Swinging in the Clouds!!

Today we were off to a full day of tourism so there are LOTS of images here.  Our new guide Greivin is enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  Exactly what we needed to make this trip turn around!!  This river that we crossed, on one of the very few bridges in Costa Rica, encompasses the Pali Verde National Park.  It's part saltwater, part rainwater and low tide as we cross over.

Then we see it!!!  SALT WATER CROCODILE!!!!!  Posing nicely for us in the middle of the river with his mouth open!!  Unfortunately I couldn't get a better shot, but at least you can tell what it is!

After a couple hours heading back along the road to the Monteverde Cloud Forest turnoff, we stopped at a rest stop to use the facilities.  Although they were available on the bus, our guide noted that anything that went in, stayed in for the entire trip.  Not a pretty picture, so everyone ran a race to the "banos".  At this small bakery/buffet, macaws hung out in the trees and posed nicely for tourist pictures.

Although you weren't supposed to feed them, some people couldn't resist.  It brought back memories of when I used to raise these babies ... along with blue and gold and military macaws ... but that's ancient history.

Finding our turnoff to the Cloud Forest, we were again back on dirt roads.  Being in a 45' diesel pusher bus, these bridges didn't look very safe, and sometimes our driver Jason went VERY slow, making me think he knew something we didn't.  We barely skimmed by this gentleman who thought we should wait.  Many times a quick honk of the horn was the magic that moved both cars and people out of the way.

Luckily for me, Patty and I were awarded the front seat.  With my carsickness pretty prominent on these terribly curvy rough roads, I was happy to sit where I felt better.  That however, was a double edged sword ... we also had a birds eye view of the road conditions and 15% grades.

CLIFF!!!!  Most of this road had a steep cliff on one side ... as an RV driver, I couldn't imagine driving my rig on these roads.  Jason did an amazing job!!

 Not a side road ... this is the main road we are traveling.  See what I mean???

Finally we arrive in the small town of Monteverde as the road becomes paved again ... just through town however.  Another political discussion continues concerning what roads get paved.  The Monteverde Cloud Forest is a huge attraction in Costa Rica, but doesn't seem to have enough clout to get the access road paved.  Greivin apologized for the "coach massage" from the rough roads.  Here are some typical road signs ... mostly hand painted.

November is monsoon time here ... and many culverts had been washed out before our arrival.  The people were working hard trying to repair them.  Many times as our left front brushed the bushes, our right rear was also scraped by trees as the tires barely hung on to the roadside.  Being a "bus" driver, many times I just held my breath!!

Along the way the locals were checking us out.  The number of tour buses here was amazing.  Some small, some as big as us, tourism is in the top 4 money-makers for Costa Rica.  First is high tech computer chip production.  In Costa Rica, every child is required to attend school up to 12th grade.  The better you are in school, the more chance you have to go to the university, expenses paid.  That makes for an educated work force eager to have a better life.

Greivin put this map up of the places we drove to.  The dark line is mine and shows the later trip around Arenal Lake.  The one going up and to the right, is the trip Patty and I took ... just to give you an idea of how far we traveled.  It was at this point that we discovered Greivin and I had something in common.  Talk about a small world ... this coincidence is just amazing.  A few years ago I traveled to New York City to watch the last baseball game played in the OLD Yankee Stadium before they tore it down and moved to the new stadium built in the parking lot of the old.  Apparently Greivin is a baseball fan also ... and when he had the chance to visit New York for a short time with friends, he ALSO went to the Yankee Stadium for the last game!!  Pretty amazing I should meet him here!!

I'm combining two days here ... the first forest walk we didn't see much and ended up at our hotel for the night.  Pretty spectacular place ... and all I could hear was Patty oohing and aahing over the flowers!!  I have to agree they were pretty spectacular ... the hydrangeas were as big as basketballs!!

This place was beautiful!!  It was so big it required we call a hotel taxi just to get to the restaurant.  We all wondered what was "really" going on here ... once a farm, it was turned into a hotel with at least seven huge building units.

You can see from the ground, it's VERY steep, but this morning we chose to walk back up to our room.  The cactus in the background is taller than Patty!!  Cactus????

AND me!!

