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Hi all,
Sorry I've been out of touch - 2 out of my 2 fans have chastised me for running late on my next entry so here goes! For this entry I thought I would share with you some of the flowers that are thrive on the Caribbean side - Haven't got names yet...but I will work on that!
The end of March (Marzo) was busy. We had a group of 10 women rent the house for 2 weeks. This meant that Andrew and I had to vacate. Preceding their arrival, I cleaned and prepped for them. We made a list of does and don't's! Even though I've been here almost 7 months, Americans still surprise me. Since neither Andrew and I were going to be here we had a neighbor serve as liaison for the women. Well, they were instructed that the toilets had small pipes and they should use paper sparingly. Tico's aren't as paper obsessed as those of us from the states. Well, if I heard corretcly within the first hour they had clogged 2 toilets. It all worked out...I guess we should tell folks that although this is an America...it's Central not North and
things are different!
Just a brief synopsis - they were here for 10 days - and aside from the toilets - they broke about 5 glasses drank 3 bottles of our wine - and lastly, they broke the mouse - bought a new one to replace it - then took it home and left a note with a suggestion of which brand we should buy...so sweet!
Overall the house faired fairly well! The dogs were housed at the vets for the stay and they were more than excited to get home! I typically let them out at night to have some play time! For some reason Osita likes to stay out all night - and it's now just shy of 11 a.m. and she is still MIA - guess she got a boyfriend running around back there! One of the neighbors called cause he had spotted her! She must want to go on a diet cause she missed chow time!
Another thing, we have entered into the rainy season - and all the animals, especially the birds are going crazy - it's like Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" on steroids! They seem to be coming out of the
wood work - the ones that don't chirp during the day - chirp at night...what I wouldn't give for a mute button. There is this one Yellow Breasted bird that has it in for me. First they build their nest outside my bedroom window. Then they proceed to sing to each other starting at 4:45 a.m. and it's not melodic at all! Now in the last few days they have started pecking at the living room windows to get my attention...they peck and wait for me to come out...then they fly off - EVIL....Between the birds, dogs and chickens...even if I wanted to sleep in, it's not an option.
Whilst the Ladies of LA were in the house I traveled a bit...spent a week with friends in San Jose - it was fun! They have some great eateries there and it's nice just hanging out, I do love the country...but being able to walk to town, food, gym...has it's benefits! From there I went back to Puerto Viejo. What I thought was going to be beach and ocean time turned into bed and siesta time. I caught some kind of "Jungle Fever" contrary to reports that I first caught
it in 2001.
I was more uncomfortable than anything...aches in joints and muscles...seems I have a few. muscles that is! Really sensitive skin - guess it was external matching internal and lastly I was covered in red bumps - front to back - scalp to foot. Not remotely attractive at all! You literally could have played connect the dots on my body! It took about 2 weeks for it to pass through my system! Since then I've been back to my old self! Haven't decided if that is a good thing or not!
A friend of mine has a great B&B in downtown San Jose - that is typically where I stay, http://casatua69.com/, upon my return to San Ramon I stayed overnight there. the back of the house is a courtyard with 6 rooms facing in. There was this one couple there who were in a lower room with the window open. They seemed to be quite fond of each other...wink wink...at first I thought I was hearing some opera being performed - then...I clued in - oh my...40 minutes and they were clueless about the rest of the house having full earshot! The next day everyone arrived
at breakfast with the disclaimer that it wasn't "them"! We all had a good laugh.
Since we are in the rainy season now, our guests reservations lesson so it frees me up to travel more! That I am excited about! So, I plan to explore more of the country. I am also working on another project involving the the reservation - it could be a good thing since I just be revamping an existing tour!
I head back to the beach this weekend for a week or so to rough out the new venture and help my friends with their new hotel opening! www.BananaAzul.com. Great location - right on the Beach...You do have to cab into town...but if you are looking for a bit of isolation...it's great!
I hope this will suffice for running late!
Take care and keep in touch!
TravTer
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Sam and Jane
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Tropical Plant ID
Terry, Sounds like you are living up to your moniker! We're interested to hear your impressions of the Carribean coast as we didn't make it to that area on our January trip. We'll have to check out Banana Azul - we loved Mono Azul in Manuel Antonio! Your flower photos are beautiful. I can help you out with a few names: #1 - Ginger #2 - Also ginger #3 - Hybiscus. The state flower of Hawaii #4 - Bougainvillea. The flowers are the tiny structures in the center. Botanically, the beautiful colored "flower" we see are actually the bracts. We occassionally grow them here in Indiana but obviously, they are not winter hardy. We plan to use them our on place in CR. We look forwarfd to keeping up with your travels and adventures!