First day of Spring, Lary went to the clubhouse for breakfast and brought some back for Di. Yeah team. Went to DHS for groceries and money, had lunch and watched some pickleball, as there was a tournament here in our campground, with teams from as far away as San Diego competing. Sue and Jen had set off for cousin Penny Hett's in Dana Point, together with our GPS, and they were spending the night there with the cousins.
We went in to the Jazz concert put on at the Gardens shopping complex at El Paseo, the swanky shopping area down here, with Dave and Wendy. Will Donato was the featured sax player, and he didn't play much, he goofs off a lot, and was going on to another place to continue playing afte our show. He's more showman than serious musician, and really promotes himself quite a bit, and goofs off instead of playing a lot of music. He played from 6 til about 6:45 when he left, way earlier than the other musicians that play. For $12 we had an appy plate each, and 2 tiny glasses of wine, and sat outdoors on the lawn in the warm sunshine.
We 4 went and had dinner at Applebees after that. Home at 9:30 PM, Dave drove.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thursday March 18th, our departure from Costa Rica
Up at 4 AM, showered and down to breakfast, suitcases out by 4:45 AM, lucky we got something to hurriedly eat before the bus left at 5:15 AM for the airport. Orlando, Wilbert and Fabio the faithful driver took us right to the door of the airport, before saying goodbye.
Total chaos reigned there at the airport, it was a freaking disaster, and I'm surprised the tour guide Shirley didn't have a heart attack it was so confused there. Apparently all the flights depart in the morning from C.R. so it was lined up everywhere, and not clear how to check in for your flight, check your bags through screening in another lineup entirely, and then go outside once again, to lineup once again, to re enter the building through yet another line, and go through security screening to get on to the flight. Pandemonium, and you could easily stand in the wrong line, and miss your flight. Creepy to say the least. Security was somewhat low tech, they said my glasses had set off the detector, but then later I realized I had my lipstick still in my pocket.
Yet another reason not to fly in to San Jose when visiting C.R. There are many other cities you can fly into and out of in Costa Rica, missing the capital city completely. San Jose is really not worth a visit in our opinion.
While on the flight from C.R. Di sat with a man from the US, he had been in C.R. for a month, and was thinking seriously of returning to live there, a friend of his produces movies and documentary films there in C.R., he's also American, but has lived in C.R. for 18 years, and has more than enough work himself, and wants help from this other man.
The man Di talked to lives in Oregon, but is bilingual in Spanish, and has a wife from Chile, so they seem an ideal couple to make the move to C.R., and also find gainful employment once there. He had been hurt seriously in his back when he was only 20, and hadn't been able to work much since then, he's also had to have 5 different back operations, so it might be a wonderful opportunity for him to change careers.
He thought he might rent out his own home in Oregon just to make sure the C.R. idea worked for him, though he said he'd be heartbroken to leave his young grandson behind in Oregon. They are very good buddies. He had met up with somebody willing to rent a house to him in C.R. already.
Once through the circus activity of all that arrival activity in San Jose airport, we boarded, and then were told that the plane had to land for fuel in Mazatlan, and we likely wouldn't make our connection, or it would be extremely close in Phoenix, as we didn't have much time to move from International to National and the connecting flight when we arrived there.
Fueling went smoothly in Mazatlan, but we did in fact all miss our connections in Phoenix, except for the 90 year old in our party, who got a ride with the airport toodle car people movers, and caught the flight. So that put him alone into L.A. and the rest of us had a 3.5 hour wait there in Phoenix airport, with the guide still hysterically trying to organize us all. Bill the 90 year old also had a lonely, chilly wait in L.A. for the rest of us to arrive, he had to wait because we would go as a group in the limo back to our campground in D.H.S., a 2 hour journey.
Shirley got us $5 vouchers each toward a meal in the airport, but due to her antics in the arrival hall of Phoenix, trying to get the troupe given preferential treatment ahead of other folks who had had the same thing happen to them, she wasn't very popular with the rest of the Phoenix travellers. One lady came up to Di and said she was glad that our tour leader hadn't made the connecting flight!!!!! We all got rebooked on the 5:15 PM flight to L.A., so sat down to wait.
We had a longish wait, luckily there were shops, bars and restaurants, so we kept ourselves busy, though indeed starting to sag a bit due to the early departure time from our hotel in Costa Rica.
