This is what happens. . .

When you go ziplining with your folks! This is the Eidsons back in October when my folks were here visiting. We got all outfitted and suited up at Eco-Glide, a very good company near the volcano in La Fortuna. Everyone had to wear the high-shoulder harness except for Lucy. Yes, she is wasting away down here! After we were all suited up and the guides gave my folks several warnings about not coming into the platform with their feet high, we posed for this picture. Then we went to the practice line where everyone took a turn. Alas, the whole tour was not meant to be as thunder and lightning came rolling through. For those not familiar with ziplining, you hook into a metal cable and shoot from tree to tree. Lightning is not a zipliner's friend, so everything was put on hold.

Ho-Ho-Ho Poll. . .

Furry elves. . .

Against all better judgment (that would be mine, as I wasn't around when Lucy was out shopping) the pooches of Tree Houses are now all outfitted in Christmas attire. In addition to Bejuca and Mini-B, we are watching Sweetie while Kelly is up in the States. Sweetie didn't know what she was getting into when she was dropped off here a couple of weeks ago.

Despite my best intentions and argument ("No self-respecting jungle dog should wear a Christmas 'do-rag or fuzzy snowballs) the pooches are all outfitted for the season.

It may not last very long, as they're all pretty much used to tearing off into the jungle, so the 'do-rags and other stuff may not make it back from an afternoon jaunt.

Big lag. . .

We returned from Argentina. . . Great trip. . . And then I picked up my first cold in over a year. . . No fun at all sneezing, wheezing, hacking and snorting in the tropics.

Did cave in and went to the local pharmacy for an injection, which is what most Ticos do when they come down with a cold. Of course, due to my limited Spanish, I'm not entirely sure what I was shot up with, but it did some good, I think.

I walked into the pharmacy, told them I had a cold and needed an injection. After a few questions and sign language as to what my allergies were, the pharmacy tech told me to head into the back room for the shot. I walked back, and there was the pharmacy tech, drawing something out of a bottle with a needle. I gamely rolled up my sleeve and braced for the prick. She smiled, shook her head and said, "Pantalones abajo" or drop your pants. I did and she did her thing with the needle. It was a big lump on the right side, which made the drive home a bit uncomfortable, but think it was worthwhile.

In Costa Rica, you can get a load of drugs over the counter, whereas in the States you need a prescription. And the drugs are considerably cheaper than back home. My dad, a pharmacist, was checking out different pharmacies when he and my mom were down here in October, and he wasn't aghast about the pharmacies here, so that's good enough for me.

Time to vamoose. . .

For a week or so. . . We're heading out for our quarterly trip out of Costa Rica to renew our visa. . . This time, we're going a little further afield. We're flying from San Jose to Miami and then down to Buenos Aires. This trip serves two purposes: One, Lucy has never been to Argentina; I've been to Argentina, but not to Buenos Aires. Two, we can qualify for elite status by flying down to Argentina, which helps us out as we don't have to pay for checked bags and get to sneak into the bulkhead seats.

While in Buenos Aires, we're really hoping to get over to Montevideo, Uruguay, for at least a day as we have heard nothing but good things about the place. It's just a short ferry/hyrdofoil ride away from Buenos Aires, so it will be doable. Of course, we have to fit in some time to take a flamenco dancing class, or at least take in a show. Lucy claims I have no moves. I maintain that I'm way ahead of my time.

Either way, we should have a good time, though the blog is on hiatus until we return in early December sometime.

The birds. . .

We have been getting excellent bird sightings here at the hotel, particulary during breakfast. Whenever the first guests show up, we go and put out plantains or bananas on some feeders for the birds. We have had mott-motts, creepers, wood-peckers, fly-catchers, robins and others along with the usual gaggle of 20 to 30 hummingbirds.


Today, we had a great surprise. It was a aracari, which looks like a toucan, though its beak is more of a solid color of silver/blue than a toucan, which is a bright yellow. For the first time since we've been here, the aracaris came down and at first I thought it was a toucan, as it has the same shape and beak as a toucan.

The largest one swooped down and started scarfing up the plantain, while two smaller ones watched from the tree above. It was really cool to see and exciting, as I thought we were seeing a toucan. Just as close, though, so still pretty neat.

Slack-jawed, but still have all the teeth. . .

Went to the dentist here for the first time. . . A bit tardy, but who is in a hurry to go to the dentist? Went in for a cleaning and it was just like back home, little bit of pain, little bit of bleeding and a whole lot of spitting. . . Dr. Yorleny Mora did a fine job and only slightly scolded me for chewing tobacco. . . Even got my choice of cherry or mint polish at the end (cherry was pretty good, though I think I'll try the mint next time just for comparison's sake).

