Geo: 9.74892, -83.7534The morning weather is stunning. Of course it could all turn on a dime, but it's very pleasant at the moment. Mom made panqueques for breakfast served with guava jam. It felt very IHoP. We also had bananas which are practically free here.Everyone collected a few "must wash" items to take to Alviana. She will launder for $5 a load. Hopefully that will get us through Monday.Usually by now Mom would be relaxing with a book, but the staff and some day helpers seem to be using the off season for major construction projects. When it was one guy with a hammer it was no big deal, but today there are a bunch of guys, a barking dog and at least one piece of very loud machinery; not very restful. Johan reported that they ... read more

Geo: 9.74892, -83.7534We got up and ate a simple breakfast. Mom went out for a quiet soak in the pools before the place opened up for public use at 9. She met Johan, the manager. The day before he had been in San Jose picking up some music instruments for his church. He was feeling a little under the weather, but arranged for lunch and dinner for us through the catering service run by one of the neighbors. Basically, if she is around she will cook you food and then send one of her kids over to drop it off on his moped. The menu is short and simple. Everything but the hamburgesa (not really hamburger, but on a bun) is served with rice and beans.We spent the day relaxing, reading, playing cards, asking what time ... read more

Geo: 10.3584, -84.5147Breakfast is served at 8am at the Tree Houses Hotel. This is a little late for us. We had some quiet time in the room first thing and then Mom headed out with her tea to see the hummingbirds and whatever else she could find. Lucy down at the office gave her a tip that there was a sloth hanging out low on one of the trees. She went down to check him out. He was indeed quite low and next to the path, probably 7 or 8 feet off the ground. She got to watch him groom for a while and was close enough to identify him as a 3-toed sloth, although one of his 12 toes appeared to be missing. We suppose that if sloths had a number system it would either ... read more

Geo: 9.87991, -85.5715Thunder storms rolled in around around 1am. It was still raining when everyone woke up but Dad headed out in search of fish anyway. He didn't find any takers, but Alex did get some for his long-awaited game of Monopoly. While everyone else was wheeling and dealing, Mom worked on picking a destination after our trip to the Tree Houses Hotel near the Arenal Volcano. She finally settled on a house through the AirBnB web site that is situated on property that includes many volcanic thermal hot springs pools. It looks very low key, peaceful and fun. We will finish up with a couple days in San Jose to see what the capital looks like and to have easy access to the airport for our return trip.After pasta for lunch we trekked down the ... read more

Geo: 9.87991, -85.5715First thing in the morning we headed next door to meet up with our neighbor, Christian, owner and operator of Buena Vista Sportfishing (http://www.pechesportivecostarica.com/index.html). He agreed to take us out for 6 hours of deep waterfishing in the Gulf of Nicoya. Since we don't have a car he drove us to the boat which gave us the opportunity to cross the river in a car. Fun!We arrived at a small beach south of Samara and met his first mate, Jason, and took a rowboat out to the fishing vessel, a 25' penga boat. He reported that he had been having very good luck this week, so we were optimistic for an excellent day of fishing.Christian is a French expat who is married to a Costa Rican woman named Clarisa. Christian's French is, of course, ... read more