Wildlife at its best

The other day we were sitting on the patio and saw several little birds chasing after a Toucan.  The Toucan landed on a palm tree a short distance from the house.  We could see the smaller birds continue their attack and finally realized it was because the Toucan had landed next to their nest.

Nothing particularly unusual but I decided to grab the binoculars and watch.  I could see the Toucan hop little by little up the palm branch closer to the nest, with the little birds dive bombing it.  Sure enough, I actually saw the Toucan stick its long bill through the bottom of the next and yank out a little baby bird and fly off with it!

Quite a rare and amazing sight!  I never realized Toucans were carnivorous.  I read up on them a bit and apparently they are opportunists and eat fruit, leaves, and the occasional baby bird.

The following week we came across this little blonde fellow in the yard next to ours.  It's called an ASP caterpillar (aka Puss caterpillar).  It is about an inch and half or two inches long and you'd swear it's wearing a blonde wig.

It is really quite pretty up close but they are reportedly, the most toxic caterpillar in the U.S.



Our caretaker brushed against it with his hand and had sharp pains the whole length of his arm that evening.  Some of the descriptions I've read suggest this thing can give you quite a wallop if you get a good dose of toxin off of it's snugly looking fur.

The caretaker seemed OK the next day so he must have just barely come in contact with it.

Our standard rule of thumb down here is not to touch any of the critters and we try to be careful around certain plants as well.  It seems the prettier they are, the more venomous.

So a few days later we had yet another interesting creature stop by.  This big guy stopped by after dark and settled into the corner right next to our patio door.

If I'm not mistaken, he's called Cane Toad and you guessed it, he's poisonous.  The puffy patch just behind his eye on both sides is the poison gland.




I don't think they hurt you if you just touch them but we weren't taking chances so we just left him alone and he was gone by morning.

This week we took our usual walk and when were passing by a small clump of trees at the top of the hill, we started hearing snapping branches, thumps and squeaks.  They were quite loud and I was waiting for something to jump out of the bushes at us.  As we stood there and listened we then saw the branches wiggle in multiple places as the sound of breaking twigs continued.

Then we saw them, a whole family of white-faced monkeys.  We could occasionally see them very clearly as they climbed up branches and jumped from place to place.  All the while they squeaked and once in a while would stop and look us over.  Unfortunately, we had not brought our camera but the luck of seeing these little guys in their natural environment was priceless.  The jungle that surrounds us is massive with a million trees everywhere.  It was purely a stroke of good fortune to be in the right place at the right time.  We went back up tonight but they were no where to be found.  So all in all it was an interesting week.

On March 23rd (next Friday) we go on our private sailboat tour for 2 nights/3 days to a half dozen islands.  Just the three of us and two crew members on a 45 foot ketch (our actual boat to the left).

Sleeping on a boat out in the ocean has been something I wanted to do since our first visit to Costa Rica.  We've spent very little time on a beach to this point so this little adventure should fill that gap and then some.

We sail up in the top of the Gulf of Nicoya, visiting Isla Tortuga, Isla San Lucas, Negritos, Tambor, and back to Herradura.  We hope to fish, snorkel, and walk the beaches during the day and at night I am excited about the chance to gaze at the stars from the ocean.  Speaking of stars, here at the house they are fantastic.

I am not sure if it is due to heat radiating up into the sky at night but all the stars twinkle all at the same.  There is very little light pollution down here in the jungle so we see tons of stars, many of which I have not seen back home in many years.  They are truly spectacular!  Last but not least, there are fire flies all around us at night, in all the trees and they blink very brightly just using their gift of bio-luminescence.

I admit sometimes we get a bit bored but over the past few years, we have had some pretty amazing experiences and I would not trade them for anything.  Later...

Wonderful Day

Chris picked us up around 9:00 this morning and we all headed off to Quepos together.  We grabbed some cash from the bank, walked through the farmer's market and had a sweet roll that kicked our taste buds back in gear.

Chris then took us to a beautiful restaurant in Manuel Antonio called Anaconda.





This was an absolutely beautiful place and the four of us had a wonderful lunch.  We can hardly wait to go back, but next time, no grocery shopping.  Just a walk on the beach, lunch, and fun.

The food was excellent and it reminded me of our first visit to Costa Rica and Hotel Parador.

We had ordered fish back then as well and I recall being a little surprised and squeamish about eating a fish completely intact, eye balls and all.  I suppose some people may eat them (the eye balls?) but we're not quite that bold yet.



You just grab your fork and started chipping away at the tasty, flaky crust and meat on the sides.  This was Red Snapper and we had fish this way in Panama as well.  I never used to be much of a seafood guy but this was excellent along with rice, a beer, and great company.  A tough combination to beat!