Doc Mora is about 20 minutes away from Tree Houses on the way to La Fortuna, kind of in the middle of nowhere. Not sure why she set up a shop there (she also has an office in San Jose about 3 hours away), but she speaks excellent English, so that's a major bonus for me, as I would hate to go in for a cleaning and come out with four extractions because of something I said.

A very nice perk, is that the doc's office is right next to an excellent little soda. After being scraped and de-plaqued, I went over to re-load the deposits on the pearly whites with combo No. 2: Hamburger with ham and cheese, lettuce, tomato and relish, with papas fritas (french fries) that came with a funky sauce of mayonnaise/sour cream/spicy ketchup (very good) and a glass of iced tea. All for 1,800 colones, or $3.

Makes it worthwhile to head to the dentist, methinks.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Huh?

It's that time of the year again. . . Though there's no snow down here, and likely never to be any, Christmas started rearing its commercial head a couple of weeks before Halloween down here. Christmas stores started sprouting up in the towns, and lights and other decorations at houses along the way soon followed. At first, we were scratching our heads, wondering what the sam hill was going on. Here at Tree Houses, we were going to wait until we got back from our trip in early December to decorate the place, as we didn't want to jump the gun. Then we started thinking with the herd: Hey, if everyone else is doing it, why can't we? After all, Thanksgiving is an American holiday and isn't celebrated down here. We're so ingrained in our thinking that it's jumping the gun to put up stuff before Thanksgiving. But no Thanksgiving on the calendar, no problem. Hence, we now have some Christmas decorations up and running here at the hotel. We've always liked doing the Christmas decorations, and since we've been in Hawaii the past eight holiday seasons, the lack of cold weather (previous exceptions noted with the cold weenies in the earlier entry), we figured let's get on board. So now we have some lights and some pine decorations up and going here at the hotel. Feliz Navidad!

Which brings to mind another question:

When should you put up your Christmas decorations?

Just before Thanksgiving.

Just after Thanksgiving.

Hey, if you've got 'em, light 'em!

Keep them up year-round -- make every day a holiday!

uggs

Are you kidding?

The other day, Keneth, Darleen and Lucy all complained about it. . . being cold. This is Costa Rica, folks. It doesn't get below 65 or so up here. Granted, it was raining at the time, but the way these folks were acting, you would have thought it was the Yukon in February. Everyone was bundling up and blowing on their hands to try to keep warm. I didn't notice any problems, and thought it was just about perfect. It wasn't even chilly, but rather a nice break from some of the heat and humidity that we sometimes get down here.

So that leads to another question:

When living in the tropics, what do you think of folks who say they are cold?

No big deal, it's all in the perception.

Maybe it was cold and you're being insensitive.

They all need medication.

ugg boots uk

Ma and Pa Eidson do Costa Rica. . .

For those keeping up with the blog after our long hiatus, you'll know that we were on an extended break for much of October, while my folks were down visiting for most of the month. We had a great time with them, and they had a great time down here as well.
These are pictures from when my folks took a tour of a coffee plantation near Alajuela, which is close to the San Jose Airport. The elevation and climate are just right for growing the coffee that most of you suck up at Starbucks, as this plantation, I believe, supplies exclusively to the Seattle coffeemaker.

In the groupe photo, from left: the guide, my dad, mom and Jody. Jody is part of Jody and Wilson's Transport, the best private transport company in all of Costa Rica. Shameless plug: If you come here and don't rent a car, then contact them for transportation to anyplace in the country.

Not-so warm and fuzzy. . .

Miguel, our handyman and jack of all trades here at Tree Houses, came across this little beauty while walking between the neighbor's property and ours. It's off the path where any tourist ever goes. I think this is about 2- to 3-feet long. And it's very poisonous. Miguel said that he was walking over cutting brush when he came across the bugger. I believe it's a fer-de-lance, though I can't remember what it is called in Spanish. Miguel took care of it and brought it down to show me, knowing I'm terrified of snakes. This is one of the more venomous snakes in the area, and if someone were to be bitten, they would need to get to a hospital within 15 to 20 minutes. The nearest hospital is about 20 minutes away. This is the first big snake we have seen here, and I hope it's the last. I have a cousin that is considering coming down here, so Tip, don't worry, it's fine, this was just an exception!

Warm and fuzzy. . .