When we all arrived in L.A. we found Bill the 90 year old, then found our hotel limo driver for the 2 hour ride back to the campsite in Desert Hot Springs. We arrived in L.A. around 7 PM, it was only about 62 degrees there, and foggy, brrrrrr, the limo arrived around 7:30, and we all arrived back in Desert Hot Springs right at the door of the campsite around 9:30 PM or so.
The driver of the limo had driven very fast, mostly in the extreme left side lane, guess he was able to use the HOV lane for clear access, even at that hour the freeways were busy with cars. It luckily wasn't bumper to bumper traffic at that hour, but each lane had its own lane of red tail lights racing down the freeway beside us. He used his GPS to find D.H.S.
Blowing a gale of wind when we got here, and chilly when we got home, we brought the suitcases up to the trailer, and then popped over to visit Jen and Sue in the park model rental unit here.
They seemed very cozy, sleepy, and surprised that the rental hadn't had any blankets, sheets, towels or anything. All the linens came from our trailer, this year they had realized that we had supplied everything they used, pretty well. They had hauled it over themselves from our trailer this year, last year they had walked in to the rental unit, and presumed that all the stuff they used came from the campground. NOT!! Unfortunately their pull out sofa bed wouldn't pull out, and they didn't go down and complain at the office their whole week here. So one of them slept on the sofa cushions on the floor every night here in the rental unit.
We sorted out a few things in the trailer, and then dropped into bed, exhausted. Wonderful trip overall, and thanks to the tour being organized, we managed to see and do a lot in our one week voyage there in C.R.
Total chaos reigned there at the airport, it was a freaking disaster, and I'm surprised the tour guide Shirley didn't have a heart attack it was so confused there. Apparently all the flights depart in the morning from C.R. so it was lined up everywhere, and not clear how to check in for your flight, check your bags through screening in another lineup entirely, and then go outside once again, to lineup once again, to re enter the building through yet another line, and go through security screening to get on to the flight. Pandemonium, and you could easily stand in the wrong line, and miss your flight. Creepy to say the least. Security was somewhat low tech, they said my glasses had set off the detector, but then later I realized I had my lipstick still in my pocket.
Yet another reason not to fly in to San Jose when visiting C.R. There are many other cities you can fly into and out of in Costa Rica, missing the capital city completely. San Jose is really not worth a visit in our opinion.
While on the flight from C.R. Di sat with a man from the US, he had been in C.R. for a month, and was thinking seriously of returning to live there, a friend of his produces movies and documentary films there in C.R., he's also American, but has lived in C.R. for 18 years, and has more than enough work himself, and wants help from this other man.
The man Di talked to lives in Oregon, but is bilingual in Spanish, and has a wife from Chile, so they seem an ideal couple to make the move to C.R., and also find gainful employment once there. He had been hurt seriously in his back when he was only 20, and hadn't been able to work much since then, he's also had to have 5 different back operations, so it might be a wonderful opportunity for him to change careers.
He thought he might rent out his own home in Oregon just to make sure the C.R. idea worked for him, though he said he'd be heartbroken to leave his young grandson behind in Oregon. They are very good buddies. He had met up with somebody willing to rent a house to him in C.R. already.
Once through the circus activity of all that arrival activity in San Jose airport, we boarded, and then were told that the plane had to land for fuel in Mazatlan, and we likely wouldn't make our connection, or it would be extremely close in Phoenix, as we didn't have much time to move from International to National and the connecting flight when we arrived there.
Fueling went smoothly in Mazatlan, but we did in fact all miss our connections in Phoenix, except for the 90 year old in our party, who got a ride with the airport toodle car people movers, and caught the flight. So that put him alone into L.A. and the rest of us had a 3.5 hour wait there in Phoenix airport, with the guide still hysterically trying to organize us all. Bill the 90 year old also had a lonely, chilly wait in L.A. for the rest of us to arrive, he had to wait because we would go as a group in the limo back to our campground in D.H.S., a 2 hour journey.
Shirley got us $5 vouchers each toward a meal in the airport, but due to her antics in the arrival hall of Phoenix, trying to get the troupe given preferential treatment ahead of other folks who had had the same thing happen to them, she wasn't very popular with the rest of the Phoenix travellers. One lady came up to Di and said she was glad that our tour leader hadn't made the connecting flight!!!!! We all got rebooked on the 5:15 PM flight to L.A., so sat down to wait.
