The Rufus Mot-Mot

One of the more striking birds that we get to see down here at the hotel. The tail breaks into two pieces and looks like two ping-pong paddles.

The Rufus is larger than most of the mot-mots that we see down here, and is always great to come across.

A cousin to the toucan. . .

If you look up high and in the middle, you'll see a Collared Arakari, a cousin to the Toucan. These birds swoop down regularly for breakfast at the rancho and will make appearances regularly at the tree houses in the mornings as well.

Chacalaca!

T

This bird has a name that sounds like something from the SyFy channel (in Spanish, that would be the Canal SyFy).

The Chacalaca, in Spanish, loves to scoot around until it needs to take flight, so we are fortunate enough to see it around here regularly.

They are larger birds that shoot around, mostly on the ground, until they feel/hear the pooches, then they take flight.

The Chacalacs can kick up some serious noise when they want.

Just cool. . .

This little dude was spotted around and was just too cool to pass up. Non-lethal, just fun to watch hop and jump around.

Growing up. . .

Lucy came upon Akila one day when she was driving back from Fortuna. Akila was just a wisp of a pup, and was hop-scotching between traffic on the main road between us and Fortuna.

Lucy pulled over, dashed into traffic and pulled Akila out. Akila was tiny, weighing 1.2 kilograms at the time, and could barely walk from one end of our house to the next.

Now, Akila is a maniac and tears around the grounds.

FYI: Her name comes from a kilo (2.2 pounds) when we found her, though since she is a girl, in Spanish, there is an "a" on the end of her name, hence Akila (just a bit over a kilogram). She has long-since outgrown her name.

Akila. . .

Here is Akila. Lucy pulled Akila out of traffic on a busy road 2 years ago and she has been living here ever since.

Akila is 3 years old now and is just a wild one when in the jungle.

Her underbite endears her to everyone that visits Tree Houses.

Relaxing. . .

Just for a brief moment. Coquita is growing rapidly, and sometimes is very, very mellow. Coquita is one of nine pups from a litter. The family dropped off all nine at the vet, and we chose Coquita, who was the runt of the litter at the time. The other day, Lucy was at the vet's office, and someone brought in one of Coquita's siblings. Unfortunately, Coquita's sister was much smaller, had lost a lot of fur and was all-around not as healthy as Coquita, who is more than chunky and happy here at the hotel. If you look close at the paws and ears (especially those gi-normous ears) Coquita isn't even close to done growing. Still, she thinks that she is a lap dog and will jump up on us at any time.

This is Coquita. . .

And she has grown a bunch in the past few months. She is about 5 months old now and loves to chew on anything that isn't completely, absolutetly and firmly nailed-bolted-screwed down. In the past couple of months, she has doubled in size, and she will double again (at least) before she is done.

Happy Birthday!

To the best art department around!

Without the art department, the editorial department would be flailing around, looking for a place to call home.

Since the budget has gone belly up on a new camera thanks to the new pooch, you will all have to use your imagination for the lovely birthday lass.

I love you.

Who guessed correctly?

Coquita is an interesting mix. She is a chop-suey of breeds, as spaying and neutering isn't popular here in Costa Rica.

It will be interesting to see what part of her comes to the forefront as she gets larger.

She is part German Shepherd/Rottweiler/Collie/Husky.

A very interesting mix that is very sweet, thus far.

At this time. . .

She is a lap-dog, wanting to be around everyone all the time. That will change sooner than later. Coquita is very sociable and doesn't like to be left along too much, not surprising.

Yep, she's a big-time eater. . .

And now, she is starting to growl and snipe if anyone comes near her food bowl. . . A true dog of the hotel!

When all is said and done, she will be about 20 to 25 kilograms (break out your calculators; 2.2 kilos=1 pound).

Any guesses as to her lineage?

She is making herself

 Right at home, strolling aroun d like she owns the place. Mini-B and Akila have taught her some lessons on the pecking order of things, though that will be tossed out the window in about 3 to 6 months.