The other day, we looked out at our gate on the road, and saw a gaggle of tourists out front, snapping away with their cameras. Sloth or monkey, we figured, as this often happens: a sharp-eyed drive spots something while driving past and stops to let everyone get an up-close look. It was a sloth, hanging out in the trees outside of our gate. The next day, Miguel and I were driving to the hardware store to pick up some supplies, and I was telling him about the sloth in the tree. I hit the gate opener (it works like a garage-door opener) and Miguel yelled out: "Stop!"

The crazy sloth was hanging on the chain and getting a ride as the gate opened. This has happened in the past, as we have found sloth hairs in the chain, but this was the first time we had actually seen it. The sloth did not want to let go of the greasy chain or the metal supports. Miguel and I had some large branches and finally got the sloth to grab onto one, where we swung it back into a tree. It was moving pretty quickly for a sloth, and climbed out over the gate and was hanging precariously on a small limb over the cement by the time we got back from the hardware store 10 minutes later. It didn't fall, but wandered back and is now hiding somewhere in the trees.

Things that glow in the night. . .

OK, this isn't a real picture, and even if I did have the camera, there was no way it was going to turn out. The other night, I was shining the light on our front gate, which is about 750 meters or so from the house. We do that to make sure that guests close it when they come in and out of Tree Houses. This evening, though, while seeing the red reflectors we have on the gates, I also saw a pair of green eyes staring back. No idea of what it was. The eyes would be there for about 10 to 15 seconds, then they would be gone. Then they would come back again. Guess whatever it was didn't appreciate having a big spotlight shined in its direction. Could be anything from a sloth to a jungle cat of some sort or a monkey, though I doubt monkey, as it wasn't that high in the trees.

Which brings us to the question:

What was staring back in the night, halfway up a tree?

Sloth

Monkey

Jungle cat

Something from Alien vs. Predator

Breaking the law. . .

Albeit inadvertently.

Had a chance to show off my Spanish the other day, and failed miserably. Lucy was in La Fortuna running errands, and I was watching the place while she was gone. An official from the region came up and had a police officer with him. I assumed they were making their rounds and was chatting along in my poor Spanish. After a few minutes, I realized this wasn't a social call when Patricia and Keneth -- knowing my limited language capabilities broke it down for me. Due to a banking snafu, the business license for the hotel had not been paid for several months, and they were here to collect, with the police, for five months of back dues. Pony up, or we're closing you down was the basic message. Of course, while they were here, two groups arrived at the same time to check into the hotel, and another person called from out of the country to make a reservation. Finally, all was worked out, Patricia and Miguel hustled up to the offices to make the payment and order was restored -- after I had picked up 27 more gray hairs.

The mural. . . it's done. . .

OK, in reality, the mural has been finished for a couple of weeks, but we have been laggards in posting much of anything (see Homer below). The mural looks fantastic, and the images really jump out. The eyes on the monkey look as if they're boring into you; the sloth has just the right tint of gray and green (it does grow moss/mildew/other green stuff on its back for camouflage); the ants are amazing crawling up the tree like they do; and the details on all of the birds are just as good as in a guidebook. Keneth, his cousin Darleen (who also works here) and Keneth's nephew (Antonio) all pitched in and all signed the piece when it was done. Keneth worked in the early mornings and on his days off to finish it up. It's really nice, and it looks even better in person.

OK, we're slugs. . .

We've had a tough time getting back into the groove of blogging since the folks (Herb and Pat) have vamoosed for the colder climes of Wisconsin. We got used to not blogging and it hasn't been easy to get back into the swing of things. However, we're going to make more of an effort to do so in the coming days and weeks. We're almost due for another out-of-country trip, so that will provide some more fodder for the Web after we return in early December. And, in our defense (yes, we're pathetic enough to toss out feeble excuses) we've been busy with maintenance here in the off-season, varnishing tree houses, replacing stairs, clearing brush, etc. Still, there should be enough time to pop up a few words now and again, and we promise we won't go as long in between missives as this last time.

The Mural, Take IV

The wall is starting to take shape nicely, as Keneth is starting to fill in the different animals and critters with color. He's working on a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (at left), also known as a Blue Jean Frog, and a hummingbird (at right, below). His cousin, Antonio, is helping out on occasion to fill in the areas with color after Keneth has done the main painting. It should be wrapping up soon, and we're looking forward to seeing the whole wall completed.

The Mural, Take III. . .

Keneth is now officially done with the background, and has moved onto pencil sketches of the various animals and critters he's planning on painting onto the wall. . . Hopefully, the sketches will show up in these photos, as he's doing them all in pencil first, and then will go over them with paint.