 This picture (view from our table) does not even come close to doing this place justice. There was a nice, cool breeze and palm tress everywhere.  Beautiful islands and a view of Manuel Antonio park off in the distance (upper left of photo).

Our waiter Bruce (in upper photo standing between Chris and Mom) was outstanding.

This place knows what customer service is and treats people like guests rather than burdens.  It is those simple things that can make or break a trip.  We ran into Tony on our way to the grocery store and he is just a joy.  

We had Walter in Potrero and Tony here.  These two guys are fantastic, not only as drivers, but as representatives of their country.   We hope to talk Tony and his wife into joining us for a day at the beach over the next few weeks (and maybe another side trip to the Anaconda).

Luck was on our side today and as we were all just enjoying our Calamari, Chris spotted a family of squirrel monkeys. 

(Luck went only so far thought because our camera batteries started to run dry just then).  The whole gang came right up close to us, no fear, no snarling, just the cutest little stinkers you could ever imagine.

These little characters kind of squeak as they hop around looking for hand-outs.

As you can see, they seem pretty relaxed around people.  We were just two feet away as the guy in front just laid down on the back of the chair and relaxed with his arms hanging down.  His buddy just behind him.

They don't hang around long so we didn't have as much time to get pictures as I would have liked but this was an awesome experience. 

We also saw these guys at Hotel Parador 13 years ago (or whatever it was) knocking over patio chairs and stealing hats.

We love Costa Rica, its people and it is getting more and difficult to leave.   It was a wonderful day (outside of the dreaded grocery shopping at the end).   We stashed away another two weeks worth of groceries and headed for home.  It was very nice to have some time out with Chris and we really appreciated the day out.

We have tentative plans for a 3 day/2 night sailboat tour on March 23rd.  It is another item from our bucket list.  I've always wanted to spend a couple nights on a beautiful sailboat and see some of the islands from the water.  We'll leave from Puntarenas (a couple hours north of us) and sail  up in the top of the Gulf of Nicoya, visiting Isla Tortuga, Isla San Lucas, Negritos, Tambor, etc. 

The seas are calm and the trips between the islands are just a few hours, so I think we'll be safe from any sea sickness like I had in Bocas del Toro.  I guess (if we want) we can catch our own fish, have them prepared by the crew and even help hoist the sails here and there.

We can hardly wait!!

I suspect we'll get our fill of beaches during this trip as we'll stop at quite a few little coves and Playas (Beaches) along the way.  Should be a unique experience in all regards.

I am hoping the skies will be pitch black so we can see the stars although there are pretty good views of them from the house as well.

We're now on the back side of our journey and I'm sure time will go fast.  Our goal is to have some new experiences and enjoy the people we meet.  Chris brings coconuts over once in awhile and the milk (or water) over ice is a fantastic thirst quencher at the end of our walks.

We thank our lucky stars for all the adventures we've had over the past few years and plan to milk every ounce of joy we can out of every single year.

Outsmarted by a Gecko!

Over the past few nights, we've been wakened repeatedly by the chirping of a Gecko.  They're not much to worry about really and can be helpful, given the fact that they eat mosquitoes etc. but at night they can be very annoying.  The loud squawking bird is gone so it's been peaceful and a good nights sleep was in order.

So last night, shortly before bed we heard the little bugger and then saw him over by a bamboo bookshelf just outside our bedroom.  At last, we thought, a chance to catch the little jerk and toss him outside (which would be to his benefit since there are many more bugs outside then in).

Mom and I grabbed the flashlight, broom, and dust pan and planned our attack.  I don't like hurting the little guys and I've learned from past Gecko missions that if you approach very, very slowly, you can almost grab them with your bare hand (key word - almost).

As I closed in with my Tupperware container, and when I was within mere inches, he dashed over to the bookshelf and seemed to vanish in thin air.  Armed with my flashlight, I search high and low, between books, on top of books, underneath each shelf, side to side.  No luck.

I then spotted the little rascal hanging on to the back side of one of the bamboo uprights.  Mom grabbed the flashlight, I grabbed the broom and we tried to coax him onto the wall so I could try my trap again.  This little guy was smarter than I gave him credit for and had a knack for moving just out of sight.  He never ran for his life so we could spot him on the wall, but instead he moved up, down, left, right just enough to be out of site.

I can't tell you how long this went on but we even went as far as carefully removing all the books from the shelf to eliminate hiding spots.  Same result.  Now we see him, now we don't.  It had become a challenge and after chasing it around in vain for 15 - 20 minutes, Mom declared that we had invested too much time to give up and be beaten now.

