The weather is getting warmer, less rain, still windy at times. We think the birds should be migrating through here soon. We keep looking for the warblers but so far nothing...
The wind the first couple of days was relentless. We went to Monte de la Cruz today. It's a city park, larger than La Hoya with trails and ranches. It also has a very nice look out at San Jose.
Since it was Wednesday it was pretty quiet but the wind was really gusting so the birds were kind of quiet.
We have been enjoying our Tues and Fri mornings at the gym. Those two days seem to be the less crowded. Only 3 more weeks of exercise as we signed up for 16 sessions.
Eduardo has been very busy working around the property. So has Betty! She made us empanadas for dinner on Friday, I added a salad.
Saturday March 7: we are now at 12 hours of sunshine! 5:57am to 5:57pm. It's the little things in life that make us smile!
Sunday we headed to the big park downtown San Jose. the traffic was pretty light both ways. It was Women's International Day, at least 50 women on motorcycles drove down the Main Street honking and being proud. We had a very nice walk around the entire park. A number of people enjoying the park, sunshine and nice weather. It's pretty much an athletic park with basketball, soccer, football, baseball and runners etc.. plenty of space for everyone. We went to lunch at Rostis chicken. Food and service was very good..
Friday March 13: after breakfast we headed to Monteverde. A 3.5 hour journey according to Waze... took us a bit over 4 hours as there were stops in traffic for various reasons. but we got to Santa Elena forest reserve by 11:50. Oops I forgot my walking stick at the park yesterday! Now What.... We ate our sandwich then hiked for a few hours on their great paths. Although it was afternoon, siesta time, we seen and heard a number of birds and animals. We ended up with 3 new Costa Rica birds and 2 World life birds!
We checked into our hotel at 3:20. It's a different kind of hotel. bare minimum but nice linens and bed. No TV, no coffee pot and very small room. After a bit of a rest we headed to town by foot. I found a nice walking stick for $20! Dinner at the Amigos Bar was good, grilled fish and a chicken sandwich.
turns out our guide for tomorrow, which I booked a month ago. Double booked and now he had to find someone to take us. It only took him a few minutes but he managed to get a local guide to meet us at Curi Camcha at 6:00 am.
Sat March 14: we met up with Jonathon at 6:00 am about 10 minutes from our hotel. The hotel had our breakfast to go ready by 5:40. We walked a neighborhood before going to Curi Cancha. Our guide was good but we did not get any new birds. Did get to see the 3 Wattled Bird. Our walk with him was finished by 10:00. We ate our breakfast in the car then went back into the reserve. Found a few more birds before heading out. Stopped at the Monteverde Brewery for a beer and snack. Food and beer was very good.
Back at the hotel for a nap, then off to see the town. We found a cute little "park" with a crazy ficus tree by a stream. Lots of other people found it too! Luckily we have very good weather, warm, sunny with little wind. Considering we are in a cloud forest, no clouds to be seen. Dinner at Taco Taco. Food was very good, service was very good.
The town of Monteverde is much more touristy than we expected. Lots and lots of souvenir stores, restaurants and hotels. Like our hotel, that was just built last summer the buildings seem to be fairly new. The roads are the best we have encountered in Costa Rica. Until you get close to the reserves then the roads are gravel pot holes..
We extended our stay for another night but had to change rooms. So on Sunday morning after breakfast we checked out of B18. Headed to Monteverde Preserve for a day of hiking. We walked two of the three paths. Getting 3 new life birds. (we seem to do better without the guides).
Back to check into the hotel by 2:00. rested for a bit then walk to town for dinner at The Tree House. Again the food was good and so was the service.
Monday after breakfast and checking out we headed to the Children's forest, Bajo del Tigre section for a morning walk before our long journey home.
We left the forest at 10:00 am and got home after a stop at the grocery store by 3:00pm. Eduardo greeted us as long lost cousins..
Sloth and baby in the tree!
On Tuesday we went to see if anyone had turned in my walking stick. No luck...