We had a longish wait, luckily there were shops, bars and restaurants, so we kept ourselves busy, though indeed starting to sag a bit due to the early departure time from our hotel in Costa Rica.
When we all arrived in L.A. we found Bill the 90 year old, then found our hotel limo driver for the 2 hour ride back to the campsite in Desert Hot Springs. We arrived in L.A. around 7 PM, it was only about 62 degrees there, and foggy, brrrrrr, the limo arrived around 7:30, and we all arrived back in Desert Hot Springs right at the door of the campsite around 9:30 PM or so.
The driver of the limo had driven very fast, mostly in the extreme left side lane, guess he was able to use the HOV lane for clear access, even at that hour the freeways were busy with cars. It luckily wasn't bumper to bumper traffic at that hour, but each lane had its own lane of red tail lights racing down the freeway beside us. He used his GPS to find D.H.S.
Blowing a gale of wind when we got here, and chilly when we got home, we brought the suitcases up to the trailer, and then popped over to visit Jen and Sue in the park model rental unit here.
They seemed very cozy, sleepy, and surprised that the rental hadn't had any blankets, sheets, towels or anything. All the linens came from our trailer, this year they had realized that we had supplied everything they used, pretty well. They had hauled it over themselves from our trailer this year, last year they had walked in to the rental unit, and presumed that all the stuff they used came from the campground. NOT!! Unfortunately their pull out sofa bed wouldn't pull out, and they didn't go down and complain at the office their whole week here. So one of them slept on the sofa cushions on the floor every night here in the rental unit.
We sorted out a few things in the trailer, and then dropped into bed, exhausted. Wonderful trip overall, and thanks to the tour being organized, we managed to see and do a lot in our one week voyage there in C.R.
Wednesday March 17th in Costa Rica
Cloudy but 30 degrees C. Up and off before 0800, back to Braulio Carrillo National Park that we had passed through another day when we went on our river cruise. This time we were headed to the Rain Forest Aerial Trams, the small green metal cable cars that hold 6 people and a guide, and glide slowly through the forest canopy, from down nearly on the ground, to up over 130 feet in the canopy, through a green forest.
It was a peaceful and quiet ride gliding along, we were the first car launched that day, and our guide was again very informative and well prepared. We saw lots of rivers, and lush green growth, and heard birds, but didn't see much except green, green and more green.
The road that leads to Braulio Carrillo National Park was green and lush, many of the hillsides were covered solidly with fern growth, and very pretty. But an extremely busy road for truck traffic, which was coming over from the Caribbean side, from the port of Limon, to the Pacific side of Costa Rica, a journey for them of about 4 -5 hours.
We saw lineups of trucks waiting to enter into San Jose as we left town, apparently their entry is controlled, and they can't enter the capital city until after 9 AM or so. The road is somewhat twisty and turny, and very narrow in most places.
After our 1 hour canopy ride, we headed off to another Buffet lunch at Rio Dante Restaurant, right out in the jungle. Before lunch we went for a jungle walk, about 1/2 hour, and again very interesting as our guide Orlando and the paramedic Wilbert showed us so many things about the jungle there. Orlando caught a tiny tree frog, bright red, with venomous skin, and bright blue feet. The natives had used the venom on their arrow tips in bygone days for hunting, to partially paralyze their prey. Wilbert seemed to be keeping a close watch out all along our route, a cement pathway through the jungle, perhaps for snakes. Costa Rica has some, but we didn't see any. Wilbert gave Lary a huge seed, nearly 2 inches in size. Lunch was delicious, there was a roof covering the restaurant, but no sides, and a kind of atrium in the centre with green plants. There were manicured lawns with flowering shrubs and trees, including orchids blooming right near the restaurant.
Back to the hotel by 1500, group photo near the painted cow at the hotel courtyard near the swimming pool which we hadn't even had time to enjoy, we had been so busy all week.
They were also changing all the fresh flowers in the lobby and public areas of the hotel, the gingers, heliconia, and other incredible flowers, all grown right there in Costa Rica. It was so pretty to see how they arranged them all. What a dream to have such luxuriant plants and flowers all around, growing in the most humble of houses yards.
Before Happy Hour, we had hurriedly packed up our suitcases, and then off for a 50 minute bus ride across town to a very fancy hotel up in the hills, looking down on the lights of the capital city of San Jose, where we had the most disappointing meal of our whole trip.
