A Funny Thing Happened On the Way...

Es una problema!

Heading home today after my workout at the gym, the bus unexpectedly came to a stop in the middle of a stretch of road that runs alongside the river. We passengers all looked out the windows to see what the slow-down was and discovered that ahead of us a large limb had fallen across the road. Leaning down from the main trunk of the tree, the branches were spread all across one lane of the street with just room enough for small vehicles to squeeze under the bole hanging over other side. Until that limb was removed, there was no way our bus was getting through.

Students start walking as the school bus turns around

A school bus and several cars were beginning to stack up on the other side and I knew the same was happening behind us. As I sat there wondering what I should do to get home, someone rang the bell to get off the bus. With the doors now open I realized that once I made my way up the long hill ahead, the rest of the way home was pretty easy and although it was still a distance, I knew I could hike it with no trouble. So off the bus I went and began walking on the narrow shoulder next to the traffic as it crept along to slip underneath the limb. I glanced to my left and noticed a white taxi, one of the "pirate" taxis that are cheaper than the red ones, right beside me and it was empty.

"Señor," I said to the driver through his open window, "¿Disponible?" meaning, Are you available?

"Sí," he said, and I hopped in the back seat, thanking my lucky stars for the perfect timing.

We took our turn carefully negotiating the small opening and once past the traffic jam, continued on up the hill toward Santa Eulalia, chatting a bit in Spanish about the weather, always a safe subject for my limited language skills. You'll recall that Costa Rica uses no addresses, no street names for the most part and house numbers are rare indeed. As it turned out, this taxista apparently didn't know exactly where he was going for his fare. At the school near our home, he stopped and asked a couple of schoolboys where blah-blah was. Of course, I couldn't understand his question but he let me know that he had to turn around as he had apparently gone past his destination. But since he had saved me that long uphill hike, I was happy to walk the short distance home. When I tried to offer him some money for the lift, he said, no, no monies, instead handing me his card so I could call him directly for a future ride. And I think I will!

Dry hillsides in the distance

Our conversation about the weather focused on how dry it is right now. The hillsides are turning brown and our grass requires regular watering. But whoever said Costa Rica has no seasons just didn't recognize the kind of cycles that occur here. Right now, for instance, it's sugarcane-cutting season and huge fields of the tall plants are disappearing here in Santa Eulalia. On my solitary walk the other morning, I encountered workers with machetes, hacking away at the plants while a tractor stood by to cart away big metal cradles full of the harvest.

Gorgeous bougainvillea

Partly because of the dry climate, the bougainvillea is now in full bloom all over the neighborhood, a riot of fuchsia, orangey peach and pale pink. Our mango tree is heavy with fruit; we expect a bumper crop in a month or two. The avocado tree in the front yard is also showing its coming yield and unlike last year, I hope to be around to enjoy it in April and May.

On our Sunday hike this week we learned of another fruit in season, the Starfruit, a unique yellow oblong with parallel peaks along its sides. When cut crosswise, the resulting section is shaped like a star. The firm flesh is sweet tart and very refreshing. Marcial explained how to make a "fresco," or fresh fruit drink, by putting the fruit - seeds, skin and all -- into a blender with a bit of sweetener and some water and ice. Turn on the machine and voila! you have a delicious drink.

Starfruit in abundance

Marcial cuts up Starfruit as Bonnie looks on

Stephen's smile says it all

We retraced part of our steps from last week's "hike from hell," stopping at the pig farm to visit with the family that lives in the small shack on the property. 

A very humble abode for this family

One child was a cute little girl who spoke enthusiastically to Marcial and Seidy, although their rapid conversation was lost on me. However, I did manage to communicate a bit with the man who had a boot in his lap along with a big needle and thread. "¿Arreglar su zapato?" I bravely asked. With a big smile, he looked up and answered yes, obviously pleased that I was trying to speak Spanish.

As we started down the steep hill just beyond the pig farm, we stopped to watch some men trying to capture a boa constrictor, another chicken killer, by rousting it out of its hole. Their plan was not to kill it, they said, but just to move it elsewhere. The leader really wanted us to video his efforts but clearly it was going to take too long for us to stay and watch. Later Marcial told us that this man is a jack-of-all-trades,  catching snakes being only one of his many skills.