The first stop the next day at the Cloud Forest was the Butterfly Exhibit.  A huge building chock full of gorgeous butterfly-friendly plants and flowers, with thousands of butterflies.  Here are a couple that have just hatched and are drying their wings.

 We followed the path through the huge building, pointing out beautiful specimens everywhere.

The employees gather the cocoons and pin them to boards in order to keep an eye on the process.  Many were in the wing-drying stage and are shipped around the world to other butterfly collections.

Here is the beautiful ... okay, I don't remember the names of any of them.  I tried to write notes in my phone, but was too busy taking pictures.  Someone called it a Mariposa.  This is the same as is hatching above.  The interesting part is that they reflect the light, making the color blue.  When he held it the other direction, it was brown.

 More beauties ...

While waiting for our jungle walk across the suspension bridges, this coatimundi was scrounging for tasty morsels.  The night before, we heard this horrible ruckus that sounded like coyotes at our back door.  Turns out it was a group of these guys digging up the lawn outside our door, looking for food.

There were also many hummingbird feeders around providing nourishment for the many who migrate here every year.  Costa Rica is the end point for many varieties of migrating birds, including the Oriole which we saw and heard on several occasions.  They were just too fast for a picture!!

The swinging suspension bridges were originally built for the biologists who needed access to the canopy.  These trees are over 100 feet tall and harbor lots of creatures.  They also bring you up to the level of the bromeliads that grow in the trees.  It seems most of the forest growth is DOWN, not up.  All the stuff that gets rooted in the canopy, sends out roots to the ground, eventually strangling the tree.  Because of the weather here, trees rot pretty fast ... the resulting crash to the ground opens up the forest for more sunshine and more growth.

 Each bridge is higher and higher in the canopy until we reached the top!!

Although we could hear water running in a stream below us, the jungle was so overgrown we never did see it.

Lunchtime!!!!  Everywhere we went we were served the typical Costa Rican dish of rice and black beans with cilantro.  This restaurant however, had only sandwiches ... wonderful bread with one small VERY thin piece of cheese melted inside.  I would have added some type of lunchmeat, but didn't really recognize anything I thought would stay in my mouth ... the bread and cheese was delicious however.

The last event of the day was ziplining!!  I tried to talk everyone into going and those that physically could, accepted the challenge, including Patty.  Surrounded by handsome Costa Rican climbers (what could be better?) we zipped through the forest screaming our heads off ... well at least "I" did!!  It was a great time!!

After about number 7, we came to a 60' tower for the Tarzan Swing.  I haven't done this before ... but it looked easy when the Costa Rican kid jumped off.  What I didn't realize is that I was next!!!  Although a little hesitant, it sounded like the same fun I had in the barn as a kid, swinging from the ceiling-anchored ropes.  I'm sure I screamed bloody murder, but it was a kick in the pants!!  After swinging for a few minutes, they grab your feet and slow you down.  Surprisingly, MANY of our group jumped!!!  Congrats guys!!!  Three more zip lines and we were soaking wet from the rain.

Back on the road to the hotel ... yes we DID meet other buses and cars on these roads ... and we barely squeaked by.  I'm sure Jason replaced those mirrors a time or two!!

If you are wondering about services ... here's the garbage truck.  Everyone leaves their garbage in plastic bags placed in holders above the ground.  One guy drives the truck while two hang on to the running board, jumping off to gather the trash and throw it in the truck.  No automated stuff here!!

The flora and fauna were like I've never seen before.  I won't bore you with all the images I took ... suffice to say EVERYTHING grows well in Costa Rica!!

As do the bugs ... here was a stick bug Patty found on the walkway.  Although there was the occasional mosquito, we didn't really see any until Patty and I got to the Caribbean side.

Instead of the usual hotel fare, Greivin took us to his favorite pizza place for dinner.  This is a marguerite pizza ... it didn't look like it to me either!!  It was rather tasty however.  

Back at our hotel we were honored with a spectacular sunset.  There's nothing like sitting in the quiet jungle watching and listening to nature present itself.  

However, we all hoped the Howlers would sleep in this day.  We haven't seen them yet, but have heard them screaming many times.  They must be as big as a house!!!

Rolling With The Punches !!

