It just keeps getting better!

This blog is being written from what will probably be our coolest blog site in all of Costa Rica! We're on the side of a mountain, in the middle of a beautiful garden of exotic medicinal herbs and fruit trees. It's raining outside but we're nice and dry inside of our open air cabin, complete with a sleeping loft upstairs. Spending the day here was beautiful and we are excited to wake up here (probably at the break of dawn, since there is no electricity here so we will most likely be going to bed as soon as our little fire sputters out).  We got incredibly lucky and were able to hike up the mountain with one of the best naturalists we've ever met in person! Marco, a Costa Rican native who is incredibly knowledgeable about all the plants in the jungle and their amazing qualities. We saw a tree whose sap could be used as a substitute for breast milk, a "ginger shampoo plant" that would take too long to explain now but is really beautiful to see and apparently helpful to find in the forest after a long day of hiking, and many many more medicinal and healthy plants that are very useful to know about. We took so many pictures and notes and even photographed some of the plants in his guidebook (most of them, actually) so we are planning to write a huge post about all the gifts of the jungle later when we have more electricity and time.
Let me back up a little, though, and tell you about yesterday! Because it was a good day, too. We had plenty of time to enjoy sleeping in our cozy little cabin, then after a leisurely morning on the deck we headed down to David's house at the Fuente Verde farm. They have their own website which is pretty interesting if you have time. David showed us around his home, which is still being built actually, but is totally habitable as is, with running water, a stove, fridge, sleeping areas, and most importantly: is covered and dry! We went on a couple short hikes around and through the farm and he generously shared his knowledge about lots of edible plants, farming techniques, and interesting leaves and flowers throughout the jungle. His home had a very welcoming and organic feel to it and we felt really comfortable both there and at the farm in general. Seems like a really cool community down there.
Last night, after our day on the farm, we went to a farm just down the road a bit called "Finca Ipe". That name might be wrong, so don't go checking out websites just yet. :) They were hosting their weekly Friday communal dinner, so Kirby and I got to experience one of the best meals either of us can remember in quite some time. Definitely the best meal so far in this country hands down!!  There were 12 or 13 dishes, all healthy and delicious and made with organic and natural ingredients from the farm. Chicken curry, borsch (not sure if I spelled that right, is there a t at the end?) all kinds of salad, lentils, fish... it was a flavor explosion! And rice and beans too, of course! Kirby and I brought our finest meal available - pasta with homemade red sauce, spiced up with some fresh pork from the farm. The bowl was empty at the end, so I guess it was good! We both ate 2 huge plates and wanted more but had to restrain ourselves - so much variety!!! We've been eating meals consisting of 1 or 2 dishes, so having 13 of them was like visiting the best buffet you ever imagined. The people were nice too and we even met a woman who just sold her home 2 weeks ago and moved to Costa Rica for good! She had been housesitting for one of the friends of the farm and was planning on leaving the next day to housesit a mansion for a friend of a friend.  She said the bathroom looked like something out of a ritzy spa, and the furniture in the living room was super plush too. The way she was gushing about this mansion, it made us want to go visit her there, but alas we can't squeeze it into our schedule (believe me, though, I tried to find a way!)
This morning was a super early one, we were out the door by 7am!!! The plan was to hike to a waterfall that has a lodge right under the overhang, then spend the night there under the ledge. They have sleeping surfaces, mattress pads, even a whole kitchen and bathroom area! We called this morning and found out it was already reserved for a big group of teenagers, so decided to stay at this cabin instead. Funny that this place is so awesome and it was only our second choice! We feel so lucky right now you can't even imagine. We pulled up to the trailhead right as a group of people were getting out, turns out they were a film crew! We met John, one of the owners of the land we hiked through, and he explained that they were working on a project to promote indigenous uses of land and plants and encourage preservation of the culture and environment. He said he had been waiting 15 years for this day, so we were incredibly lucky to be able to share it.  They were filming Marco as he explained all the wonders of the jungle, so we got to follow along and learn. They had us pop into some of the scenes as well, like when Marco cut a vine had us drink the liquid that poured out. Apparently its common knowledge in Costa Rica that if youre lost in the jungle without water, cutting open these woody vines is an easy and safe water source. We learned about so many amazing plants today, I can't wait to write more about them! It was so nice to be hiking through the jungle learning about plants instead of teaching about them! I still caught myself looking for banana slugs though, just out of habit.

When we got to the waterfall it was as beautiful and stunning as any waterfall, except that it was even better because you could see people just hangin out under the ledge. When we got back to our cabin we did some stretching, had dinner, and enjoyed the beautiful view. The energy here feels very special, almost magical, and this garden totally captivated us with the sights and sounds. Even now as I write this, the rain patting on the roof and all the bugs singing their buggy songs feels very peaceful and calming. I better go now, because here we are at the end of another long blog with very few pictures!  I'll save up more details for when I have photo accompaniment. And remember everyone, its not too late to write what you think we're doing in those pictures!!! We won't be able to post the real pic for another few days when we get wifi on Kirby's computer again, and it's really entertaining for us to see your guesses!  We're also thinking about doing something exciting with all our moth pictures since by now we have hundreds. Actually, the only bad thing about this cabin is that there is no light to call in the moths.  Oh well, at least we have tomorrow!