Border wars. . .

Here in Costa Rica, squatters have a lot of rights. Sneak onto some property, throw up a fence and if no one notices, folks can claim it as their own.

The man that owns the 70-plus acres behind the hotel (and lets just our guests use it to hike to the waterfall and river; and a fellow named Israel who runs some cows back there) is always worried that someone will do just that, as the 70 acres are pretty remote.

That happened recently, as Miguel and Keneth found out when they were clearing the fence line deep into the property. No idea of who put the fence up, though best guesses are the yahoos who own the property on the other side of the river.

The next day, Miguel and I went back there to check it out so I could take pictures and send to the owner of the property.

It was not an easy hike that deep into the forest and took about 30-plus minutes each way. With all of the rain lately, it made for some fairly treacherous footing and the editorial department only stumbled a few times. In some places, a wrong step can send you down about 30 feet and into the river.

When we finally got to the new fence, it was obvious that it was really new (no rust on the barbed-wire, and you could see the cut marks on the fence posts were still fresh) and hadn't been there for much longer than a couple of weeks.

It was an odd thing, as it basically formed a loop from the river. You can see the far boundary of the fence in the picture. It runs up for 20 to 30 meters from the river and 150 meters long.

It is clearly the current owner's property, which extends to the river. The odd thing: from May through the first part of November, a heavy rain is going to flash-flood that whole fenced-in area. It's useless for any sort of building.

After some legal papers are filed tomorrow, Miguel and Keneth will head back down and wrap up the fencing and cut up the posts.

Hopefully that will be the end of the border battle.

Be vewy, vewy quiet. . .

OK, we weren't hunting (not allowed in Costa Rica) but Miguel and I were trekking through the jungle the other day en route to check out a fence that someone had put up on a neighbor's property (more on that later).

It was through the jungle, no trails, nice and slippery from the rains and some amazing sights. There are trees back there that are just monstrous; some have fallen over, which makes the way through even more interesting.

Miguel noted that that deep in the forest when the wind is really blowing is not the best place to be.

Along the way, Miguel stopped and pointed out some tracks that were easy to see.

"Jaguar."

They were a pretty good size, maybe just a tad smaller than what Bejuca's would be, though they were pretty deep (it was muddy and slick back there).

Miguel has worked here and on the back property for at least six or seven years and has only come across two of the big cats while working. He thinks it's great to see them, I'm not so sure.

Help Wanted

Needed: A physically fit person that can cook breakfast, clean rooms and do a variety of tasks at a hotel in Costa Rica. 

Qualifications: Desire to work hard, interact with people from all over the world and put up with odd requests from folks at times.

Benefits: Working with a great editorial and art department in the jungle.

Oh yeah: Must be able to climb around 20 steps at six different tree houses spread over 8 acres, plus ladders in some of the tree houses to change sheets, make beds, deliver coffee, clean up the mess of kids (and their parents) and cater to the needs and demands of said kids and adults.

We’re looking for a new person to work at the hotel after Darling announced she was leaving after nearly 4 years to get married and raise a family. Darling actually started at the hotel before we showed up and worked part-time for a while and then became full-time. 

Always friendly and a hit with the guests, she will be missed.

Happy Fourth of July!

Of course, no such holiday here in Costa Rica, but we will still celebrate down here with the guests we have from the States. No fireworks, as it will probably be a little damp in the evening as it typically storms in the afternoon.

Ballpark indulgence II

However, after the burger in between two doughnuts, we noticed the “Elvis.” Naturally, the editorial department had to posit the question as to what exactly an “Elvis” was.

This incarnation was a hotdog, wrapped in bacon, deep-fried, then put on a griddle, slapped between a hotdog bun and slathered in peanut butter, bananas and drizzled with honey.

This. Was. Awesome.

It made the doughnut burger seem like a Weight Watchers Special and as odd as the combo may sound, it was really quite tasty.

Ballpark indulgence

Being that we don’t have the opportunity to indulge our junk-food fetish too often down here, we made the most of our visit back to the States. OK, the editorial department made the most of the food-fest.

One night, we went to a Madison Mallards baseball game. We saw the signs and heard the announcements for a burger special and figured we had to at least try it. 

A bacon-cheeseburger that is folded in between two glazed doughnuts. I’m sure there is a name for this, but we cannot remember the name now. Pretty sure someone on the Food Network came up with it at some point, and we decided to give it a shot.

It was. . . OK. . . nothing to crow about. 

We thought that it might be a bit better with the sweet and savory, but it wasn’t anything special (or something we would try again—considering it probably took 5 years off of our lifespan).

Back to work. . .

Back from vacation. 

We had a great time visiting family in California and Wisconsin. We also ate ourselves into oblivion and when we weren’t overstuffed, just enjoyed hanging out and seeing family and friends.

Mini-B made the journey with us and did pretty good. She was pretty fidgety on the first leg of the flight, then calmed down nicely (with the help of pooch pharmaceuticals) for the others.