Wrapping up Costa Rica Adventures 2023

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On Sunday the 11^th Carlos picked us up – glad he found his way back! at 10 am. Of course he was early and we were scrambling with clean up. David & I had taken an early wander with Megan down to the pool – nope, it was not even tempting – bit far from house and water very “fresh.” We used the hot tub multiple times instead, as it was on the deck and the temperature at this altitude was lovely but not hot. This is when David spotted the last new bird - a simple Yellow-olive flycatcher. We all took different ways to get back to the house (very steep terrain and so much fruit all over the place). Another fun point - I swear the same bird (a Melodious Blackbird) woke us up every morning from his perch just outside our window. Dario tried to shoo him away around 5:15 am!! We all agreed to rename it the ODIOUS Blackbird.

Even after breakfast’s foraging we still had eggs, fruit & veg in the fridge (and still some from what Joaquin had loaded us up with!), and Dario had the wonderful idea of stopping at Marcelo’s (remember the potter?) just down the way to ask if we might give it all to him rather than waste it.

While there we enjoyed more photos and hugs and then off we headed, virtually due South, towards the Gulf of Nicoya. As we could see that from our back balcony, it was interesting to head that way. And it was less than the 2 hours we had expected. We passed through more dairy farms on the descent, and by now we were used to the potholes – and they certainly weren’t as bad as the road from Tilaron had been (just as we and McClungs had experienced last year).

Poor Mike didn’t feel well this am (too much fried food at the late lunch yesterday?) He sat in the front and seemed to be doing ok, and was chatting up a storm with Carlos in Spanish. David and I laughed alot because we were sure that Mike was laughing in Spanish and it sounds different.

We stopped at a well-recommended seafood soda on the coast (actually at the opening of the Gulf) in Caldera, just slightly out of the way. We invited Carlos to eat with us, and he was tickled to say that he got to eat free anyway, for having brought us there (good deal). David tried hard to find some new sea birds. Unfortunately the heat caused Mike to feel bad aga9n, and it took a good 30 mins of a/c in the van to restore him.

Maybe 2 hours to the Villa San Ignacio. Traffic was certainly not as heavy as when we had entered the city on a Friday afternoon, but still not good. In fact Carlos lives in Alajuela, so it seemed like he was taking a roundabout, but less busy route. Henri the security man welcomed us back with a smile and we gave hugs to Carlos to say goodbye.

Our rooms were up at the top building again. We gave the family the downstairs rooms as they had to leave very early in the am, but kept our heavy big case in Anna’s room. Reception man (Norman?) helped David order the taxis (3 am for Heather and Dario!, 5 for Hacketts, 6:30 for us), and without even asking, offered to have a packaged breakfast and coffees delivered to our rooms. We didn’t sleep well at all with such early times, but oh well. It was a bit chilly for the pool, but Megan considers herself a hardy soul and hopped in. Andrew once again wanted to play chess but lost all 3 games. Some played at the pool table. Dinner was tasty as usual and we tried to get to bed early. Good luck with that.

Some summaries, mostly for our own benefit:

--David did not set off any security with his pacemaker – and never declared it, but that’s what we expected. Jean reported the knee and made it without wanding through every airport.

--The verdict is still “out” on whether it would have been better to have hired 2 cars (four wheeled for Monteverde for sure) or do what we did – had we hired cars we couldn’t have all been together of course. Costs may have been the same. Who knows. Were we to return, David feels totally confident he can do all the driving.

--Costa Rica has incredible fruit, and except for one meal (most expensive at that), the fish was tender, the pork chops with casada were tender, and Dario had steak twice and reported it amazing. The eggs were never refrigerated. Rice and beans fit our girls’ dietary needs and we still love maduro plantains!

We invited all the family to each report the 10 things they had learned, and while I won’t include details, I know we agreed on the fresh air, fertile soil, great (smooth) coffee, friendly people, amazing birds and animals. Putting toilet paper into the bins became “normal” for us. We learned that there are 60 species of cicadas, who live only 2 weeks ion top of the ground, and that the females cannot hear the noise (lucky them) but feel it; that C.R. has more types of orchids per acre than anywhere in the world – and that vanilla is an orchid product; Monteverde has Jersey & Guernsey cows!!, all gasoline stations sell for the same price throughout the country and it’s full service. All in all, the adventure we will never forget.

I couldn’t help but grab some final photos for this wrap up post: like the family when they were doing their zip line (Megan climbing up through the dead tree), us delivering the box to Marcelo, and our family photo with Carlos, the AMAZING FICUS we hiked down to, our rooms at the villa San Ignacio. So much to remember. Such a wonderful event. What a way to wrap up 75 years on our fascinating planet!

(When we were sharing our lunch omelette at the San Jose Airport, I spied Hayat walking by and so we got to spend time with her and Jen and Jen's husband then, and later at the a/p in Houston. What a coincidence and delightful time. That photo of our Kia Soul is just another funny thing - evidently the hotel where we parked for 21 days obviously resurfaced its parking lot around our car!)

We are now safe and sound back in Kent Ohio. And we declare 92 new birds for our Life List

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