Audios Costa Rica, but the Odyssey continues

April 6, 2015

Yesterday we relaxed and today we wrapped things up in Costa Rica: we packed, weighed one suitcase and discovered we were 10 pounds over so had to repack a bit, printed boarding passes, walked to the Avenida Escazu where I could buy a blouse for the Bar Mitzvah (Jacob's big BM) in MA, then walked further to Multi Plaza with its 450 stores where we could get some brie and fancy crackers as a gift for Victoria, our host. She had told us once that she never bought cheese because it was so expensive. We stopped at Bulali for a lovely lunch sitting outside. Ron had as veggie sandwich and I have another fabulous quinoa salad with green greens and avocado. We sauntered over to Starbucks and had our last cup and said goodbye to the baristas who know our order so well that they present it to us as we are paying!

When we got back home Victoria had left us a gift of three of Jay’s photos: a Costa Rica farm, a gorgeous hummingbird and a Tico painted ox cart. We were thrilled and surprised. She is the most unusual host ever and quite generous. Tonight she is joining us at Joanna’s for dinner.

Tomorrow we will get up at 4:00 and leave at 4:30 for a 7:30 flight. We fly to Atlanta to spend two nights with Doug and JJ who were married on our front porch a year ago. JJ said the honeymoon continues. We are eager to spend time with them. From there we head to SC to see my sister, nieces, nephews and cousins. Then we head to VA to see Mark and his family, MA to see Laurie and Jock whom we met in the Rep of GA and to attend our grandson’s Bar Mitzvah. Finally we go on to RI to see Sandi and Bill, Ron’s sister and her husband. Life is good!

Our odyssey continues as we will head to Portland April 24^th,  hopefully for the summer then our move to San Miguel de Allende. Frankly our plans are uncertain after May 23^rd when a house sitting job for friends ends. So, stay tuned to see where we go next!

Topiaries, Hot Springs, fancy carts and more of San Jose

March 31

Today Victoria, our host, Ray and Ella, a couple our age from Canada and Ron and I headed out with Fernando at 7:30. Fernando is one of Carlos’ employees. We hired him to take us in a van to Zarcero which is known for its topiaries and to a hot springs resort. You can Google both places for more photos.

We stopped for a coffee break along the way then hopped back in the van and we were enthralled with the scenery. 

We went over the top edge of the mountains above the central valley and what wonderful sights we had. One area was completely terraced on some of the steepest hillsides imaginable. They were vegetables and fruits of all descriptions being grown here. We tried to get some shots from the moving van so the photos are not as good as we wanted but when we travel with others we are not comfortable making photo stops while others have to wait.

  

When we arrived at Zarcero we spent 30 minutes walking around the park with a wondeful mosaic wall and the topiaries.  Whimsical animals and designs were everywhere.  There was even a "Thomas" train.

 

Then inside the church that was on the square. It was quite cold with the cloud cover and the wind. None of us had brought a jacket. It was a lovely simple church and a number of parishioners were waiting to give confession. Unlike other churches I had been in, I was surprised to see the priest sitting in full view of the parishioners and the confessor sitting with him. I had been under the impression that the confessors had more privacy and anonymity. Not here at least. Because this is Holy Week church activity is at a high.

We drove for another hour or more and arrived at the resort. We paid our fees then drove to the parking lot where Fernando and Carmen, his friend, left us off. We then walked for about ten minutes through the loveliest walk on a paver walkway. We were in a dense, moist jungle with a running creek along our side. The hot springs were a series of pools marked with the temperatures in Celsius. We choose 43 degrees, about 109. It was wonderful to sit in the pool and look up at the canopy above us. Twice I spied a blue morpho butterfly, always a treat. Although there were others there, almost all Ticos, it never felt crowded. We enjoyed ourselves for about 90 minutes then changed and headed back to the resort where we had a nice buffet lunch.

As we were nearing Escazu Victoria who is very spontaneous, asked if any of us had been to Sarchi. Nope. So we took a quick turn off the freeway and headed for the small fun town of Sarchi. Sarchi is known for its furniture manufacturing and for its fancy ox carts historically used on coffee plantations, These are very special carts that are highly painted in bright colors, often with a red or blue background. The ox cart factory was started in 1923. They still have the original hydro power system to run a series of belts that operate saws and other equipment. It was fascinating. They had an extensive shop with all manner of souvenirs but none that we needed. 

We have bought very few items on this trip as we literally do not have the room for such. I only bought two gifts besides the jewelry I always buy in bulk in Sri Lanka for women friends and family.

We got home at 6:30. Ray and Ella were dropped off at the grocery store to pick up some bread and we dashed home to put together a salad and heat up the soup I had made the day before so we could all enjoy a meal together. It was a full day and loads of fun.