Wonderful service, waiters in very formal black, most of the time very attentive, but food paltry, not that much of it, and nearly cold to boot. Nice salads, but the hot dishes were scarce, not hot, not really even warm, and only 2 desserts, it was as if we had come late to the meal, and they couldn't be bothered to put on a good one for us. Tenderloin was like shoe leather. Most folks couldn't even get their teeth into it, we just bounced it around then left it on the plates.
What irony, out in the middle of the forest or the jungle we had been given feasts, often cooked over wood, in open air shelters, veritable feasts, and here in the fancy smancy 5 star hotel we felt like we were getting leftovers. And the guide had hyped it so much for us all, bummer.
It was a peaceful and quiet ride gliding along, we were the first car launched that day, and our guide was again very informative and well prepared. We saw lots of rivers, and lush green growth, and heard birds, but didn't see much except green, green and more green.
The road that leads to Braulio Carrillo National Park was green and lush, many of the hillsides were covered solidly with fern growth, and very pretty. But an extremely busy road for truck traffic, which was coming over from the Caribbean side, from the port of Limon, to the Pacific side of Costa Rica, a journey for them of about 4 -5 hours.
We saw lineups of trucks waiting to enter into San Jose as we left town, apparently their entry is controlled, and they can't enter the capital city until after 9 AM or so. The road is somewhat twisty and turny, and very narrow in most places.
After our 1 hour canopy ride, we headed off to another Buffet lunch at Rio Dante Restaurant, right out in the jungle. Before lunch we went for a jungle walk, about 1/2 hour, and again very interesting as our guide Orlando and the paramedic Wilbert showed us so many things about the jungle there. Orlando caught a tiny tree frog, bright red, with venomous skin, and bright blue feet. The natives had used the venom on their arrow tips in bygone days for hunting, to partially paralyze their prey. Wilbert seemed to be keeping a close watch out all along our route, a cement pathway through the jungle, perhaps for snakes. Costa Rica has some, but we didn't see any. Wilbert gave Lary a huge seed, nearly 2 inches in size. Lunch was delicious, there was a roof covering the restaurant, but no sides, and a kind of atrium in the centre with green plants. There were manicured lawns with flowering shrubs and trees, including orchids blooming right near the restaurant.
Back to the hotel by 1500, group photo near the painted cow at the hotel courtyard near the swimming pool which we hadn't even had time to enjoy, we had been so busy all week.
They were also changing all the fresh flowers in the lobby and public areas of the hotel, the gingers, heliconia, and other incredible flowers, all grown right there in Costa Rica. It was so pretty to see how they arranged them all. What a dream to have such luxuriant plants and flowers all around, growing in the most humble of houses yards.
Before Happy Hour, we had hurriedly packed up our suitcases, and then off for a 50 minute bus ride across town to a very fancy hotel up in the hills, looking down on the lights of the capital city of San Jose, where we had the most disappointing meal of our whole trip.
Wonderful service, waiters in very formal black, most of the time very attentive, but food paltry, not that much of it, and nearly cold to boot. Nice salads, but the hot dishes were scarce, not hot, not really even warm, and only 2 desserts, it was as if we had come late to the meal, and they couldn't be bothered to put on a good one for us. Tenderloin was like shoe leather. Most folks couldn't even get their teeth into it, we just bounced it around then left it on the plates.
What irony, out in the middle of the forest or the jungle we had been given feasts, often cooked over wood, in open air shelters, veritable feasts, and here in the fancy smancy 5 star hotel we felt like we were getting leftovers. And the guide had hyped it so much for us all, bummer.
Tuesday March 16 in Costa Rica
Away from the hotel at 7:45 AM to visit a butterfly farm outside San Jose, the guide Stefanie was very informative. Wow and more wow, those huge morpho blue butterflies are irridescent blue, and she had one grasped firmly in her hand, and showed us the back and front of it.
Size was maybe 4 inches in all, brown on flip side, but the most wonderful blue on the main side.
We were surprised how fast butterflies move, she said that was to avoid their predators.
Of course we saw the different stages of butterfly development, one stage they are like long fat caterpillars, and are eating machines. That butterfly farm ships all over the world, and there are many families who supply them with butterflies from different parts of Costa Rica. It was an intersting time there.
Then off to the Cafe Britt coffee plantation, where we had an informative and very humourous presentation about growing harvesting and roasting coffee. The beans are harvested from December through March or so I believe, and Costa Rica produces about 2% of the world's coffee. The guide said that their coffee is a high quality, so that their competition is Kona Coffee and that level of beans. We ate lunch there and explored their ample gift shop, picking up coffee for Jen and some for ourselves. The buffet lunch was huge, and just delicious.