So we started off again down the trail but poor Bonnie took a spill on the powdery dirt injuring her knee enough to force her to turn back. She and Eroca headed off for smoother terrain while Marcial, Seidy, Stephen and I continued on, back down to the lovely little river. This time, however, we opted to walk on land instead of the riverbed but Marcial and Seidy's dog Blackie took a dip to cool off.

Marcial and Stephen enjoy the scenery

Stephen waits in the shade as Marcial hikes down

Blackie wades in!

View from the top

"Our" little valley

As we hiked through a beautiful secluded valley, we fantasized developing our own small community there. According to Marcial, it's the perfect climate and terrain for growing Plumeria; we could see a number of wild white Plumeria trees all over the hillside above us. In our imagined future, we would export Plumeria cuttings and make our retirement fortune as we relaxed in our quiet little valley by the river. Ah, Pura Vida!

The Hike From Hell!

Happy Birthday to me, I fell on my knee! 

Yes, today's my birthday and it'll be party time here tonight. The Santa Eulalia gang is bringing all the food for a celebration of my big day. And indeed, I am nursing a bit of a bunged up knee from a fall in the river on yesterday's "hike from hell," as Chris baptized it after my dunk in the drink. There'll probably be no dancing for me tonight.

Marcial reconnoiters far down the hill

Yesterday was actually one of our most beautiful and fun treks, but it was difficult, steep and challenging. To summarize, we had three bloodies, two fallers, one punctured and one quitter. Well, Eroca didn't really quit; she just decided on that first steep downhill that she had on the wrong shoes, so she turned back and walked most of the way into town to where Marc was doing his Sunday shift at Kay's Gringo Cafe. A very wise move, as it turned out; they were definitely the wrong shoes for this hike. 

The rest of us trudged on... and on ... and on, following steep cow trails down to the river that meanders through Santa Eulalia before eventually joining up with the Rio Grande in the canyon far below Atenas.

Seidy heads down the hill

Sue snaps Chris "caught" as Eroca looks on

Things were off-kilter from the start: I tore my favorite shorts before even leaving home, Chris and Sue missed their bus, Seidy forgot her camera and Sue's camera battery died after one shot. Then navigating the first barbed wire fence, Chris decided that given his height, he should just step over the fence instead of going through as the rest of us had. Oops. His pant leg caught on the wire, cut his leg a bit and yanked a hole in his favorite pants. First blood was drawn.

Marcial removes the spike

When we had almost reached the bottom of the hill, Sue took her first fall, sliding feet-first on the powdery dirt right into my boots, but I managed somehow to stay upright as we laughed at the treacherous terrain. Finally we reached the river only to find that Marcial had stepped on a huge thorn somewhere along the way. So we sat on some rocks while he dug the offending spike out from his boot.

Marcial helps Sue over the rocks

It being the dry season, the river was quite low leaving many exposed rocks for us to scramble over and allowing a lengthy exploration of the stream. As one bank became impassable, we would simply cross over to the other side, switching sides four or five times. It was on that last crossing that I foolishly decided to follow Seidy, who had stepped lightly across the water on rocks that seemed well spaced to me. But I'm much bigger than Seidy so as I reached with my left foot for the next rock, the stone under my right foot rolled and down I went, catching myself with my right hand and right knee. As I extracted myself from this ignominious position, submerged up to my thighs, Marcial quickly said: "Give me the camera!" It seems the featured players in my regular narratives here enjoy seeing their pictures so Marcial definitely had his priorities in order. Of course, everyone was asking if I was okay and other than a slight pain in that knee and my injured pride, I was fine. Luckily, so was my camera and cell phone. But with blood dripping from a small split in the shin, I became "second blood" on this hellacious excursion. Later Marcial himself became "third blood" as some brush tore his leg. Lesson learned: follow Marcial, our fearless leader Costa Rica Dundee, not little Seidy who moves like a cat.

The scenery along the river was splendid, however, especially one amazing sheer cliff that soared high above us with chunks of rock hanging precariously from the upper reaches. Each layer of rock seemed to extend further out over the river than the one below it, making it appear as if the rock face was leaning toward us. One good earthquake, we decided, and that that big mass of rock hanging by only a narrow strip would come tumbling down, as we could see many hundreds of other boulders had done in the past.

