into the mountains because he said it had more pavement and was a better road.  A short while after leaving the Interamericana highway, we hit dirt again.  The road really wasn’t too bad, but it took us a little over 4 hours to reach Monteverde, longer than we had anticipated.  When we started up into the mountains, we encountered hairpin turns and we climbed up and down steep hills covered in trees and pasture.  Up, up we went.  Luck was on our side, as we did not meet any buses at inopportune moments.  The scenery was great and I marveled at how the cows could negotiate the steep terrain.  When we reached the towns of Santa Elena and Monteverde, we found pavement again!  That was a surprise, but not unwelcome.  Our B & B, Manakin Lodge, proved fairly easy to find and we checked in upon arrival.  It is run by a nice Tico family.  Our room had big picture windows that looked right into the treetops.  It was refreshing to have the air temperature a lot cooler too. 

After settling into our room and discussing what we wanted to do the next day, I went to the desk to see if they could book us a hanging bridges walk with a guide in the Cloud Forest.  We had decided that it wasn’t necessary for us to do a zip line tour; that we would rather do more bird watching or hiking.  Our host recommended a local guide she knew and explained that he could go with us to whichever reserve or park we wanted.  So we set a time to meet in the morning and then we went for a walk to explore a little.  We walked down the road to Art House, which is a gallery with a large collection of artwork and crafts from different parts of Costa Rica, including some by indigenous groups.  This turned out to be the best one we went to.  It wasn’t far into Santa Elena, so we walked some more and wandered the little town center.  There were lots of storefronts and signs touting Adventure tours, Night Walks in the cloud forest, Zip-line tours etc.  Since we were a little peckish, we stopped in at the Tree House Bar and Restaurant and had a drink and some ceviche.  It is aptly named as there is a huge fig tree growing right up through the middle of the restaurant.  Afterwards we walked some more, looked for a restaurant for dinner and settled on the Mar y Tierra.  Not the best choice, but I guess you can’t win them all.  There was a large table of Germans next to us.  Clearly Monteverde is on the tour route for many companies.  We saw lots of foreign tourists around town and not as many Americans, which was kind of a nice change.  It was windy and a bit drizzly or misty in the evening, but not actually raining.  After dinner we checked out the local supermarket and then took a taxi home.  The ride was only $2. 

During the night we heard a lot of wind and saw the trees outside our window swaying to and fro quite vigorously.  It seemed like it was blowing a gale, but in the morning we realized that the effect was probably magnified because we were on the second floor.  We had breakfast bright and early and met up with our guide, Johnny, who was going to drive us to the park.  He brought along a friend who was a guide in training, so there were four of us that got in the car.  Johnny is twenty-nine and grew up in the area.   He is married to an Austrian woman who is expecting their second child.  He has an excellent command of English and he seemed to know a great deal about the plants and animals of the forest and the ecology of the area.  Originally I had thought we would go to Selvatura which is a big Adventure park in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve that has everything from zip lines to hanging bridges and a butterfly garden and hummingbird house etc.  The guidebook had suggested that if you could only see one sight, this was the one.  However, after talking with Johnny on the way to the park we took his suggestion and stopped at a different one, Sky Walk.  He said it was less crowded and he would drop us at the better butterfly garden in town afterwards.  Our goal was to hike in the cloud forest and see some birds and animals and learn about it from a guide.  It turned out to be a good call.  After getting tickets we started up the trail for the hanging bridges walk.  The bridges allow you to be up in the canopy and cross steep ravines.  Right away Johnny showed us some cool tiny orchids and told us a lot about the environment of the cloud forest and all the epiphytes on the trees.  There are a lot of different types of orchids that grow in the area and a huge diversity of plant life in the forest.  We saw lots of ferns, lichen and moss, as well as bromeliads, tree ferns, fig and avocado trees, and even roots that started up in the canopy and stretched down to the ground.   Johnny knew his stuff and explained some of the medicinal uses of various plants in addition to identifying a lot for us.

Sarah with Johnny

Epiphytes

 And then there were the birds.  Johnny pointed out many for us and he knew the names of most of what we saw or heard.  While traversing the first bridge, which was actually pretty low to the ground, he made some birdcalls in response to something he heard in the forest.  We could hear the bird in the canopy and he called back and forth with it for a bit and then, lo and behold, a male Quetzal appeared.

Resplendent Quetzal!

The Resplendent Quetzal is a very fancy looking bird!  It is also culturally quite important.  It is the national bird and symbol of Guatemala and carried ceremonial significance for the Aztecs and Maya according to my guidebook.  Now it is endangered due to shrinking habitat.  It has blue-green plumage on its back and head with spiky feathers sticking up from the top of its head.  It has a bright red belly and the male has a couple of long extra feathers trailing behind that are 2-3 feet long.  I have heard that it is pretty rare and that many birdwatchers that go in search of it are not lucky enough to see one.  We saw not only one, but two males, and also a female who was building a nest!  I think the males were competing for her affections.  Our lucky day!  It was very exciting and we took lots of pictures.  Johnny had brought along a spotting scope and we used it to shoot some pictures with my camera.  Michael also got some great shots with his camera.

