Travel Day 2 / arrival at Mystery Beach house

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Geo: 9.88092, -85.5698

We had more than enough time to get ready in the morning, so we ended up waiting around for a bit for Victor to pick us up. A couple quick "good-to-know" points about Costa Rica: Many places have only cold running water, but they have electric shower heads that will heat some of your water just before it hits you. We've heard them called "Costa Rican Suicide Showers." They are safe if you don't play around with them while they are running. The water is just fine for drinking from the tap. You can use dollars or colones just about anywhere most people don't bother to track exchange rates. For all practical purposes, $20= 10,000 colones. The only time any kind of official exchange rate comes into play is at the ATM (carjero automatico).

After we loaded the van and said goodbye to Richard, we started what seemed like a very long drive to Samara. This is mostly due to the very steep, very rocky roads through and out of the mountains. Alex was feeling a little queasy by the time we got to the smoother highway.

When we arrived in Samara the rental office appeared to be closed, we found a lady with a phone and made a call. We were directed to a place that looked functionally like a Mailboxes, etc. It carries, small gifts, greeting cards, wrapping paper, ribbon and packing supplies. This lady tracked down the rental agent, Melissa, for us. When Melissa arrived she sent us to the grocery to stock up and then the Mailboxes lady and a guy in a red pickup led us and Victor down some quasi-washed out roads to our house. We were confused along the way because we thought our house was closer to Carrillo Beach. Now that we are here we realize that we are very close to a wildlife refuse and Playa Buena Vista. We are also told that Mel Gibson is one of our neighbors.

Our house is up on a very steep hill, so steep it puts our driveway in Caribou to shame. Very impressive. We have three buildings connected by a breezeway. The first building is a common area with a family room, kitchen facilities and an open-air half bath. Next to it is a porch with rocking chairs and to dining tables with seating for eight. The second building has two rooms with bunk beds and a bath in between. This is where the kids are sleeping. Between that building and the master bedroom suite is an infinity pool. We are surrounded on all sides by a tropical forest. We are up on a ridge overlooking the wildlife refuge, which we are told is marshy, and the Pacific ocean.

When we arrived at the house we were greeted immediately by howler monkeys, probably 8 or so. Many of them were mama-baby pairs. This struck us as funny because worked so hard to see monkeys at Santa Elena and no dice. We show up here and they are practically sitting on our front porch (well, in the trees next to the front porch, anyway). We had to do some price negotiation with Victor because he had originally agreed to take us to the rental office, not the house. We unloaded our stuff and started to explore.

The kids looked at the monkeys for a couple minutes and then jumped into the pool, where they spent the rest of the afternoon. Dad took an exploratory jog down to the beach. Along the way he met the owner of the Flying Crocodile Hotel and Restaurant. Elizabeth gave Mike a few fishing tips and helped orient him to the area. We can get dinner there for $12 a head if we call around lunchtime. Dinner is whatever they are making that night. Mom got the digs set up and put together dinner.

The kids love the pool and the views are even more breathtaking than in Monteverde, if that's even possible. The flocks of bird flying back and forth from the wildlife refuge look like veteran extras from a National Geographic special. There are birds of paradise growing right outside the window to the master bedroom. They attract jewel-toned hummingbirds.

During the first evening we saw parrots, chameleons, a scorpion,
assorted random insects, a frog, a local hound that came to visit and a
host of birds I cannot identify. The superstar of the night, however,
was the 3-foot long, very slender snake that was hanging out on the
breezeway when I walked by with my flashlight. He was between the two
doors that lead to the kids' rooms. Everyone came out and saw him and
feelings were curious, but positive. That is until Dad poked at it and
it decided to leave. The refuge it chose was underneath Kate's closed
door and into her room (he really was quite slim). At that point, Kate
and Alex were a little alarmed so we rolled up some towels to put along
the bottoms of their doors.

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Photos

Our snake
This three-foot long snake was super thin, so we suspect he is a tree climber. The phone is there for perspective. He is so thin he fits under doors.

Monkey mom and baby
These were part of the greeting committee when we arrived at our house near Samara

Josh tries Nestea plunge
Somehow we got on the subject of the old Nestea Plunge commercials. All three kids decides to try it.

Master shower
This shower is very fun. Up above is a screen, so it's open air. I guess during a rainstorm you would have a waterfall down the back wall.

Breezeway
This is just above where we saw the praying mantis and the frog

Open air half bath
Has frog sculpture in it. It's kind of like having a small garden in the bathroom. It weirds Josh out because the door is opaque.

Little bird
This little guy has lost his tail feathers. We watched him hop around for a while and wished him good luck.

Fly away, bird
At some point I want to try and identify some of the birds around here.