HORSES AND SERENITY

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Today, Wed, we went horseback riding on the president’s farm, rolling bright green hills, with amazing vistas with views that went on for miles. The terrain got muddy and mucky at points but these horses were true troopers and gave us a great trip. We were really proud of Adam who had never ridden a horse before and didn’t fall off once! Poor Elena got some bites from horse flies/fleas so her leg looks a little gross but we got her taken care of quickly with allergy medicine and balm to take away the itching. It was a lot of fun to tour the countryside in a unique way. Half way through the ride we got rained on so arrived back at the farm pretty wet but it was so worth it because there we were, riding horses in the rain in a rain/cloud forest, with all the things we could be doing back at home at that very moment…how could we not just savor the experience.

Then tonight we went on a nocturnal tour of the jungle, equipped with flash lights and a great tour guide, we walked through the forest trying to find bugs. You will see some photos on the link I send out. We saw a bunch of stick bugs, praying mantis, frogs, wolf spiders, a small mouse, giant mosquitoes ( thank god there is no dengue fever up here) the fact you could see and identify mosquitoes in the darkness was pretty mind blowing when generally at home you barely can see them. It was a cool experience and of course Jay was looking everywhere for snakes but fortunately we could not find them.

I think this resort we are at now is great for anyone who wants to get away from it all but have the option to do things without being over programmed - the resort like I said is in the middle of nowhere so you get peace and quite but still lots to see to keep you amused. The two volcanoes that are active are only a 2 hour drive away and you can take yourself or a tour through the property. The town of San Ramon is cute and a half hour drive away, we are looking forward to trying out the weekly farmers market on Friday, we are hoping for art work, wood work and a general sense of what is like to live like a local.

We stopped in at a local bakery and brought fresh bread for our sandwiches today as it was in the middle of cooking when we drove by and the delicious smell literally stopped the car! So far we have found the towns people to be very friendly and willing to help us out even if we cant communicate fully by speaking.

Costa Rica reminds us a lot of my home, Nassau, and Jay’s grandparent’s farm in Ohio, it seems like a strange merging of the two lands, with rolling hills and tropical foliage. Jay still can’t believe how the cows graze on steep terrain, we joke they have expandable/collapsible legs which let them always be level on the ledges.

A few observations for those who may want to vacation here:

1) Nothing moves fast or on time, the fact you are here should be enough for you and you take your experiences as they come, you can’t be a stickler for time.
2) Once something gets wet here, it will probably never dry until you get access to a fire place or dryer, hence why our swim suits from two days ago are still wet, the humidity levels are at almost 100% so the moisture has not where to go.
3) We are here during green season, when it is the most rainy but we are here at the every end of it so we have had less rain that should we have been here a week ago when they had enough rain to cause mud slides. The advantages to have been here now has been personal tours paid for at the group rate, excellent service from the staff and guides, no waits at restaurants or attractions, fairly quick process time at the airport and like we own the hotels we are at as we hardly bumped into other people. The only cons are we are not able to do some of the things we wanted to because either a) the places are closed because of the growing season or b) the animals have migrated to a less rainy area of the tobacco/coffee/dairy farms are not giving tours because it is not producing season. Yes it is a little disappointing but since there is still so much to do without those things I still say this is a great time of year to visit.
4) This country seems to really value the land and there for does what it can to protect it from garbage. You don’t see trash lying in the road and there are recycle spots everywhere, plus we have seen a lot of reusing of products from corrugated metal, wood from downed trees, plastics bags, everything is used till it doesn’t exist any more, even cars that are not working are gutted and stripped down of everything. I think it is pretty admirable, though you wonder what spurred it first - preservation of the land, or a country with meager economic means that had to use what it had available and make it last longer than most people would? Either way we think they are on to something down here.
5) It seems the earlier you get up, the more you see and get to do, the animals are almost all active in the wee hours of 5 - 7 especially the big ones like the monkeys and major birds. We have been really fortunate to have great weather this entire trip, sunny mornings that eventually get into overcast, sometimes rainy afternoons by which time we are ready for a nap. CR gets 12 hours of day light 5am - 5pm. Since it is 2 hours behind EST it is easier to get up and get out there.
6) You come here and go to an area that is not touristy, you must be willing to try new foods. In general I don’t think anyone would have a problem eating the typical “tico” meal, rice, chicken, veggies, cilantro sort of stir-fried together. In our drives and travels the only American food chain we have witnessed is a KFC and we did not stop so we can’t say if it tastes the same as home. We did hear that in Fortuna a town close to Arenal volcano there is a ton of American franchises but I think if you come here it shouldn’t be to eat and do the things you can do at home. If you do that then you are definitely missing out on Costa Rica.
7) Also when you come here you should be willing and able to get dirty, dainty minds just can’t preside when sometimes you have to walk through mud, or the “soda” on the side of the road that you are eating lunch at is made of remnant wood and corrugated metal roof and chickens and dogs are running around, the food is great but you have to be able to look beyond what you see here and find the beauty. Sometimes things are amazing and you would not think you are in a third world country, but other times you just have to assimilate get wet, get dirty or be willing to forgo the comforts we have in the US to experience being here.

None of this is meant to be derogatory against the country but it is just the pure fact that being here is a different culture, sometimes way of living than the US. It is easy to go to Europe and assimilate because the base social habits are the same, you just have to make slight adjustments to get around and do things. In a way it is the same here but you do need to make a bigger mental adjustment, it isn’t hard and really makes the vacation because it takes you completely out of your normal sense of living in the states and brings you to a new one. It is soooo soooo easy to forget about everything at home when you are here because nothing reminds you of the day to day life you live. That is what is so great about being here, work, home, responsibilities truly feel so far removed that you can live the “pura vida” life during your time here.

Thursday is going to be a pretty relaxing time for us, we are taking a morning nature tour, watching the hummingbird feeding and then we have the day to do what we want. We might go get massages, I know Jay and I were thinking of going to the game room and watching a movie since we have not seen any tv since we left and idea of being potato couches sounds good, though the resort has a major movie theatre built by the owner who is a movie buff so we will see what the movie being shown tonight is.

Friday our last full day here we are going to the local towns to shop and walk around. The Sat we head back to San Jose and then home. So hopefully the next two days don’t go by too fast!

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Photos

jay riding
poor horse he was stubborn, farty and hungry, Jay thought they were a good pair

riding couple
Elena and Adam riding in the valley

sweet soaking
our jacuzzi tub

toad
toad from our night tour, apparently you don´t normally seem them out at night

view
our little balcony

Stick bug
this is a small one

milipede
wrapped around a branch tyring tohide from us

tree frog
was such a good sport lets us take lots of photos of her

Wolf spider
see the black eyes? they have 8 in total, these spiders are aggressive at night but docile during the day