The battle ensued and now I was sweating profusely (It's kind of humid here).  Again, I search high and low, underneath each shelf, on top of each shelf, swished back and forth with the broom, side to side.  Finally after dodging me about 30 times, the little creep dropped to the floor and ran.

Alex had joined the pursuit but the squiggly little lizard snuck past him like a Viking's tight end, zagged when Mom and Alex zigged, and sure enough under the couch he went.  Well, somehow he shook his tail loose and as we moved the couch slightly forward, there was the little tail, all by itself just wiggling away.  A pretty clever tactic to get the pursuer to focus on the tail while the lizard itself escaped.

We tossed the tail outside for the ants and sure enough, the gecko was no where to be found.

We finally gave up, put everything back in its place and got ready for bed, exhausted, defeated, and me sweating like a pig.  So what happened next?  I shut off the light, turned to walk toward the bed and kicked toes first into the leg of a couch in our room.  Today my toe is black and blue and the Gecko still runs free to taunt us another day.

I heard him chirping nearby as I write this post.  Too clever for me so no more Gecko missions for a while.

Earthquakes 2 and 3

Interesting way to wake up...

Just before 5:00 a.m. this morning we felt the house trembling.  This time it was much longer, guessing 10-15 seconds since we both sat up and bed and asked each other "Earthquake?"



Hard to describe but you could hear kind of a low pitched rumbling or buzzing sound the whole time.  Mom's analogy was spot on "It was like those vibrating beds in the cheap motels where you put a quarter in for a little action".

As you can see from the markers, all three were out a short distance from us in the ocean.  The first one (Magnitude 4.8) on Saturday was 13 miles away, and this morning the second (Magnitude 6.1) was 8 miles away and the third just 3 seconds later (Magnitude 6.1) was about 28 miles off our coast.

I'm not sure at what point people starting getting concerned about Tsunamis but it will be fun to research that and see if this is a concern.

Our first little earthquake!

OK, first I say I was looking forward to seeing a deadly snake and now I am saying how excited I was to experience our 1st earthquake.

It was very brief yesterday but we all definitely felt it.  I was in a chair at our kitchen counter, Mom was standing in the bedroom, and Alex was upstairs.

 I felt my chair wiggle twice like someone was behind me, grabbing my chair and wiggling it.  I actually turned around to see who it was.  Chris stopped by shortly afterwards and confirmed that he felt it as well!  I've been back and forth to California many times and had always hoped to experience an earthquake but now I can finally say I felt one.  To me, it was awesome just thinking of the massive power it takes to move the earth like that!

If you look closely at the picture (thanks Chris for the picture) you can see Our Location and the Earthquake Epicenter.  It was about 13 miles or so from our house.  It's hard to see but you can click the picture to get a better view.  I am actually hoping for an after-shock!

Today is our day to walk our 3 miles again and the funny thought popped into my head.  Everyday we walk we pass a herd of cattle grazing on the very steep hills to one side or the other.

I thought how funny it would be (in some respects) to be walking along the road when an earthquake hit and seeing the cows lose their balance, tip over, and start tumbling down the hill.  OK maybe not so funny, but ....



The flower is just outside our back window.  Very pretty!

Everyday here is a bit unique and you never know what little adventure will occur.  We are now on month two and we already know we will truly miss this place.  It's beautiful in every direction.  The cycles are mind boggling to me.  Every creature seems to be on a very distinct schedule and seem to wait for queues from one another for their shift.

Early morning, we hear beautiful melodies from the large variety of birds as they seem to frantically search for food, the hummingbirds buzz back and forth past us, a beautiful flock of white Egrets fly off to the north, and the same little butterfly flutters past our patio table almost on queue at 6:10.  The Cicada's then chirp for a bit, the smaller birds stop chirping and disappear, the vultures start gliding around the valley looking for prey, dusk comes and the crickets and cicada's start getting really loud.  Then as dark approaches, the loud Cicada's slowly drift into silence and the frogs start croaking.  Then the night birds like the Common Pauraque I mentioned earlier come to life.

Chris put it a nice way.  It was like a symphony orchestra, he said, with their conductor's guidance to one section at a time.  "Cicada's - crescendo please as he raises his hand and baton in their direction.  Then signals them to calm to silence as he points toward the frogs, and then on to the Pauraque for their melodic (but annoying) solos.  I know this seems to be an exaggeration but it's true.  As we stood on the patio last night, the Cicada's can be almost deafening but then suddenly drift away as we're talking.  Pretty cool.  I wish I could piece together an audio file.

Last note for this post.  Chris brought over a few coconuts last night from the trees just down the street.  Alex and I poked holes in them this morning and drained the "milk" into a pitcher.  Not quite enough of course for a full pitcher but a nice start.