Most of the places where we have eaten always give us tropical fruit juice as one of the choices to drink at lunch, a real treat for us northerners.
Then a trip to Sarchi, a crafts village where they build the traditional oxcarts, now mostly miniatures for the tourist trade, as well as beautiful hardwood furniture. We were taken to only one shop, which was so disappointing, we had thought we would be able to visit a whole series of shops in the village. The shop we visited was huge, but the main floor was swelteringly hot, though apparently downstairs where there were bigger pieces of furniture it was lovely and cool. And we only had 1/2 hour, which was also very disappointing for us all. We had been promised that this was our shopping expedition and it would be so great. Not so, and a big bust for lots of people on our trip. Di bought some tee shirts, and a lovely hardwood cutting board, but not much else.
We saw and photographed a beautiful supersized oxcart, with it's bright paint, and oxen yoke, it looked as if it was made for Paul Bunyan and Babe it was so big, and it was inside a protective transparent type of cover.
Back to the hotel for happy hour- I forgot to say that it's a whole hour daily, and the drinks are totally free from 5 -6 PM, then a loud buzzer rings, and no more happy hour. One of the couples in the tour even managed to take a drink or two back up to their room, most of us didn't require that much libation!!!!!
We went back to La Gallera Latin American restaurant across the street from Best Western Irazu for supper, with Dave and Wendy, and 2 other couples, Ron H and his friend Sally, and Joan and Chuck W. It was delicious, and not as noisy as the night before when there had been a young boisterous group there. The theme in the restaurant is roosters, and there are some lovely big swirling watercolors of roosters on the walls, also some clay art tiles, and clay plates, all with the rooster them. Roosters everywhere you looked in the stained glass and decoration around the restaurant.
Size was maybe 4 inches in all, brown on flip side, but the most wonderful blue on the main side.
We were surprised how fast butterflies move, she said that was to avoid their predators.
Of course we saw the different stages of butterfly development, one stage they are like long fat caterpillars, and are eating machines. That butterfly farm ships all over the world, and there are many families who supply them with butterflies from different parts of Costa Rica. It was an intersting time there.
Then off to the Cafe Britt coffee plantation, where we had an informative and very humourous presentation about growing harvesting and roasting coffee. The beans are harvested from December through March or so I believe, and Costa Rica produces about 2% of the world's coffee. The guide said that their coffee is a high quality, so that their competition is Kona Coffee and that level of beans. We ate lunch there and explored their ample gift shop, picking up coffee for Jen and some for ourselves. The buffet lunch was huge, and just delicious.
Most of the places where we have eaten always give us tropical fruit juice as one of the choices to drink at lunch, a real treat for us northerners.
Then a trip to Sarchi, a crafts village where they build the traditional oxcarts, now mostly miniatures for the tourist trade, as well as beautiful hardwood furniture. We were taken to only one shop, which was so disappointing, we had thought we would be able to visit a whole series of shops in the village. The shop we visited was huge, but the main floor was swelteringly hot, though apparently downstairs where there were bigger pieces of furniture it was lovely and cool. And we only had 1/2 hour, which was also very disappointing for us all. We had been promised that this was our shopping expedition and it would be so great. Not so, and a big bust for lots of people on our trip. Di bought some tee shirts, and a lovely hardwood cutting board, but not much else.
We saw and photographed a beautiful supersized oxcart, with it's bright paint, and oxen yoke, it looked as if it was made for Paul Bunyan and Babe it was so big, and it was inside a protective transparent type of cover.
Back to the hotel for happy hour- I forgot to say that it's a whole hour daily, and the drinks are totally free from 5 -6 PM, then a loud buzzer rings, and no more happy hour. One of the couples in the tour even managed to take a drink or two back up to their room, most of us didn't require that much libation!!!!!
We went back to La Gallera Latin American restaurant across the street from Best Western Irazu for supper, with Dave and Wendy, and 2 other couples, Ron H and his friend Sally, and Joan and Chuck W. It was delicious, and not as noisy as the night before when there had been a young boisterous group there. The theme in the restaurant is roosters, and there are some lovely big swirling watercolors of roosters on the walls, also some clay art tiles, and clay plates, all with the rooster them. Roosters everywhere you looked in the stained glass and decoration around the restaurant.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Monday March 15th in Costa Rica
On Monday we had a beach day, but the weather was stinkingly hot and humid, they took us by bus to Jaco on the Pacific Coast, we went to the Best Western Jaco hotel there, where we had lockers to put our clothes in so we could swim either in their pool or at the beach.