She's a girl. . .

And she is named after a coconut, in Spanish. And, yes, she does like to chew on things.

New addition. . .

To the tree houses family. She already has a name (for the one or two of our faithful followers that peruse our Facebook page, you know what the name is), though how about a guess as to what her family tree is?

There are at least four major influences and we're going to milk it for all we're worth, as the art department stepped up when it got excited over the new addition.

Another pic. . .

In case you don't get the video. . .

Here are some snaps of the monkeys. . .

A hoot and a holler. . .

From Efron and Miguel at the Yiguirro tree house. We can talk abut the animals here  until we are blue in the face, but you all really need to get down here to experience it. (Two of the three faithful readers know what we are talking about!). . .

The waterfall. . .

Which is at the end of one of the trails here at the hotel. It's about 1-plus miles to get down there (all downhill getting to the water, all uphill getting back) and at this time of year the three pools are all overflowing. The main pool is in the middle, and the waterfall is further back with another pool. The center pool drains into another, smaller pool. All are fine for swimming, and they are drained and cleaned weekly.

During the dry season (December through the end of April) when it doesn't rain as much, the pools are kind of puny, with not a lot of water, but the river (a 5-minute walk from the waterfall) is great for taking a dip.

For the birds. . .

This is a Blue-Crowned Mot-Mot. A striking bird that we are lucky enough to see a lot down here. The tail is long and splits into two pieces, which look like tiny tennis raquets.

Yes, we are milking

The photo-ops here. For just a little one, though, look at the claws. This one still has an iron grip and those claws are sharp.

Here's a closer look

And you can see that the little one is pretty tuckered out. It was a bit on the soggy side as well, with the rain.

Here's the little one

Waiting patiently at the office before it was taken to the rescue center.

The fur is quite coarse and there are plenty of bugs and other flying insects all over it (typical for sloths which have their own eco-system going in their fur).

Here is a little sloth that

Lost its way. It is maybe 3 to 4 months old, not old enough to survive without its mother. This is a three-toed sloth, and the mother will look for it when they are separated (the two-toed sloths will stay with their mother longer, though if they are separated, the mom gives up and abandons the baby).

This little critter was found on the ground in an awkward position. Efron put it back in a tree and it climbed up a bit, but then didn't move for the next 12 hours, not normal for a little one. We called the local animal rescue center and they came out to check it out and take it to their center to nurse it back to health (hopefully).

A rare Sunday post. . .

To Kevin (right) who took most of the pictures with his lovely wife. They are welcome as stringers here at the blog at anytime!

And this is what happens. . .

When the editorial department takes the mother of the groom out for a dance. Too bad that a chunky editorial writer is snapped with a great-looking lady!

However, everyone said we were the best dancers there (OK, no one else was out there, but we cut a mean rug!). . .

The aftermath. . .

Here's Pa Eidson dancing at the reception. Warning: The pictures from here on aren't pretty for anyone in the wedding!

Party bus central. . .

Inside the bus, the bride and groom. Really, that is Matt's index finger (look closely).

Naturally, what wedding. . .

Isn't complete without a party bus? This bus ride lasted maybe 10 minutes from the church to the reception. There was just as much noise inside from the bridal party (who insisted on singing Wilson Phillips tunes--thank you ladies) which made it seem like a 10-hour ride.

Behind the scenes. . .

Of the wedding pictures, taken by Matt's good friend, Kip. Kip did a great job of pictures and is always welcome in Costa Rica as part of the art department!

Here's the whole dang family. . .

Gathered around for pictures just before the wedding. The groom and ma and pa Eidson and the editorial department are to the right.

It takes a while, but the art department comes through!

A neat feat. . .

Just when we think we may have heard a bit of everything, something else comes down the pike.