We then broke them open and carved out the meat.  These were fairly young coconuts so the meat was still soft, almost the texture of peanut butter, maybe slightly stiffer.

Alex took a half shell and had a refreshing little morning treat.  I had a couple scoops as well and to my surprise I really enjoyed it.  Alex and I though it was almost like eating yogurt.

So now, we have a little stash in the refrigerator and from what I've been reading, coconuts offer some nice health benefits and supposedly it's good for you stomach as well.  Awesome start to the day!

We love it here!

Wake Up Call

Today, the three of us took our regular walk and it was a good mile and a half each way, maybe more.  The way out in this case is pretty much all downhill while the road back is obviously all up hill.  I must say that I am proud of mom because she has stuck with the plan despite some leg pains.

Shortly after we got back and re-hydrated ourselves, Chris stopped by for a chat.  It takes a while to cool down so it was nice to settle back and chug through our ice cold water.

Chris left shortly before it started getting dark and returned a few minutes later.  He brought with him a small Fer-de-lance snake.

The picture to the left is not the actual snake but very similar in appearance.  The one Chris had was about 6 inches or so long and about the thickness of a baby finger.

Chris had chopped the head off with his machete and brought it over so we could see what it is that we need to be watching for.  It was a stark reminder of the realities of the jungle.  It made me realize how careless (aka stupid) we've been.  I've walked through the grass barefoot, Alex suns himself near the grass also barefoot and we walk up and down the roads every other day.

As I mentioned early in the blog, we have 4 hours to get medical help if we get bitten by one of these things, and I think Chris mentioned that these little snakes are worse because the venom in a little snake is that much more concentrated.  The same is true with the scorpions we saw in Potrero (our first trip).  The tiniest scorpions were the size of a penny.

We fully intend to continue our walks but we're happy that our primary path is pretty clear of weeds etc. and we keep a pretty close eye out when we walk.  The truth is that this little guy would be pretty hard to spot and Chris was fortunate to spot this thing as he walked back to his place.  What makes one a bit nervous now that Chris found one baby snake (they can apparently get as big as 8 feet) is that I've read that a snake brood can be 70-80 little snakes, so that means there must be a whole new batch around somewhere.

You can't spend your life living in fear and we are certainly not going to let this distract us from all the beauty that surrounds us here but it will make us use a bit more common sense when we're out and about.  I'd really like to have a machete or a hoe to chop these aggressive snakes in half if we ever come across one ourselves.  We bring long sticks with us but I am not sure how helpful they would be in that case.

I now think about my earlier post where I said I swish my stick through the weeds ahead of us to chase snakes away.  Dumb idea.  All that would do is antagonize a snake that is known to be fast, mean, and aggressive - so no more "swishing".

This one is dead and buried.  I must admit I "was" actually looking forward to seeing one but I am not sure I understand why since they can easily kill you.  I would die a thousand deaths if anything happened to Mom or Alex because of my carelessness.

Good, but frightening lesson learned.

After night falls we seem to get a variety of little visitors just outside our patio door.  A few nights ago we had a little frog, then a chameleon, and tonight the most unusual looking bug we've seen yet.

I have no idea just yet what it's called but ...it's kind of cool!

The little worm just kind of cruised right past this thing so apparently it's not an omnivore?

Night Birds

We love birds as much as the next guy and here in the jungle there's a plethora of different types to choose from.  It seems we hear a new one everyday or they outsmart us by changing their tunes from day to day but over the past few days, one has become a little bit annoying.

It's called the  Common Pauraque and although we see and hear them during the day, they seem to love chirping away at night too.

If you click the link above it takes you to a nice web site with an audio link of the sound this guy makes at night.  It's not so bad at early evening but when you're trying to sleep it drives you crazy!


Last night it started at 1:00 a.m. and I knew (based on recent experience) that it wouldn't stop for at least 20 minutes.  Certain birds here seem to like being very repetitive for a long time, waiting for their buddies to call back.  I wasn't in the mood for that since I had to work in the morning.

I got up, went outside, grabbed my walking stick and started poking around in the palm branches where I think it sits every night.  I didn't give a second thought to the fact that lots of other creepy crawlers come out after dark as well (like snakes).

I seemed to have chased it away and angrily went back to bed.  As you might guess, 10 minutes later it started again but I didn't have the energy to go back out so I just laid there and prayed for it to shut up.

As I type this post, our little friend just came back and started again.  Guess where I am going as soon as I hit enter?

Biggest creature so far..

It was a quiet Saturday and we now have a ton of fresh groceries (no cash anymore but lots of food).