Although it felt like we were kicked while we were down, with no apologies from Collette Vacations, the passengers who missed the flight in San Francisco, all finally arrived in San Jose and were up early awaiting our chariot to Tamarindo Beach.  We missed the Doka Coffee Estate tour and half a day at the beach, but were still excited to hit the road ... until our chariot arrived!!  Stuffed into this small van with jumpseats in the middle and our luggage on top, we headed off with our guide who spoke no English!!  Although we were expecting descriptions of the countryside we were passing, it was not forthcoming.

Traffic was rather heavy in San Jose ... if I got my facts right, there are about 4.7 million people in Costa Rica and 3.5 million live here.

Dan Chance would have been a happy camper ... Micky D's were everywhere, as was Patty's favorite (NOT) KFC!!  Their electrical system could use a little updating, as there were miles and miles of tangled wires everywhere.  According to our later guide, due to the thermal energy from volcanos and windmills installed across the country, 95% of homes in Costa Rica have electricity and the availability of high tech cell phones.

As in any big city, crime is a problem.  Almost every single house we saw had bars on the outside as well as on every window ... most of the homes in San Jose also had razor wire.  Our later guide suggested the bars were decorative, but the wire is definitely to keep the bad guys out!!  

As we drove along towards the "county" of Guanacaste, all the fences we saw were made of trees.  I have to give it up to the Costa Ricans ... they are inventive and use everything they have.  Fence posts cost lots of money and probably are hard to come by.  Trees on the other hand, are everywhere and grow like crazy.  It looked like they cut some limbs, stuck them in the ground and they grew into fence posts.  Who knew???  This type of fence covers the entire country.

The government provides most things for the residents ... electricity, phones, health insurance and car insurance.  I never did find out if they provide washing machines ... but definitely NOT dryers.  All along our route today, laundry was laid out to dry.  I'm not sure if it really dries ... with 90% humidity most of the time, it took two days to dry one T-shirt I washed.

Along the road were lots of entrepreneurs selling their wares ... like this fuzzy fruit.  After some discussion and hand waving, we were able to get our driver to tell us these were Mamon.  At a wide spot in the road, he stopped and bought a bag for the bus!!  How nice was that??!!  The husk is a leathery shell, easily opened with fingernails.  Inside was a round yummy fruit with a HUGE pit.  We were like a bunch of giddy kids ... everyone trying a bite.

Did I mention the roads in Costa Rica aren't exactly the best??  It didn't take long to be out of San Jose, where all roads turn to dirt.  Apparently there is political in-fighting about where the money goes and what section gets paved.  Due to several huge rainstorms that washed out all the culverts, this section was being repaired.  Most of the work was being done by hand ... men with shovels ... but this section had a couple pieces of heavy equipment.  Again the Costa Ricans show their ingenuity ... to keep the vehicles on their respective side of the road, rocks are placed in the middle to represent the center line.  They are BIG rocks, so even the trucks stay on their own side.  This road is wider than most, as you will see in later pictures.

Along the way we came up behind a farmer moving his herd of brahma cattle to new pastures.  Brahma fare well in the hot temperatures, and although fairly thin, appeared to be in good health.

Along the way were a few grocery stores.  Those that can afford to own their business, also live in the same small building.  Coca Cola is big here .... and it tastes pretty much like the Coke at home.  The local currency is Colones.  Millions of them!!!   5 Mil colones is $10.00.  It took a little bit of study to get their money down, but by the end of the trip, everyone was able to figure it out.  It happens that they like American money also, as most, if not all, took our dollars.

Although we did see some very nice houses, equivalent to the U.S., the majority were small like these three.  A small water tank and electricity were all they needed.  Most don't landscape their homes.  Houses looked like they were about 500 square feet, half (including the kitchen and living room) open to the elements ... the other half  including the bedrooms, closed up.  Who needs air conditioning???

After a five hour drive, we arrived at Tamarindo Beach.  Our rooms were right on the water, and although VERY humid and hot, it was as spectacular as any in the U.S.  Patty and I wasted no time hitting the beach to look for shells.  

Lots of surfing takes place here, and although the waves were small compared to other beaches I've been to, the kids were having a blast.  Several burly guys were teaching the tourists how to surf ... course no one from OUR group!!  The water was warm and the scenery spectacular.  Too bad we were only allowed about 6 hours here instead of the two days that were scheduled.

