Oh, the Days Dwindle Down....

As the day nears when Layne and I must leave Costa Rica for California, we find it harder and harder to say goodbye. Every day brings another reminder of just what a wonderful life we have found here in the land of Pura Vida. As Layne puts it: Our dance card is always full!

Our Costa Rican home

Yesterday we joined a group of some fifteen friends at Antaño's Restaurant in downtown Atenas for brunch. Organized by Nancy and Mark Van Patten, the event was designed to cheer Nancy up after the last few days of unseasonable rain. Relative newcomers to Atenas, Nancy and Mark suffered through a pretty rough October last year, when they had only recently arrived and were still in the midst of construction on their home when the worst of the rains came. With most of their goods still in boxes and their house incomplete, it was a rough introduction to Costa Rica for Nancy. Like Ticos, most of us who have been here awhile take the rains in stride and appreciate the way they freshen the air, bring out the flowers and turn the hillsides emerald green.

This being Holy Week, or Semana Santa, as it's known here, the weekly feria was held on Wednesday instead of today, which is Good Friday. The week before Easter is about the biggest festival in Costa Rica, with most shops closed all week long, buses on a holiday schedule (or not running at all, as is the case here in Santa Eulalia) and no alcohol sold on Thursday and Friday. On our morning walk today, Layne and I happened upon a typical community observance of the season: a small parade of local people in costumes re-enacting the Christ story, including children dressed as angels and one man carrying a white cross. Preceded by a loud speaker on a van playing religious music, the group slowly traveled down the road, gathering neighbors as they went along, to a spot where the priest offered prayers and blessings on the group. 

Purple-draped crosses are on display in most front yards and families gather before hand-made altars to offer up homage to their God. Ticos seem to enjoy the holiday as much for the family celebrations as for the religious intent.

The grand Ficus tree next door

When we got home from brunch yesterday, we had a call from Marcial inviting us to come over to our neighbor's backyard just across our street to pass some time under a huge Ficus tree, sipping beer or whiskey. The host was Juan, brother of our landlord and long-time resident of Santa Eulalia. Juan told us his family had owned this land for over sixty-five years. The old estate is quite large, encompassing the sugarcane field and cornfield below us as well as our house, the landlord's house and several adjacent homes where his sisters live.

Pejibaye fruits

Marcial's wife Seidy soon joined us, bringing delicious homemade empañadas filled with a sweet jam that she and her sisters had made from a gigantic squash-type fruit using traditional methods. This meant roasting the whole squash over an open wood fire until the outer shell was darkened, making the inner pulp easily removed. Juan talked to us - with Marcial translating - of some of the other old ways of feeding a family off the land, as we nibbled on pejibaye that he offered, a first for us. This is an odd fruit from a certain type of palm tree with a taste, Layne and I decided, similar to garbanzo beans. It was quite pleasant. One recollection Juan shared was of another old tradition, practiced only before Easter, of going deep into the jungle to find a particular huge palm tree, which they would cut down to harvest a four or five foot length of heart of palm hidden inside. He recalled what a massive crash the tree would make as it fell. These days it's illegal to cut down such old trees to obtain heart of palm, another nod by Ticos to conservation of their natural resources.

Today our social life continues unabated, as we expect a couple of friends to come over later to play some music, with me on keyboards and Layne and the others on guitar. Just a light-hearted jam session. Then tomorrow we are hosting the first meeting of the Santa Eulalia Tiger Woods Fan Club, as a big group of neighbors joins us to watch Tiger play in the Masters.

Our life in California, rich as it was, was never so busy with entertaining activities as our life has been here. It will be a sad departure on Wednesday as we head back to the States. One thing is certain: We will return.

Arenal Adventures and Jaco Tacos

It seems like all I do lately is sit here at the computer screen checking airfares to the U.S. With summer just around the corner, Layne and I are trying to make plans but the air ticket prices are just ridiculous! (See my latest column for TheCostaRicaNews.com for more on this.) And it’s a moving target. Just when I think I’ve found a reasonable fare on something other than a “red-eye,” the next day the cost has gone up another $25 or more. It’s nuts!

