Happy Trails

 

More recent casualties:

• My favorite sunglasses - frame cracked, possibly salvageable
• Hydroflask water bottle - lost somewhere in transit

We capped off the trip with an all-around epic day, complete with horseback riding and making new friends.

We started the day out with Sadie milking the cow again (Molly watched but did not want to participate) and feeding the pigs. The "baby" pig here is huge - its mother even bigger.

Having seen to it that the animals would not go hungry, we fed ourselves. Today was the typical Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto (black beans & rice mixed together), which is a traditional meal eaten to give plenty of energy throughout the day. Turned out we needed it.

We were scheduled to go horseback riding, so we went over to the barn to start the tour. We had heard that horseback riding is this lodge's signature activity, and we quickly learned why. Rather than assigning us horses and mounting up with minimal instruction, we each selected our own horse and spent an hour or so "getting to know each other". This included giving instructions to the horse, having it walk forward and backward, walk in a circle, follow, and stop until we felt comfortable. Then we mounted the horses and headed out.

Kathleen's horse - Conan

Molly selected the smallest horse, but he was spirited

The littlest girl chose the biggest horse

Working with the horse (no animals were harmed in the taking of this picture)

Molly's horse snacked on grass every chance he got

The ride itself was better than advertised. I was expecting a ride to a waterfall, a swim, and some lunch. We got all that (except we didn't swim), but we also got an extensive nature tour. The farm next door includes a privately-owned rainforest preservation project. The ride goes through the rainforest, and the guides point out plants and animals along the way. We saw the poison dart frog, several sloths, some toucans, howler monkeys, and other interesting creatures including a land crab that chased the guide's dog.

Creek crossing (just a preview of what was to come)

 

Sloth of the three-toed variety

Poison dart frog

Molly's new friend (a toad)

Land crab

We stopped for a bit at the waterfall, which was very pretty. However, the river was not suitable for swimming due to the recent heavy rains. The current was quite strong, and it likely would have been like swimming in a washing machine.

Waterfall - the reward at the end of the journey

On the way back, the guide told us he had a little surprise and wanted Karen - the mother of the other family - to go first (the "girls" were a bit younger than me and Kathleen; Karen was around my dad's age). We rounded a corner and he put her on a vine, pushing her out into the jungle. We all got a turn, but it was great seeing her take that first leap.

Molly the Monkey, in her natural habitat

 

 

No Mr. Immigration Agent, we haven't been to an agricultural area...

 

After getting cleaned up we went over to the restaurant (the one place on the property with wifi) to get our internet fix. One of the ladies from the other family - Lindsay - was there so we visited with her for a bit. We really enjoyed getting to know her and her family, and the restaurant must have sensed this as they connected our tables for dinner without us asking.

Lindsay is Internet-famous for Lentil, her pet dog. Lentil was born with a cleft palate and she has a Facebook page, blog, and some other pages here she uses the dog to connect kids who were born with facial differences. She's raising money through Kickstarter to take Lentil on a tour to visit with some of the kids whose lives she has touched, and to let other kids know that "different" is ok.

The theme of Lindsay's tour is "chews kind", based in part on Wonder, a children's book (fiction) about a boy born with a rare craniofacial condition. We had all read and loved this book after Molly introduced us to it. Before dinner Molly drew this little sketch mashing up the Wonder cover and a dog theme, and shared it with Lindsay, who posted it to Facebook. She had received about a thousand likes before dinner was over.

Before we left, Lindsay loaded us up with Lentil schwag and inducted us into the official Team Lentil. The girls are huge fans (as are the grownups).

 

It turns out that Lindsay also knew Rachel Steamer (a friend from high school who passed away a couple of years ago), which we discovered when we connected on Facebook. Maybe this social media thing isn't all bad after all.

 

 

Farm Life

We wrapped things up in Tamarindo on Friday with Sadie taking one last surf lesson. We had arranged for Molly to join the younger kids, but she decided the waves were too small for her tastes. I guess three weeks spoiled her, but Sadie has learned the important lesson that there is no such thing as a bad day surfing.

Sadie catching one of her final waves

 

The journey from Tamarindo to the Arenal area wound up being quite long due to construction, collisions, and other excitement. We finally got to our lodge, well after dark. Rustic doesn't begin to describe it. As we drove out here, we got more and more off the beaten path. The roads continued to get worse, and we were driving through dense fog or clouds. I was very dubious at first: there was no one at reception, just a sign that said to check the hotel; driving on to the restaurant, the cabins didn't look quite as appealing as they appeared on the Internet; and when we reached the restaurant, the owner greeted us in English, asking the driver if he spoke English. Turns out this place is run by a couple of Floridians (Sarasota area) who packed up and moved to Costa Rica, buying a farm and turning it into a little retreat. After dinner the owner showed us to our cabin, showing us the hammocks on the back deck and the outdoor shower (there is an indoor one as well - we almost have two bathrooms!). We went to sleep to the sounds of heavy rain on the tin roof.

