Breaking silence for great food. . .

Actually, it was great, great food. . . We headed out last night to see about some food. Here in Buenos Aires, restaurants don't typically open until around 7 p.m. or so, as dinner time is between 9 p.m. and later. . . The place that we did want to go to was closed at the time (this was a bit before 7) so we headed on down to a bunch of restaurants that we had found earlier.

We stumbled upon a placed call Al Carbon.

Man, oh man, what a great place. We stuffed ourselves silly and enjoyed every piece.

Once again, our eyes were larger than our stomachs, but we managed to put nearly everything away.

We started with:

Stuff mushrooms with a white cream sauce;

Breaded camembert cheese with basil and tomato sauce;

A green salad with a honey mustard/vinegar dressing;

A piece of pork sausage (that blended with the cheese very, very well).

For the main course:

Beef medallions with dijon mustard/pepper sauce;

Spinach-stuffed ravioli (this was OK, while the other dishes were outstanding);

For dessert, we managed to get down:

Caramel tiramisu;

and fontane de chocolate (which we thought would be a cake with fudge drizzled over the top. It was actually a hard chocolate shell -- like a peanut butter cup -- filled with caramel dulce and chocolate filling and a strawberry garnished on the side).

One of the better meals we have had in a long, long time.

After some time in the city. . .

We're going to head north to check out a sight that is regarded as one of the top 10 in the Americas, and borders another country. We'll hang out here for two days before beginning the journey home (flying back to the major city, then to the U.S., and finally back here to Costa Rica).

It's a long slog, but well worth the trouble and the time, and we are particularly looking forward to checking out the falls here, especially since we honeymooned at another area famous for its falls: Victoria Falls.

Outta here!

Again! Indeed, it's time for us to take a break from the jungle and head to one of our favorite cities. We've been here a couple of times in the past, and keep going back, as it has a lot to offer, and we have made friends with the owner of the apartment, where we can stay right in the center of the city.

The apartment is about six blocks down and one block on the right from the landmark.

We'll be relaxing for about 10 days, eating at great restaurants, checking out movies and just relaxing.

Just for grins and giggles, here's a pic of the city we'll be at, and the three close followers of the blog will be able to figure it out, most likely.

There is a rumor of Wi-Fi at the apartment now, so we may be able to update from there, if we feel like breaking from our life of leisure.

What are you looking at?

This is, after all, the primates' jungle. They are not afraid to demonstrate that, with bellows at the crack of dawn, or droppings on unsuspecting guests. They know exactly what they are doing, and could probably pitch for the Giants or Mets or Cubs (yeah, there is a bias there) as they have decent aim when they want.

They will eyeball you and just keep vigil while others will circle around behind and do their deed. They do not come down on the tree houses, but will swing from tree to tree, often very close to the tree houses.

Who can complain about monkeys keeping you awake when you're in the middle of the Costa Rica jungle?

Beating a dead horse. . .

With fresh pictures. . . and of one of the baby monkeys, to boot. They hang on their mothers and then branch out when they're feeling up to the task.

For those who are wondering, it is actually quite easy to tell the difference between the mom and dad monkeys. Once they are facing away from you, it is not difficult at all to tell the difference. One time, there was a 6-year-old girl staying here, very inquisitive, that asked us why some monkeys looked different than others when they were swinging away.

"Ask your parents and they will explain everything," was the best response we could come up with.

Can you ever have

Too many monkey shots? We don't think so. The family of howler monkeys that hang out here for a few days every week actually sat still for a bit, in order for the Art Dept. to get some great pictures.

Cute buggers, extremely noisy. The family of seven or eight have a couple of babies with them as well, which are really fun to watch.

Here's the little

bugger making its way from mom for a little bit. It didn't stray too far, before it stopped and waited for mom to come over and then it crawled up mom's back, over her head and back down to the belly and food.

Here's a picture of the

Mother and baby sloth that have been frequenting the trees by the rancho the past week or so. It's hard to get the baby's face, as it is usually tucked around the mom's belly and doesn't poke its head out too often.

Also, the mother tends to wrap herself around a branch and not move much.

There's another picture coming of the baby out climbing on its own. . .

Can you spot

The critter in the picture? It's not as difficult as finding Waldo, but you may have to look kind of close.

It's a mika, and it is non-venomous. They use their tails as a defense mechanism, whipping them around, lightning quick. They also hunt their other, venomous relatives, so a good one to have around.

Of course, there were

 some pinatas for the kids (and adults). To the left is Christopher taking a whack at one, while his dad pulls the rope in the back ground. After the pinata was broke open and the candy came falling out, it was every man, woman and child for themselves (below) as it was a scrum for the sweets and prizes inside.

Party time. . .

The other day was the fourth birthday of Palomino's grandson, Christopher. Palomino and his sons are the ones who built the three newest tree houses here, and just wrapped up the Yiguirro in April.

There was plenty of food (Pelotta, Christopher's dad, butchered a pig) and games. Here, the kids each have a balloon tied to their legs and they try to break the other's balloon, while not getting their popped in the process.

Back to the pooches. . .

Here are the girls, actually holding still, after a walk. Mini-B is a little agitator, and she'll run up to Bejuca, nip at her heels, and then speed off. Mini-B can corner very well, though on a straight stretch, she is no match for Bejuca, who will run her down and pin her to the ground.

At that point, Mini-B rolls over and throws her legs up in the air and Bejuca just pants and dribbles on top of her. Then Mini-B will get up, nip at Bejuca and take off again.

Congratulations!

We take a break from our cute pooch pics, to introduce Carol and Andrew, soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Carol and Andrew.

Andrew brought Carol down for a vacation and a proposal. He e-mailed and had us set up their tree house for when they came back from dinner the second night they were with us.

Lucy and Patricia got the flowers, champagne and candles and had the tree house all set up when they returned from dinner at Italianissimo.

Andrew blindfolded Carol and led her into the tree house and popped the question. They were, needless to say, very happy the following morning at breakfast.