But since this is such a quiet week here in Costa Rica with Semana Santa (Easter Week) closing everything down like a nuclear disaster, it seems a good time to continue my report on our vacation trip with Sue and Christine. After such a wonderful few days at Bahia Rica (see my last post for details), we reluctantly headed for the ferry again on Sunday morning in time for Thomas to pick up the next arriving sport-fishing guests. Once on the Puntarenas side, we taxied to our rental car pick-up spot and headed up the road toward Lake Arenal.

Lake Arenal

Angling northwest from the magnificent and still active Arenal Volcano, the lake is the largest land-locked body of water in Costa Rica, with a surface covering nearly 33 square miles and a depth of some 200 feet. The hydroelectric dam, which tripled the size of the original lake back in 1979, now provides about 12% of the country’s electric energy. The beautiful rolling pastureland and green forests that surround the lake attract a large number of tourists and also provide home to many expats who prefer the area’s cooler temperatures. With dependable winds for much of the year, the lake is a magnet for windsurfers and sailboarders. Because of the popularity of kayaking on the vast waters, we thought we would be able to tackle another paddling adventure during our stay there.

The dramatic facade of Hotel Tilawa

But this was not to be. Our choice of Hotel Tilawa turned out to be a mini-disaster. In working on his novel, Layne had researched hotels in the Arenal area because one of the book’s main characters owns property there. This hotel had come to his attention via the Internet and one of the scenes in the novel takes place there. Photos of the hotel and activities offered on the website made it sound ideal for our three-day stay. Although Hotel Tilawa has an interesting history, features a dramatic Minoan theme and some nice views, the website definitely exaggerated the facilities. Too windy for kayaking, no direct access to the Lake, a spa that needed an hour to warm up and pool cues that lacked tips: these were just some of the challenges we faced. And incredibly, with dozens of rooms on two floors, a large sitting area with a working fireplace, huge swimming pool, organic garden, microbrewery on the premises and more, we were the only guests! The eccentric proprietor J.P., who built the place 18 years ago, and his family live there, along with a few Tico workers but that’s about it. J.P. quickly made it clear that he is tired of running the hotel and his children seem uninterested in taking over from him. No wonder the place has gone to seed. As Sue and Christine, who are budding screenplay writers, described it: Hotel Tilawa was "The Shining" meets "Night of the Iguana" via a minotaur's labyrinth, complete with murals of bare breasted Cretan maidens jumping over bulls!

J.P. is in his early forties, a tall, rangy man  of very strong opinions who displayed a fast-talking, insensitive and cynical nature that I particularly found annoying. Try to ask him a question and before you can finish, he is speeding ahead, talking over you, assuming he knows what you want. His focus seems to be perfecting the recipes for his microbrewery, and by the way, sampling those products frequently throughout the day. Layne and I spent an interesting hour talking with him and his brewmaster after dinner discussing beer-making, politics and the internships advertised on the hotel website. Whereas we had once entertained the idea of applying for one, we soon changed our minds.

Our reservation was for a two-bedroom suite, but that turned out to be unsuitable because there was only one bed in each room and Sue and Christine preferred not to share. J.P. was kind enough to offer us separate rooms at the same price, but when Sue and Christine looked at this second choice, they discovered that the bathroom was infested with small ants. When we mentioned this to J.P., he shrugged and said, “Well, they were here first,” adding, “There are lots of bugs in Costa Rica. Most won’t hurt you.” No offer of a different room despite the fact they were all empty. Go figure.

As cocktail hour arrived, we asked for ice. None was available but J.P.’s wife valiantly stabbed at a frozen chunk in a bowl, reducing it to pieces still somewhat large for a glass. Nevertheless, we managed to mix drinks in our room before coming down for dinner. As the only guests, we were painfully aware of just how much staff was required for only four people. No wonder J.P. seemed happy to see us leave the next day, cutting short our visit.

