Hot water?

One of the questions that is asked most often by folks--when they check in, not before--is if there are showers and toilets in the tree houses.

Depending on my mood (and the disposition of the guests) I tell them that it's a 1.5-mile walk to the outhouse and the rain-catch.

In reality, there is a shower, sink and toilet in all of the tree houses.

However, the showers are warm-water showers. There are no hot-water tanks. The water is heated as it goes through the shower head by electricity (some wags call them suicide showers). Basically, the more water pressure, the cooler the shower; the less pressure the warmer the shower. However, the water can't be a trickle or else the heating element won't kick on.

We try to remind folks of this when they check in, but a lot of times they're so eager to get to the tree house, they don't want a long, drawn-out check in. So, we tell them to read the binder in the room for information on the hotel, facilities, restaurants, excursions, etc.

Inevitably, a day or so later, they show up for breakfast and say they don't have any hot water in their tree house.

Luckily, we have learned not to roll our eyes now, and we patiently explain the system to them again.

Illuminating the jungle. . .

When surrounded by jungle, rain forest (whatever you want to call it--we just call it a whole lot of trees) it's always a challenge to light the area for guests walking around the grounds at night.

There have been many options tried, including the now-cursed sensor lights. In theory, the sensor lights work great--if they're not surrounded by a heavily forested area where the sun may set earlier than normal (here at 5:30 every night) and there aren't branches that will break off and knock the sensors silly. Then there is the constant rain and humidity which brings along its friends mold and mildew which wreak havoc on the sensors.

Finally, after much hair pulling and wailing, we have come to the conclusion: sensors suck.

Every time we buy a new light (and for some unknown and unfathomable reason, they all come with sensors--as if this is an invention that actually helps) we end up killing the sensor like it was a Klingon encroaching on our territory.

There are still a few sensor lights around our house. Every once in a while, we'll stand in front of them and jump up and down. Nothing. Then a gecko or toad will cruise by and the light will turn on.

The views expressed above are of an individual and not a corporation that could be sued by the sensor illuminati.

Calling in sick...

one of the downsides to managing a b&b is when you're feeling down in the dumps and not wanting to get out of bed, it's almost impossible to "call in sick."....

i remember back in the day when calling in sick was just a matter of picking up the phone and talking to your boss (or leaving a message) that you weren't making it in...and that was that...hanging up the phone, then rolling over in bed and just taking the day off to recover...because of course it was just a "24 hour bug..."

here at the hotel, it's a whole other animal...with there being so much to do everyday, it's really hard to take a day off....b/c then all the work falls on the other person to do, and let me tell you that's A LOT of work - - overseeing breakfast, chatting with the guests, managing staff, handling service deliveries, answering phone, checking in and checking out guests, etc....and that's just the morning...there's still the rest of the day to deal with...

well, that was the case with me the other day...i was feeling just like $*!# and i was not wanting to get out of bed...it was one of those days, and i needed a day off...

mark saw how miserable i was and stepped up....he told me just stay in bed and lay low and he'd take care of everything...i really didn't want him to have to take care of it all, but at the same time i knew there was no way i could get up and get moving....so, without fighting with him on it, i just told him OK...i would stay in bed and if he needed anything just let me know...

so, i spent the day in bed...sleeping off and on...snuggling with Mini B...and just taking it easy and resting...

let me tell you - what a difference a day does make...now i'm 100% better....well rested...

now gotta figure out when mark can "call in sick" and i'll give him a well deserved day off...

Drive time. . .

For those that are coming (or thinking of coming) to Costa Rica: It's fine to drive. Most of the roads are two lanes (even the "highways") and can be windy and curvy with switchbacks and plenty of hills.

It really isn't that bad, though, compared to other parts of the world.

For all the dorks who don't watch the History Channel and "Ice Road Truckers" we encourage you to check out "IRT: Himalaya's Deadliest Roads." (Yes, more than likely, the producers are running out of story lines for the ice and are shifting it to more dangerous locales.)

This is where they take a bunch of truckers from the States and Canada that spend their winters driving over sheer ice to take supplied to remote locations, and they have now plopped them in India, driving on some truly treacherous roads.

These roads will make you pucker and long for anything even semi-safe. Comparatively, the roads here in Costa Rica are super highways.

Personally, I haven't driven these roads, but did hop a jeep ride from Tibet into Nepal many years ago and the bridges and roads look suspiciously the same.

Going green. . .

A lot of places in Costa Rica are environmentally conscious, and the country sells itself that way. Naturally, we're green here at the hotel as well.

We tell the guests that if they would like fresh towels or sheets, just to tell us.

Most are fine (average stay is three to four nights) while they are here. However, every once in a while we get some folks that either live in a bubble back home, or are just living it up.