Our biggest shopping trip yet so we're hoping it's 3 weeks worth!

We met up with Chris at a nearby restaurant after shopping and had a nice lunch.  Tonny joined us as well and we're lucky to have met him.  He's a super nice guy and tries his best to teach me Spanish.


The waitress got a kick out us when she handed the bill to Chris, he handed it to me, and I handed to Sandy.  She laughed and said "Yeah, Costa Rica men do it too!"

This afternoon we had another little visitor at the house, a chameleon!  It was quite a bit larger than the Gecko's we've got around the house and a beautiful bright green.

I can't really refer to it as "tame" but it was willing to let us get close to it as long as we moved very slowly.  I was actually able to take a square Tupperware container about 4 inches square and lower it slowly on top of it.

It was kind of funny because after I set the container on top of him he started running across the patio, dragging it with him as he scrambled through the legs of the chair.

After I took the container off of it, it didn't seem to want to leave.

Alex could actually touch its tail before it would scamper away. As it sat on the rock you see, it changed color to a very dark green.


Some folks came but to look at the property we are at so we went for our walk.  We go farther every day and this time I am quite sure that we walked at least two miles each way and these are fairly steep roads up and down the hills.  All three of us our getting healthier by the day and it feels great to sweat the toxins out.  My blue jeans actually fit again without having to jerk the snap together!

On our way home, just before our driveway, we saw the largest creature we've seen yet.  It's called a Tayra! It jumped out of the woods to our left and ran across the road about 50 feet ahead of us, back into the jungle on the other side.


Jet black with a very long tail, maybe 2-3 feet.  It looked to be about as long as I am tall.  I grabbed a big rock and threw it into the trees where the thing had gone to scare it off a little more.  Mom says "Thanks for drawing attention to us!"  No worries, I found a new big walking stick so we're ready for anything.  I plan to sharpen it to a point later.  They are omnivores so they're mainly after just little animals, reptiles, and fruit.

We had a very nice down pour yesterday and started hearing a big frog of some kind. After dinner I am going out with a flashlight to try and get a glimpse of it.

We're excited about dinner of course since now we even have pork chops, mash potatoes and even a couple of apple pies for later in the week.  Yahoo!

Strong Wills, Empty Stomachs, and Costa Rican Screws

So....as I stated a few posts ago, grocery prices can easily get out of hand here but we've discovered how to beat them at their own game.  It's not for everyone and it takes a little effort but it seems to be leveling the playing field.  It's called starvation.

We've been buying groceries to last us two weeks at a time.  The first week is wonderful with all the goodies one could want.  By the end of the first week, Mom starts rationing food, and by the middle of week two, popcorn is a serious contender for dinner.  Ah yes, we're in paradise!

We have faithfully taken our 2-3 mile walks every other day and still have plenty of fat to burn off but I suspect with our reduced caloric intake, by the time we get home, we'll look like homeless transients.

The bugs and lizards have taken on a new appeal these days, not so much anymore for the sweet sound of their chirps and rhythmic melodies but rather for  the size of their meaty thighs and what they might taste like on a skewer over a low flame.

OK, I'm exaggerating a little bit but the cupboards are a bit bare just before our next big shopping trip tomorrow.  This is a good thing (so we convince ourselves) and our health must surely be improving by leaps and bounds, no fatty Kentucky Fried chicken, no messy blue berry pies to soil the rugs or the unsettling experience of blue berries bursting in your mouth unexpectedly , no nasty cream filled doughnuts with that custard that gently caresses every taste bud in your mouth, and thank goodness we no longer have to grind those chewy, pieces of rib eye apart!  So anyway...............................................................(sorry drifted into a bit of an epicurean dream for a second.

Toward the end of the second week we find ourselves looking at and admiring the last slice of bread in the middle of the table, glance at each other wondering who will concede first.  "Go ahead honey, you take it!" I say.  "Oh no, you take it, I'm fine!" Mom replies (as Alex reaches out and grabs it before either of us).

The rule of thumb here is "Always have a plan B".  We were told at our last shopping excursion that the trip to Jaco and the Automercado grocery store would cost $200 round trip.  Today we discovered the price had jumped to a whopping $300!  That ain't gonna happen muchacho!!

  So plan B is to use Tonny and his nice van at a slightly more reasonable rate of $150.  However, we also need someone to get us down the mountain and back up because Tonny does not have a 4x4.

I am already tired of being screwed by supermarkets and taxi drivers so it won't take much more to opt out and come back to Minnesota with our tails between our legs.  Hopefully we can work this out and stay until April.  Chris suggested eating beans and rice and showed me where the rice cooker was.