Boulders for a river crossing

At one spot where we wanted to cross, the river was uncooperative offering no suitable causeway so Marcial and Chris proceeded to build a "bridge" by moving large rocks into the shallows of the stream. As they did so, Marcial noticed a dark "rock" he had almost stepped on before realizing it was a turtle. The poor fellow became a star attraction for a few minutes as we stopped to admire him and take his picture before setting him back into the creek.

Chris building a "bridge"; Marcial holding our turtle

Señor Tortuga

Seidy urges me on!

But what goes down must come back up so it was soon time for the uphill portion of the hike, the part Sue and I dread. As well we should in this case as parts of the trail were almost vertical, or so it seemed. At each switchback we would take a short break, drink water and question Marcial as to how much further we had to go. "Oh, not too much farther," he would say. Sue and I would exchange skeptical looks, having heard the same thing at the last stop. At one point, I asked Marcial if he knew where we were or if perhaps we were lost. "No, not lost," he said, "but we do have to find our way from here." Isn't that about the same as lost?

Sue takes a break with the valley below

A bunch of cute piglets

Eventually we began to see familiar landmarks -- the chicken farm in the distance, an old abandoned cabin on a hillside. Crossing through still more barbed wire fences -- some of which left more bloody marks on our legs -- we arrived at a small pig farm located behind Marcial and Seidy's property. By now Sue and I were definitely dragging, trying to avoid catching our boots on vines or stumbling over the rough ground. Indeed, Sue's second fall was on grassy furrowed ground just beyond the pig farm. But no harm, no foul, as we say.

Just squeeze!

Walking through orchards behind Marcial's home, we stopped under an orange tree where Seidy deftly used her walking stick to knock down fruit, which Marcial then peeled and cut off the top for a fresh-squeezed cup of orange juice! "Vitaminas y minerales," Seidy said sagely, and indeed the juice was a definite pick-me-up. 

But it was the cervezas on Marcial's patio that really brought us all back to life. Joined now by Stephen, Eroca and Marc and fortified by fresh fruit and sausage sandwiches we enjoyed a long and wonderful afternoon, looking at family photos of the boys when they were kids and of Marcial and Seidy as a young married couple. It was a memorable time for us all as we continued to deepen our friendship sharing good food, intimate conversation and the joys of Pura Vida!

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High Times in the High Season

Here we are, time for another Spanish/English dinner party with Marcial and Sadie tomorrow night, which means that almost two weeks have past since my last entry here. If I thought that “retirement” meant inactivity, boy, was I wrong! We scratch our heads at times wondering what keeps us so busy. In some ways, our schedule fills up with the luxuries of retirement: time to take long walks, time to correspond with friends, time for elaborate dinner preparations and dinner parties, and for Layne, that long-delayed novel is taking shape. Indeed, the man has over 150,000 words written and, he says, only a couple more chapters to go. Then we’ll have to learn what all is involved in self-publishing on the Internet.

The Aquacate Tree

But the dry season (or “high” season, referring to hotel rates) is definitely here. Suddenly the landscape has changed from lush greens everywhere to patches of dry, golden brown grasses on the hillsides. It’s somewhat reminiscent of those “golden hills” of California, but that would be in June, not in January! Our aquacate (avocado) tree is absolutely weighted down with blossoms and hundreds of tiny avocados. We can hardly wait till they ripen and we can enjoy guacamole every day.

Tiny avocados soon to be ripe!

Another plant in blossom right now is the orchid, my favorite. Waiting for the bus a few days ago, I noticed that the big cluster of orchid plants attached to the mango tree had suddenly burst into bloom. And what odd blooms they were! Orchids are known for the enormous diversity of flowers they produce and this was certainly one I had never seen before: curly, delicate purple petals around a pink-throated central core on a long spike coming out of the leaves. Quite beautiful and so unusual.

A most unusual Orchid

Orchids on the Mango tree

With the change of seasons, we are learning more about agricultural patterns here. For instance, a couple of weeks ago, we noticed some workers in the cornfield below us, chopping down the dry stalks with, of course, machetes. Just two guys to cut down the entire field! But labor is cheaper here than machinery and requires less maintenance, so to speak, so such heavy work is mostly man-powered.