It's starting to take shape and it looks really good. . . He showed up to start the pencil drawings at 5 a.m. today, and worked until about 2 p.m. He stood in front of the hummingbird feeders for about 20 minutes, with pencil and pad in hand, watching the little buggers flit about before going back to the wall to do his sketch. . .

So far, there's a monkey, sloth, hummingbird, mott-mott, boa, parrot, green-eyed tree frog and a blue-jean frog. At least, I'm guessing as that's what the frogs are, since there isn't any color to them yet. . .

Slacking. . .

Yes, technically, the the definition, we have been slacking. . . We haven't posted anything in a while and aren't likely to do so too much this month. Ma and Pa Eidson are down for a visit, and we've been busy showing them around and hanging out with them, so the updates will be minimal until the end of the month or early November. Plus, we're headed to Playa Bejuco for a week in a few days, so we won't be near the computer. We will try to post updates on the mural, as it's coming along really nicely.

The Mural, Take II

Keneth put in a long day to add two extra coats to the background, and to outline everything in black. . . He showed up at 5:30 a.m., and aside from a quick break for an hour in the afternoon, he was here until 6:30 p.m. He even enlisted his cousin, Darleen, to give the background an extra coat. Darleen wasn't thrilled with the picture taking, but enjoyed getting her Rembrandt on.

As darkness fell, Keneth was looking for extra inspiration, so he strapped on a bandana, a beanie and painted himself up like Salvadore Dali, one of his favorite artists.

This is. . .

An ear . . . This is an ear all hopped up on something. . . Get the picture?

While out whacking brush in the jungle the other day with the machete, something large and black landed on my neck. I swatted it away. A few seconds later, I felt a sting in my right ear lobe, which grew progressively more painful as I clawed at it.

I have never had my ears pierced, but I would guess that this must be kind of what it feels like. After sleeping on it, the next day it was swollen to twice the size of the other lobe and was cock-eyed like a drunken weatherman leaning into a hurricane, sticking out at a pretty good angle.

No idea of what got me, but I would guess it was a wasp. There are a lot of them down here, and I may have ticked one off while I was cutting through the grass and the other jungle junk to clear the area by one of the fences.

The distended lobe was, of course, a source of great amusement to everyone here at Tree Houses. Disney will be pleased to note that Dumbo is well known in at least this part of Costa Rica, judging by the comments from Keneth and Darleen.

It still doesn't hurt all that much (don't think there are a lot of nerves in the lobe) but it looks goofy and feels like I've got a weight dangling from my right lobe.

Jungle mystery. . .

Mini-B is recovering nicely, thanks for the e-mails, etc. We now think that our original premise, that she was swiped by an iguana, may be wrong. According to the locals, iguanas get defensive with their tails, and Mini-B had a pretty good-sized divot, just one, down her nose. What are your thoughts on what got the little bugger?

Sloth--very long claws

Iguana--we hate to be proven wrong

Jaguar--a stretch, as it would have killed her

Feral cat--but one big divot doesn't explain a cat

Godzilla--a longshot, but would be cool

ugg boots

The Mural, Take I

Keneth, one of the talented people who works here at Tree Houses, is painting a mural on the side of the house where we live. Previously, the side of the house was a lime-green color, but Keneth, a very good artist who has done a mural at the local elementary school, is going to spruce it up and add some color to the place.

This will be a regular feature on the blog until the mural is completed (and when we get around to taking pictures and putting them up). . . It may take a while, as it is a large area to cover, but we cannot wait until it is all wrapped up.

This is what happens. . .

When you're a little runt, yet don't act like it. . . Mini-B and Bejuca took off into the jungle this morning, after some dogs were heard on the outer boundaries of the property. . . About a minute later, we heard a frightening screech and yelp (much louder and sharper than previous screeches when Bejuca has stepped on her) and we took off running and looking. . .

We couldn't go through the jungle, so we ran down to where a back road that rings the hotel property is at. . . After a couple of minutes, Mini-B came bounding out of the jungle and started running toward us. . . As she got closer, I noticed something was amiss, and the entire front of her left side was covered in blood. She was dragging her face along the ground, trying to wipe it off. Lucy quickly scooped her up, and we took her to the house, where we rinsed her off.

There was a 2-inch gash down her nose, and she had lost quite a bit of blood. Luckily, after we washed her off and held a towel on her, the bleeding pretty much stopped.