The morning hike downhill; watch for barbed wire!

The best part of Hotel Tilawa was Gabriel, an altogether pleasant young Tico who works very hard to make guests feel comfortable. Friendly and personable, he built a fire for us and sat chatting enthusiastically about the various tours he could arrange. But by then we were leery about the place so we put off a decision, opting instead for a hike down to the lake the next morning. After searching around for the trail, we headed down the steep and densely wooded hill, crawling through barbed wire fences, only to discover there was no access to the lake. ICE, the electricity company that owns Lake Arenal, has fenced around it. J.P. had neglected to mention that when we got to the road, we should turn right to reach an entrance. No wonder Hotel Tilawa’s former popularity with windsurfers has dwindled to nothing.

Needless to say, the hike was aborted and Sue and I headed quickly back uphill to check out, get the car and return to pick up Layne and Christine. Halfway up the slope, huffing and puffing, we realized the other two had our room keys and Layne had the car key! But those difficulties were short-lived and with apologies to J.P. (who actually seemed relieved), we were soon off in our rental car, heading for the beach. Onward to Jaco, where we always have a good time. This trip was no exception. 

Pool and courtyard at the Flamboyant Hotel

"Flamboyant" Orchids

Sisters Sue and Christine on their balcony

We discovered a new hotel, the Flamboyant, located right on the beach, with lovely gardens, a great pool and a guarded parking lot. With a friendly and courteous staff, the Flamoyant is our new favorite. We also found a cool taco bar nearby, cleverly named Taco Bar, with fabulous fish tacos and a great breakfast. After two comfortable nights at the Flamboyant, a couple of delicious seafood dinners and hours lounging by the pool, we were ready for the trip back to Atenas.

Dinner out in Jaco

Jaco Surfer

Sunset at Jaco Beach

 Unfortunately, the second morning in Jaco, Layne awoke with a sore throat, which developed into a major sinus infection and put him out of commission. Within days, I was also a bit under the weather as well. That turn of events meant that Sue and Christine spent the last few days of their visit off in San Jose without us. But at least they were able to enjoy several excellent tours of cool tourist spots and museums that they had hoped to visit. All in all, it was a fun trip with good friends.

Festive Gringos and Abandoned Dogs

Saturday, April 3, 2010

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Our hopes for serving as a magnet for visitors to Costa Rica is off to a great start with our long-time friends Penny Cash and Joel Glenn’s arrival last week. On Wednesday, Layne and I hopped on the trusty autobus for the 45-minute ride into San Jose where we met them at our favorite bed and breakfast, Apartotel La Sabana, along with Penny’s older sister Karen and her fun-loving husband Joe. After Penny and I did our “happy dance” greeting, the six of us were off to Karen and Joe’s son Greg’s house in Escazu, an upscale suburb of San Jose. As noted in my last post, Greg and his wife Amanda are the proud new parents of a little baby boy named Lincoln so Karen and Joe are here doing the grandparent thing with great enthusiasm.

         Greg and Amanda are Peace Corps veterans, Greg now retired from that role and starting a new job soon at the US Embassy while Amanda has moved into a management position with the Corps. Both of them are still passionate about the program and committed to continuing its good work in other capacities. Working as a Peace Corps volunteer is an unfulfilled dream of mine so I appreciate their dedication to work that serves the poor around the world.

         The Embassy provides these young people with some pretty snazzy housing in a beautiful gated community. Their large two-story home happens to be right next to the pool. How handy is that!? Naturally, after the well-deserved oohs and ahhs over little Lincoln with his over-sized feet (that boy may be tall!), all of us, except for the new Mom, headed for the pool house with a round of beers. One round led to another and soon we had a table full of “dead soldiers,” plus a very festive group of grown-ups laughing our heads off at one funny story after another. Greg was delayed in joining the party by a car alarm that refused to shut up. But his trip to the auto repair shop was successful and inexpensive: only $10 to fix it. Following a pizza dinner with way too much wine generously supplied by Joe, we finally said goodnight and headed back to the hotel by taxi.

