Puerto Viejo with our little Shulamith

After Cahuita we headed further south to Puerto Viejo. I personally was super excited to get there because I knew the beaches there would be amazing and I couldn’t wait to go swimming in the ocean. Although we had been by the beach while we were at Pacuare and again in Cahuita, the beaches weren’t really appropriate for swimming. I couldn’t wait to get in the warm Caribbean Sea! 

Katie has already written about our arrival in Puerto Viejo and the terrible hostel we first stayed in (The toilet bowl) and then she also wrote about Rockin J’s (Wisdom on the walls). Rockin J’s is one of the coolest places ever. I am excited that I get to go back to this spot before the end of our trip because our friend Amy is coming to visit and her one request was to be by the beach. Our friend Doug is also coming at the same time and we thought Rockin J’s would be the perfect place to take them as their first stop in Costa Rica! It is a beautiful spot and has such great atmosphere. The art and mosaics that cover the entire place are really beautiful and hold a lot of wisdom. We also love staying in the tents because it felt like we were at a festival minus the music and the mud.

Our own personal Corona Ad
but since we are in Costa Rica its
Imperial, every Tico's favorite beer!

Katie and I had a great time chillin by the beach and one day we treated ourselves to a fun day of renting bikes and bringing a couple ice cold beers to the beach. Puerto Viejo has several beaches so we first rode to the one closest to Rockin J’s and enjoyed our beers while they were still cold. While sitting by the sea, a nice girl named Laura came and chatted with us and gave us some tips on where the good beaches were and a nice lookout point. Laura’s tips were great and once our beers were finished we hopped on our bikes to headed to Laura’s favorite                

beach called Playa Chiquita. Upon getting to the beach, who do we spot there... our new friend Laura! 

The next day I stayed on my own while Katie took an early morning bus into San Jose to meet Shuli at the airport. I hung 

out with Laura all day and we mostly just stayed at the beach and swam and talked. While we were chilling out on the beach a nice couple from the US offered us some mud masks so we enjoyed a relaxing little spa treatment with the sunset. Laura is from Australia and has been traveling for quite some time. She is so sweet and I really hope that our paths cross again someday. 

Once Katie made it back that night with Shuli, I had a yummy dinner of Juevos Rancheros prepared. Even though our bellies were full we managed to muster up the energy to take Shuli out so she could take in the  local flavor and enjoy some more reggae music. 

The next day, her official first day in Costa Rica commenced and we were all excited to spend it together at the beach. It was a hot day and we swam in the water most of the time. The water was so still it was like glass. There were no waves at all and it was like our own personal jacuzzi. We were able to stay in the water for hours just swimming around and talking. Katie decided after awhile that since the waters were so calm it would be ok for her to bring her most prized possession, her camera, in for a photo session. 

Here are the AMAZING results! - 

Our view from the Ocean-cuzzi

Laughing over our Martha Washington hair-dos

Kirby's impression of Ariel from the Little Mermaid

Katie our personal photographer/waitress while we enjoy the mini surf

Happy as clams

Our best mermaid picture! This picture wasn't easy to capture and it took quite a few tries to get the timing just right. I am glad that we didn't let Shuli give up because this picture wouldn't be the same without her!  

The best of friends in another beautiful location

Our most graceful mermaid, Katie

Shuli, our most reluctant mermaid. Even though she fought the photo shoot every step of the way... I think she must be happy now that she has all these gorgeous photos with her friends in the Caribbean Sea!

And then it was time to go... this is the look I give Katie to get her to put the camera away and end the photo shoot. It was a great day at the beach and even though at the time we were somewhat reluctant models these pictures turned out better than we could have ever imagined! I know that now we are all so grateful to have them as memories. Being able to look back on this day, even now, makes me smile and makes me so happy I made a new friend. It is so amazing that Katie was able to share her friend with me and now I have a new friend in my life. Friends are so important and I hold them all so dearly and close to my heart. Our time in the ocean with Shuli was unforgettable and I am happy share it all here with more of my family and friends. 