The female

Male and female together

Female at her nest opening

Backside of the male

After admiring the Quetzals until they moved on, we continued on the path.  We saw lots of other birds though most were moving too fast or were too far away for effective photography.  It was amazing that the Quetzals had "posed" for us for so long.  We enjoyed our two and a half hour walk very much.  I think we actually went around the circuit backwards because we did run into a few much larger groups going in the opposite direction.  We certainly didn’t mind and were very glad we had chosen to go with a private guide.  The Monteverde Cloud Forest is very lush and so full of life.  

Sarah on a bridge

After our hike, Johnny took us back to Santa Elena/Monteverde and dropped us off at the Butterfly Garden.  He called ahead to let them know he was bringing us and walked us inside to “deliver” us.  We said our goodbyes and he went off to pick up his three year old son.  We sat down for a few minutes to regroup and also talked with the biologist manning the front desk at the garden.  It turns out he used to be with the Colorado Division of Fish and Wildlife and came to Monteverde thirty years ago.  He gave us the scoop on seeing the butterflies on our own and we took off for a stroll through the gardens.  There were at least four different enclosures with flowers and plants and lots of butterflies.  It was so fun to see the beautiful Blue Morpho and others up close and in abundance.  There were some with markings like an owl’s eyes and others with nearly clear wings.  It is hard to photograph them, but we tried.

 

After our time with the butterflies we walked home to Manakin Lodge.  It was only a little after noon, but after such an active morning we took a quick nap before heading back out for lunch.   Naps are one of the delightful luxuries of vacation! 

We lunched at Stella’s bakery, which was only ok, despite the guidebook’s recommendation.  The afternoon was spent visiting some art galleries and a local artisan cooperative.  Back at our room, we relaxed for a while before dinner and caught up on some Internet time using the WiFi.  For dinner we walked down the road to Sofia, a Latin fusion style restaurant we had passed earlier.  This turned out to be a really good choice.  The food was excellent, the service was good and the ambiance was nice.  I had chicken with smoky plantain sauce since the fig roasted pork loin wasn’t available.  We enjoyed a bottle of wine and even a chocolate chimichanga for desert.  It was a very pleasant evening.

In the morning we had breakfast, packed our bags, and decided to get on the road.  Our host assured us that the road through Las Juntas was not any worse than the one we came in on and was indeed a good deal shorter.  So we drove out of Santa Elena that way and enjoyed a different set of scenery on the way out of the mountains.  Really that road wasn’t bad, so we’re not sure why Andres was so firm in his recommendation of the other road we took on the way in.  In any case, we had distant views of the Golfo de Nicoya and the peninsula, and saw more steep pastures and even some coffee plantations.  There aren’t many road signs in Costa Rica and the maps aren’t that good, so sometimes it’s a little tricky to find your way.  Nevertheless, we managed to get back to the Interamericana highway without getting too lost.  In Nicoya we stopped to buy a bike lock, which was a little adventure since we had to ask where a bicycle shop was and parking can be difficult.  We also grabbed a bite to eat before setting off for the last leg back to Nosara.  We made it back around two in the afternoon so we ran up to the Super Nosara to grocery shop and got the gas for the rental car.

Our new unit at Villas Canadienses is on the end so we have a view of the gardens.  For the most part it is identical to the other one with only some minor differences in décor and kitchen utensils.  Playa Guiones seems to be pretty busy right now and there were quite a few people on the beach at sunset.  


Pura Vida

Sojourner Sarah

Surf, Eat, Sleep, Repeat....

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012

Buenas tardes,

Life continues pretty much as usual down here near the equator.  When Michael and I went down to the beach for sunset last Tuesday there was a wedding just wrapping up with pictures on the sand.  It was Valentine’s Day afterall.  We walked down the beach and around the point to Playa Pelada for dinner at La Luna.  It was fresh, Mediterranean style food, and delicious.   We saw both my surf instructors arrive with their gringo girlfriends for dinner as we were leaving.  Also, the bridal couple came to occupy the big couch-bed on the sand in the bar area which was reserved for them, so I guess we made a good pick!  On the walk home along the beach the stars were amazing and there was a lot of bio-luminescence in the water.  The waves were glowing when they broke and there were sparkles in the water when they washed up on the beach.  Very pretty! 

Last week we made some plans for our trip to Monteverde this week.  We made a reservation at a B&B and managed to confirm our car rental.  This all proved more complicated than you would think since I kept having to go somewhere else to do any internet research and it took several tries to get it all sorted out.  We are grateful to the property manager here, Kembry, who made a phone call for us to the car rental people.  She is a lovely Costa Rican woman who is here most days at least some of the time.  We also finally procured some real laundry soap.  What we had before, we discovered, was really spot remover.  It’s amazing how difficult it can be to decipher the packaging on common goods when it is in a foreign language!  Since most people here speak English and there are so many Americans, we really haven’t been practicing our Spanish the way we ought to.   We discovered some great laundry lines in the gardens at our complex and took advantage of them to get some laundry done. 