         After enjoying La Sabana’s delicious breakfast the next morning, P & J rented a car and the four of us headed for Atenas, finding remarkably little traffic on the roads because of Semana Santa (Easter Week), a major holiday here when the entire country basically shuts down and heads for the beach. We even found our local neighborhood festooned with bougainvillea-garlanded crosses on our walk today, apparently placed there yesterday in honor of Good Friday.

         Penny and Joel were suitably impressed with our little chalet and we had a lovely evening with cocktails on the patio watching the sunset, then Chifrijo for dinner. What is Chifrijo, you might ask? It’s a basic Costa Rican dish that I’ve adapted somewhat: rice in a bowl, topped by seasoned red beans, sprinkled with a fried meat (in our case spicy sausages), all covered with a lime-dressed cabbage slaw. It’s pretty yummy!        

         After P & J drove off yesterday headed for tourist adventures in the rain forest and on to the beach, a couple of bedraggled puppies appeared in our compound, both thin enough to slip through the metal bars of our gate. Desperately under-nourished, we can only assume that they were dropped off and abandoned. What a problem! We clearly cannot adopt the pups since we’ll be leaving in May and we are confident our landlady would not appreciate our leaving two stray dogs on her property. It is an all-too-common situation, unfortunately. Costa Ricans simply do not see companion animals with the same loving eye that most Americans do. Many are tied up and just fed now and then. Others roam the streets, un-neutered, thus producing still more strays. 

         After a consultation with our neighbor who has two small dogs herself, we decided to call our local animal rescue friends, Frances and Bruce, who live down the road. Regular readers will recall our meeting them at the school fund-raiser a few weeks ago. Since then, Layne and I have paid them a visit on our morning walk and met the house-full of 18 dogs and 5 cats that they care for. Frances has built a splendid clinic space in their home where local vets come and provide shots, spay and neuter services and emergency care at reduced costs, most of which Frances and Bruce pay for out of their own pockets. Their operation is called Lighthouse Animal Rescue and they truly do amazing good work here in Alto de Monte, providing valuable services to the local animals. Lighthouse is in the running for a $1000 prize through the Animal Rescue Site and I would very much appreciate all my blog readers taking a moment to visit that site and cast a vote for them every day, if possible. (You first click on the “Click here to give - It’s Free” purple button; on the next page, click at the top on the “Vote Today” banner. Then in the search space, type in Lighthouse and choose Costa Rica. When Lighthouse comes up, just cast your vote, then confirm it on the following page.) It’s easy! And we really want them to win that money!

         So Frances said if we could care for the dogs until Sunday when she has a spay and neuter clinic scheduled, we could bring them and the vet will treat them for worms and hopefully neuter them, if they are old enough and if their poor health will allow. After that, we don’t know what will happen. Stay tuned! 

Mango Ceviche and Hiking an Old Oxcart Trail

Saturday, March 27, 2010

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Where else but in Costa Rica would your new housekeeper, who has cleaned your home only once, bring you a gift of green mangos and homemade green mango ceviche? Perhaps there are other countries where such kindness and generosity would manifest, but I was certainly surprised and delighted when our diminutive maid Dunia, who lives just across the street from us, (see photo left) stood at our gate yesterday calling my name and holding a bag of fresh mangos plucked from her tree along with a delicious dish of chopped green mangos in a spicy citrus sauce. I’m embarrassed to tell you how little she had charged us for three hours of steady good work. Indeed, we feel compelled to give her a raise and we consider her another one of the wonderful benefits of our life here in Alto del Monte.