Costa Rican ambulance - converted Toyota 4x4

View of Lake Arenal - apparently we took the scenic route

Obligatory pig photo from our horchata stop

Sadie checking out the guest bath

Outdoor shower

 

As they often do, things looked better in the morning. We awoke to a light drizzle but headed out to milk the cows and gather eggs. Molly opted to sleep a bit more instead, but joined us for a nice breakfast. The owners joined us and brought along their pet parrot (it says "Hola!").

Kathleen getting some milk for my coffee

Intently focused on milking the cow

Sadie gathering eggs

After a few tries, Sadie is a pro

We returned to the cabin to find a sloth, a wild turkey, and five or six toucans perched in the tree just outside. We had arranged for a driver to take us around for the day, but changed our plans due to the rain. Instead we went whitewater rafting (again), this time in a larger boat and on a larger and faster river. Kathleen and Molly were promptly dumped in the river at the first bump, and I rescued Molly while the guide fished Kathleen out from under the boat. The rest of the tour went without issue, and we were relieved to learn that we weren't the only boat where people "decided" to go swimming.

 

Less scared of the river now that she has been in it before

With our guide

 

After the rafting adventure, we had a nice, late lunch that included a plantain ceviche that I will be trying to replicate back home. They also showed us their version of pour-over coffee, and demonstrated how Guaro de Cana (the local sugarcane-based liquor, similar to rum or aguardiente) is made. We sampled both, along with raw sugarcane and freshly-squeezed sugarcane juice. This Guaro stuff was 130 proof and we took it straight, no chaser. I think it helped to counteract the coffee.

The local firewater

 

 

We arrived back in town a bit early, so we walked a bit to shop for souveniers. We also got a brief glimpse of the volcano. We were told to grab a photo if we saw it, as it would cloud up again at any moment - so there wasn't a whole lot of time to think about shot composition. Unfortunately Sadie tripped and grabbed a cactus, so we wound up visiting the local urgent care facility to have the spines removed.

 

We finished the evening (and a very long day) with a visit to a local wildlife center for a night tour. We ran into some folks from the school in Tamarindo, and got to see lots of interesting creatures including:

• A sloth (and her baby) - spotted by Sadie
• a salamander - spotted by Molly
• Caymans
• Various types of lizards
• Several frogs and toads, including the poison blue dart frog and the red-eyed tree frog
• A couple of kinkajous

Unfortunately the camera battery died so we only got a few shots with my cell phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Sail...

We are wrapping up our stay in Tamarindo, leaving in a few hours for Arenal. We will stay there over the weekend, then drive to San Jose on Monday and fly home on Tuesday. This last week has been a lot of fun, but I think the girls are ready to go home. Fortunately this weekend should keep them occupied - we don't have any concrete plans but I am sure more horseback riding, ziplines, and mud will be involved.

Monday evening we had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset.

On Tuesday I had my surfing and Spanish classes, while Kathleen accompanied the girls on their tour of the estuary.

They got to see crocodiles, howler monkeys, and termite mounts. Unfortunately their boat didn't get chased by a crocodile like some of the boats did - that sounded like a lot of fun for the kids.

Then we celebrated our anniversary with a nice dinner at a restaurant called La Pachanga. It was excellent - Italian-inspired dishes with local ingredients. It was the fourth place the girls have had pizza this trip, and probably their favorite.

As I noted in my last post, I am officially a Spanish School dropout. I told the instructors on Tuesday that they wouldn't see me again, and I held to that. This freed up my afternoon on Wednesday to take a sunset cruise. The boat was the Anteres, an 80' schooner built in the 1940s. The captain told me that it was originally commissioned as a private yacht, then it went into service as a fishing boat, then as a treasure/salvage boat before the current owners purchased it. The captain is a doctor and his family (wife and sons) serve as the crew along with a few hired deckhands.

Another family from the camp came along with us, so Sadie had a good friend to lounge around with.

I wish I had taken a few photos of the food, as it is the signature item that sets this boat apart from the rest. They brought us a half dozen or so small plates of gourmet food - salads, smoked salmon on toast, some kind of a squash curry... Along with as much rum punch as we could drink. I asked for a Guaro Sour, and they brought me the best (and strongest) I have had so far on this trip. One of the deckhands also doubled as the entertainment for the evening, playing a mix of Spanish and English reggae songs. The Marley was well done, but I really enjoyed the Spanish stuff he sang.

 

 

Unfortunately Molly and Sadie decided that since I dropped out of Spanish it would be hypocritical for me to require them to attend their classes every day (one of the other parents pointed out to me that I should have made it a prerequisite that they tell me this in Spanish). They opted out of classes on Thursday - they hadn't enjoyed last Thursday's "cultural exchange" so much - and went souvenier shopping with Kathleen instead. I went surfing at Avellanas beach with my surf class, and the plan was to meet up for lunch. Unfortunately I misunderstood the plan with the surf trip, and we got back an hour and a half later than I had told the girls. They went to lunch without me and much excitement ensued as I walked around the town looking for them. We were all reunited, and took one last stroll around town last night.