We had a great family staying with us from Mississippi last week, and they were heading out on the private ATV ride, on a 1,200-acre ranch not too far from us. The father came down in bib overalls, much to the chagrin of the missus and his daughters.

He was grinnin' and gigglin' when I asked if that was his work attire. It wasn't. "I'm just a redneck from Mississippi," he said, with a shrug.

His wife rolled her eyes and said that his goal was to have a picture of him in his overalls in every country that they traveled to. With just a bit of regret, she recounted their trip to Italy, when he had his picture taken in front of the Colesseum in his overalls ("I couldn't be in the picture with him," she admitted).

We get all kinds of questions

And some of them we even have answers for. Some of the most common are:

* Can we drink the water (yes);
* Where do you keep the sloths (not in a cage, but there are plenty around);
* Can we be in a car with an open container (yes, as long as you're not driving);
* Where can we get some wacky weed (check at the beaches).

Though this was a first. A great couple down here stayed with us for a week, and as the three loyal readers know, beans and rice are the main staple here. It is what's for breakfast, lunch and dinner at a lot of places and by most Ticos.

* Where can I get some Beano? (Not a clue, to be honest, as that has never come up). Maybe a potential gold mine for an enterprising person to consider.

How about some slogans (in Spanish, of course) for the sales pitch down here?

Bonus for those who can ID this one. . .

Yes, you've seen it before here on the blog and for us, it never gets old. One of the reasons we enjoy being in Costa Rica so much. We get to see this bird and others regularly and it's great to see so much wildlife.

Time for some birds. . .

These are the Collared Aracaris, cousins to the toucan. They come down regularly and feed off of the plantains that we put out around the rancho for breakfast, and at each individual tree house.

A bit easier to see

With this close-up shot. As a reminder, don't stand directly underneath one of the critters--unless you are keen to take another shower sooner than later.

Where's Congo?

 See if you can spot the critters in the trees hanging out high around here at the hotel. Easier to see them when they're moving around, rather than just sitting there.

More of the shindig. . .

Here is the happy couple after everything was said and done and they were heading out of the church.

Back from the shindig

A good time was had by all at the nuptials of Matt and Sarah Eidson in Madison, Wis., on June 27. Here's a picture of the happy bride and groom along with ma and pa Eidson.

A trip to the hardware store. . .

Is not something that most folks think of for their trip to Costa Rica. Then again, where can you buy an instant-hot-water-on-demand shower head?

Yep, right here in Costa Rica. After coffee and Lizano sauce (a zesty, worceister sauce that the Ticos put on everything), the shower heads (and kitchen faucet heads) are the second-most popluar thing for touristst to take back home.

The shower heads come in 110- and 220-volt pieces and we always recommend that folks buy a couple of extra filaments for when the pieces inevitably burn out back in North America.

It's a great piece to have for a hunting/fishing cabin up north, and is only topped by machete sales (believe that or not).

This was something new. . .

We just had some guests who own a B&B on Tybee Island, Ga. Very nice and gracious folks and were ideal guests.

On the first day here, the matron of the family kept the ladies here at the hotel up top until the tree house was cleaned to her specifications. That lasted for about 2 minutes before she realized that the people we work with do their jobs extremely well.

The art and editorital department may be the "face" of the hotel for most of the time, but is really the people that work here that win the day.

An agouti, with the baby, just to the right. . .

This picture is from Seidy, an intern (and rising fast) in the art department. Off to the right is a baby agouti, which can fit into the palm of your hand.

Granted, the baby is hard to see, though it is also hard to capture a picture of the little ones.

A machete??!!

Yep, that is what Rolando and Efren sport when walking around the grounds at night.

Believe it or not, that is the common hardware for folks in Costa Rica. If they are wearing a hockey mask, then it's time to bolt.

That is not the case here; and Rolando and Efren have great eyes for finding wildlife (sloths, red-eyed tree frogs, other frogs, etc.) on the nightly hike around the grounds here.