We have been dealing with some potential water shutoffs in the evening as they do some work on the water systems in the town.  It doesn’t always seem to happen, but we’re prepared with extra water for the overnight.  I also traded my surfboard in for a smaller one to try something a little different.  On Saturday I went to the Farmer’s Market and found a cheese man and a sausage man, though not much in the way of fruits and vegetables.  I guess that’s mostly on Tuesdays.  The cheese man is German I think, and probably the sausage man is too.  Anyway, the cheese was far superior to any I’ve had here and I had to indulge in some cheddar and some feta cubes in herbed oil.  Yummy!

Kembry had booked us a horseback riding tour for Sunday afternoon, but the horse man called to say that his horses had got out and he had to go find them!  We rescheduled for Monday, which was probably just as well because I suddenly didn’t feel so great.  I guess I got some 24hour stomach-ish bug.  Monday morning the surf had gotten really small, which was just what I wanted to try catching green waves, but I had no energy.   I saved it all up for the horseback riding tour and it was worth it.  We were picked up and taken to a property over by the Nosara River and a little inland.  Nano was our guide.  He and his wife run Playa Ponies, which also does snorkel tours and just about anything else they can come up with.  Nano is Tico and his wife is American and expecting their first child, a girl, in about two weeks.  When we got to their property there were a couple of younger Tico boys who helped get the horses.  We guessed that perhaps they were Nano’s brothers.  There were dogs running around and a wee filly wandering in the yard.  She was quite skinny and Nano said her mother wasn’t producing milk.  I think she's only 2 1/2 months old!  

Baby!

Michael was given Rambo and I got Sebastian.  They were both very well behaved.  Our ride took us along the Nosara River where we saw an alligator lurking in the water.  We also rode through some of the Reserva Biológica Nosara where there were huge mangroves stretching high overhead and lots of birds.  We came out by the river mouth where Michael and I had hiked to one day.  It was gorgeous with black sand and lots of water birds again.  

Michael & Rambo at the river mouth

Playa Pelada

Then we rode over to Playa Pelada along the trail we had walked before.  Nano very kindly took a picture of us on the beach.  Then we got to ride on the beach all the way back to our neighborhood.  

Caballeros!

There were two dogs that came with us the whole way.  They thoroughly enjoyed the excursion and after we dismounted and said goodbye to Nano at our condo, one of the dogs stuck around.  We went in and changed back to shorts to go to the beach for sunset, and when we came out, there she was waiting for us!  We thought she belonged to Nano, but maybe not.  She didn’t go with us to the beach, but when we returned, she was lying contentedly on our porch.  She is very sweet and friendly.  There are quite a few dogs here that just wander from friend to friend.  We gave her some water and Michael gave her a little piece of tuna.  She wandered off for a bit later on, but was back before morning when we found her lying on our porch again.  She stayed around and went to the beach with us when we went to surf.  Now she has moved on, but who knows, we may see her again.  I called her Foxy because of her foxy looking face.

Foxy

This morning the conditions were perfect for me to surf.  The waves were small, the tide pretty low, and the winds offshore.  The smaller board I had rented proved not as good for catching green waves, so Michael traded me for the longboard he’d rented.  The water felt warm this morning and it was another beautiful day.  I finally caught a real wave from the outside all by myself!  Yay!  I even rode the shoulder all the way in.  What a feeling!  It is so not easy to get the timing right, but for once I did, AND managed to get up and stay up.  It was very gratifying. We are staying close by the Corky Carroll surf school which does an all-inclusive surf camp.  I’ve been watching their instructors and students in the water and on the beach since we are often surfing near them.  I think I might be guilty of a little instructor envy!  They really do a great job and they are probably the best surf camp here.  They have a lot of repeat guests.  The advantage to a surf camp is you get instruction and encouragement all the time.  You surf twice a day and they even videotape you so you can go back over it later.  Of course it can be intense, but they try to make it fun too.  I’ve enjoyed the leisurely pace of our time here and am glad I got to try out surfing without any pressure.  However I can see that if you really wanted to improve your skills, a surf camp could be a great way to go. 

Well, that’s all for now.  We leave for Monteverde on Thursday morning.

Pura Vida

Sojourner Sarah

Addendum:  Wed. Feb. 22, 2012

Well I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, so here it is today.  This morning Kembry got a call that Nano and his wife were looking for their dog.  I guess she did belong to them after all!  Anyway, we hadn't seen here since yesterday morning, which we told Kembry.  Then when Michael went to the Frog Pad to return a movie, he saw her hanging around.  He tried to get her to follow him back to the condo but she wasn't really interested.  She looked a little lost.  So he scooped her up in his arms and rode back to the condo on his bike that way.  Only Michael could accomplish this!  He's a master at carrying things on a bicycle; surfboards, luggage, dogs.  Kembry called Nano to say we found the dog and he came over and got her.  She was happy to see him.