Rio Celeste

The ticos said that October is the rainiest month and these past few weeks have definitely been proving them right.  The house of dreams has been the perfect place to ride out the storms, but don't worry we're not just sitting cooped up inside all the time.  Aside from the necessary ventures into town to go online and to get ingredients for all the delicious food Kirby has been cooking up (and a few things that I throw together:) we've also ventured out to explore some of the natural beauty surrounding us. Just a few minutes down the road there is a picture perfect swimming hole at Rio Fortuna, complete with a rope swing that we have yet to try out.  There are lots of other sights to see in the area and luckily we've made friends with some locals who have cars.

Hairo is one of the first people we met here in La Fortuna and his little orange nissan sentra/racecar has zipped us around to some great places, including camping at the foot of the volcano, soaking in the natural hot springs, and the furthest trek yet: Rio Celeste.

Hairo, like most ticos, has a very full work schedule.  It seems that lots of people here work 42 hour weeks, scheduled as 6 days of 7 hours each with Sundays off.  Hairo was born here in La Fortuna and his family seems well connected, so even though he's pretty young he has a good job as the supervisor of the landscaping crew at one of the hotels here.   He came by the house one night asking us if we wanted to spend his day off with him at Rio Celeste, a nearby river with hot springs and a waterfall.   We got up early in an attempt to beat the rain, but at 7:30am when he came to pick us up it was already starting to drizzle. 

 Since the roads are so bad here, with huge potholes and unpaved sections, it took us almost 2 hours to get to the trailhead even though it was only about 60km (~ 38 miles) away. The last 10 km or so we were driving about as fast as you could walk, traversing a road composed of big rocks, little rocks, potholes, and puddles.  Driving around in Costa Rica really gives you a new appeciation of what these little cars can do, especially when youre going one mile per hour  and driving in a zig zag pattern to more easily traverse the myriad of obstacles in your path. 

The rain let up for the last hour or so of our drive, then picked up again as we started down the trail.   It's nice hiking around in the rain here. The jungle takes on a mystical quality as the water trickles down the leaves and the fog swirls its way through the trees. 

The diffuse lighting is great for taking photographs as well, if you can manage to keep the camera dry.  Denise loves photography just as much as I do and has much more advanced equipment to accentuate her talent, including this super high-tech bubble cover that acted as a camera cover, backpack cover, and perhaps most importantly the final piece to complete her look as an overgrown jungle turtle with a silver shell. 


Our hike lead us to the waterfall, up the mountainside, and all the way up to the where the hot springs bubbled up from the mountain and into the river.  The flowers growing alongside the trail were so beautiful that I just can't leave them out, so...

The trail was beautiful, which is a good thing, because the climax of the trail was somewhat anti-climatic.  The thermal springs bubbling into the river were interesting, but I think that the colors of the minerals and the water are much more vibrant when the sun is shining.  It seems that in full sun the river takes on much more of a turquoise color.  Luckily we've all been to Yellowstone, and the colors there beat Rio Celeste anyday!


 Unfortunately, as you can see from this photo, they don't encourage people to get into the springs but we didn't mind too much because we have our own hot springs to visit just outside of la fortuna, which we stopped by on our way home. A great ending to a great day!

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

 

It's a quiet morning here at the house of dreams.  The steady patter of raindrops on the roof has been our natural alarm clock for the past few days, but this morning the never-ending rain has finally stopped.  At least for now.

Yesterday was perhaps the rainiest we've seen yet.  We awoke to a downpour that continued for hours, then lessened to a steady rain for the rest of the morning.  There was a break in the afternoon for about an hour, allowing us to walk into town without getting soaked.   When we were settled in at  Luigi's (our internet spot) the rain started back up and didn't really stop all night.

Hopefully yesterday was mother nature's grand finale to what has been a very wet week.  The past several days have been more rainy than not.   Lots of lightning and thunder, gray clouds that just won't go away, and rain, rain, rain.  Sometimes it pours down in huge drops so big and heavy that it seems the earth is trying to nail the sky to the ground.