"How nice and thoughtful" I thought.  The truth is, I actually like black beans and rice and as dumb as it sounds, it brings back fond memories of Key West.  Bill and Alicia Cates had invited me (a long haired kid) into their home for dinner.  Alicia made dolphin, black beans and rice, and fruit.  Ever since then, I've always looked forward to it.  The tough part is a recipe to match hers.  She was Cuban and had her own blend of spices and was a great cook and maybe part of it was that I had the habit of eating Slim Jim's and chocolate milk for dinner.

The last thing this trip was supposed to be was a preparatory exercise to get us ready for a stint on Survivor, you know "Outwit, "Outlast", OutPlay"!  I am sure things will improve and if we factor in the cost of gas, our typical grocery spend, and the fast food jaunts we routinely made back home it ends up not being a whole lot worse than a couple weeks back home.

It's peaceful here and the sunsets are wonderful, so our fingers are crossed that our shopping adventures become less of an adventure and more of a routine, cheaper ritual just like home.  We'll see what the grocery bill is tomorrow.  So enough of that.  I dwell too much on food these days.

This little critter we've seen a few times now.  It looks like a tiny dust bunny but has tiny little legs and walks!  It reminds me of those cartoons where the crook hides behind a bush or tumbleweed and sneaks up on his innocent victims.

If your blow on it or frighten it, he just pulls up its legs (or lowers its body) and waits until you go away.  Then the legs spring back into action again and he continues on his way.  The first time I saw one, it was right by that Golden Orb spider I showed in an earlier post.  Spiders apparently don't like dust.

This little guy is soft to the touch like a little scrap of sponge and his feet stick to the surface like an ant when you blow on them.  We assume its like a crab that commandeers an empty shell for its new home but I haven't had the heart to yank on his little legs to see if I can pull him out of the dust ball.

I decided to add a little video of our little friend, it's just the cutest darn thing.

Last note for tonight.  The other day, on our long walk up through the jungle at quite a bit higher elevation, we walked through a patch of jungle.  We started hearing a snap like a tongue click or snap of your fingers.  We were just waiting for something to spring out and attack us thinking it was signalling its buddies to surround us.  We stop and heard it in front of us, then in back.

Later, Alex also told us (with a sneaky grin) that he was mimicking the noise himself to throw me off.  Clever as that was I knew this was some kind of jungle creature since it was too far behind us at times.  After we got back home, we started digging around on the internet and discovered it was actually a bird.

A Red Capped Manakin to be exact and it apparently is pretty well known as the Michael Jackson bird because of the "moonwalk" it does during its mating dance.

We never actually got to "see" the darn thing but the sound was unmistakable.

Here's a little YouTube video we found that provides a little more detail.  The lady in the video clearly has issues but its kind of cute to see the bird's dance.  Enjoy !!



Later....

Finally on Horseback Again

Today we had our first opportunity to go horseback riding again.  It's been two long years and we were really looking forward to it.  The beauty of it here is that they bring the horses right to our house!

Sometimes you hear of and see horses that are poorly fed with their ribs sticking out and it breaks your heart.  Sometimes they're fairly small and Alex is kind of a big guy so that doesn't work so well either.

Oldimar (left) was our guide today and he was excellent.  Very patient and that came in handy since he spoke no english and we spoke no spanish.  Funny how often we get into those predicaments down here huh?

We muddled our way through our communication issues and always seem to end up on track one way or the other.  Sometimes it's a lot of hand gestures (not the ones I use back home on the highway) and lots of repeating, trying different words.  It actually is good for us and is forcing us, one word at a time, to pick up a little better grasp of spanish.  If Oldimar spoke english there's no doubt that's all we'd speak the whole day.

These guys were well fed and clearly well taken care of.  It started out to be a slightly cooler, overcast day but then the clouds cleared and it warmed up to 80 degress pretty quickly.

The cooler weather would have been nice for the horses because the trails are quite steep and these beauties have to work pretty hard to carry us inept gringos up and down the hills.

It takes a while (for us) to get the feel of the horse's temperment and how sensitive they are to the reigns.  They can be a little stubborn at times and I am guessing they know when they've got inexperienced riders aboard.

We mount up and head down our driveway and get a little resistance right from the start.  It took some time (most of the trip) to figure out how to prod them along from a dead stop.

Oldimar used a little leather strap on their back sides when needed but we gringos didn't even realize we had them as well until we got back in our driveway at the end of the trip (duh)!

I so wish I could share pictures that captured the incredible beauty of the landscape here.  It is just amazing when you see the red clay, green fauna, blue skies and wispy white clouds all together.

Combine that with the depth of the valleys and the palms and the ocean breeze and it is almost too much for our sense to consume all at once.