We called the vet and headed up to Quesada. Mini-B kept wanting to go to sleep (the vet said that this was because she lost a fair amount of blood), but Lucy kept waking her up. We got to the vet, and he predicted 1-2 stitches, and wasn't concerned. We went to run some errands while Mini-B was stitched up. When we came back, the doc said he ended up putting 4-5 stitches in, as the wound was much larger than it appeared. He took pictures with his i-Phone and showed them to us (kind of gruesome).

Now, as you can see, Mini-B has a silver nose, some stitches, and another halo. She goes back in a week to get the stitches out.

We're theorizing that an iguana got ahold of her, as it's one long, deep scratch. Another dog would have left more damage, we're guessing. And Lucy has spotted an iguana in that general direction the past couple of mornings.

Sadly, Mini-B probably hasn't learned much from this episode. Later this afternoon, when she had more spunk, she followed Lucy down to tree house no. 2 and Lucy had to grab her from going into the jungle again.

Whacking a branch. . .

The other day, while Miguel and I were tromping through the jungle, we noticed a pretty large branch that was hanging over the power and phone lines from the road to the hotel. This is not a good thing, considering that we're in the middle of the rainy season, and storms are the norm, especially in the afternoons. The branch was about 30-plus feet up and was roughly 50 to 60 feet long.

Miguel, who had just built a ladder out of metal purchased from the local ferreteria (hardware store), was chomping at the bit to try it out. He welded together a ladder from steel bars, and each section is 3 meters long, so it will now be long enough--provided all three sections are hooked together--to get to the top of the tree houses. We needed two sections to get up high enough for Miguel to get to the crux of the problem.


The whole process took a couple of hours, and it was just Miguel, myself and Keneth at times, along with the ladders, a machete and some rope. Miguel shinnied up the tree, strung a rope around the branch that was going to be cut down, and then we pulled the ladder up to the level that he could stand on. The ladder is one heavy bugger, so we couldn't just prop it up against the tree (and besides, the grown down below made it really tough to move it around).

After whacking away at several smaller branches, we tied a rope around the big section and pulled on it, while Miguel cut away with the machete. The branch, at its base, was about 10 inches around, and when Miguel cut the main part away, the metal ladder that he made and was standing on, shot about 5 feet in the air and bounced. Miguel was about 30 feet up, riding it out. The ladder, roped to the tree, was hanging about a foot off the ground at this point, and Miguel was having a hoot and a holler.

At last, it was time to cut the branch away from the base of the tree, about 20 feet was left of it. I had ahold of the rope attached to the branch while Miguel cut away at it. Just before I gave it a final tug, Miguel told me to stand to the side, as the branch was going to come my way (the opposite direction of the power lines). Good call. I moved about 6 feet to my left, gave the rope a final tug, and the branch came barreling down, leaving a hefty divot in the turf near to where I had been standing.

One down, another two to go . . .

Persistent purchaser of pooch products poll. . .

Is it bordering on "crazy cat lady" status (there are no cats involved, but who has ever heard of a "crazy dog lady"?) when you buy a pooch a new collar every three weeks? We don't want to give away the identity of the persistent purchaser of pooch products, so you can draw your own conclusions from the "lady" part.

Yes

No

kids ugg boots

Hotel Las Delphines. . .

This was the place we were encamped for our three-night stay in San Andres, Colombia. It's the smallest of the Decameron Hotels (there are six or seven, I believe) and it's close to the center of town. There was a bar, small pool and restaurant at Delphines. We lucked out and got the only room on the ground floor that looked right out onto the water. We could hear the ocean lapping at the bottom of the lanai.



The pool was nice, the bar was just like you see at Sears and you set up in your basement, but the bartenders were friendly, and the restaurant was right on the water, which was very nice. The food in the restaurant was good, though nothing special. We had to make reservations every morning for where we wanted to eat lunch and dinner for that day.

When we checked in, they gave us each a bracelet that we just had to flash at any or the restaurants/bars/discos (we didn't hit the disco) to get in and since it was all-inclusive, there was no extra money necessary.

The other hotels had the discos and the nightly shows. Las Delphines, being the smallest, didn't have either, which we didn't mind.

One hitch: the elbow joint under the bathroom sink was missing, so every time turned on the sink, our feet got wet. . . Compared to the story of the folks we met who stayed in another hotel, we were in a pretty sweet room.

Aquarium Hotel

This is one of the larger Decameron hotels, and it was just a five-minute walk from Las Delphines, so we spent more time here than we did at our own. There's five restaurants, several bars and a larger pool area and you can sea kayak, wind surf, kite surf, snorkel or scuba there (which is included in the package price--if you want to do motorized water sports then there's an extra charge).



