MORE CATCHUP!

This is  kind of out of sequence but who knows but me!!?

Our visit to an Organic Farm, the Juari Tropical Don Juan Organic Farm, was hosted by 19 year old Eliecer who was over-the-top charming/hokey! He came from a poor family down the road from this farm and the owner hired him for odd jobs. He picked up English amazingly well, for very little formal education - he's not finished with school yet - and worked hard to make the tour interesting. All natural produces, including methane from cow manure, are used and recycled. Several plants were used in cancer treatment. Several of our group helped grind the sugar cane into liquid and then we sampled the liquor made from it.

On Friday there was a boat cruise on the Rio Frio, a Ramsar Sik (Ramsar Treaty for protection of water and migratory birds, signed among countries in Iran, including the US where there are several Ramsar sites. Lots of howler monkeys (deep throated sound), spider monkeys and white-faced monkeys were putting on a show in the trees along the bank. Caymans (tiny crocodile-like animals like we saw on the Amazon in Ecuador on a previous trip), egrets and herons, lizards and iguanas and tons of birds. Back at our La Fortuna lodge we walked through the animal areas where you could see ants busy working, crocodile sleeping, some turtles. We spent a lot of time in the various thermal pools. Most resorts we've spent 2 nights and then move on.

One of thermal pools

Hot and cold pools

Drove over dam and artificial lake that provides water power

Arenal volcano from distance

Twice Betty1 had banana split for lunch!!! she is almost 80 and quite a hoot!!

Cashew tree. Now I understand why they are so expensive. Break off fruit and nut is on the top! That's ONE cashew!

Inside one of the grocery store stops

Juan Carlos loading suitcases on roof of van - every two days!!

Our next stop was the foothills of Rincon de la Vieja Volcano. Alex walked us around and saw huge ficus trees that wrap around and strangle other trees. Met up on the Sunset Terrace/bar for gorgeous views.

Bottom of 400FT waterslide. Very bumpy! Nobody wanted to break a hip!

Alex showing us the ficus tree that wraps around and strangles other tree.

Walking on the hanging bridges. About 8 of them!

My meditation view one morning. Quite a show of birds!

Top of water slide at thermal pools

View of second volcano

Sunset terrace view

TRYING TO CATCH UP!

So we are waiting here in San Jose for our new tour guide (don't know how ANYONE could replace Alex!! He was special!) to take us to the airport for a short small plane flight to the 3 day extension on the Caribbean side to Tortugeuro National Park. 1/2 of our group left this morning for home. I think there are 7 of us left to go on.

Here are some things I remember Alex talking about relating to life in Costa Rica. CR was a crossroads through Central America but didn't have a huge Spanish settlement presence, maybe because it is so mountainous and not too rich in natural resources. I think they were part of a large Guatamala group at one time. They had a civil war and at the end in 1949, the leader abolished the army and they haven't had one since. They spent their money on education (96% literacy rate, most speaking English as well) and medical care and other social improvements. They have a president, for 4 years and then has to leave office. They can come back again and again but with 4 years in between. He admits there is a lot of corruption higher up in the government. Government employees have it pretty cushy! They have this + system where things get added to their salary for minor things. + for being married. + for having a kid + if you speak another language, even if it isn't necessary or useful for your job. I think he said there were up to 140 +s available!! He said that is the current topic for discussion and change as it's bankrupting the country.

He talked about the medical system. Pretty much everything is covered. The problem is, you have to WAIT! and you can die while you wait for what you need. So many people also pay for private medical services. A doctor can work for the government as well as work in private practice. So people with money can get the care they need faster. Even heart transplants and other transplants are covered. NOT things like cosmetic procedures though.

The country years ago began to focus on eco-tourism. The hotels are rated, rather than stars, on LEAVES! We stayed at a couple of 5 leaf (the highest ratings) hotels - meaning they are green, recycle, reuse, conserve, no AC, just fans, no TVs in rooms, everything to encourage the natural flora and fauna and not pollute. No one uses dryers - use the sun!

Toucans through Alex's camera

Horseback ride

Alex on bus giving infor

Busy ant mound

Arenal Volcano - one of 13 active ones. We stayed at the foothills with thermal springs.

TRAVEL TO CHACHAGUA

We're headed toward the Arenal volcano area. The Bosques de Chachagua Lodge is lovely! Betty and my hut has a lovely 3-sided porch with hammock, a beautiful bathroom with a rain shower head, two huge queen beds, with a fan over each. Up at the restaurant/bar (with a happy hour from 5-6 - 2 for 1 drinks!) is a nearby pool with fresh spring water. They emptied and refilled it yesterday! No chlorine! And a stream that roars by our cabin. Lovely place with trails around the rainforest that we haven't taken advantage of.