Another example of labor-intensive work we recently encountered is making charcoal. On a trip back from PriceSmart with our friend Jeanette, we stopped off at a finca (farm) along the road to Santa Eulalia that Marcial had told us about where we could buy organic honey. While there we questioned the mustachioed gentleman in charge about the other products that he had in his large garden and learned that he also grows organic tomatoes, chili dulce (much like a green pepper), hydroponic lettuce and green onions. Part of the mixture in his hydroponic bins, we noticed, was bits of charcoal and since Layne and I had just purchased a small barbeque grill, we asked if he sold charcoal as well. Yes, he said, and proceeded to guide us further back in the garden to where two men were piling logs about 3-4 feet long into a deep gulley they had apparently dug. 

Organic gardener with Chili Dulce

It seems that they will somehow set the wood on fire and then bury it in dirt so that it smolders without burning, turning the wood into charcoal. Amazing! Whether or not this charcoal would work for our grill, we are yet to determine but it was a fascinating how-to lesson for us Gringos. 

December = Springtime in Costa Rica

What a thrill! We had a Blue Morpho butterfly flutter through our backyard yesterday afternoon. What a gorgeous creature it is with its iridescent azul upper wings. A friend said that the butterflies are returning in force now that springtime is here and the rainy season is mostly over. That’s good news for us as we love watching the amazing variety of mariposas here in Costa Rica. Of course, the visiting Blue Morpho was gone so fast I had no time for a photo so I’ll just “borrow” one from the Internet.

There was no problem identifying the fellow as we recently visited the Butterfly Farm in La Guácimo when our friend Marcy was here and learned all about the Blue Morpho as well as many other types of butterflies and moths. Although there are numerous such facilities in Costa Rica, this particular location not only breeds and cares for butterflies, from caterpillar to chrysalis through their magical transformation into beautiful winged fliers, but they also export the embryonic form, the chrysalis, all over the world to botanical gardens, other butterfly farms and nature centers. It was extremely educational and quite a treat to have the lovely creatures light on our clothes or arms.

Another wonderful feature of our new neighborhood are the incredible sweet flower smells that arise in the late afternoon and evening. I have located the source of the odors, in the white flower boles of tall plants nearby but a Google search failed to turn up the name of this tree. Every evening lately at about five o’clock, the air is filled with a rose-and-jasmine fragrance that just takes your breath away it’s so sweet. I’m led to believe that the smell attracts nighttime pollinators, such as bats and moths.

We seem to be blessed with some of the best of Costa Rica’s flora and fauna here in Santa Eulalia, including a young raptor we spotted in a tree on our latest walk. Then there was the three-foot long iguana I spied waddling along across the street today as we waited on the bus with some of our neighbors. I pointed him out to the others but no one was concerned. Just part of the local color. Welcome to Costa Rica. Ho-hum.

December marks the one-year anniversary of my trip back to California last year to put my dear horse and good friend Mojave down. After a very intense and poignant dream about him a few days ago, I have appreciated even more some of the horses that live nearby, such as this little yearling colt. He lives alone, it appears, in a large pasture down the road from us, and when we approached his enclosure he trotted eagerly over to say hello. I think he’s a bit lonely as he was most appreciative of my brief affections and followed us along the fence line when we turned to go.

Coffee plant Christmas tree - click on to enlarge

Much of Santa Eulalia is agricultural with acres of edibles nearing maturity. The coffee plants seem primed for the Christmas season, ripe red berries suspended like so many ornaments. Papaya trees are heavy with fruit and the feathery flowers of the sugarcane dance in the wind. Peanuts are laid out on canvas tarps to dry in the sun and our own naranja (orange), mandarina and limon trees are filled with fruits. 

Field of Papaya

Preparing peanuts for market

Add to that the many friends we have made here and you can understand our contentment. And if we needed anything more to please the senses, we got it on Thursday at new amigos Francis and Brian’s jam session. With Francis on keyboard and singing, local musician Barry on saxophone and young Daniel on guitar, Layne and I added our vocals on several songs as we all whiled the afternoon away. 

Tomorrow we’ll visit them again for a huge neighborhood party they are hosting to celebrate the sale of their southern Indiana property. We’ve found a good spot here in Santa Eulalia! Pura Vida!