Costa Rica day 61 Mar. 9

After breakfast we went for a long walk to the East end of the beach. The tide was a long way out and I paced it off from the water to the high water mark from last night. 150 paces and it went out farther as we walked. I wish I'd taken the mask and fins with us as with the tide being so low it would have been good snorkelling. We didn't bring the fins as they were excess cargo in our backpacks. At the far end of the beach was a large fishing trawler that had come in. They had just unloaded their catch into some large stryofoam tanks on the back of a truck to be taken to market. The tidal pools donated some brittle starfish to the collection and another couple came across a large beautiful shell. That convinced me that tomorrow I'll take the mask in the hopes I can find something offshore. The walk took about 2 hours and it was time for lunch by the time we got back. It was again time for a hammock and a cold one. I showed a slide show to Tona from Norway and Jim our landlord and he enlightened us on Costa Rica having been born here and educated in the U.S. He's been here for about 20 years but doesn't own this property just the buildings. He has 8 year leases. That''s quite an investment for such a short lease.
After the slideshow we went to check out the tide which was now quite high. Like really high and washing around the log we used for a bench. It's supposed to get even higher tonight so we moved the log so we'd have it for tomorrow.
Lots of bats out tonight and the familiar sound of what I guess to be maybe the grasshoppers in the trees. As soon as the sun goes down they start their song. It begins as a vibration that builds in intensity and becomes almost a loud whistle which lasts for about 30 seconds. I've never heard anything like it before. It goes from a one cylinder engine trying to start to a full out turbine!
It's hard to believe we only have another 2 1/2 weeks left but this is a great place to become beach bums after all the miles we've covered. It's nice to go to bed and know we don't have to haul our packs to another bus station and head off once more.

Costa Rica day 60 Mar. 8

Same old today. Beached it until it got too hot and then retired to the hammocks with a couple of rum & cokes. The water was calmer today so I put on the mask and snorkel and ventured in for an hour. Not a lot to see although the water was quite clear. Turned in early. We'd left the giant grasshopper on a shelf over the kitchen counter. Bad idea! Jo got up shortly after retiring for a drink of water, turned on the kitchen light and lo and behold every huge ant for the surrounding 3 miles was trying to steal our prize! It started out as a small squeal that quickly turned into a "Al, get out here!" I've never seen so many ants in one place and these guys were big! Out came the bug repellant and pretty soon they scattered everywhere. On the floor, walls, counter, some even headed for a swim in the sink. There were so many we had to sweep them out the door. There was enough repellant in the kitchen to have killed us all by morning. No doubt the ones that did escape must have had a helluva hangover this morning. That done we returned to bed. Then I started to tell Jo some ant stories. How they were probably army ants that eat everything in their path and now the grasshopper was gone (in a ziplock in the freezer) and they couldn't open the fridge door, that we were probably next on their menu. Closing the bedroom door wouldn't work because they'd chew through the wall. The good news was they work in shifts. A day shift and a night shift. We may still be partially alive by morning and they'd be full by then but then the day shift would come on and they'd be real hungry. I think Jo scratched all night. A great bedtime story.