There was a high surf full of beach sand, and big rollers, if you wanted you could swim in the warm warm water but be careful for the undertow. We chose the pool and it was only 3 ft 5 inches deep, but we went in anyway, with Dave and Wendy, we were all so hot and sticky.
A lunch was laid on for us, in their pool bar, very nice open air covered place, we were all quite hot but lunch was good. The bus left at 2:30 PM or so, and we staggered back into the hotel when we got home, pretty bashed up by the heat.
Forgot to say that on the way there we stopped at the Tarcoles River and stared down from a busy bridge at tons of huge crocodiles, up to 12 or 15 feet long, they seem to be covered by rows of plates almost like armour, very prehistoric looking. They looked a bit like dark grey logs, just lurking around the edges of the river on both sides.
Due to the intense sun and the shallow pool both Lary and I got very sunburned, so we bought a bottle of aloe jelly and smeared it on, Lary's face was very burnt, and later peeled. We of course were in the pool for quite a long time, and it was really in the heat of the day. It was too hot to sit on the chairs in the sun, and very little shade available. There were 2 iguanas doing bug collecting duty on the hot tiles of the pool deck, quite interesting to watch.
Went out for dinner across the road from the hotel, it was called the Latin American Restaurant, La Gallera, and the food was delicious. Dave and Wendy came with us, and both ladies had only salads, and dessert which was yummy. We had had a big lunch with fish and meat so we didn't want that all over again.
There was a large group of young people there, and their noise was nearly deafening. Restaurant theme was roosters everywhere, very pretty china or clay plates with roosters on them, and lovely large paintings on the walls, with huge colorfully painted roosters, in swirls of color.
The Costa Ricans seem to make clay wall murals, with pieces of interlocking tile pottery forming beautiful bright paintings on the walls. Very pretty and an intriguing art form.
There was a high surf full of beach sand, and big rollers, if you wanted you could swim in the warm warm water but be careful for the undertow. We chose the pool and it was only 3 ft 5 inches deep, but we went in anyway, with Dave and Wendy, we were all so hot and sticky.
A lunch was laid on for us, in their pool bar, very nice open air covered place, we were all quite hot but lunch was good. The bus left at 2:30 PM or so, and we staggered back into the hotel when we got home, pretty bashed up by the heat.
Forgot to say that on the way there we stopped at the Tarcoles River and stared down from a busy bridge at tons of huge crocodiles, up to 12 or 15 feet long, they seem to be covered by rows of plates almost like armour, very prehistoric looking. They looked a bit like dark grey logs, just lurking around the edges of the river on both sides.
Due to the intense sun and the shallow pool both Lary and I got very sunburned, so we bought a bottle of aloe jelly and smeared it on, Lary's face was very burnt, and later peeled. We of course were in the pool for quite a long time, and it was really in the heat of the day. It was too hot to sit on the chairs in the sun, and very little shade available. There were 2 iguanas doing bug collecting duty on the hot tiles of the pool deck, quite interesting to watch.
Went out for dinner across the road from the hotel, it was called the Latin American Restaurant, La Gallera, and the food was delicious. Dave and Wendy came with us, and both ladies had only salads, and dessert which was yummy. We had had a big lunch with fish and meat so we didn't want that all over again.
There was a large group of young people there, and their noise was nearly deafening. Restaurant theme was roosters everywhere, very pretty china or clay plates with roosters on them, and lovely large paintings on the walls, with huge colorfully painted roosters, in swirls of color.
The Costa Ricans seem to make clay wall murals, with pieces of interlocking tile pottery forming beautiful bright paintings on the walls. Very pretty and an intriguing art form.
Sunday March 14th off to Sarapiqui River cruise
Off quite early today to cross the continental divide and descend toward the Caribbean to arrive at the Sarapiqui River for a 2 hour river cruise. Drifted quietly downstream in a large riverboat, listening for monkeys resting curled high up in the trees, we only saw them from afar as the trees they chose were very high, they were howler monkeys, but they rest when it's warm, and feed in the early morning apparently. We saw caimans, small crocodiles, resting on the muddy riverbanks, their camoflage is very good. It was a surprise to see whole families of local people swimming in the green opaque river, when there are also caimans and crocodiles there.