Patty wanted one of these shells and kept picking them up, only to find they were occupied, alive and well as you can see here.  We did collect several other shells however to add to our ever growing collections.

I'm not sure if it was because of the snaffu by Collette, but each room got a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries.  Uhmmmm except the two Stepchildren Patty and Nancy.  No wine ... no strawberries ... no bracelet which allowed free food.  We were promised we would receive our goodies at the NEXT resort.  That night when we returned to our room at 8:30 ... there was the wine.  We donated it to our neighbors and Patty scarfed up the strawberries.  

As the sun set and the lights came on, it was just beautiful at the outside restaurant.  As in Hawaii, everything is open to the elements.  We did have time for a quick walk down the main street for a little shopping.  Patty picked up the cutest pair of flip flops and I found a gorgeous scarf/pareo.  When I saw a small flower shop, I ducked inside to take a look (mostly because it had air conditioning) and we met two of the nicest people from L.A.  He was the Costa Rican National Baseball Team Coach ... and since I had on my San Francisco Giants Baseball visor, we immediately began talking everything baseball!!  They just opened their flower shop a few days before ... and we had a great visit!!  Don't you just love meeting new people???

This beautiful baby joined us for breakfast as we headed out the next morning.  Breakfast usually ran between 6 and 8, lunch at 1:00 and dinner at 7:00 pm.  It was a long time in between, so we all started stashing food.  The Costa Ricans close their shops between 3 and 6 so they can have coffee and snacks.

Tired and ready for a nice shower, we headed back to our room.  True to step children world, we had no hot water.  Not in the sink or the shower.  By now, cranky Nancy is beginning to rear her ugly head.  This trip hasn't started off well at all ... and to add insult to injury, NO hot water.  I'm trying hard to roll with the punches, but I'm definitely not cut out for the step children role!!!

Costa Rica ... It's An Adventure!!!

Here begins the saga of the two stepchildren who took off to the wild green yonder to see what they could see!!  But first ... a disclaimer!!  When you ride on a tour bus for 8 hours a day, you get lots of tour bus images ... some good, some bad and some blurry!!  In an attempt to show you the REAL Costa Rica, I have chosen to include some blurry ones.  There were no do-overs on this tour ... and the roads are such that even at the fastest camera speeds, blurry is all you get!!  For this I apologize, but you just have to see some of this country.  It's amazing!!

You probably read previously about the first major disaster of the trip.  We were all on time at the Junction Shopping Center in Sonora at 4:45 am for the bus trip to the airport.  The driver gave it his best, but you just can't squish 4 hours of Monday morning San Francisco traffic into 2 hours.  Eighteen of us missed our first flight to Dallas/Fort Worth.  This was a biggie!!!  While everyone was milling around, I dug out my Emergency Contact List and called Collette Vacations, our tour company.  The first thing they said was "why didn't you make it to the airport ... you had 2 hours and 17 minutes!!!".  Mad as a wet hen, I tried to be nice and explain about rush hour traffic when I discovered she was in Rhode Island.  Apparently Google Maps was their authority instead of the bus company.  So now what???????  With NO apologies, she promised to return my call when they decided what to do.

Collette said the airline HAD to reschedule us.  American Airline said it was Collette's problem ... while we all sat grouchy and hungry in the lobby!!  Finally, after I called them three more times since returning calls wasn't in their book ... and four hours later ... 11 were instructed to just find a hotel (at their own expense) and fly out the following day.  Four of us immediately became the stepchildren!!  We were instructed to hang out at the airport from 6:30 am to 9:30 pm (yup you counted right ... 15 hours) until we caught our NEW red eye flight at 10:00 pm for Miami.  In the meantime, we had to pay for all our own meals, which were supposed to be included in the tour.  Needless to say, there were 18 VERY UNHAPPY campers sitting in the airport.  The only good thing to say here is that Napa Farms has a restaurant/bar/store where we bought some Mac N Cheese made with Tyler Florence's recipe.  It was awesome!!!

Being good little tourists, we did what we were told and arrived in Miami starving and now awake for 26 hours.   Next up ...  a layover of 5 hours in Miami.  Cranky Nancy started to emerge!!!  