Usually the rain doesn't seem to have much of an effect on the people here, especially not their wardrobes.  A couple days ago I saw a girl out walking her dog in a strapless little sundress at the start of the evening's thundershowers.  90% of the rain jackets I've seen here are being worn on tourists - the ticos just use umbrellas.  When the women feel like getting dressed up they don't let the rain stop them from wearing their favorite high heels, either.  

Unfortunately, the rain has had a huge effect on many lives this past week.  Landslides throughout the country have been wreaking havoc on roads, houses, and people.   I'm sure a lot of you have heard on the news that Costa Rica has declared a national emergency.   Some have lost their lives, some their houses, and almost everyone has been affected in some way or another.  Roads are closed because of landslides and flooding.  Basic services to some homes, such as water and electricity, are unavailable.  Schools have been closed.

When I went with Denise to the airport (she flew out on the evening of the 4th) it was raining almost non-stop throughout the 100km/3 hour trip.  Luckily the roads that we used were still in pretty good shape except for a couple landslides that closed one lane.  We overheard other travelers talking about how hard it was to make their way to the airport.  Since most of the towns here are accessible through just one main road, if something happens to that road it could cause a detour of several hours or make travel out almost impossible. 

We've been so lucky to have a safe and cozy place to spend this very rainy past month.   Watching the news has been very sad, especially since they are very graphic in their choice of footage.  The 7:00 news last night showed the flooding and landslides in Escazu, with people wading through mud to get to houses completely destroyed by landslides and search for survivors.  We watched as people pulled back siding and roofs, finding bodies of the victims there and pulling them out of the wreckage to be carried away by a team of what could be their neighbors, friends, and family.  During our first week here in Costa Rica we stayed with our friend Marlon and his family in Escazu, and it is terrible to think about the effect this disaster may be having on his family and the friendly neighbors we became acquainted with.  We hope to hear from him soon.  Please send some warm wishes down here - the community can use all the support it can get.

Hopefully the rain will take a day off today and give the people a chance to start putting things back in order.  In La Fortuna, at least, we've had a dry morning and what is looking like it might be a dry but gray afternoon.  

I included this article from Tico Times in case anyone wants more detailed information about what's going on down here. I didn't even realize how bad it was, this article paints a very bleak picture.  Also, with all the road closures, it seems that we may be spending a little more time in La Fortuna than we'd originally imagined.  Only time will tell.

Words and pictures courtesy of/borrowed from: Katie Onheiber / Tico Times

Costa Rica declares national emergency amid lethal storm.

 Workers dig to retrieve bodies after a series of landslides hit several homes in San Antonio de Escazú early Thursday morning. The first landslide came around 12:30 a.m. Twenty bodies were found, while 10 remain missing.

A deadly landslide early Thursday morning at Pico Blanco above San Antonio de Escazú, a mountainside suburb west of San José, claimed at least 20 lives, and at press time on Thursday police said that at least 10 people were still missing.

Rescue crews from the National Police, The Costa Rican Red Cross and the National Emergency Commission (CNE), supported by teams of local residents and firefighters, are working to locate the remaining landslide victims. Emergency officials said they are likely buried beneath rock and mud or trapped inside their collapsed homes.

On Thursday afternoon, crews suspended the search due to warnings of more rain. They expect to resume Friday.  On Thursday morning, there was no tally of destroyed homes.

Early Thursday morning, Costa Rica’s central government decreed a red alert – the highest of the country’s three alert levels – for the whole country and declared a national emergency.

Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla said on Thursday that the country’s national emergency fund has “sufficient funds for now” for immediate response to the disaster.  The government is pooling resources available from public institutions to aid in rescue and supply efforts.

Chinchilla said that Costa Rica is requesting “cooperation from ally countries” to aid in relief efforts, especially with aerial assistance. She said that Cost Rica will likely seek aid from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank to help clean up the aftermath and assist with repairs to infrastructure.
So far, the cost of damage from the rain has not been calculated.

