Costa Rica day 63 Mar. 11

We were awakened this morning around 5 a.m. by a combination of roosters (some must have missed the soup) and howler monkeys. We've been hearing the monkeys every day but they were some distance away. This morning it was obvious they were getting closer. Well while we were eating our breakfast on the balcony they appeared in the tree right over our heads. Two of them crossed the roof and from the kitchen window you could see their fingers gripping the roof edge less than 3 feet away. They continued heading east through the tree tops. There were about 5 of them including two babies. About an hour later they came back and rested in the tree about 20' from our deck for a while. Got some good shots.
I had mentioned to Jim that I'd tried to buy some stamps yesterday for souvenirs but the guy didn't seem to understand what I wanted so Jim called him and explained it to him so he's got some ready for me. Guess we'll head into town and pick them up. I have some from Nicaragua and Panama as well as a few coins from each country. Jim also brought us up some coffee he just ground from Tanzania and blended with Costa Rican coffee. Can't wait to try it out.
Went for a swim this afternoon while Jo hammocked. Can't believe how warm this water is. I snorkelled this morning for over an hour down at the East end of the beach. Water is very clear and the reef is mostly rock and quite shallow. Saw two puffer fish but couldn't catch them w/o having fins. I swam back towards our place and Jo was following on the beach. Then it happened! She couldn't see me (I was a long way out) and she saw a school of fish jumping out of the water. She thought they were eating me or something and ran for help. The first person she came to was the mngr of the first place we stayed at and he told her to go and get one of the fisherman down the beach. In the meantime an ambulance was heading down the beach with his lights flashing but she couldn't catch it (thank god). By the time I got to shore I couldn't see Jo so I walked back to where I'd gone in an hour before. There she was climbing out of a fishing boat. I'll let her add her version to this story.
So here it is...actually, that's just about exactly the way it happened. I was checking every two minutes or so, keeping an eye on Al's whereabouts. When I lost track of him, but saw another diver in wet suit and yellow with black fins in the same area, diving in and out the water... I was certain Al was in trouble and this fellow was trying to rescue him. The diver actually stood up at one point and then dove back down in a hurry. Then I saw what looked like a fish or a few fish jumping along the water. Well...you can imagine...I thought Al had been attacked and was being carried away in pieces. I was so grateful when I saw Al walking down the beach toward the fishing boat I was in (to go rescue him) that the young fisherman was probably paid a full day's wages as a reward for wanting to help. (10,000 colones = $20.00) It took me the rest of the day to "snap-out-of-it." JO
Tonight we were going out for supper to the internet place but it's closed on Tuesdays so we went back to the beach to a place called "Shake Joe's". This place is really neat. They've got burl tables out on the beach under the palms and instead of chairs beside most of the tables they've got what look to be beds but about half the length. Like a wide ychesterfield with a headboard. They're complete with a cover and pillows for your "whatever pleasure". I'll have to get some more pics of this. They've even got an outside pool table. We ordered a burger each and a beer and when we finished the lady at the next table was sitting there with her mac out. (her computer). We asked her if they had wireless and they did, so nothing do but order another beer and get on line. Our total bill for two burgers with fries and three beers came to 4600 calones. That's about $9.00. Geez and free internet as well. We'll have to hit this place again and it's even closer than the old wifi place and right on the water. The tide was high again tonight and coming into the tables while we were eating. The surfers were having a ball.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30653&l=f8331&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 62 Mar. 10

Jo slept in this morning so when she finally got up we headed into town for breakfast which is our plan for every 2nd day. In between we'll walk in and have supper. Breakfast here consists of granola, yogurt, and fresh pineapple & bananas. Lunch and supper is sandwiches laced with peppers, guacamole etc. We ate at the internet cafe and after calling Lance, Maggie and the kids on skype I updated the blog and facebook, left Jo with the computer and then headed out to do the shopping. First it was groceries, then cigars (which I found cheaper than I'd paid in the past), then it was to the bank which is something you don't do on a Monday morning. That took care of an hour. I mentioned to Jim how inefficient they were and he said he didn't mind as last year there was no bank and they had to go all the way into Nicoya to do their banking. Good point. I'll never bitch at the credit union again. Leaving the bank I headed out to find some dvd's so I could download my pics as a backup. Lucked out and got two for $1.50. I now have about 6 or 7 dvd's containing backup for all my pics and I keep them in a separate backpack in case the mac gets stolen.
I got back to the internet cafe and Jo was still there plugging away. We headed back to the room with our groceries which had since reached their expiry date and had a rum and coke and a little hammock time.
By 4 pm the tide had really started to come in. By 5 pm the dry creek bed next door was filled with tidal water and the dead palm branches were all bobbing. I've taken some pictures of the high tide and it's my goal to take some more in the morning from the same vantage point showing low tide.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30652&l=72b03&id=680056043

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.

