Paradise Regained!

Jim told most of what went on at Barcelo. My paradise WAS regained with the luxury, the pampering, the mattress & the air conditioning. We had icicles on our noses at night because we had it set so cold! Unfortunately, the human body does NOT store up coolness for later use! Lots of good food (oink), sun, reading & 'slothing.' A little added bonus was that I made $90 out of $10 on the slots in the casino! I'm really a big spender! We immediately cashed it in so we would have 'something for our investment!' A few more pix:

The beach (not so pretty, but the
scenery around it was)














Slothing




Big Tex






2 of our friends,
Iggy & Guana.
Not my favorite
species, but what
can I say? We
were outnumbered!
And these guys
reportedly often
'stand' on their
hind legs, then
run up the tree!
Also, they are often
called Jesus lizards
because they can also run on top of the water!
I thought it best to give them as much space
as they wanted, particularly since they tended to travel in herds!



















I regret that I didn't get any shots of the gorgeous/noisy scarlet macaws in the trees. Planned to after our horseback ride ('walk'!)), but it was pouring rain by then! Also, I wanted to photograph the Costa Rica Pothole Gran Prix on the road in front of the resort (another one of those Costa Rica 'paradoxes'). I did not because I was too busy pounding on Jim's arm & screaming "slow down" and clutching the dashboard with white knuckles while we raced along 3 cars abreast on a narrow 1.5 lane road! Besides that, I commenced to praying when we saw a couple of cars disappear into the worst of the holes and were never seen again! (kidding!)... but it was definitely Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! Hasta luego, amigos!

Playa Tambor

It has been a week since our last post here and a busy week it has been. On Monday the 9th we drove to Puntarenas and took the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to the Nicoyan Peninsula. Then drove 20 Kilometers to Playa Tambor and the Barcelo Hotel. The Barcelo is a family resort hotel with an all inclusive plan that includes everything except purchases at the gift shop and gambling. It is on the beach - a pretty beach, but not really special. Has several large and connected swimming pools and lots of bars (alcoholic beverages are included in the all inclusive plan), and two dining locations - a buffet style restaurant and a snack bar. The best thing about it was the beds and the air conditioning. Costa Rica is not known for its comfortable beds so it was a treat to sleep in comfort for three nights.

We drove back Thursday so it was a full four day trip. It is only 90 kilometers, but with the ferry and the maximum speed limit of 50 MPH it takes 3 hours. For us it was 6 hours because we got to the ferry at noon to catch the one o'clock ferry and found that only one ferry was running so there would be no boat until 3:00 o'clock.

Friday and Saturday we scouted around for things to do when Laura and Neil are here at the end of the month. They'll only be here for four days so we have to make every minute count. They have been to a resort on the Pacific coast but we want to show them the real Costa Rica. So far we have two Costa Rican restaurants, Zoo Ave (a zoo where many of the animals are not in cages), Escazu and Multi Plaza. Escazu is sometimes called Little America 'cause of all the expats living there. It has several American restaurants (Tony Roma's, TGI Friday's, McDonald's, Outback...) and the Multi Plaza - a huge mall. In Escazu you see typical Costa Rica and transplanted America side by side.

About time for church so I'll get some pictures uploaded and close this post.


The ferry boat. The ride took about 90 minutes. There was an air conditioned area and some deck seating for the more adventurous.








An island in the middle of the Gulf. Looks like about 5 acres. We thought it would make a wonderful homesite. We later learned that the beaches literally disappeared at high tide.






The Barcelo at Playa Tambor. Kathy will probably posty more pictures, but this is typical - the pools.







There were Iguanas everywhere. I think you can see one in this picture. One morning I came out of the room and saw nine of them just lounging on the lawn.









Wrangler Kathy. We went for a ride on the beach.








Isla King on the ferry ride. Isla's parents and big brother were vacationing at Playa Tambor as well.







More of the hotel and pools.










Kathy on the beach.








A larger ferry boat on the way home. It had a lower deck for cars. I had to park so close to the bulkhead that I couldn't open the driver's side door. I had trouble folding myself into the little car under normal conditions. Getting out of the passenger's side was interesting. I'm too old for this stuff.

Chicharrones...ahhh

Well, I had not wanted this to be in italics, but this stupid software won't let me get rid of it. As good as Google is on their other software you would expect something better from them than this piece of ....

That said, we'll get on the to post about Chicharrones. In South Texas we think of Chicharrones as fried pork skins. We found that Chicharrones are different here. Laura and Neil, we are scheduling a trip to La Trapiche while ya'll are here. You'll love it.