Can you see everything in one night? Nope; it is completely a luck of the draw in what you will see here. Which is why we encourage folks to go out as many nights they are staying with us.

Speaking of candy. . .

Apologies for the picture, it didn't come from the art department (though that attribution--if disclosed publicly--will cost the editorial department dearly).

We are off to a wedding in Madison of Matt Eidson, which will take place on June 27, 2015.

Hence, the blog will be dark for a while as we will be traveling and celebrating until early July.

If you can zoom in on the blurry pic, it will say Matt and Sarah, June 27, 2015.

Birthday time!

Our good friends, Palomino and his sons, invited us to their family's birthday party in Monterrey, Costa Rica.

We have been lucky enough to go to the party for the past three years, since Christopher was 4-years-old. We went again last week and enjoyed great times and fellowship with the folks. This year, Lucy participated in Pin-The-Nose-On-The-Clown.

Despite excellent guidance in English from the sole non-native Spanish speaker, the art department finished four out of four, with the nose about 4 feet from the target.

Afterward, it was time for the pinata. The little ones are blindfolded and they take massive swings at the paper-mache box that is loaded with candy and other treats. Keep in mind that only the kids are the ones that get to take a whack at the pinata.

However, once the pinata has been breached, it is every man, woman and child for themselves. Picture 200 tootsie rolls, juju-bees, milk-duds, etc.  and 50 folks from age 7 to 70 diving in a rugby scum for candy. Truly a great spectacle that needs to be seen first-hand.

Do not even think of asking for a piece of the candy from someone coming out under the scrum, either.

Not everyrthing is big and scary

in the jungle. Take this moth. It's fairly large, and was snapped by Seidy.

However, in its early genesis, this critter packs a bit of a wallop.

Believe it or not, caterpillars in Costa Rica carry a poweful sting before they morph into the pretty creatures that are pictured here and in other mediums.

Where's Waldo?

Or us. We are in Santa Clara, Costa Rica. There are at least five Santa Claras in Costa Rica (even more towns named Los Angeles).

This map now hangs at the office so we can direct visitors to their next destination.

We are near Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal.

This could help the four of you on the fence that may visit to kick you to our way!

For those

Who haven't been here and wondered about the scale of the previous pictures, this is what a young armadillo looks like in the palm of an adult's hand.

In the wild, these critters live to be about 4 to 5 years old. In captivity, they can live to 14 or more years.

Very cool. . .

This is why we really enjoy living where we do. Little critters like this always means something new pretty much every day.

These critters can get to be about 15 to 20 pounds and are great diggers. This little one still needs mom's milk for another two months. After that, they will dig, burrow and scurry around for grubs, bugs and some green stuff.

This was just great. . .

This little lady was found wandering aimlessly on the trail by Miguel and Efren. Armadillos can't see too well, and rely on smell for navigation.

This lass had wandered from her mother and the rest of the family when they found her. They brought her to the office and after a few quick pictures, she was whisked off to the Wildlife Rescue Center.

She had an affinity for the tootsies of the editorial department, which was mystifying to everyone. Her shell was just starting to get a bit hard on her back, and the vet at the rescue center figured she was about 2 weeks old.

More pics to come.

Cute little critter. . .

Though you don't want to hold it. It is the Blue-Jean Frog, or Strawberry Poison Dart Frog. Not much bigger than a fingernail, they do secret toxins when they come into contact with other things in the jungle.

They are somewhat easy to spot, as they do stand out from the rest of the jungle.

Slithery stuff. . .

There are snakes in Costa Rica, unfortunately, and a fair amount are venomous. Luckily, we don't see too many around the grounds (six or seven snakes in six-plus years and only three have been poisonous).

There is a reason, however, that we warn people to stay on the trails when hiking around.

Miguel, who has worked here for eight years, came up close with a Fer-de-Lance the other day, while working on the trails. He called and asked us to come down to the bodega, where he had the snake laid out.