Yesterday we drove out for our Day in the Life experience and visit to a school, all in the same little village. The family we visited first was making "moonshine" from sweet potatoes." We sampled the distilled liquid- fiery hot!! then it was mixed with a red something and a Bailey's like mixture. Very tasty! the father was there with 6 sons and Isobel the sister. She made some delicious yucca/cheese cakes fried and another light pastry. She also did handiwork using egg shells, coffee grounds, rolled newspaper - all kinds of crafts were around her house. They all  lived there in two or three houses.

The school was across the street. $10 of every trip booked with O.A.T. goes to supporting a school. When it started 3 years ago, this poor village school had one room. OAT has built additional rooms, toilets and running water. They now have 3 rooms, 60 students from Pre-K - 6th grade. There are two shifts: 7-11 and then 11-3. We saw a group of 16 or so and two teachers. They performed a little local dance with 4 of the students. Many of the students were workers' kids from Nicaragua. At first they were afraid to send their children, fearing they would be kidnapped and sent back to army or worse in Nicaragua. But they have been reassured and now send their kids, some of whom had never been to school at all. Very challenging teaching with so many ages and levels.

Education in CR is free and mandatory from Pre-k up to about 16. Uniforms are required in all schools. These kids had white shirts/blouses and dark skirts or pants. Alex said you can tell their poverty level by their shoes. I thought they all looked pretty much the same. Each child took one of us around the buildings and playground. My little boy was very shy and hardly said boo! They study science, Spanish, math and social studies. They have put in for an English teacher but so far no one wanted to come out here to the boonies!

We walked across the soccer field to another house, where one of the sons from previous family lives for lunch. We had shopped at a Comiserato (supermarket) for salad stuff with our budget of $16.  Then some began chopping up vegetables for the lunch. Too many hands so I cleared plates after lunch instead. The son who had been making the moonshine lived here with his wife, daughter who was very pregnant, her husband and a three of the kids from the school we had visited. We sat on an outside veranda. Then he had the key for the local Catholic church (they get a priest visit every two weeks. Since it was Ash Wednesday, we had hoped we'd find a local service somewhere but no luck!) So we walked next door and had a quick look at the very simple church. CR is mostly a Catholic country but not many attend services - only on holidays, special days, weddings, etc. This also seemed the same in Ecuador. Betty and I had visited churches in Peru and Argentina and they were PACKED!!!

At cocktail time around the pool, Juan Carlo our driver and Alex made hors d'oerves from Plantains fried with mashed beans, or tuna on top. Delicious! Too much food so I ate hardly any dinner. Can't do these 3 meals!!

Our pool at Sarapiqui

Swinging bridge over Sarapiqui River

Tiny frog!

Pina Coladas at the Pineapple Finca

Bats sleeping on ceiling above dining hall

Indigenous groups in CR. We visited a Maleku woman who carves these gourds. 

These red berries people chewed after tasting a sour lemon. It sweetens the taste. They are testing them for use with chemo aftereffects.

Painted rocks!

Our latest room. Betty can't get fan going.

Our lovely home for two nights.

The stream going by.

Beautiful yellow flowering Cortez tree

Pool and restaurant/bar

Unusual palm

Another palm

Sloth in the scope! with baby

THE GOLDEN, ROYAL FRUIT!

Yesterday we did a tour of a pineapple finca. It's mostly organic (they spray with ethylene, a natural gas produced by fruit, to help the fruit ripen several times a year. After a short busride through the countryside, we came to this two family owned pineapple farm. Our guide and driver (the driver was a son of one of the owners, a young guy who did a GREAT job backing up this trailer; something I never mastered on the Path of Happiness pulling that u-haul!) took us out to the fields where workers from Nicaragua were handcutting the pineapples and tossing them into a large truck.

The ones they cut for us to eat, with a VERY sharp machete, were SOOO sweet and juicy. I ended up with a tingling rash on my tongue by the end of the visit. Plus the pina colada, empanada with pineapple jelly inside and crackers with a pineapple spread. It was all very delicious.

Things I learned: to pick a ripe one in the store, eyes should be large, leaves pretty symmetrical and a bit of yellow towards the bottom. And refrigerate to keep it from fermenting. The sweeter meat is at the bottom.

Dining hall at Sarapiqui Lodge

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Using machete to cut up pineapple

Nicaraguan picker walking through sharp plants

Vehicle to hold picked pineapples