Wednesday our vehicle needed to be inspected by the government, so we took it to the Adobe Rental facility by the airport. They gave us a car for the day. We found 2 new places to walk, the first was the best one, lots of birds, no people and close to the airport. It was getting pretty hot by 10:30 so we headed to the City Mall not too far away. Wow a rather large mall, we walked all 4 floors, then lunch at Hooligans, Krispy Kreme for desert then back to pick up the car at 3:15. Car was not ready yet but showed up shortly after.
Our property is gated, when we opened the gate the dogs ran out! I jumped out to grab the girl dog but she did not have a collar on, just a bandana. Betty came out and called them but they like to run... Needless to say I lost my grip on the girl dog, Eric parked the car and came out, Betty went to get food. The dogs come when she gives them food.. They ran down the road about a block or so, Eric chased them but they don't listen to Eduardo or Betty, they are not going to listen to him.. The girl dog jumped up on a 4 foot bank, Anuk (the boy dog) could not make it up, he fell over. Unfortunately we both left our phones in the car so no pictures. Betty came out with sausages for the dogs, they came running when they seen that she had food.. Eric ran with them back to the house. What and exciting afternoon.
Friday we headed to Bosque de la Hoya, pretty quiet until about 10:30. We did see one other person on our hike until just as we were getting off of the path then seen a number of loud people. We got a new Costa Rica bird. We thought we seen it the last time we were there but was unsure. This time got a good look at it. We are at 496 for Costa Rica lifetime. hoping to get 500 by the time we leave in two+ weeks. might be tough.. Lunch at Restaurant Alba for pasta. We were the first people there but the place crowded up quickly. Great food for a good price.
Sunday March 22: another sloth with baby showed up. Eduardo said it was not the same one as last week. What do we know?? I am guessing by the size and maybe color? Great afternoon to sit and enjoy the yard and sounds of birds singing.
Tuesday March 24: we leave our home here in two weeks! Where has the time gone? The weather has been perfect, we know our way around without using Waze, most of the time. We made a few friends and found some good restaurants.
Thursday March 26: our final day at the gym. we signed up for 16 sessions. Yesterday we went to Monte de la Cruz, probably for the last time. Next week is crazy here in CR. Eduardo said that Holy Saturday will be a crazy time, they make effigies of Judas, hang and burn them and they throw rocks at the cars! We extended our trip here because of Holy Week. Heard it was crazy with traffic as there are a lot of processions and vacationeres.
Friday March 27: our final trip to Bosque de la Hoya? not sure if we can go next Friday. We tried a new restaurant today.
I wanted to try the birra. I had it in Tamarindo and Monte Verde and it was soooo good. I never heard of it before and since we are leaving next week or so I had to have it one more time.
Well it was a bit different and good but not the same as the others. Oh well.. maybe I can find it in Texas?
Saturday March 28: we are beginning our countdown. It's always sad to leave and especially hard this year. For the most part our weather has been fabulous, birding great, hiking ok, food wonderful and our homes very comfortable. We have learned to live without good TV and very little news. Stress levels are down, except for driving.
Sunday is our walking day. Walked down the long hill, meaning we have to walk up the long hill. We found bunches of bananas and a tail feather from a Lesson's Motmot!
One last linen laundry day. We do our own as then we can change out the sheets and towels when we want to, rather than wait for someone to come change them.
Tuesday March 31: our final full week at Eduardo's! He is hosting a fish lunch by the river today. Not sure how many are invited.... We started a bit of packing yesterday, almost got one suitcase filled. Cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer should not be too hard.
The fish BBQ was very successful, We carried down the chairs, tables, food and BBQ Grill. We also helped Betty in the kitchen! Eduardo's Daughter in Law and 2 granddaughters showed up first. They spent the working time in the river... the water was cold. The four of us sat and chatted for about an hour before the guests ( cousin and friends) showed up. Not too much English spoken but we pretty much got the gist of the conversations and Eduardo would translate. What a fun afternoon.
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