It was at least 6 feet long, and we actually weighed it with a luggage scale, and it came in at 4 pounds. Its head was as big as an adult's fist; the biggest anyone here has ever seen.

Miguel has worked in the jungles for years and admitted that he has never been afraid of the snakes in the past, though this one was different. The Fer-de-Lance is aggressive and if it feels threatened, it will attack, rather than retreat.

To top it off, Miguel forgot to bring a machete with him (everyone here always has a machete when working in the jungle). He was lucky enough to find a branch that he could break off and dispatch the snake. You could still see the splinters from the branch in the snake's neck and head.

It was off the trail, fortunately, where any guests wouldn't have seen it. However, a reminder that there are bigger and badder things out there in the rain forest.

Clucking chickens or?

Pretty much everyone knows what a chicken sounds like when it is clucking. There aren't as many of the fowls here in the wild as back in Kauai, and when we hear that clucking sound, it usually portends something not so nice.

The tercepello (fer-de-lance) also clucks pretty close to what a chicken sounds like. The fer-de-lance is a pretty deadly snake that is found throughout Costa Rica. They cluck in hopes of luring smaller critters in and then it's feeding time.

So, if you're hiking around in Costa Rica, and you hear that distinctive clucking noise, it probably isn't a bird.

Of course, if some of you have come down to stay with us, you would have known that by now, and while we do hear them, they are farther off of the trails.

How do you say idjit in Spanish?

That was my question the other night after a young jughead went off the road and took out a good portion of our fence and hedge. Fortunately for the dipstick, he was so drunk, he survived the crash intact and no one was hurt.

He hit a tree about 15 feet up (the car settled on the ground down an embankment) around 2 a.m. He refused to be taken away in an ambulance (didn't want to do a breathalyzer) and came back the next day with a tow truck driver.

When he came up, Miguel and I were outside the gate the next morning and he asked Miguel if I spoke Spanish. Miguel rightly informed him that I spoke enough. He then asked if I knew who his dad was. He rattled off a string of five names (typical here in Costa Rica) and I told him I didn't have a clue. Miguel, who was listening in, didn't have a clue, either.

After talking to him, Miguel and I (and the two driver who we both have met around town before) could tell he was coming off a major bender. The kid said that another car swerved into his path (he told the same story to the editorial department three times and Miguel and the driver--probably trying to practice it for his parents).

Afterward, when we were walking back up to the hotel, Miguel said:

"Not sure how to say this in English, but this kid has a rich mommy and daddy that will pay for him and I don't like it."

The editorial department came up with mama's boy and that seemed to stick.

Markita? Markos?

So, we went to look at our property recently, and everything is still there. The ocean view is still outstanding, and the land is still there.

We were walking around with Pedro, the developer, and noticed that there were extra treadmarks around. Pedro giggled a bit and said that youngsters had been coming in looking for a place to watch the sun set over the Pacific. Youngsters being youngsters, they weren't really watching the sun go down, but engaging in the great wrestling match of love.

Pedro and the neighbor put up some boulders to block the drive and the access to paradise by the dashboard lights.

Still, the editorial department is hoping for some Mark-ina or Mark-ita names to pop up in the next several months before we start to build and the dashboard is closed permanently.

This is pretty cool. . .

This is what we put up on our Facebook page a while back:

We received some good news today and wanted to share with everyone and to thank all of you that have helped make this award possible:

"On behalf of all of us at TripAdvisor, I'm very pleased to welcome Tree Houses Hotel Costa Rica to the Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame. This unique accolade is granted only to those businesses that have won the Certificate of Excellence for five years in a row."

It is great that we are recognized, though it has very little to do with us. We love what we do (everyone that works here does) and are just lucky enough that folks appreciate it.

Ouch. . .

Back in the saddle (and pardon the pun, we did get permission to use it).

For the few of the faithful that have been down this way before and been fortunate enough to walk with Rolando, here is some news.