The way the rooms are set up at the Aquarium is pretty nice, as almost all of them have ocean views. They have 15 towers, and each is about six stories, I believe. Probably 90 percent of the rooms are right on the water, which is nice. The restaurants there are pretty nice as well, and they have the lone swim-up pool bar that we found.

We would likely stay there if we do return to San Andres. It's nice to be close to the town and walk around, and have all the amenities of the large resort nearby.

Question. . .

When jogging/slogging through the jungle/rain forest in Costa Rica, is it OK to strap on an Ipod? It's a route that we have traveled many times before and we know it well. Still, the music is turned down while running, in order to hear the monkeys, toucans and other wildlife sounds, but is this ruining the experience? Keep in mind, this is 80s' music, good stuff for the middle-aged plodder.

Yes

No

kids ugg boots

San Andres

For a place I didn't even know existed until a few months ago, we had a great time in San Andres, Colombia. I'm pretty sure it's smaller than Oahu, and we heard population estimates from 100,000 to 200,000 folks. As Johnny No. 1, our cab driver told us, if people speak English, they're locals, if they speak Spanish, they're from Colombia. In the schools, Johnny No. 1 said -- a very nice fellow who played professional basketball in mainland Colombia for 13 years -- they teach English and Spanish, and in the homes, the locals speak a sort of Creole.



Johnny No. 1 says there are too many people on San Andres now, and from the looks of the traffic, we would have to concur. There are probably 25,000 motorcycles/scooters on the island and families of four or five will hop on a motorcycle and cruise around. The side streets are just clogged with parked motorcycles.

Overall, it's a very nice island. One thing we were pleasantly surprised to discover: no bugs or mosquitoes. We both got pretty chewed up in Bocas Del Torro, Panama, but didn't even need the bug spray in San Andres. The beaches were great, and there's several small islands (that look like they could have been used as backdrops for Gilligan's Island) a mile or so off-shore of San Andres.

We're back. . .

From a great time in San Andres, Colombia. . . Very nice little island, only a 45-minute flight from
San Jose.

According to one of the taxi drivers that we rode with, the island was originally British, then was given over to Nicaragua and now it's with Colombia. This was explained as we were standing by the roadside while Colombian soldiers with automatic rifles searched the cab for drugs and arms--they came up empty. ("This is what they do, they are bored," said the driver.)

We had a great time and wouldn't mind going back at some point. It was kind of like a cruise on dry land, as all meals, drinks and activities were included in the stay.

We'll post more pics and tales in the next couple of days as time allows.

Adios. . .

For a week. . . We're out of here for a week off. Time to hit the beach and relax for a bit. We're headed to San Andres, Colombia. Taking off today, and we'll be back in a week or so, as we're going to spend some time in San Jose before and after the trip. Hopefully, we'll have some good pictures and tales to tell when we return.

Geography quiz. . .

OK, time for our three-month break to vamoose from Costa Rica to see other parts of the world and renew our visa. . . We found a great deal: airfare, three nights hotel, all meals and drinks included, for $400.00 per person. . . Where are we going? It's an island to the east of Costa Rica. . . It's also north, but it's a property/territory of a South American country. . . Kind of odd to be flying north to end up in South America, but that's the way it goes these days, I suppose. . .

To be honest, we have a nice global map here in the house of the hotel, and I couldn't even find the place on it. . . Had to go prowl around on the Internet to find it's location. . . It used to be claimed by Nicaragua, but is now the property of this South America nation. . .

Please enter your guesses. . . We vamoose August 26 and will be back on September 1. . .

Once In A Lifetime

The other day, Kenneth had called me over to the driveway to come and take a look at this sloth that had come down low from the tree...he was so low you could reach out and touch the cute little guy...i never would have thought i'd come this close as to be able to reach out and touch this cute little creature...as excited as i was, i have to say i was a little afraid as well--my heart was racing, as all i could think about were the long claws..not knowing if he'd lunge at me with his paw or not...but, being this close i just couldn't resist and touch the little one...the texture of his fur is not as coarse as i had thought it would be...it was actually quite soft...
These creatures are just amazing to watch...i just get so mesmerized by how they move around on the branches and trees...for the most part, they are pretty slow with their movements, but there are times when they can pick up the pace and move a bit faster to get around...this little guy decided to hang out low on the tree for quite some time before he headed back up to higher ground...

Do not, under any circumstances, ever, ever

Mix meatloaf and pizza with a couple of dogs in a two-day period. We have found this out the hard way after a couple of delectable dinners (one cooked--the meatloaf--and one delivered--the pizza). . .