As hard as I try, these pictures don't even come close to the beauty that surrounds us.  Every direction is another masterpiece and the air is fresh and clean.

We keep a fairly steady pace but part of me wants to stop, dismount and "smell the roses".  If only I had a 3D 360 degree Omnimax camera at my disposal.

We sometimes rode literally along a VERY narrow edge of the cliff.  The trail was well defined and it was hard to imagine the horse having the dexerity to maneuver one foot precisely in front of the other.  If that's not enough, to our immediate right was a deep, deep valley and one could only imagine the result of an untimely misstep.  I of course don't want to alarm anyone with mindless fear and an outburst of "watch out!" but I was picturing my wife and son, tumbling down the side of the hill, still hanging on to their horse.

We ended up at a point where we went through a gate and were planning to cross another valley off the beaten path but Oldimar spotted a couple of wild (or at least not fenced in) horses and turned us around in an effort to avoid having these guys get our horses all excited.

Sure enough, as Oldimar opened the gate to head back out, these two came galloping up from behind us and went nose to nose with our horses.  Oldimar quickly chased them away but they were clearly excited and seemingly happy to see the new kids in town (the horses not us).  After chasing them away a couple of times we managed to get through the gate and continue our journey.
One ledge after another we navigate the hillside.  After we got past the woods, Oldimar took us fairly near to the edge again so we could see the valley below.  Mom was quite nervous about this since it was our first ride so if you watch closely, you'll see her tendancy to lean right in an effort to encourage the horse NOT to go any further left.

Almost home, we stopped and set up the mini tripod for a group photo and then on to the last leg toward home.

At least this time I remembered to bring the tripod but we always have "shoe pod" when we need it.  For those that don't remember "shoe pod" from our 1st trip, it is basically my Nike tennis shoe on a stick which I then use to prop my camera on for these group shots.

It was a quick two hours for sure and Alex hung back slightly and just took it all in.  I think I had the old mare of the group because it panted like a dog after a long run.

I tried to let him pause once in a while to catch his breath but he did a good job and was easily managed.

Oldimar told us the names of the horses but they were longer spanish names and I was having enough trouble remembering "Oldimar".

Mom and Oldimar led the way back through our gate and up the driveway to end a beautiful day and a long awaited horse ride.

We love horses so much and it was wonderful to have this opportunity once again.

Many more rides to come and once Oldimar is convinced we know where we're going, we can pick the horses up (a short walk from home) and ride into the wilderness by ourselves.

Finally back home (our house at the top), in one piece and happy as larks.  It was still only early afternoon but a good start to a great day.

I think we all will make a concerted effort to pick up spanish now and will jot down a collection of well planned phrases so we can have more of a conversation with Oldimar, our caretaker Elvis, and the community at large next time we head into town.

Later....

Groceries Are A Man's Worst Friend!

Ok so here we are in the middle of our second week in paradise and we're beginning to learn a few important lessons, mainly regarding our diets.

We actually had the same problem in Panama last year but this year seems to be getting out of hand.



Sorry for the hazy pictures but I think I was somewhat delirious from seeing the nice little spanish gal hitting so many cash register keys so fast.

We had stopped for groceries on our way in from the airport but after just 8 days we had run out of food. We arranged for a driver and he (Randall) arrived promptly at 8 a.m.

He was a nice enough guy but he spoke very little english (that he'd admit to) and we were really hoping to see Tonny again.




Chris (the current owner of this place was gracious enough to come with us.  Chris speaks spanish pretty well and his help proved invaluable.

We took a little tour of the farmer's market then decided to walk over to the store to get our groceries since Alex wasn't with us.  We first stopped at the bank to get some colones (local money) and took out enough cash (we thought) to last a few good weeks.

The store was much smaller than Automercado (nice larger store) and was typical of those we had seen in Potrero on our first visit.  The selection was minimal (only kind of soup was Tomato) but all in all it had a fair amount of what we needed to get through the next week or so.  Prices are a bit higher on things, typical U.S. on others and (what the hell do you mean it's $$$$ on others).

Sandy shopped away, I strolled around pretending I was helping and found a 50 Qt cooler like the one above for the bargain priceof 40,000 colones.  I thought it would be nice to have for the great meat we were about to buy but then it struck me, 500 colones per dollar makes that an $80 cooler!  That was my first clue that it could be a little bit of a spendy shopping trip. (I looked a similar one up at Target and it was $37).

As usual our stomachs got the best of us so the grocery cart was filled to the brim.  Sandy started loading the goodies on to the counter, the nice little spanish gal, start hitting keys and the grocery bagger kept rolling his eyes.