Here Chicharrones are good cuts of pork - sometimes tenderloin. It is boiled to render the fat and cook them, then finished over a wood fire to crisp them up and add a little flavor. They are served in large chunks with fresh lime wedges, yucca, plantains and jalapenos pickled without the seeds. It is great - except for the yucca. Yucca is not especially bad, its just not especially good - I can do without it. They also serve an appetizer of potatoes (kinda like home fries) cooked with mild peppers, onions and chunks of chicken. They serve it with corn tortillas and call it picadillo. It is great. If I were a few years younger I would consider opening a Chicharronera in a college town in Texas. I know it would be a cult favorite very soon. (notice the italics and non-italics switches off and on at will)

We have a couple of pictures with more to come. These are of the kitchen.

First they boil the pork here. Notice this is behind the place on a slab. There is no health department - a chicken pen is behind the photographer as this picture was taken. I'm not too concerned about it. At least it doesn't have the chemicals and stuff that our meat has in it. And it tastes sooo goood.





This is the wood fire for finishing the Chicharrones. Notice I always capitalize Chicharrones? That is out of respect - they are so good and it was so unexpected. When it was recommended I thought "we'll try it, but I don't think I'm going to like it." Was I ever wrong.




We'll have more pictures later. The whole establishment is open air and very interesting - not unusual in Costa Rica, but interesting to a Norte Americano. (See we are back to non-italics???? Shannon, I am trying to learn to use Windows Live, but its going to take some time - you know the old-dog-new-tricks thing.)

Pura Vida Baptist Church

We found an English speaking Baptist church the first week we were here and have gone every Sunday. We are getting to know the pastor and his wife - Bob & Marlene Reed. Bob is a church planter associated with a mission organization. They have been in Canada for the past 16 years and came here only last Jan. The church is small and meets in an open air pavilion at a Tico hotel.

This is Bob as he starts his sermon. The service is typical small church Baptist - song service, pass the collection plate and the sermon.

When we started coming four weeks ago the church didn't have a name beyond "English Speaking Church". Today the bulletin proclaimed it to be the Pura Vida Baptist Church. Pura Vida is a Costa Rican phrase literally translated means Pure Life. They use it like saying "Have a Nice Day" in the states. Very appropriate name for a Costa Rican church.

Kathy went to a ladies prayer meeting at the pastor's home last Wed. She and Marlene were the only ones there so she got to visit with Marlene one-on-one. Marlene told us today that their home was flooded by some failed water valves inside the house. They are renting a beautiful home with a pool. It is strange that homes are very expensive here, but rentals are very inexpensive - no reason to buy when you can rent a nice home with pool, furniture and utilities for about $1000 TO $1200 per month. Anyway, remember Bob and Marlene in your prayers.

We are headed to the Barcelo Hotel at Playa Tambor tomorrow. It is an all inclusive hotel on the Pacific. In the "high season" the deal is $300 per person per day. It includes air conditioned room, all food and free drinks including bar drinks. We'll miss out on the bar drinks - I don't drink at all and Kathy will have a glass of wine occasionally (except when she lets one of Lynne's mararitas sneak up on her.) We are in the "low season" (few tourists) and being old folks our rate is $55 per person per day. I think I might be able to eat that much.

See ya when we return to the Central Valley.

Chiccerones

Keeping in line with what this blog wants to do, the pix above that may need some explanation are: The one of Jim is that he has been crowned El Rey del Postres (this was at la feria yesterday). The sign is the animal rescue sign that is there every Friday with adoptable kittens & puppies (I'll Fed-ex you a few kittens, Suzanne!). The one on bottom right is a tall stand of bamboo at the restaurant where we ate yesterday.
Yesterday's adventure was that Lynne, Ray & we went in search of the fiesta del patron saint of the little town of Naranjo. For the first time in history, we were too EARLY when we arrived at about 11:30 AM & festivities didn't begin till 6:00 PM! So we walked around that lil' town & went to a few others, ate lunch, & got tired! We did find Jim a compass in order to navigate this crazy-driving country, so now he can feel SOME degree of control (an illusion!) when trying to get the Ticos off his tail when driving the hairpin curves here! By 6 PM, it was raining gatos y perros again, so we headed for the Grant's patio & visited! We have had gulley-washers the past 3 days!
Today's adventure is to go to a little open-air restaurant near here & experience chiccerones-- in the US, they would be fried pig skins!! Here, supposedly they have a bit more substance & are made of the pork loin. Will let y'all know how they are! Don't know if we have let you in on the staple food of CR-- gallo pinto-- black beans & rice; served at every meal! Jim rebelled & finally found some good 'ole pinto beans & is going to fix them! We keep trying to make the local food more TexMex by adding sauces-- the food is very bland here. I, however, love the fried plantains &, of course, the pineapple-- ate a whole small one by myself last night!-- oink!
Also have not let you in on our new signature fragrance-- Eau de Deep Woods Off! To protect us from the dengue mosquito. We've been bitten by SOME kind of small mosquitoes, but haven't gotten violently ill yet, so hoping the dengue doesn't get us. It really is a serious thing here, & they are having many more cases than normal this year. So far we've only heard of a couple of Ticos getting it among the people we know. They survived but were very sick for at least a week. Paradise is not without its drawbacks! And then there is the poisonous frog (deadly to animals/pets) & the ratter-less rattlesnake that is also deadly to everyone!
We miss all of you!