There is an ongoing debate here in Costa Rica as to what is the best kind of food for the canines. . . One of us insists on feeding treats to the pooches (including cooking up pork chops just for them and feeding them dinner scraps) while the other wishes to stick to traditional dog food materials and treats. . . In Spanish, dog food is concentrado. . . Pizza and meatloaf, while delicious, are not concentrado, and we have been paying dearly in the evenings with eye-watering emissions ricocheting off the walls like a hummingbird on a major sugar high. . .

Godzilla. . .

The latest movie that didn't do that great (with Matthew Broderick) theorized that Godzilla got his/her start as a big lizard and then was nuked into super stardom. Perhaps this was the size of what the pre-Godzilla looked like. We found this critter wandering around down by the gate the other day. It's an older one, as part of its tail has fallen off and it's losing color towards the end of what bit of tail it does have left. It has a huge chin waddle as well, really big and saggy. I was able to get up really close to it. It didn't seem to mind that Keneth was running the weed eater just a few feet away, or that I walked up and started taking pictures. He wasn't in the mood to move very fast or far, it seemed, being content to soak up some sun on the grass.

While driving around down here, you do have to watch for iguanas crossing the road. They can get pretty long, but they are very low to the ground still, and I have not seen a couple when we've been driving. I'm used to looking out for dogs and cats, which are higher off the ground, but not low-slung lizards.

Gecko vs. bug. . .

No pictures with this one, though snapshots would not suffice; video would have done it much better. . . We were lying in bed the other night, watching TV, when we saw a good-sized gecko scurrying up the wall by the televison. . . We kept an eye on it, wondering what it would do. It didn't do much, just stayed stuck to the wall and flashed a few inches once in a while.

Then a medium-sized cockroach landed on the wall, about 2-3 inches from the gecko. . . Less than 10 seconds later, the gecko had scrambled over, pounced and sucked up the cockroach. Then the gecko scuttled down between the wall and the dresser, presumably to enjoy its late-night snack.

It was like watching Animal Planet in person, kind of cool to see nature in action that up close and personal.

Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

We've had about three to four sloths living in the trees between the gate of the hotel and our house the past week or two. In the previous few days, four of them gathered in one tree. I took some guests down one morning to see the sloths, as most people that come here can't wait to see one.

We were down on the driveway, watching three of them huddled together on a branch, about 50 to 60 feet up in the air. One started making its way our further, and the branch (which was over 50 feet long) started to dip. I cleared everyone away, and sure enough, the branch broke about a minute later and the sloths came crashing down, about 3 feet in front of me.

Keneth and I jumped in and started clearing away the branches (the main branch that snapped was about 6 to 8 inches around, and it snapped off from the base of the tree) to free up the sloths.

Luckily, none of the sloths were hurt. Even though they must have been startled and shocked to be out of their element, they still didn't hurry to get back into the trees. They shuffled along on the ground, before starting to climb up some banana plants and then back into the trees. I was told that it is very unusual to see a group of sloths all huddled together. Usually, they're solitary creatures, unless one is watching a baby.

It may sound cruel, but that was pretty neat to see the sloths up close and personal like that. I could have touched one if I wanted, but didn't want to disturb them anymore than they already were.

Espanol 101. . .

Or maybe something more basic: Spanish 50?

I just completed a week of free Spanish lessons at Proyecto Asis, the animal rescue center near the hotel. Proyecto Asis, in addition to hosting volunteers to work with the animals and build houses for people in the area, also offers a Spanish class. Fortunately, I was able to go to the class for a week for free. It was a great experience. Lindsay, the instructor, was very good. It was just myself and a junior-to-be in high school from California. Of course, I was the laggard in the class, not having as much experience as the 17-year-old girl.

Nonetheless, the experience was very good, and I did learn a lot -- much to the chagrin of the folks who work here at Tree Houses. At least I was able to understand when Darleen and Patricia told Lucy they wished I had never taken the classes, as I was now able to ask for a lot of things and tell them what needed to be done.

Since the class is at the animal rescue center, it was great to walk the grounds before and after class (it was four hours each morning for a week). One of the drawbacks, was when the mapaches (raccoons) would come scrambling through the outdoor classroom. Actually, it wasn't a drawback, but a very nice diversion. The mapaches pretty much took over the classroom, scrambling up our legs and onto the table and trying to make off with keys, pens, notebooks, etc. The critters are still pretty young and very curious.

Not your typical classroom setting, but still a very good time.