Tragic Deluge: A landslide early Thursday morning in San Antonio de Escazú claimed at least 20 lives. Rains from Tropical Storm Tomás and a local low pressure system caused devastating rains throughout the country on Wednesday and Thursday.

Residents of San Antonio reported various landslides throughout the night. According to emergency crews, the first landslide occurred at around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday.

In a press conference, Chinchilla said that the environs of Pico Blanco “have been considered risky zones and highly vulnerable to disaster for a long time.”

The Ministry of Education suspended the Social Studies high school exit exam for the entire country. The exam was slated for Friday. The Ministry also suspended classes for the whole country except along the Caribbean, the northern zone and in the northern parts of Guanacaste, northwest of San José.
Costa Rica’s executive branch declared Friday and Saturday as days of national mourning in light of the natural disaster.

Emergency trucks are collecting donations in Escazú – rice, beans, canned food, mattresses, sheets and blankets and hygiene products – for victims of the landslides (For other ways to help, see box).
The fatal landslide was caused by torrential rains that hammered the country on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

According to the National Meteorological Institute (IMN), 161 millimeters of rain fell on Guachipelín de Escazú on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Guachipelín is the closest IMN measuring station to San Antonio.

The downpours caused damages in 34 of the country’s 81 cantons and forced at least 1,400 people to evacuate their homes. The rains are the result of Tropical storm Tomás, which, on Thursday, was centered roughly 150 miles southeast of Jamaica and was moving toward the north-northwest.

The IMN forecasts that the storm will cause moderate to strong rains across the country through Friday.
The hospital in Quepos, on the Central Pacific Coast, is inaccessible by land due to flooding and landslides and is experiencing problems with its water supply. On Thursday, officials from the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja) sent personnel to Quepos to assist with medical needs.

The National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) said that the landslides and torrents have damaged tubing and supply systems across the country, leaving nearly 700,000 people without clean drinking water. Crews from AyA are working to reestablish water service in affected communities. Meanwhile, the agency is circulating cistern trucks in affected areas, mainly in the Central Valley and along the central Pacific coast.
Residents of Aserrí, a mountain town south of San José, told the Tico Times that they have no running water and that many homes are full of mud and floodwater.

Along the Central Pacific coast, 500 people have been moved to temporary shelters and collapsed bridges have stranded several communities.

Televised news reports on Thursday showed waters rushing down the streets of Parrita, a town on the Central Pacific coast, and pouring into homes. Residents waded through floodwaters to higher ground, carrying family members and pets.

In Santa Cruz de Guanacaste, northwest of San José, 150 people have been evacuated from their homes and are in temporary shelters after the downpours flooded families out of their homes, according to the CNE.

The strong rains also impacted at least 11 highways across the country and collapsed nine bridges.
Heading north from San José toward Guanacaste, the Inter-American highway is closed  at kilometer 85 because of a landslide. The southern portion of the Inter-American Highway is also closed, due to landslides at kilometer 29, outside Cartago, and in the southern zone at kilometers 220, 235, 248 and 250 near Buenos Aires, Vergal, Paso Real, Térraba and Palmar Norte.

The Pocares river has flooded the Costanera highway between Parrita and Quepos in the central Pacific region, and only heavy vehicles are allowed to pass. The Costanera highway is also closed at kilometer 172 between Uvita and Palmar Norte in the southern zone.

North of San José, one lane along the General Cañas highway is closed due to a landslide and a bridge has collapsed between Upala and San Rafael in the northern portion of the province of Alajuela.
Six landslides between Acosta and Puriscal, mountain towns southwest of San José, have forced the narrowing of the highway to one lane.