Halfway

Well, we are at the halfway point in our Costa Rican adventure. We're still having lots of fun, enjoying the adventure but at the same time we are beginning to miss home. I watched a sunrise this morning - its 5:30 AM right now. We don't see the sunset very often because of the rain every evening. Sunrise starts at about 4:30 and it is full daylight by 5:15. The birds are starting their morning activities - making a racket as they feed. I'm watching a tiny bird on the kitchen window ledge. She's eating bugs almost as big as she is. The early morning sounds in the jungle are amazing. I'll miss that when we get home.

We are planning to go to the feria (farmer's market) this morning and then to Palmares and Naranjo with Lynne and Ray. Actually, they are going with us - we are driving for the first time. We are going to a fiesta in Naranjo. Last Monday (lunes in Spanish) was a national holiday celebrating the country's patron saint La Negrita. The celebration is still going on - and we're going to take part. They say they have food, music and dancing in the streets. Should be fun.

Later this month San Ramon will be celebrating the day of its patron saint. The cities here all have a patron saint. And they have a fiesta on the saint's day. San Ramon has one of the largest celebrations on Aug 30th. We plan to celebrate with the people of San Ramon that weekend.

Yesterday we had a massage in the morning and then some young friends came over to swim and visit. They have two small children. We enjoy them all, but especially the children.

I better post this before I do something to lose it. I still haven't mastered this stuff. Some pictures below that I think are neat.

Kathy in from of Kay's Gringo Postres. We go to Kay's for breakfast after church on Sunday mornings. It was Kathy's idea to have her picture by the Bimbo sign.










Sunrise without flash.













Sunrise with flash.













Workers harvesting African Palm fruit. Palm oil is extracted from it. Palm oil is a major export of Costa Rica.











More of the beautiful flora of Costa Rica. This is the rainy season and the country side is beautiful with flowers and greenery of all types growing wild.
















The daytime view of the valley from our balcony (same as the sunrise photos above).












Kathy on the beach at Manuel Antonio. The monkeys are just out of the picture waiting for an opportunity to grab the backpack or something glittery.










This is Isla King. She is only 6 weeks old. Her parents have been here about 4 months so Isla is a Tica - she was born here. She is precious.

Down Time

I give up on format for this blog!! It's ALL improv! (the above pix that place themselves! are from the guide's camera). We have not seen one sunset yet because it is always raining or cloudy at that time of day!

We have been vegging the past coupla days!-- went into Escazu ("Little America") after church yesterday, to the bodega (grocery store) for provisions-- including the gelato store! Saturday night had wonderful Italian food with Lynne & Ray at El Pomodora in Escazu. Roy-- I had gnocci, & it was great! Been getting a lot of reading & Petville-ing done! Today I was pampered beyond belief with an in-house deep-tissue massage (for $26 as opposed to $40 or higher in the States). So I'm pretty noodled now with no ambition at all (so what's new??). My wonderful esposo has been cooking this AM & feeding me fresh pineapple & mango-- no argument there. My attempts to get out of my end of the bargain (cleaning up), however, failed miserably... must be losing my touch! Honeymoon's definitely over! The worst part of cleaning up is that we have no hot water in the kitchen, so we have to boil water.

Here are some pix of the raft trip last week & some more of Manuel Antonio park. Wish I could take credit for them all, but the raft guide took them. Still have not figured out the fashion statement Jim was trying

to make!

Kermit

These palm trees (photo on the left) are where they harvest palm oil. In the middle is a sloth and the right is us in our raft.