After an airport breakfast, we finally got on our flight to Costa Rica, another 3-1/2 hours away.  

Now awake for 36.5 hours and still standing, we arrived at the Wyndham hotel in San Jose Costa Rica.

Little did we know how much we would appreciate these rooms upon our return two weeks later.

Towels, water and coffee were provided in this hotel, along with hot water.  YAY!!!  You will see why this is significant, later on.

The first order of business was food.  We were starving!!!  The buffet was $20 each, so we opted for the $12 each salad bar.  Not very satisfying considering we had NO food on the plane, only the Goldfish and Biscotti we brought with us.

The tropical grounds were beautiful and the flowers amazing.  Patty and I walked around as she named off everything she recognized.  There were lots of oohs and aahs.  

Although the neighborhood didn't really look like two American girls should be walking around in it, we did try to navigate across to the Hard Rock Cafe ... but alas, they close up from 3-6:00 and we couldn't get around to the front.

We happened on to the hotel greenhouse however, full of orchids used for decoration in the buildings.  The door was unlocked, so we made ourselves at home.

Spectacular color everywhere!!  Too bad we couldn't hide them in our luggage!!

At last the restaurant Quattro opened and we ventured in with our other two stepchildren, Diane and Burt Maxwell who had braved the Miami diversion with us.  I ordered the Rigatoni Pesto with Walnuts ... and it was delicious, as was Patty's spinach ravioli, Diane's chicken and Burt's shrimp.  

Exhausted after being up for over 40 hours, we all crashed at the hotel for our 7:00 am tour bus ride to catch up with the rest of our group ... the seven who drove themselves to San Francisco and caught their flights.  The 11 stragglers came in about 9:00 pm and hit the hay.  We all met up in the morning to exchange our horror stories!!!

Heading to the Jungle!!!

Yesterday's trip up the river to Nicaragua was a dicey one. We hollered with the howler monkeys and watched Jess's Christ lizards walk on water. Thankfully we didn't get shot!!!  Heading to San Jose for the rest of the jungle tour to the Caribbean side for turtle town and tents!!!

Still Alive In Costa Rica!!

Although we feel like the step children, it's all good!!  Beautiful country with a horrible road system. You won't believe where we have been with a 40' bus.  You think you have been in some tight places--wait til you see my pictures when I return in a week. Lots of birds, coatties and howler monkeys with magnificent scenery. Patty survived the zip line, but I couldn't convince her to jump off the 60 foot Tarzan Swing with me. Nothing like free falling!!!

Wifi is limited so this will be short. We are now at Arenal Volcano Resort at the base of the volcano. Hoping for no eruptions in the next two days, then it's off on the jungle ride to the "Eco Lodge". I suspect  that's code for tent cabin since we heard there's no hot water. Only us two are going, so pray we return in one piece!!  Actually, just pray we return no matter how many pieces!!!

Pouring rain now making it a green paradise. The flowers remind me of Hawaii as does the high temperature and humidity!!

The rest of the crazy stories about this strange trip will be told when we return!!

Disaster Strikes!!!!!

Sooo !!  Do you want the bad news or the bad news???  We are stuck at the San Francisco airport. Collette Travel contracted with the bus company to pick up 18 of us in Sonora for the 4, that's FOUR hour trip in 6am rush hour traffic.  They allotted 2-1/2 hours. Can you tell where this is going???  Exactly--we missed the flight!!  Of course Nancy has the phone -- so I called them for direction

Four hours later, four of us including yours truly, will sit around the airport for another 8 hours and take a red eye flight to Miami--instead of Dallas--and hopefully catch another flight to Costa Rica after a four hour tour of Miami airport!!  The balance of the group have to stay in a hotel at THEIR expense and fly out tomorrow to Dallas.

Jello I keep telling myself--jello!!  Just keep in mind that our plans are in jello!!  I was pretty unhappy about the red eye since we've been up since 2am--but the $150 alternative hotel is worse. Got a bunch of angry people here because the tour company will not reimburse unless they bought insurance for $240 EACH, which most people didn't buy!!!

As the hotel people drove away in the shuttle, they said a prayer for us. Might you do the same???  We could use all the help we can get!!!

Happy travels!!!