The Cahuita Trail

So back to our adventure stories - 

On the day we left Pacuare I wasn’t feeling very well. We woke up early that morning and took a bike ride to try to find Katie’s water bottle that had been left behind in the excitement of seeing the baby turtles. Our bike ride was long and we were in a hurry to get back to our cabin so we could pack up and make it in time for our last free breakfast.  For some reason when you ride a bike through the jungle the bugs like to create a swarm right behind your head, so once you stop you are surrounded by a whole lot of flying bugs! Luckily we were able to drop the bikes and out run the bugs before they got us! Unfortunately the water bottle was not recovered but we did make it back for breakfast where Katie packed in as much as she could but I wasn’t feeling up to eating. 

After leaving Pacuare we figured we would check out the other hot spots along the Caribbean side. We were accompanied by one of the research assistants friends Johnny and he helped us on our way to the bus towards our next destination. The bus was hot and crowded and Katie sat with Johnny and chatted in Spanish (good time to practice) and I closed my eyes and tried to survive the ride. 

We decided to start in Cahuita which is home to another one of Costa Rica’s beautiful National Parks. Unfortunately, by the time we finally made it into town and settled at a hostel we liked, I really really didn’t feel well. The next day I spent in bed trying to keep down some soup that Katie so sweetly made for me. Luckily, it was only a temporary bug because by the next day after lots of rest and as much soup as I could slurp, I felt much better and we were able to venture into the park and explore the jungle along the sea. 

One of my favorite parts about Costa Rica has been how rich the wild life is right next to the beach. I love the beach and being able to be close to it was one of my main motivations for coming here to Costa Rica. Cahuita has a nice trail that follows right along the ocean and there are so many critters that have made their home by the sea just like I would if I was them!  

Some highlights of our hike were - 

Almost, almost, almost... getting the infamous blue butterfly on film! See if you can spot him here... There were two flying close together along the trail.Its just a blur but so far its the best we have been able to get.

Watching a trail of Leaf cutter ants marching home with little flowers... so awesome! More to come on the amazingness of the Leaf cutter ants later.

Our first sloth sighting!!! It was very exciting because these lazy guys are hard to spot! We had been waiting to see one and  as you can see we saw not just one but two! See the little baby face? So cute! 

I loved seeing all the butterflies flying next to the ocean. Such a beautiful sight to see them fluttering around with the waves crashing in the background. 

Getting up close and personal with some critters along the trail is always fun. There is life everywhere you look! 

Making friends with the little hermit crabs, there were so many crawling along the trail and every single one had such a beautiful shell. Katie was braver than I and would hold them gently in her hands so we could have a mini crab photo shoot. There was one hermit in particular that had a really nice shell but also quite a mighty claw on him. 

The mighty claw

Katie asked me if I wanted to hold him so she could take the shots this time but I declined yet again. Even though I had witnessed a few cuties walk across her hand without any problems, I thought this particular hermit had a fierce looking claw. As soon as Katie put the little guy on her palm he clamped down and her yelp was heard across the land as she tossed him down. While the hermit crab scuttled away just fine, Katie was left with quite a pinch on her hand. Not to worry though, Katie is alive and well with all fingers still in tact. For awhile she had a little scar on her hand but it has now dissipated.  

The hermit pinch

Eating lunch with the monkeys was a nice break from our walk along the trail. While we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this little guy munched on some berries. 

At the end of our walk we spotted Danny on a billboard! 

The trail was a one way trail so once we made it to the end we had to wait for a bus to take us back into town. There was a little bar at the end of the trail and a few signs. We were struck by the resemblance the young man in the Pepsi ad had to Katie’s brother Danny. Danny, if you are reading this, you should take a picture of you enjoying a Pepsi beverage and I bet it would look just like this ad we saw here at the end of the Cahuita trail in Costa Rica! 

Being on the beach with one of my favorite ladies was the best part of all. It has been so nice traveling with such a great friend. Katie and I have been friends for so long and it is so comforting having her here with me. 