Rolando, our night watchman who has guided countless guests around the grounds at night in search of sloths, frogs, monkeys, kinkajous, insects, sleeping birds and other critters is back with us after nearly two weeks off.

Rolando was thrown from a horse and was out of action for two weeks. He is back and showing people the wonders of the night life in the jungle here at Tree Houses.

We heard that Rolando was going to get rid of the horse, and he did. It has been sold (other scalawags speculated that it was now part of the food chain, but Rolando is far too kind for that).

This is how the showers work. . .

Checked in a couple from Europe recently, and very nice folks. Happy to be here and we were happy to have them here.

The check-in process here is a bit longer than at a normal hotel, as tree houses, well, do have a bit more explaining.

How the showers work is explained in the book in each tree house. The water is heated by electricity as it goes through the shower head (instant hot water on demand). This is how the majority of people in Costa Rica get warm showers. Normally, we don't want to waste more time when checking people in, figuring they can figure out the showers. A small minority cannot figure it out, but they come around.

However, the other day, we felt compelled to tell the folks, step by step, how the showers work. To be blunt: they were in dire need of a shower, as their body odor pretty much curdled the nose hairs of anyone within 50 feet (who knows when we may see a sloth around here again).

Everyone was hoping that they were able to figure out the showers before breakfast in the morning.

Critters. . .

An eventful day for wildlife. We woke up to the howler monkeys early in the morning; found two sloths hanging out up high near the rancho. About five or six toucans swooped in for a visit at the rancho during breakfast, and Efren found a Harlequin Frog on the night hike. The frog is rare and not easy to find (it was tiny) and it was great to see up close, rather than in a photo. It was yellow and black with bright orange feet.

You can ask and ask and ask. . .

And, it still doesn't do much good, at times.

Whenever folks check out, we always ask if they have everything out of the tree house (nothing left in the safe, nothing left plugged in, etc.).

Of course, the answer is always yes. And yet. . .

**We have an amazing array of chargers for different phones, etc., here that people have left behind;

**Also, a decent collection of shoes, shirts, socks (no drawers, thankfully). For those, we keep them for two weeks, contact the people, and if they don't want them, we give them away;

**Passports. You would think that this is the most important thing for most travelers, though we still get them left behind fairly regularly. Most of the time it is with folks that are driving to the other side of the country (4 to 6 hours) and we don't realize it until they are long gone. Some folks are just frantic, others are more relaxed about the passports.

One family from Switzerland just took it as it came, and didn't drive back. One of the drivers that we work with a lot, who lives by the San Jose Airport, dropped them off at their hotel the night before they flew out.

The mail service isn't the most reliable down here (certainly not for passports) and while there is UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc., the only real offices are at the airports. The others are just contractors, and very hard to track down.

When folks do ask to have things sent back to them, we accommodate them, and just ask for postage money to be reimbursed. At this point, we are batting about 2-for-20, or something abysmal like that, with folks that actually do send us money after they get their items.

Sloth sighting. . .

And this was very easy to find, despite it being dark. We were sitting at the dinner table, getting close to finishing up, when a branch snapped off from the almond tree, right in front of the house.

We went outside, and it was a decent-sized limb, but nothing too big. Then we looked closer and saw a two-toed sloth, looking back up the tree, wondering how it got on the ground so quickly.

Fortunately, it wasn't injured and we put it back up in the tree. It climbed up, and then latched onto the phone cable, and went paw over paw all the way up the driveway, until it finally found a branch it could latch onto, and it melted back into the jungle.

Feliz cumpleanos!

To Patricia Maxine Eidson!

The best ma around hits another milestone today (good luck in getting us to cough up the number).

For the two other regular readers of this blog, you can post birthday wishes (and number guesses) here.

Goodness gracious. . .

People will take the darndest things from a hotel. Towels, soap, etc., that is the norm.

However, we have had folks take the batteries out of the smoke detectors (what does anyone use a 9-volt battery for anyway, these days?); photos from the walls and even flashlights.

