Bird time. . .

Which is the Collared Arakari. A cousin to the toucan that comes to visit the rancho and various tree houses several times per week.

This is why we love the hotel and its environs.

Aaaahhhh II

"Thank you so much for your help, what can we bring down to you?"

That question actually happens pretty frequently, and some folks actually follow up.

Since we can get booked up six months to a year ahead of time, you will, naturally, build up an online relationship with folks.

It is always very nice for folks to ask, and the one thing that we always like to have here is doggie treats for the brood. They are kind of expensive down here, and not the best quality, and the pooches always like the fresh stuff.

Aaaaahhhh, I

At times, it is great to vent and whine about the difficult goobers that we get here at the hotel.

The goobers do make for interesting reading, which is why their stories are posted here and we remember them. The goobers are a small part of the folks we meet.

Then there are the great and fantastic folks that show up here and have a blast and we really enjoy getting to meet them. Rightly, or wrongly, the goobers are mostly remembered for being, well, goobers.

There were two Greek gentlemen that came to stay with us just shortly after we started managing the hotel. Very nice, very polite folks. They were on a round-the-world-trip that started in their home country of Greece, and after their time with us, they went down south to Ecuador, to the Galapagos, then to Tahiiti and up to Hawaii where they met their families. After some time in the 50th state, they all went back to Greece.

Every year since we have been managing the hotel, we get a warm holiday greeting from the two fellow from Greece. Sometimes the e-cards are full of hope from Greece, though lately, not so much.

This is why our job is the best around.

After exhaustive research

By the art department on the Web, this is as close to identifying Akila's lineage as we're going to get.

At first, it seemed like she was a Min-Pin and German Shepard mix, though that is really odd and, let's face it, a German Shepard and a Min-Pin is most likely not going to end well for the Min-Pin mother.

The coloring is the same as pictures that we have found, though upon further research, it seems like a beagle mixed with a min-pin makes more sense, so that is what we have settled upon.

This is not an actual picture of Akila, though this is really close to what the art department came up with.

For those of you curious enough, just come on down and visit!

This family. . .

Has been showing up pretty much daily for the past two weeks at the rancho.

It's the agouti and there is a family of at least three or four that live behind the rancho and scramble down regularly to scoop up fruit and scurry back into the jungle.

It's a reason why we keep the pooches in the house at breakfast: We don't want them scaring off the agoutis at breakfast. Our dogs couldn't catch them (the agoutis are much faster than the dogs) though we don't want them to be scared away by Bejuca, Mini-B and Akila.

Why do you charge for children?

A simple reason. We are a small hotel, and children are prone to night-time accidents.

Recently, we had a great family that stayed with us for six nights, and they had kids from ages 5 to 9.

All of them were the nicest and sweetest kids you would love to meet. Unfortunately, at least two, and probably all three of them, had nocturnal issues.

Sheets were changed daily and a lot of disinfectant was used to clean up the tree house daily.

Again, they kids were very nice, as were the parents, but in a smaller, enclosed space, a little whiz goes a long, long, long way, unfortunately.

So, yes, we do charge for children.

Feliz Ano Nuevo!!

Yep, the editorial department is making a late push to equal/surpass the blog entries from 2012. Not going to happen, and we are not going to inflate our numbers.

Suffice to say, we are still having a hoot and a holler down here and enjoying the job (for the most part--aside from the yahoos; which are few and far between).

In 2013 we had some friends and family down here and we are looking forward to more visits in 2014.

We have been down here for pretty close to 5 years. Guests always ask us how long we are going to stay. We always tell them that whenever we get tired and don't run out of the house/office to see monkeys, sloths, toucans, armadillos, etc., then it is time to move on.

That isn't likely to happen anytime soon, though you never can tell with the winds of change and ownership. Hence: Get yourselves down to Costa Rica in the next year or three.

Have a great and prosperous new year!