I stood by the door and kept checking my pocket to make sure my half of the cash was still there.  I had a feeling I was going to need it.



Long story short, another $370 and a grand total of groceries for our 8 days ($710) plus the taxi ride, another ($100) which we thought was going to be $50.  Yikes!!!  We are now on the slim pickens diet and Sandy guards the refrigerator.  We've come to realize that we ain't in Kansas anymore and grocery shopping was a killer.  I am starting to like the idea of beans and rice (the meal of choice for most locals).

On the way home we stopped to see what a car rental might be ($85 per day) and think we may go that route for groceries in the future.  A trip to Automercado, a much more modern and well-equipped store is quite a bit farther away than the "bargain"store but would cost us $200 just to get there and back!! You kidding me?  Do we get a foot massage with that?

We also realized that the Budget Rental was next to the same airport we flew back to San Jose from during our first trip (12 years ago).  It was actually nice to see and brought back a flood of nice memories.

We got back home and spent the day reflecting on how crazy and out of hand food had gotten.  Next trip, I plan to stay out of the store and let the boss (Sandy) do the shopping.  After all she's been the master chef of the house for quite a few years and it was clear she didn't need my help.

The next day we took another walk.  I like to try and be creative with some of the pictures so I asked Alex to step into the thick brush next to the pretty bamboo so I could get the "thorns" in the foreground.

Like the trooper he is, Alex stepped into the brush and the brush stepped into Alex.  The end result was a nice little scratch.

"Thanks Dad!"

As we take these health walks I generally lead the way since there are Ferdelance (deadly) snakes here and Bushmasters.  If you get bit by the Ferdelance you have 4 hours to get to the hospital and this is a real risk here.  Not much chance that we will actually make it to the hospital in time from where we're at so....

When we get in the stretch of our walk where the grasses are thick or high enough to hide a coiled up snake, I wave my stick out ahead of us like I am sweeping for land mines.  If a snake actually scampers away I'll probably die from a heart attack anyway so not sure if this extra effort is worth it or not.

I doubt this will help much but it seems like its better than stepping on them.

This pic was just for fun.  Kind of an experiment in perspectives.  I am shooting the picture off the sliding glass doors into the kitchen at sunset and Sandy has the kitchen lights on.

If you look closely you can see a variety of things both inside and out (even a glimpse of the green plant behind me).




Every night, we see beautiful sunsets from our patio.  We can't seem to keep ourselves from staring at it every night so I fully expect we'll have eye damage by the end of the trip.

This little beauty is called a Golden Orb.  It has a huge spider web outside the bedroom window on the second floor.  (That window stays shut ;-) )

I am guessing it's body is about 2 inches long and the span of it's legs is maybe the size of your hand.

We take a 2 mile walk every other day and I can feel the fat burning off (I've convinced myself of that whether it's true or not).

Along the way, we pass a whole herd of cattle grazing on the hill.  As we pass, they look at us like we're idots (Never seen a cow before?)

Although you can't really see it in the picture so well, this hill they are standing on has got to be at a 45 degree angle.  How these guys don't end up rolling down the hill is beyond me!

We are hoping that our friends, Jeff, Wendy, and Brock Blasdell come and spend a weekend with us soon.  We met these great folks during our 2nd trip to Costa Rica up in the northen (Guanacaste region) of Costa Rica.  It's hard to believe it's been 2 years already!

Sorry Brock, you'll probably get the room with the view of the Gloden Orb while Mom and Dad get the ocean view!



We have some interesting dillemmas here.  We have no cell phone, no car, and we're in the middle of nowhere at an elevation of about 1400 feet.  Our neighbor is just a 2 minute walk away but we wonder.....if he was hurt or disappeared for some reason what do we do?   My only solution right now, is to try and reach Jeff and Wendy via Facebook (above) in Portrero and ask them to call someone (or drive 6 hours) to come help us.

It truly is wonderful here but we are well aware of the risk of snakes, spiders, bugs, etc. etc. and your mind can play tricks on you. 

The other day, as I was walking down the half lit staircase at night, I caught, out of the corner of my eye, the palm tree emblem shown to the right.

Instinctively I swatted at it several times in panic with the speed of superman, convinced it was a tarantula!  I just hope that someday, I don't end up with a real one there and ignore it!



So in summary for this post, part of the arrangment we have during our stay here is access to horses.  Today they are actually bringing three of them up to our house (for free) so we can go riding today at noon. 

We are looking so forward to this as the last time we rode was here in Costa Rica two years ago.  Hopefully mine is nicer than the last one who seemed compelled to drag me through the tree branches so the fire ants could bite me! 

More to come........