           Her cleaning job came one day before our friends Kate and Gilberto paid us a visit, just a week after our trip to see them in their remote mountain village of La Estrella (see post at http://fabulistadecr.blogspot.com/2010/03/monster-moths-in-mountain-cabin.html). We didn’t know what time they might arrive on Wednesday since the drive they faced would take them through the wooly streets of Cartago and San Jose, probably a 3-hour trip in the best of vehicles. And their ancient Subaru sedan, named Goldie for Goldilocks, is cantankerous on hills, prone to overheating and loaded with clatters and clanks. Definitely not the “best” of vehicles!

         Fortunately, Kate has a cell phone so she kept us apprised of their progress. Her first report came at about 2:30 p.m. when she called to say they had been driving in circles in San Jose, confused by the new one-way streets. The good news was they had finally found the route out of town and were heading for Atenas, which should take perhaps another hour. When they arrived, she called for further directions. Now remember, we have no addresses here, nor even many street names so here’s what we tell the taxi drivers: Alto del Monte, pasado Cantina Linda Vista, la casa con muro de piedras grande, which means the barrio of Alto del Monte, past the Linda Vista bar, the house with the big rock wall. Think you could find us?

         They would have been all right except for Goldie overheating on the steep grades leading to our location. When they stopped to ask directions, somehow Gilberto failed to fully engage the emergency brake and suddenly Kate, still in the car combing her hair, realized it was rolling backwards! She managed to untangle herself from bags and purse enough to get her foot on the brake, stopping just inches from the small store where they had parked. When she called again, she was a bit flustered from the near miss but eventually, with no more mishaps, they arrived at our gate.

         We spent a lovely evening, talking, laughing and enjoying each other’s company. My Spanish improved by leaps and bounds, thanks to Gilberto’s persistence and Kate’s translations. I had made a Creamy Chorizo and Chicken soup and, of course, Gallo Pinto for dinner, which we devoured out on the patio, watching a magnificent sunset. Although I know they love their cool climate and secluded bungalow up in the mountains, I do think they both appreciated the warm ocean breezes that allowed us to linger outside for hours.

         In our front yard, there are some mysterious fruit trees that Layne and I have wondered about, being lemony in appearance but varying in color from green to orange to yellow, and in size from small as limes to grapefruit huge. I asked Gilberto what they were and he proceeded to pluck a few and prepare a wonderful drink he called “fresco,” which is a generic term apparently for many fresh fruit drinks here. He chopped up some fresh ginger, unpeeled, and whirled that along with a small amount of water in our blender. Then he squeezed juice from the fruits, the names of which I never fully grasped, and added that plus a raw sugar product called “dulce.” After straining this liquid, the result was one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever tasted! 

         That afternoon we took a walk down the road through the small Tico village here. With the advantages of having two Spanish-speaking friends along who could converse easily with the locals, we learned some fascinating history about our barrio and particularly the street on which Layne and I take our regular hikes. It turns out that this narrow road was once the main highway down which the now-famous colorfully painted oxcarts carried loads of coffee beans from San Jose to the port of Puntarenas. Although parts of it have asphalt covering now, much of the original stone and concrete surface remains visible, as seen in the photo below. A local hombre named Oscar (shown on the right in the photo) chatted with Gilberto for fifteen minutes or more, laying out historical details of the area. He himself had been born, he said, in the first house on the road, a dilapidated wooden structure which we pass each day on our walks.

         With Semana Santa (Easter or Holy Week) coming up, Oscar mentioned that this road in past years would be bumper to bumper with Ticos heading for the beaches. Now that better roads have been built around the country, especially the new Caldera Toll Road, the traffic here is sparse and the neighborhood quiet and peaceful.

         On Friday, we all piled into Goldie and headed for Atenas for a delicious breakfast at Kay’s Gringo café and to allow Kate to exchange some of her enormous book collection at Kay’s lending library. Afterwards, Layne and I headed to the ferias (markets) and Kate and Gilberto took off for a short visit with his son who lives here. From there, they would return to La Estrella, hopefully with good memories of a visit to our tropical paradise and its colorful Costa Rican history.