The other day, though, was a first.

A nice, elderly couple, checked out of one of the tree houses and turned in their keys and the gate opener. Several hours later, another couple checked in, and we gave them their keys and gate opener (which is a Genie garage opener, just like back in the States). About 30 minutes later, they came back and said the gate opener wasn't working.

Not a problem, the batteries (tiny, cylindrical things) can go bad and we always keep extras around.

This time, though, when we cracked open the device, the battery had been taken out.

We're not experts, though we suspect that the batteries in the gate openers are larger than what goes in hearing-aids, though who knows? At least the couple can now hear one another (it was a bit dicey at times when they were talking to us, each other and other guests).

Renewing a driver's license. . .

Typically, a big-time headache with the DMV. Here, in Costa Rica, multiply that by a bit more.

When we got our initial driver's license, two years ago, we had to go down to San Jose, stand in line for a couple of hours, get a physical, stand in line again for another couple of hours, and then we grinned for the camera and got our license.

This time, for just a simple renewal, we were able to do it in Ciudad Quesada, about 40 minutes away. (If we had let the original license lapse, we would have had to take the written and driving exams--all in Spanish--so we made sure to get the licenses renewed in plenty of time).

This time, it was just a matter of finding a bank (waiting in line for about 45 minutes); finding a doctor (first one was too busy, so after 20 minutes we moved along) and getting a physical. It consisted of an eye test, standing on one foot and touching noses, then on both feet touching toes, then touching elbows to knees while standing, then doing something out of the Richard Simmons' Jazzercis (TM) video from the '80s. Then just a quick blood-pressure exam, hop onto the scales for weight and popping us in the knees to test our reflexes.

Afterward, it was off to the local DMV office, where there was a line of 10 folks. However, we had our paperwork already done, so we were able to hop the line and after that it was just 10 to 15 minutes waiting in the office, moving into another office where we had to show our residency cards, get finger printed and sign all kinds of waivers.

Finally, we were able to pose for our pictures. The Art Department was fairly grumpy by this time and the picture reflects that. The Editorial Department gave a nice, big smile and the lady behind the camera actually stood up and said "No, no!" as she didn't like the picture (and after conferring with the Art Department--to the objection of the Editorial Department--another picture was taken. Much less flattering).

A somewhat typical day. . .

Admittedly, we have gotten lazy, or complacent (sounds better) after six years here in the jungle.

However, there is always something going on and it always keeps us on our toes.

Take April 1, for example. Wish we could pass it of on April Fool's Day, but not to be.

Some background: On March 31, the local aqueduct sent out a notice that there would be no water in the town from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day for routine maintenance. Not a problem, everyone was given notice and we have water tanks that will sustain us for up to 36 hours.

Later that night, some folks came down and said they had low pressure and couldn't understand how to get a hot shower. (As a side note, we explain to guests how to do the showers and there is an explanation in each information book in all of the tree houses). Nothing was working, it was 9 p.m. and Efren went up to check it out. Still no joy, just not much water (folks hogged from the tanks). We figured that as we are at the end of the line for the aqueduct, it just took longer for the water to get to us (which is the norm).

Guests placated (somewhat) and we said that we would get out and hit the hardware store as soon as it opened on April 1 to get a new shower head, and would be up there around 7:30 a.m.

APRIL 1

5:15 a.m.: Someone calls for a tree house for Holy Week. We're completely full until May, at this point.

6 a.m.: Go up to the tree house that has no hot-water shower, and they are still asleep.

6:45 a.m.: Go back up to the tree house, guests are wondering where we've been and said they had been waiting. Never mind that three of the four were still under blankets in the tree house when we went in.

7:10 a.m.: Water pressure has not returned. Miguel calls the aqueduct and find out that a pipe has burst, and no water until they can find the break and repair it.

7:20 a.m.: Tell the guests in the affected tree house (that one is up higher, so it takes longer for water to get up there) and they are wondering what took us so long.