When I wasn't feeling well, it was so sweet that Katie made me soup and helped to nurse me back to health. She is a super duper friend and this trip has brought us even closer as friends. She is part of my family and I love her dearly. I am so happy to share this experience with her. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed taking the Cahuita trail with us! It was a good day after a couple of bad sick days so it is a nice memory to share. It is raining lots here today and I can't wait to head back to the house of dreams, get cozy in my sweats, and watch a movie with my Katie girl. 

Halloween Costumes - Jungle Style!

Halloween was celebrated thoroughly at the House of Dreams!   We had a great time re-creating the holiday tropical-style, as you saw from our tropical fruit carvings.  The day started off with coffee, toastlettes, and backgammon.   While Kirby and I played our first game, Denise acted as our news anchor and relayed the highlights from different news stories she had gathered during our time online.  One of the articles was about a witch's coven somewhere on the east coast and how they celebrate Halloween.  This particular group referred to themselves as druids instead of witches and worshipped nature and mother earth.  We had already been planning on dressing up as forest nymphs because of the plethora of natural materials that could be gathered from just outside our house and this article gave us the idea to add a little element of magic to our character as well.  What really sealed the deal, though, was the backgammon game.   On our second game, when rolling to see who would go first, Kirby and I both rolled a 6.  Then again we both rolled a 6.  We knew that whoever rolled the higher number after double doubles should win something, but what? Denise had the great idea that the winner would be crowned Druid Queen of the day and got us both very excited, with Kirby dreaming aloud "then you will be my minions..." And we were. She rolled another 6 (crazy!), I got a 4, and we honored our new Druid Queen.

 It often rains in the eary afternoon, so we got an early start on our festivities.  After our game, we set to work on our fruit-o-lanterns.  Denise and I chose to start on papayas and Kirby cut into the pineapple.   She got very creative, turning him into a pirate complete with a big funky hairdo, an eye patch, and a pool of vomit in front of him as a testament to his most recent drunken

 debauchery.  Denise and I kept ours more simple but spiced them up with wounds and stitches.  The watermelon was just begging for a more intricate design, so I did the best I could and turned him into a spider.   We ended up with 4 beautiful fruit-o-lanterns and 2 huge bowls of fruit.   Luckily there is a blender at the house of dreams, so we drank smoothies all day and still have a lot of fruit to finish up.  It's nice to have "drink more fresh fruit smoothies" on your to-do list.




While admiring our work and thinking about how exciting it would be to light them up at night, we realized that we didn't have any candles!  Denise saved the day by going into town on a candle mission (and to blast out a picture of our masterpieces!) while Kirby and I started gathering costume materials.  We got sidetracked by one of the most beautiful sunsets we've ever seen!  The clouds were rolling and swirling their way up, around, and over the volcano and made their way from white to yellow to pink and purple.  I think I took over 100 pictures in 5 minutes and we just couldnt stop staring at the sky and saying the same thing over and over: wow. 

Denise returned with the candles just in time to light up our fruits and start on our costumes.  We had intended to make Denise a more scary nymph but her costume had a mind of its own and ended up very un-scary, as you can see. 

I had no real vision for my costume except that it be composed of leaves from one of my favorite plants.  They ended up creating a kind of evening-gown/pageant look that was interesting to look at but really hard to move around in.  I was so wide that I had to go sideways through the doorways.

Kirby was a very gracious and kind Druid Queen and did hair and make-up for all 3 of us, as well as a very talented costume designer.  She got us all dolled up and then we set to work on adorning our Queen with leaves and flowers.  We gave her wings, a crown, and all the natural ornaments we had left. Unfortunately, I forgot to download all the pictures onto the computer before coming into town to write this blog, so our best full-length picture of Kirby's costume happens to include me.

After all our preparations, it was time for the photo shoot.  We bowed to our fair Queen as she sat on her throne surrounded by her minions and the beautifully lit "fruits" of our labor.

 The photo shoot turned into a thriller dance, then we got back to business and took a couple hundred more pictures.  We had such a busy day that we still have more celebrating left to do - the bobbing for apples in the mini-pool and drinking hot cider were saved for another day.  All in all it was a very happy Halloween!