Costa Rica day 59 Mar. 7 Samara

We ate a quick breakfast, got packed and called a taxi as we were anxious to get to our new place. It's really nice and Jim again made us familiar with everything we needed to know. The place is quite large and has shutters on all the windows. The safe is under the master bed but too small to be of any use to us other than our passports and money (if we had any)
We unpacked and began making up a shopping list. We then hung one of our hammocks up on the deck where there is a nice breeze. You can't really see the ocean from the balcony due to the trees in front which provide shade but you can certainly here the crashing waves as it's only about 100'.
I introduced myself to a lady about our age who rents the only other unit. She is Norwegian and is translating something from English to Scandinavian. She's been here about two months and speaks very good English
About noon we headed down the beach for the 10 minute walk to the grocery store. I took one of the backpacks as we had quite a list. Now that we have the fridge filled up and a new bottle of rum we're all set. Tomorrow I think we'll head into town and have breakfast and then go to the wireless place to get things caught up. It's very quiet here so far and everyone speaks English. Col. Klink and his buddies will have to find someone else to irritate now.
We went to the beach around 4:30 but from here the actual sunset isn't visible although I still managed to get some good pictures. By six pm it's totally dark so we came back, made a sandwich and then listened to a few more chapters of the audio book I'd downloaded before we left. Jo lasted for about a half an hour and then it was lights out. She didn't sleep very well last night as the nazis were making a racket and kept her awake. They're worse than the dogs. We'll see what tonight holds in store
LINK OF THE DAY
Show people this album by sending them this public link:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30164&l=4f7e7&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 58 Mar. 6 Samara

We headed down to the other end of the beach this morning. The tide was a long way out due to the nearly full moon and there were pieces of coral littering the beach. In places the beach had to be 200' wide. We stopped in Samara on the way back and checked our email. Nothing but junk. We then headed over to the grocery store and picked up some coke, water and limes. Next door is a coffee shop so Jo had her fix and I had a coke. On the way back to the beach we stopped at a small bakery and while waiting outside I noticed they had a sign wi fi. Yahoo and it's fairly close to where we're moving to tomorrow and it's free. The other place we went to were charging $3.00 an hour! Crooks.
This place we're in is nice but so full of Germans I feel like I'm in Hogans Heroes and Klinks are everywhere. I guess we should have guessed that with a name like Kunterbunt Cabinas. Really looking forward to the place tomorrow as it's a beautiful two rooms overlooking the ocean and the mngr/owner Jim seems like a pretty nice guy and speaks English. It comes complete with two fans, hammocks, a fridge, and a safe in the room so I can lock up the mac when we leave. It's also about 10 minutes closer to downtown so we can bring groceries back to the room and keep them cold without having to share a fridge with Col. Klinks buddies and a bunch of dirty dishes.
We watched another beautiful sunset tonight and I'm not sure we'll be able to see it from the new place. It clouded over this afternoon but it was still stifling hot. It doesn't start to cool off until 4 p.m. when a bit of a breeze comes up. We should get more from our new balcony as this one is at right angles to the ocean.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30163&l=ba46f&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 57 Mar. 5 Samara

Last night we had a great sleep until the 4 a.m rooster got going. That woke up the dogs who woke up the birds and that was the end of the sleep.
We skipped breakfast and headed down the beach towards Samara. We passed a couple of hotel/cabinas for rent and inquired at the first one. $85.00 a night. We got out of there fast. The next place was about 200' farther down the beach. It looked like a nice place and the manager was busy painting pictures which he sells as a sideline. He also wanted $40 night but we thought we'd take a look. It was up over the office and was beautiful! Two rooms finished in hardwood. Three beds, a separate room with a fridge, table, and a coffee maker. No cooking facilities but with a fridge we can make sandwiches and have our granola and yogurt for breakfast and make icecubes. It also has a balcony facing the beach which is 100' away from our room. It's very nice and he mentioned that the local roosters were now soup. We also didn't see any dogs. They're probably also in the soup. This is a good sign! One of the dogs that woke us up is the same breed as the neighbours dog back home. Small a yappy says Jo. They should be used as dog food for good dogs. Too bad they don't have anti freeze down here.
We went on to Samara and hit the bank and the grocery store and had breakfast at a nice place in town. We stopped at a hotel that advertised wireless to see if we could rent some time but the owner said it was for guests only but that the other two places in town also had wireless. Our new place is only a few hundred yards from downtown so it will be very handy as well as close to the grocery stores.
After we got back here we walked the other half of the beach which is covered with bits of coral from the offshore reef. The surf has been high since we got here and no good for snorkelling although there were some surfers a long way out who were really doing well.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30162&l=460da&id=680056043