Occasionally, (and, yes, recently) we've had guests that have wanted fresh towels and sheets daily and sometimes extra towels every day as well.

The question: Do these folks do this at home? Do they really change their sheets every day? Do they shower and then toss the towel into the hamper?

Main problem. . .

The other day, Maris (who drives a truck and sells fruit from his house across the way) wandered to our intercom and said there was water shooting out from the main pipe.

I tromped up and sure enough, water was gushing about 5 feet high and the water meter looked like we had just hit a Vegas jackpot, it was spinning out of control.

It was a Sunday and Maris was kind enough to grab a wrench and turn off the water.

Lucy called Miguel (who is off on Saturdays and Sundays). Miguel happened to be hanging out with the head poo-bah of the water board at the time. About 30 minutes later, Jesus (a young lad) came pedaling up on his bike, asking where the problem was.

About an hour later, after checking out the flow and establishing that it was our water meter/line that was the one broken, we had patched the leak with a hacksaw, 12 inches of pvc pipe and some cement that he had tossed into the basket of his bike.

Not really sure how the line was broken, as it's off the road, down a ravine and buried under leaves. Thankfully, it was taken care of quickly and water service wasn't disrupted to the tree houses.

Dinner time?

There's an amazing amount of fresh fish, beef, chicken and pork available right near us. Most everything is grown/raised by small farms or families.

That means, not a lot of antibiotics or steroids, etc., and we'll leave it to you all to decide on how healthy or unhealthy all of that stuff is. At times the meat isn't as tender as we can get back home, but it is still tasty.

Lucy makes a mean fish and chips with the tilapia that we buy around here. Soaked in beer and breaded in plantain chips, it is outstanding.

She had seen a sign for fresh tilapia in Javillos (a small town a mile or so away from us) and was all fired up to give it a shot, rather than buying the fish at the supermarket.

So, it was with watering mouth that I awaited Lucy's return that day with fresh fish for dinner.

She returned, but not with the fish. She brought back chiccarones (pork short ribs which are amazing from this place just down the road).

Apparently, fresh is really fresh. Lucy went up and asked for a kilo of tilapia. The man ran back to his pool, tossed in a net and pulled out four of the fish. He then proceeded to club them, break their necks, gut them and then put them in a bag for Lucy.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, Lucy doesn't know how to prepare a fish like that (yet). So, she went to Patricia's house (she works here) and asked if Patricia wanted some fresh tilapia. Patricia, her mother and sister were thrilled with the windfall, though Patricia was highly amused that Lucy didn't know how to prepare it.

The chiccarone place is less than a mile from Patricia's.

In the next few weeks, we will have Patricia stick around a bit longer to give us the ins and outs of preparing the tilapia.

It's that time of year again. . .

When the afternoon thunder and lightning storms blow through.

It can kick up quite the racket and it drives the poor pooches absolutely nuts. It throws Mini-B and Sweetie off their feed (nothing gets in the way of mealtime for Bejuca).

At times, the thunder will shake the windows here at the house and you can feel the rumble.

From now through October and a bit into November, the storms will be the norm in the afternoon. It will bring a bit of rain for a while and then clear up (the mornings are nice) and refresh the jungle, which is nice.

The deeper into the "Green Season" (the Tico code word for the rainy season) the earlier the storms will last.

Bitten by the bullet. . .

OK, this isn't the ant that I was bitten by (thankfully). I was bitten by little, tiny, rotten, sneaky critters.

The ballin (bullet) ant is a bit longer than your thumb nail, and you can actually see the pincers on them without a microscope or magnifying glass.

Fortunately, I have never been bitten by one, though others here (Miguel and Chiza) have.

When you are bitten by one of these buggers, you definitely know it. Just the other day, while I was raking up more leaves and Chiza was putting them into the cart (yes, I am a fast learner) I looked over and Chiza was doing a jig.

I asked him what was wrong, and he just yelled "Ballin! Ballin! Ballin!

Of course, being a hip, young Tico (he's around 22 or so) he was wearing jeans that had holes in them. Probably good for impressing ladies at the local soda or bar, but not ideal for working in the jungle.

When I helpfully pointed that out to him, he taught me some new Spanish words that won't be reprinted here in a family blog.

Ant-i itch? Nope. . .

This is kind of close to what my wrists and forearms looked like a few days ago, while we were cleaning out the dead leaves around the area.

Raking leaves has never been a favorite pastime of mine, and when you have 8 acres in heavily wooded rain forest, it's even less of a winner.

First we have the leaf blower. But you can only blow the leaves so far before they get up to your waist and it's pointless to blow them anymore as the mountain isn't going anywhere.

Then come the rakes, trash bags and the trailer behind the quad to haul everything away.

