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Published: June 20th 2017
Geo: 10.0704, -84.5041
This morning we woke to a clear sky and birdsong. After a breakfast of bananas, Corn Flakes and coffee we decided to walk around the "sub-division." Most of the road is not paved but is gravel and this area is STEEP. Really, really steep. Before we even get to the end of our drive we are panting hard and sweating. The road goes up and down a lot. We aren't sure where we are going or where we'll end up but we're wearing our hiking boots and we have water bottles so off we go. Ana had mentioned a lake saying it was about 3 kilometers. The subdivion, we discover is a big circle, which isn't obvious because the jungle obscures a lot. We walk for about 45 minutes passing several lovely houses with incredible landscaping. Everything is terraced here because it is so steep and some of the plantings are truly beautiful. We see our house from below. (There is a photo of it here.) You can see our car; we are in the lower level.
We pass a small manmade pond with a bubbly fountain in the middle. There are benches to sit on and
lots of trees - very pretty. The most interesting fact about where we are staying is that this whole area is a working coffee plantation! The coffee beans, called "cherries" when they turn red are just reaching picking time. The red ones are ready.
Soon we are back home walking down the steep driveway. Below I have uploaded a pretty good video of our drive from home to Ana and Norm's house. It is a little long, but if you watch it all the way through you'll see a landslide covering part of the road. It happened a couple of days ago. The video really doesn't show the steepness of the area (or one and one half car width road) very well, but you'll get the idea.
Today we are heading into San Ramon to buy a box of tissues (Jeff is feeling much better but is tired of blowing his nose on single ply toilet paper); and we are going to go the farmer's market. We've read that the farmer's market in San Ramon is one of the biggest around. Ana told us to just take the main road into town (not difficult as there is one way in
and out) and if we get to the Univ of Costa Rica campus we've gone too far. As a point of interest, there are not street signs or house/building numbers in Costa Rica - I can't figure out how people get their mail...
Anyway, since we are in town, I want to make one last effort to get some colones. (I am a slow learner.) We find an ATM for the Bank of Costa Rica and money comes out!! Yippee!
Then we come upon another supermarket. This one is as close to an American supermarket as you are going to get! Ahhh... LOL. Kleenexs in hand, we drive to the farmer's market. Actually what we do is drive up and down the streets, going the wrong way on a one way street at one point, and then we circle on a perimeter street looking for the farmer's market. We do finally find it, and once you know where it is, Ana's directions were good.
The market is huge and is WONDERFUL! There are two very large areas and the offerings are great! The prices are ridiculously inexpensive...we buy broccoli, green beans, a cucumber, a green pepper, mushrooms (though they were
expensive). Jeff has brought colones from our last trip to CR (2011) and when he tries to pay with them, he's told by the vendor that his money is expired!! HAHAHA! Of course, we have the modern colones, but to be told that your money has expired was a new one to us!
We went to a stall selling fresh fish and though the red snapper is obvious we are at a loss as to what the other fishes are. Jeff asks a man next to us if he speaks English as he was obviously known to the fishmonger and speaks Spanish. Harvey helps us by translating the types of fish and the pricing. After our purchase (some kind of marlin) we step aside and talk with him for quite a while. He is an ex-pat who has lived here for years and years, but was getting ready to move back to the States, to northern California, back to family. He was interesting and full of advice.
We continue our shopping spree...I buy some Costa Rican cocoa (from the farmer), we got a freshly made HUGE tamale filled with refried black beans to share for lunch, and lastly, flowers
for our apartment. What a great time!
Jeff mentions that "this", meaning the farmer's market, definitely adds to the allure of this area.
We carry our bag - I brought a net bag (thank you, Jennifer Kutzik!) and it is expanded to bursting - back to the car. We have a bounty!
We got home easily and it is mid-late afternoon because we were at the markets so long. This market is every week year round. It starts Friday at 11am until around 5; then reopens on Saturday morning for several hours. It is fun to interact with local folk.
Our late lunch is that tamale. I untie it, unwrap the several layers of banana leaves, cut it in half and warm it. Delicious!
Since we've been home we've talked with Ana and/or Norman three times. Tomorrow morning they are going to take us around the area so we can see the different little communities, types of houses and do a little sightseeing. They will pick us up at 9:30. Because they have a rental showing in San Ramon at 1pm, we'll have a free afternoon.
Tonight we sat on the couch and watched TV - something we almost never do at home. We watched the movies "Click" and "Men in Black II." Both in English - pretty funny!
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Travelwrite
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We are back from our vacation. I never got to do a blog which I already regret, reading yours, and will do so more as time goes by. I'm eagerly reading about your trip. See you at the BLIC meeting. Eve