7:25 a.m.: Other guests come down from the rancho after breakfast for directions to their zipline tour.

7:30 a.m.: Other guests come to the office to check out as they are leaving early.

7:35 a.m.: Miguel comes back from the hardware store with some screws for the shower nozzle that the aforementioned unhappy guests had broken off.

7:45 a.m.: Another set of guests come down and ask where they can buy sunscreen. We send them off to the supermarket/pharmacy just up the road.

8 a.m.: Full house of guests at the rancho.

8:15 a.m.: Find out for sure that no water until the early afternoon (at this point, we pass on telling the aforementioned guests as they should be coming to the rancho for breakfast soon).

8:30 a.m.: The farmer that delivers eggs is at the front gate for a delivery.

8:45 a.m.: The guests who bought the sunscreen bought the wrong type and need translation help to excange it for something else.

9 a.m.: Two more tree houses check out, give them directions.

9:15 a.m.: Another tree house comes down to the office for directions to their tour.

9:45 a.m.: Aforementioned guests finally check out. Demand a refund for no water, tell them that the whole town is out and we'll see what we can do.

10 a.m.: Go up and take out the sheets from the tree houses that have checked out and find that the aforementioned guests, in addition to breaking off the shower nozzle, left shells and food scattered throughout the tree house. Looked like they had rutted around in there for weeks.

11 a.m.: Last of the four tree houses check out. They somehow backed their car into a tree and we had to pull on the tree to get them free.

Noon: Enjoyed relative quiet, aside from about six to seven phone calls asking for availability for Holy Week.

12:15 p.m.: First of the four incoming tree houses check in; naturally, it is for the last tree house that had checked out at 11 a.m., so their tree house isn't ready.

From there, it slowed down a bit, save for 20-some e-mails and more phone calls. By 7:30 p.m., everyone had checked in and the last of the pizza orders had been placed.

So, we have a ton of excuses for being infrequent on the blog, but none of them really good. Actually, it does keep us on our toes and we still love what we do.

Happy Semana Santa!

Today is the official start of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, here. It is a big deal. Thursday and Friday before Easter are the only two days when public buses do not run in the country.

Also, anything that has nothing to do with tourism is shuttered until Monday. All banks, hardware stores, grocery stores, closed.

There are also very few big-rig trucks on the roads, as well, which is a bonus.

However, everyone that has the free time heads out of the interior of the country to the beaches, so traffic will be pretty hairy going to/from the coast for the rest of the week. There are folks that are lining up at 3 a.m. to catch ferries, already (first ferry is at 7 a.m.).

This is not a toucan. . .

Though it is a cousin. This is a Collared Aracari. They are smaller than a toucan, and their beaks aren't quite as colorful.

The aracaris are a bit more social (whenever you see one, you will likely see several others) and they will come down to the tree houses to feed off of the fruit and to the rancho as well.

This is a toucan. . .

A Keel-Billed Toucan. We hear them quite a bit (they have a high-pitched chirp, like a frog almost) but they rarely come down close enough for us to get a look at them. This one did, fortunately.

The bird on the right

Is a Rufus Mot-Mot, and it's one of the more striking birds that we get to see down here regularly. The bird on the left is the national bird of Costa Rica, well-known by the loyal readers.

Indeed, they do climb. . .

Though they seem far-less intimidating when they're up in the trees, rather than on the ground. The iguanas can really scoot and move around as well.

Here's another photo. . .

Of a youngster. When the little ones first started coming down, they wouldn't move more than a foot away from their mother. If you could have picked one of them up, they would have fit in the palm of your hand. They grow up fast and are nearly as large as their mothers (though they still get fed from mama).

Time to get caught up on some pictures. . .

These critters are pretty common around here, and our newest tree house is named after them. They have had babies of late, though they're growing up fast. Aside from the Wisconsin contingent, who knows what they are?