Golden Rule No. 3

When guests check in and ask if they have any issues if they can call you, be somewhat selective. Or bring Oreos.

The other night, two folks showed up and then walked over to the local restaurant. The owners speak no English; the customers spoke no Spanish.

Long story short, we were on the phone for 5-plus minutes helping the guests order dessert.

Confirmed. . .

The critter in yesterday's post was a fer-de-lance. It's one of the more poisonous snakes down this way and it was about 3-feet long, based on Rolando's calculations from the pictures.

According to Rolando, when they are curled up like that, the snakes are waiting for prey to come by, so they can spring quickly and get it.

So, if a snake is all stretched out, it's less likely that it's going to be looking for a meal. If it's coiled, then take more caution.

Again, this snake sighting was along the trail to the waterfall and river, not on the grounds of the hotel, so no worries for those (like me) that are scared spitless of the slithery buggers.

Costa Rican 2-step and a beer. . .

Two nights ago, the husband of a family of four came down to our office to show us a picture.

He and his family (wife and two kids) were walking back up from the waterfall, when they spotted a critter curled up. He was curious as to what it may have been and his wife was back in the tree house with the kids.

She had nearly stepped on it while walking back and he had the presence of mind to take a picture of it. We are no experts, but it sure did look like a fer-de-lance (like the one pictured above; which is not the actual picture--the one they saw and took a photo of was probably about 2- to 3-feet long).

Anyway, the husband came down to show us the picture and to pick up a beer for his wife, who needed something to calm her nerves.

Life would be easier. . .

If we had one of these lifts here at the hotel. Alas, that will never happen. We do, however, have a new extension ladder that will go up to 32 feet. Being that we're surrounded by trees, this is a handy contraption to have around.

Miguel is the man when it comes to getting up high and cutting down the branches that are hanging over power lines or have started to sag dangerously. Three days ago was no exception as he and Chiza headed up the driveway with the new ladder and the smaller 20-foot extension.

I wandered up as well, and by the time I made my way up there, the 32-foot ladder was already extended and roped to the tree; about 15 feet off of the ground. That's where the smaller ladder came in, as it was extended out and also lashed to the tree. Because of the angle of the tree, both ladders were completely vertical, no slope at all. Miguel, wearing a harness, clambered up and hopped up in the crook of a tree with a branch that was hanging precariously over the driveway by the front gate.

He lassoed a smaller branch further out and we secured the rope around it to pull it down after Miguel had finished chopping on the branch with a hatchet. No way was anyone going to haul the chainsaw up that high.

Miguel hacked and chopped at the limb (about 18 inches or so around) and then came down and we pulled on the branch to get it to snap. No luck. Up went Miguel again for some more chopping. Repeat pulling; repeat lack of luck. The third time, Miguel took another rope to toss out further so we could get more leverage while pulling. He was still whacking away with the hatchet. He quit when he heard the branch start to crack and scampered back down.

Finally, success. The branch (about 25 feet long) came crashing down on the driveway with no extra damage to anything.

Protein alert. . .

The other afternoon, one of the families came down to ask directions
before heading out to one of the hot springs.

I was giving them directions with my mouth wide open (as usual) and a bug flew in. Usually, a quick hack and not a big deal. This time, however, it led to a load of retching, a purple face (which delighted the kids) and a loss of speech capability.

I could actually feel the bug creeping along in my sinuses. A very surreal feeling to have that tickling sensation moving up and down the back of my throat and sinus cavity.

Luckily, Lucy took over with the directions and after a bottle and a half of water, whatever had flown in was washed down. No idea of how big it was or what it was, just that it went in and never came out.

Birdie 911

The other day, a small bird nearly brained itself when it flew into the window here at our house.

Luckily, it didn't snap its neck, but it was stunned pretty badly. Patricia and Seidy took turns blowing into its mouth and into its rear (yes, that's what you do, stop sniggering) and then we gave it some water. Patricia was rewarded with a nice stain on her shirt.

After the bird seemed like it was on the mend, Lucy made a nest out of a small basket and some towels and we put it on top of the barbecue--out of reach of Mini-B and the rest of the dogs.

We would walk by and check on it from time to time and finally around 6 p.m., we pulled back the towel and the bird was gone. It had recovered enough to make its way to parts unknown.

Golden Rule No. 2. . .

When people have been traveling for 20-plus hours to get to your hotel and then decide to ask if there are bathroom facilities inside the tree houses, do not tell them that it's down the path, 1.5 miles and to the left (or right).

Humor, at that point, is not appreciated.