April 2

 Today we caught a bus around 9:30 and went onto San Jose, about 15 or 20 minutes away by bus. We did a walking tour of the older part of downtown. Unfortunately SJ has not preserved many of its historic buildings, making for a very unattractive city. However we did get to see probably ten or so older buildings from the late 1800’s or early 1900’s that had been restored. We were surprised how few of the buildings had any form of signage telling us what they now were or once had been.

 

We walked for over two hours and headed back to catch our bus. Today and tomorrow are national holidays in CR as part of Holy Week. According to Victoria, all of Costa Rica heads to the coast for the holidays. Downtown had few cars and people. The buses were scarce as well. We waited a very long time for our bus. Ninety percent of the businesses were closed today. Oddly enough shoe stores were open and there are quite a few downtown. There also were a few fast food eateries open.

We stopped by the store near our house to get oil and eggs for the brownies we were making for tonight’s house dinner Victoria is making for us: chicken, squash soup, salads and bread. When we arrived we were tired and famished so lunch was the first order of the day then a quick nap for me and Ron made the brownies.

Crocs, Carara and Manuel Antonio

March 25

CR Croc

Carlos picked us up at 6:30 this morning and off we went to Carara National Park near the Pacific side of Costa Rica. Along the way we stopped at the Tarcoles River where crocodiles hang out. They looked at if they had just eaten a large meal and were resting in order to digest it.

White Ibis

Next we went to the park and hiked for about two hours. Throughout the hike we heard the macaws as they are quite loud with their squawking. We never saw them in the trees as the canopy is quite dense. However Carlos and I did see four fly by swiftly with their magnificent coloration and long tail feathers flying in the wind. There are about 450 scarlet macaws living in and around the park. They are truly spectacular birds. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife. Ron got some pix of iguanas, some birds and saw a raccoon but again the jungle was too dense to get a photo.

Iguana

Bee's nest

Great Tinamou

typical jungle growth

Whiptail Lizard

White Tipped Dove

Rufus Naped Wren

Blue Crowned Mot Mot

Back in the car and we headed to a place for zip lining and I opted out again as my vertigo is still with me although much milder than initially. I am not sure I would zip line even without vertigo. We spent a little over two hours in this facility. I rode a gondola through the jungle with a guide pointing out various plants, leaf cutter ants, etc. I took one bad photo of a monkey brush plant. The monkeys use this fruit(?) to comb their hair and rid themselves of parasites. I never cease to be amazed at the intelligence of monkeys and apes. While I was waiting on Ron I took some pix of birds, more iguanas and the common basilisk aka the Jesus lizard because of its ability to walk on water. HA!!

Common Basilisa Lizard

 

Carlos took us to a wonderful restaurant on the Jaco beach where we sat outside in the shade with a lovely ocean breeze cooling us. Ron and I ordered fish tacos and could barely finish them as the servings were large and delicious. The small cove had lots of boats and a few people swimming in the beautiful turquoise waters and lying on the white sand beach.

Great Kiskadee

Because we had a lot of time left in the day we decided to go further south to Manuel Antonio Beach. The coastal drive was gorgeous. Costa Rica has white, brown and black sand beaches and we got to see them all. Carlos first drove us through the town of Jaco then it took another 90 minutes to get to M Antonio. It was a very cute town with lots of eateries and hotels and guesthouses. There is a national park here but it was closed for the day as we didn’t arrive until after 4:00. We did see a sloth on a fence as we were driving through town. If you have never seen one they are amazingly slow moving creatures. They look as through their movements are in slow motion.

This is a popular town for tourists. I wish we had planned ahead and stayed overnight but alas we didn’t. One of the drawbacks of being ‘tourists on speed’ is you can’t do it all in a day but by golly we sure like to pack it in in terms seeing what we can in a day!  We walked on the beach briefly and headed home. We arrived at 6:30 making it a 12 hour day. Needless to say we were tired but I am sure Carlos was all the more exhausted. We scrambled some eggs and made toast and headed to bed at 9:45 and were asleep within minutes.

March 26

I told Ron I wanted a down day after our marathon yesterday. We stayed home other than a trip to an art gallery to see the work of a painter Victoria had told us about. The doors were locked so no culture for us today. We continued on to the grocery store and picked up some items for another house dinner. Victoria is making a lentil spinach soup and it is Anca and Michael’s last night before heading back to PA. We have made a great connection with them and enjoy learning a bit about Romania. Neither of us has traveled there.

Ron and I spent the afternoon watching a DVD on Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt that was based on a biography of them. Although the acting was rough in places the overall story was intriguing. I didn’t know that much about them and enjoyed it with all the splendor and costumes of the era.

Our house dinner was delicious and the interaction delightful. I really appreciate Victoria’s ability to brings guests together and have meaningful interaction. Ron and I retired to our room after 10:00 and watched the second disc of the Roosevelt’s then went to bed at 1:45 AM!!