A busy few days. Jim, Don and I went fishing on Sat. Jim has a beautiful 26' boat and his helpers, Francisco, and his young son Byron came ashore in the tender and picked us up in Carillo. We'd been unable to get any ice as Easter w/end around there is crazy. The beaches and campgrounds are packed. Francisco and Byron got us hooked up and the lines out and we headed North out of Playa Carillo.
About 20 minutes later Don got a Mahi. I've never seen one before and it was a gorgeous color. Fransico filleted it but unfortunately although we saw tuna jumping everywhere they weren't biting and we got skunked. Jim figured there was so much live bait fish in the area they didn't need to be biting on stainless steel. We did see a manta ray which surfaced a few times just off our starboard side. The waves picked up after a few hours. We were out from 11:30 until around 5 p.m. Coming in Jim was running about 1/3 throttle and that baby can move! He's got two 140 h.p. Johnsons on it.
After we got home it was into the pool for a quick one and then we sat down to an excellent supper of homemade pizza and cevise (sp) which is a raw fished in lime juice I think. Both were very good and their guests Richard and wife and daughter joined us.
We turned in around 10 p.m. after chasing an armadillo out of the garden who was intent on eating the roses, having already finished off the vegetables.
Sunday afternoon (our last day before leaving) we went down to check out the property below the house where Don and Marion are going to build. Jim had been working on his Cat all day clearing the bush and grass and locating the boundry markers. While there we spotted a howler monkey going up a tree. Imagine seeing wildlife like that right out your window!
Returning to the house Don and Jim were in the pool when I heard "Al, get the binocs and camera"! Jim thought he'd seen the panther again quite close to the house. I managed to get a picture of it and when zoomed in it was a coati. It climbed up a mango tree and took the whole fruit in it's mouth, climbed down and then went back up for another. They have the face of a possum (butt ugly) a body like a racoon and a very long tail with faint rings similar to a coon. When Jim's new fruit trees get bigger they'll be all over the place and other than eating fruit they'll be nice to watch.
That night Don and Marion took us all to a great BBQ place right on the beach. We had a great meal, margarita's, and wine on the huge burl table. The bbq is pretty unique in that the fire is elevated with a chute that the coals come down to cook the food.
Everyone got a little tiddly which lends itself to a fun ride home. (you could be dead drunk and you still wouldn't come close to the way the Tico's drive).
Monday morning came early thanks to some parrots outside the bedroom window. Don and Marion were going to drive us into Samara to catch the bus for the 5 hour drive to the airport in San Jose but the taxi we'd made a previous appointment with and then cancelled showed up promptly at 7:30 so it was a quick goodbye and we were off (including a cooler that had been sitting near our bags out in front).
We were both very appreciative of the hospitality shown us by Jim and his wife Patty and it was great to meet Jo's brother in law Don. I'd met Marion last Spring when she visited for a couple of days. It was a fun three days and far too short but it was exciting to be thinking about getting home and seeing the kids again. That was the one thing we both missed and it's too long a time to be separated from your family and grandchildren.
We had reserved seats on the bus and it left right on time. A very long bus ride which was slowed even more by a bad accident which was on my side of the bus. Some car on a long straightaway was laying upside down beside the road. Shortly after that we came across another wreck on the opposite side of the bus. I'm thinking if you need to go somewhere in Costa Rica pick something big (like our bus) or a monster truck. Maybe even a tank might save your butt.
We arrived at the Santa Maria airport and paid our $26 each so we didn't have to do it the following morning when it would have been busy. We found there was no place to eat until after you'd passed the check in point except for a fried chicken kiosk. We hadn't eaten all day but we needed a meal so we took a courtesy bus to the Casino/Denny's/Hampton Hotel and had a great supper (albeit quite pricey for what we had). Patty had suggested we stay at the Hampton overnight instead of at the airport as they had rooms for $30. Our flight left quite early and we had to get there around 6 a.m. but unless you wanted to doze on a slab of marble with all your bags it was a bad idea. I checked out the Hampton and the other hotel next door and the cheapest room they had (and a smoking room at that) was $182.00! Maybe you got to keep it or became part owner in a time share or something.
As we were leaving we were standing outside waiting for the shuttle to return to the marble slab when some guy asked us if we wanted a lift to the airport. He was wearing airport i.d. so we climbed aboard. After telling him we would have to stay overnight at the airport he told us of a place in nearby Alejuela for $36 a night. Now that's more like it so off we went and he didn't even ask for payment (although we paid him). That's indicative of the great people down there.
Wow it even had pc's for our use! We got a "cozy" room with a balcony right over the Indianapolis speedway! I closed the windows but it seems the only braking source they have are Jake brakes which they use with glee. All the other traffic were motorcycles on their way at high speed to the nearest muffler shop which must stay open 24/7.
We'd set our alarm clock for 5 a.m. but that was just wishful thinking and we gave up and got out of bed early. We got our bags and I headed to the lobby to get someone to call a cab. It was blacker than Toby's ass and as I walked into the darkened reception area a voice said "buenos dias". Scared the hell out of me as an apparition rose up from the couch. Guess this guy works 24/7 as he's the same guy from the day before sleeping there under a blanket. He called a cab which was there in minutes and off we went for the 5 minute ride to Santa Maria.
We checked our bags, cleared customs (that's another story but due to possible jail terms it will have to wait), and picked a place to people watch. All our flights left on time, the longest one being from San Jose to L.A. which was 5 or 6 hours depending on how much you paid for your watch. The flight from L.A. to Seattle was a bulkhead seat which gave us some extra room.
We arrived in Kelowna, cleared customs again (they didn't check our bags) and Paul was waiting for us. He was driving "Rambo" the never say die pickup truck. It got us home by 11:30 p.m. and we hit the sack by midnight. It was a 20 hour day but great to be back.
Paul had put some provisions in the fridge for us and been checking the mail so we were in good shape.
That culminates this blog. It has been a trip of a lifetime. We didn't try to kill each other, saw everything and more than we'd hoped for, met some great people, didn't get robbed and I've got over 6,000 pictures! Jo kept a very comprehensive journal and we've thought about putting it all together in a book format. That remains to be seen as there's lots to do now including getting the boat ready for tourist time.
Many thanks to all of you who followed our adventure. I only wish I'd made a guestbook or put a tracker on the blog to see how many of you there were.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32022&l=1ff06&id=680056043
