Costa Rica, March, 2010

Costa Rica is a gorgeous country! We've found the people very friendly and the animals meeting our expectations. We've been staying at Leaves and Lizards, a little farm, and have awoken early each morning to milk Daisy and gather eggs ~well we girls have. Daren did milk his first cow this morning however. We're moving on today to the beach near Manual Antonio and eating mangos along the way as they are in season and the best we've ever had. I got 10 of them for $2.

We began our vacation with some little bumps however. When we arrived at our hotel at 11pm, they looked at the 5 of us with wide eyes because they had saved a room with 1 double bed for us. I showed her our confirmation email saying it was the room for 5...but it didn't change things and so we were out on the streets of San Jose until 1am looking for a place. Then, on our way to breakfast 2 days later, Alena tripped and fell. When we got back to our casita we saw that the blood wasn't only from her lip, but that her front tooth was missing. I actually found it in the road and El Raton visited her that night! We asked the locals and they laughed that we expected a tooth fairy.....it's The Rat here.

We road horses to the prettiest waterfall and swam beneath it. I think it may be the highlight of the trip as it was spectacular. Rachel rode on two horses at once! Her horse, Beauty, is 9 months pregnant.,,she's due in June. Alena got to ride with Cheeto, who she is now in love with....or is it Carlos the farmer? She throws herself into their arms when she sees them. Cheeto used to be a famous bull rider, but is retired now. We watched bull riding last night on a tv and now she wants to be just like him and give it a try. NOooo

Our casita has a view of Volcano Arenal. Today it's too cloudy to see it. We were lucky apparently, to have gotten 2 solid days of clear skies to see it. Two days ago the scientists who monitor its activity issued a warning that it is more unstable. The politicians shut them up quickly we hear. We did hear it rumble that day and saw more smoke. I'm rather glad to be getting some distance from it now.

Yesterday, we toured a place called Hanging Bridges. My knees knocked as we crisscrossed the mountains. I loved watching Wilson photographing lizards and exploring. The hike ended with the best sighting, 2 Great Curasows. We then headed to an animal rescue organization for a tour. It's called ASIS and they also offer a language program. Rachel was thrilled to see 2 owls and to hold a kinkajou. I got to hold hands with a spider monkey named Jessica. Their hands are baby skin smooth and soft. The mosquitos are stealthy here. We didn't even feel their attack and suddenly noticed we had many bleeding spots all over our legs. Again, the Ledum saved us! I will never run out of the stuff!

Off we go.....hasta luego!