Of course, it's never that simple to just toss the leaves in the bag or trailer. There are ants that love to chomp down on sweaty folks.

I had hauled around 20 or so of the big garden bags of leaves back into the jungle on a nice warm day when I felt a bit of an itch on my wrists. With it being around 90 degrees outside, and sweating like I had finished another marathon, I hadn't paid too much attention.

Finally, though, one of the little critters really bit down and I found out I was covered in the rotten little buggers.

By the time I had finished and gotten up to take a shower, my wrists and forearms were fairly swollen and itching like crazy. I couldn't wear my watch for a few days as the band (normally loose) was just too tight.

One fringe benefit that Juan Carlos told me about when he saw my arms:

He said that when he's been working out in his garden and his fingers and joints are stiff, he will purposely seek out an ant hill and jam his hands down there and let the little creatures go to work. He claims that it's a great natural arthritic reliever.

I don't have arthritis (yet) but may keep that in mind. It is pretty dang uncomfortable, though, so if anyone wants to give it a shot, be warned.

Construction Zone

for all of you avid followers (3) of Jungle Journey, please excuse the design changes...we are currently under construction...changing up the look of the website...and having some trouble figuring out all the different features/templates, etc....so, you will notice new looks to the page, that will keep changing throughout the coming days...as soon as i run out of patience and stop banging on the comp out of frustration in deciding how to successfully update the blog design, then we will have finished construction and have a new look..

thanks all for your patience...and for following our blog...we really appreciate it...

Input needed. . .

The burning question for this week. Of course, if you cynics do not like the answers, feel free to pass along your own.

Confessions of a Glee-ker. . .

Whenever we head back to the States, we tend to load up on stuff that we can't get down here in Costa Rica.

That can mean decent disposable razors, the ever-so-lovely Bac'n-Cheddar-Cheez-Whizz, Cheesy Spam, etc.

However, my primary goal this time was to load up my IPod with Glee soundtracks. Yes, I'm a Gleek. Keep in mind while posting any comments that Ma Eidson does read this blog.

My brother-in-law, Christian, graciously uploaded nearly 1,100 songs on my IPod Shuffle for me to listen to while I'm working around the grounds here at Tree Houses.

Yes, it does drown out the sounds of the monkeys and parrots, but it is worth it to get my inner-Gleek on (despite what my brother, a music professional might say).

NO MAS (no more)

cannot believe it....no more...mark's signature moustache is now gone...his trademark "stash" is no more (well at least until he decides to grow it back again)....

i was totally shocked when last night he gets into bed...we're chatting away about our day and what's up coming for the next few days...of course it took me a while to notice...combination of complete exhaustion and i have to admit sometimes i'm a bit slow in getting things (think i have to attribute that to aging)...but i look at mark and notice something is different..finally it dawns on me that he's clean shaven...of course, this is only the second time in all the time (9 years) i've known mark to be without facial hair...

he says (not sure if he's joking or not) that he's gonna grow a dual purpose moustache...not only will it be a moustache, but it will also grow itself to attach to sideburns....hmmmm....not sure how i feel about that....

i'll do my best to warm up the old camera and snap a shot when the new "stash" comes...

No one, except for Steve Kimura. . .

Will believe this. While in California visiting family, we took Lucy's folks to the local casino, which we are wont to do several times during our visit.

It's the Tachi Casino, a very nice place, out in the farmlands of Central California.

Anyway, for those officianiados of three-card poker, I was playing the second night that we were there. It was a good table with a couple of fellows headed for Japan and onwards after they finished training at the local base.

After an hour or so of treading water, I was dealt three queens. That's 30-to-1 at the Tachi Casino, and I was feeling very good.

Many high-fives resulted and since I had bet the minimum (I've never claimed to be an adept gambler) I put up the same bet for the next hand, plus $5.00 for the dealer (as I figured I owed him that for such a great hand).

The next three cards dealt to me: 7, 8 9 of clubs, a straight flush: payoff of 40-to-1. The dealer made a nice $200.00 and for 45 seconds, I was a legend at the table.

Of course, most of the moolah never made it back, but it's the moment that counts, eh?

Back in the jungle. . .

All righty. . . We've been back for more than a week and have been big-time laggards and slackers in posting anything new.

OK, it's been a couple of weeks, but some things developed that we found upon our return from visiting family in California:

** There may be actually more than three folks who read the blog, based on e-mails;

** Bernie, pictured in the last blog post, is in the Gallapagos Islands (Ecuador) now sent an e-mail to Ma and Pa Eidson, wondering why she's still enshrined atop the blog;

** Media Hawaii Federal Credit Union is merging with another credit union and we now have to get our acts together to consolidate accounts. Another sad reminder of a one-newspaper town in Honolulu.