Flying away....

Company’s Gone :-(

Well Marilyn and Eugene are on their way home. We had a busy day today. We went into town this morning to pick up a few more souvenirs before they left, and then at 11 their ride was here. We had a really great time showing them our little piece of paradise. Buen viaje mi amigos! Que Dios te acompane!

Charles and I have had a quiet day. We went into town around one to get some lunch and to check out some other places to stay. We were thinking it might be nice to stay along the ocean for a few days. We are also trying to figure out when we are going to leave Cahuita. We were going to leave on the 15th and then head toward La Fortuna. From there we can visit the volcanoes and hot springs. We have found a tour guy who will take us to Tortuguero National Park, where the sea turtles go to lay their eggs, then to La Fortuna, and back for only $80. That’s a good deal so we might stay here longer and use Cahuita as our base. Decisions, decisions!

Tomorrow Charles will be at the computer center, and I’ll be back at the office. In the afternoon I hope to do some painting. We have come to be friends with the people who run the Caribbean Roots Restaurant and I wanted to leave my friend, Zoraida, a picture. It is by far the best restaurant in town. Everything is fresh and delicious. I am hoping to get my nerve up to ask the chef to teach me how to make his wonderful food in exchange for washing dishes or waitressing or something. I know none of you will believe this, but I can be very shy sometimes. (Ya ya ya don’t even bother to make comments about that!)

Well I have to go now. I have a lot of nothing to do this evening and I should get started on it. AND…..I get to go to bed early tonight. Marilyn kept making me stay up till 7:30. Man! What’s up with that? I’m going to bed at six, Mer, and you can’t stop me! Na na na na boo boo!

Here are a few pictures of the sloth outside of our back door again. He was climbing from tree to tree, eating. We called Charles to come see, but the sloth was gone by the time he got there. Turns out the sloth was faster than Charlie…..enough said! Ha ha ha.

The speedy sloth makes a get away

Charlie’s view

What can I add? Well, what can I add that will stay posted – I should have restricted her account when I had the chance :-)

I continue to be fascinated with this place.

I love the bus (I admit it’s an acquired taste like smoked cheddar or Islay scotch) especially for it’s opportunities to people watch. Despite the heat, crowding, dust and noise, chivalry is alive and well in Costa Rica as hard won seats are given up regularly to the elderly or pregnant, or anyone that seems to need it more. Someone a little low on money will sing for a few kilometers, or tell a long story of hardship and then pass a hat and get a handful of coins. Life’s dramas unfold as we bounce along past some of the most amazing scenery I’ve ever encountered.

I love the plants. Not a day passes that I don’t see something amazing that I’ve never seen before. Earlier this week, one of the children at the center brought some reddish fruit about the size of an egg that had a wiry burr-like outer coating. He showed me how to twist it and have the cover pop off to expose a while fruit inside – and I tasted lichee fruit picked less than an hour ago for the first time. The next day, one of Dianne’s friends gave her a small roasted fruit of some kind called pejibaye, that has a flavour somewhere between a squash and a chestnut.

I love the animals. We’re going to miss the howler money serenade and the sloths in the lemon tree.

And I love the birds. Tonight, for instance, while chatting before supper, I looked up and spotted a toucan in a tree just a couple meters in front of the porch. We have one on our beach towel, but have not seen one live in all the time we’ve been here, yet there he was. Soon we discovered there were two of them and scrambled for the camera. Passing it back and forth as each of us found another shot, we followed them as they flew around the yard. They quickly moved up into the trees and were very shy, so most of our shots were pretty far, but we did get one I’m happy enough with to include here.

Hmmmm… why do I feel like fruit loops for breakfast tomorrow?

Toucan Sam