Animal Rescue

I have to say, i am so proud of myself...i helped to save the life of an injured hummingbird...the birds here have a tendency to hit against the windows...unfortunately, there are times when they hit too hard and there is nothing that can be done to help them...then, there are other times, when they hit the windows and find themselves just knocked unconscious, and with a little help, they are able to get back on their wings and fly away...it just requires a little bit of hummingbird resuscitation...unlike anything one would expect...
The other day, a hummingbird had knocked up against the patio window of our house and landed on the ground...unable to move...i got hold of the bird and placed it in the palm of my hand...i lifted up its tail and blew a couple puffs of air into its bottom...and NO i did not go mouth to butt to blow in the puffs of air...there was no bird to human contact...i was a good enough distance away from its bottom, just enough to blow in some air...it's apparently what is practiced down here in CR to help in bringing birds back to life after they've gotten the wind knocked out of them...and to my surprise it did work...after just a few puffs of air and some massaging of the hummingbird's back and head, i was able to bring him back to life...and he fluttered back and flew out of my hands...i have to say it was a feeling like no other, to be able to hold such a beautiful and delicate bird in the palm of my hand...truly amazing!

Hail to the King!

Having been down here now for about five months, we have not eaten much American-style fast food. We try to eat at the local sodas, or restaurants, most of the time, as we can get our fair share of grease back home. . . However, sometimes there is a need for the greasy, salty and decadent fast food that has bloated America.

Recently, we caved into temptation and hit up Burger King and McDonald's on a trip to San Ramon. Unlike the Colonel, both BK and McD's taste pretty much the same as back home. . . However, this time we discovered Burger King's Cheesy Tots. . . Have mercy, and prepare the angioplasty--these are some tasty things. . .

Not sure if they're available back in the States at Burger King, or if it's a Costa Rica or Central American menu item (McDonald's serves chicken legs and wings) but it's dangerously tasty. . .

As you can probably figure out from the name, it's basically deep-fried tater tots infused with cheese, and they are outstanding. . .

Curiously, after not eating much of this food for our time down here and then gorging ourselves, we were both a little queasy afterwards. . . Lesson learned? Probably not, when cheesy tots are available.

It doesn't get old. . .

Spotting wildlife here at the hotel, which is nice . . . I suppose if it did, then we'd grow bored and wouldn't enjoy things down here as much. . .
Recently, we've had a great run of sloth sightings very close to the hotel. . . Sloths are not the easiest of critters to spot, as they don't move very much, and when they do, it is truly painfully slow. . . Of late, we've had several sloths down by the front gate and one near tree house No. 3. . . On two consecutive mornings, all of the guests and us were down at the gate watching a mama sloth and her baby on the left side of the driveway, and a male on the right side. . . The mama and her baby got down to about 8 feet off the ground at one point, before they stretched out (excruciatingly slowly, of course) and the baby climbed off the back of the mother, and reached out on its own, as the small branch they were using wasn't strong enough to support both of them at the same time. . .

While that was going on, there was a male that decided to descend from his lofty perch on the other side of the driveway. . . He also came down pretty low, before stretching over to another tree. . .

Since the sloths don't move fast, we were able to spot them for 3-4 days in a row, though they got progressively farther away from the driveway. . . They take on a greenish tint, growing mold and fungus on their fur, which makes them even harder to spot. . .

We've had great monkey sightings as well. . . Two young males have been swinging around the hotel and between No. 1 and 3, dropping branches and making a mess in the driveway. . . One couple drove up to check in, and the monkeys started dropping leaves and branches on their rental car. . .

Frog!

All right, most folks know that Lucy is the one with the thing for frogs. . . This time, though, even I got excited about seeing one. . .

Lucy went out to grab and refill one of the hummingbird feeders. She brought it inside, and was getting ready to rinse it off, when she noticed a red-eyed tree frog was perched atop the glass bottle. . . These frogs are nearly impossible (at least for me) to spot in the wild, as they can fold up pretty much into a small rectangle, tucking their legs and arms underneath them, and closing their eyes, while perched on a green leaf. . .

When the frog opens its eyes, it's a brilliant red that really stands out, and the feet are a bright orange, while parts of the underside are a nice blue. . . It does secrete poison, so we didn't touch it. . . We used a stick to move it from the feeder onto a green leaf, where it promptly closed its eyes and does whatever it does when it closes its eyes. . .

Alas, there was a pretty good rain storm with some winds later on in the evening, and the frog vamoosed for better protection from the elements, we're guessing. . . It hung out on the leaf for most of the day. . .