We also saw anhinga birds, which looked like cormorants, a pretty kingfisher, some white cattle egrets, and a row of bats sleeping in a vertical line on a tree trunk, with very good camoflage.
The driver of the boat together with our guide and the paramedic were very good at spotting things in the trees and along the riverbank. The water moved along quite rapidly, but the boat was quite powerful. It was pretty peaceful as we quietly motored along, and it was interesting to see all the smallish houses along the top of the riverbank. We saw a few large iguanas laying out on river logs, or over the banks of the rivers, mostly on fallen trees or the like.
When we got back to land we had lunch cooked over a wood fire, it was delicious, very satisfying, we tasted breadfruit for the first time, drank juice, and were very satisfied by the meal. Typical costa rican fare is black beans and rice, their staples, but we had tons of things besides that. Chicken, plantain bananas, it was all so tasty.
The restaurant is a roof forming a shelter, and long tables and chairs under that. An elderly man played the marimba for us while we ate lunch, he used 4 sticks and was pretty talented. There was a small gift shop. They called it a ranch where we ate, and took the riverboat. The flowering vegetation there is so pretty, my favourite was long pinkish flowering trumpets, but so many plants have flowers or pretty reddish leaves. There is a huge flower producing industry in the country. We drove through the Braulio Carillo National Park. The bouganvilla flower grows in bushes, small shrubs or huge walls of bright fuschia pink, or an orange color.
On the way home the driver stopped at the most wonderful farm fruit stand, the farmers served us all kinds of new fruits that they had, we bought a kilo of wee bananas, very sweet, the size of your middle finger. We tried papaya and mango, also oranges, and some people bought fruit right from the stand as we did. So many tropical fruits it boggles the mind, watermelon and other melons grown right there, an orange fruit with black fleshy seeds in it, some other mystery fruits. All local produce and available in stands right at the side of the road.
Ate dinner at Denny's.
We also saw anhinga birds, which looked like cormorants, a pretty kingfisher, some white cattle egrets, and a row of bats sleeping in a vertical line on a tree trunk, with very good camoflage.
The driver of the boat together with our guide and the paramedic were very good at spotting things in the trees and along the riverbank. The water moved along quite rapidly, but the boat was quite powerful. It was pretty peaceful as we quietly motored along, and it was interesting to see all the smallish houses along the top of the riverbank. We saw a few large iguanas laying out on river logs, or over the banks of the rivers, mostly on fallen trees or the like.
When we got back to land we had lunch cooked over a wood fire, it was delicious, very satisfying, we tasted breadfruit for the first time, drank juice, and were very satisfied by the meal. Typical costa rican fare is black beans and rice, their staples, but we had tons of things besides that. Chicken, plantain bananas, it was all so tasty.
The restaurant is a roof forming a shelter, and long tables and chairs under that. An elderly man played the marimba for us while we ate lunch, he used 4 sticks and was pretty talented. There was a small gift shop. They called it a ranch where we ate, and took the riverboat. The flowering vegetation there is so pretty, my favourite was long pinkish flowering trumpets, but so many plants have flowers or pretty reddish leaves. There is a huge flower producing industry in the country. We drove through the Braulio Carillo National Park. The bouganvilla flower grows in bushes, small shrubs or huge walls of bright fuschia pink, or an orange color.
On the way home the driver stopped at the most wonderful farm fruit stand, the farmers served us all kinds of new fruits that they had, we bought a kilo of wee bananas, very sweet, the size of your middle finger. We tried papaya and mango, also oranges, and some people bought fruit right from the stand as we did. So many tropical fruits it boggles the mind, watermelon and other melons grown right there, an orange fruit with black fleshy seeds in it, some other mystery fruits. All local produce and available in stands right at the side of the road.
Ate dinner at Denny's.
Saturday March 13th in Costa Rica
Forgot to say that they use Colones currency in Costa Rica, Columbus discovered C.R. in 1502 on his last trip to the Americas.
It takes around 500 colones to make $1 Canadian, so you get lots of them at the ATM, and the conversion isn't very challenging either. Many places are very happy to take US dollars, also. The hotel front desk changes US dollars into colones, but not the reverse.
Went up the Irazu volcano today, it was cloudy, so not distant views, the volcano isn't active at the moment, but has a deep caldera with water in it. At the gift shop we saw a dark brown coati mundi, it has a long snout though our guide compared it to a raccoon, a bit of a stretch. It was begging food from the tourists.
The top of the volcano is over 11,000 feet, so we didn't rush around up there. We have a 90 year old in our group, and a 75 year old man who had a stroke 10 years ago, he has some mobility issues, there is also an elderly woman with her grandson, she's very plucky, but also mobility issues. Dave and Wendy, Lary and I are among the younger members, the group is 20 in all, most people I would put in their mid 70s or so.
Saw an oxen team working the hills with a farmer, the agriculture is right up the slopes, all carefully terraced, every inch of ground being used for agriculture. Much of the country has been preserved into National Parks, quite a high percentage of the land in the country protected by the park system since the 1970s or so. The volcanic soil is very rich and productive, and they rotate their crops for maximum production.
We learned that Costa Rica pretty well grows all its own produce, and can feed itself totally from what it produces, including meats and seafood. They import oil and gas, electro domestics like household appliances big and small, and automobiles and vehicles, very heavily taxed according to our guide. Lovely flowering trees and shrubs everywhere, and a year round growing season. They raise mostly brahma cows, and holstein cows for milk products.
After seeing the volcano we visited the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles in Cartago, it was founded in 1635, a young girl found a rock in the shape of the Virgin. It has some art pieces brought to C.R. by the Spanish conquerors, and also has a spring with holy water behind the church.
We ate lunch in Sanchiri Restaurant, and then went to explore Lankester Gardens, which has many hundreds of types of orchids and tropical plants. It now belongs to the University of C.R., though it was originally developed by Mr. Lankester, our guide Orlando had done some schooling there, so he was very knowledgeable about the orchids, the bromeliad family of plants. Just a few were blooming, but they are so showy. The gardens are very pretty, winding trails with tons of blooming plants. He also talked about epiphytes, the plants that are transmitted through the air, and stick on to trees and grow there high up in the air stuck on tree trunks or branches, without moisture.
It takes around 500 colones to make $1 Canadian, so you get lots of them at the ATM, and the conversion isn't very challenging either. Many places are very happy to take US dollars, also. The hotel front desk changes US dollars into colones, but not the reverse.
Went up the Irazu volcano today, it was cloudy, so not distant views, the volcano isn't active at the moment, but has a deep caldera with water in it. At the gift shop we saw a dark brown coati mundi, it has a long snout though our guide compared it to a raccoon, a bit of a stretch. It was begging food from the tourists.
The top of the volcano is over 11,000 feet, so we didn't rush around up there. We have a 90 year old in our group, and a 75 year old man who had a stroke 10 years ago, he has some mobility issues, there is also an elderly woman with her grandson, she's very plucky, but also mobility issues. Dave and Wendy, Lary and I are among the younger members, the group is 20 in all, most people I would put in their mid 70s or so.
Saw an oxen team working the hills with a farmer, the agriculture is right up the slopes, all carefully terraced, every inch of ground being used for agriculture. Much of the country has been preserved into National Parks, quite a high percentage of the land in the country protected by the park system since the 1970s or so. The volcanic soil is very rich and productive, and they rotate their crops for maximum production.
We learned that Costa Rica pretty well grows all its own produce, and can feed itself totally from what it produces, including meats and seafood. They import oil and gas, electro domestics like household appliances big and small, and automobiles and vehicles, very heavily taxed according to our guide. Lovely flowering trees and shrubs everywhere, and a year round growing season. They raise mostly brahma cows, and holstein cows for milk products.
After seeing the volcano we visited the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles in Cartago, it was founded in 1635, a young girl found a rock in the shape of the Virgin. It has some art pieces brought to C.R. by the Spanish conquerors, and also has a spring with holy water behind the church.
We ate lunch in Sanchiri Restaurant, and then went to explore Lankester Gardens, which has many hundreds of types of orchids and tropical plants. It now belongs to the University of C.R., though it was originally developed by Mr. Lankester, our guide Orlando had done some schooling there, so he was very knowledgeable about the orchids, the bromeliad family of plants. Just a few were blooming, but they are so showy. The gardens are very pretty, winding trails with tons of blooming plants. He also talked about epiphytes, the plants that are transmitted through the air, and stick on to trees and grow there high up in the air stuck on tree trunks or branches, without moisture.
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