Torteguero to San Jose cont’d

Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2004-Diversity
(photos:Where turtles come to nest,
Rainy rain forest gear,
Another flat)

Torteguero refers to the turtles (tortugo in Spanish) that nest on the beaches each year. We strolled over to the turf of the green turtles’ nesting ground. This wasn’t nesting time but our guide, Julio, painted a vivid picture of the drama. We've seen it on TV, but what I didn't know was that the location of the eggs in the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings. Those on top are males; those on the bottom in the cooler locations are females. Don't know about those in the middle.

Our first meal gave us hope for the food throughout our stay. They had asparagus soup full of garlic and deliciously rich pasta Bolognese. Other days the selections included various salads chicken, fish, & an array of fruit drinks. All meals were served buffet style.

We spent evenings at the bar listening to a Caribbean band with an affinity for Harry Belafonte oldies. We visited with other guests trying to converse in many languages. They all seemed to speak some English & we limped along in French & Spanish when necessary. One man was a professor of forestry from Spain, one was a geologist from Calgary, there were several in the computer field, & one from Italy spoke five languages. Ironically the people we talked with the first night at the bar were from Cleveland.

Blackouts weren’t uncommon & were dealt with quickly. There was only one while we were there. I don't know if they use generators or have power lines, but they surely fixed whatever it was fast. Since the doctor only visits the local clinic two days a week they have a paramedic on site at the lodge. What I originally thought was a surfboard in the gift shop was actually a body board equipped with gear to secure neck, head, & spine.

Another Rain Forest

We awakened a bit earlier than we wanted this morning to the roar of a howler monkey. It’s harder to ignore than a rooster. He sounded as if he was on our porch. We found out it’s as dangerous to stand under a tree full of monkeys as it is to stand under a flock of birds. On peed on a lady. They do it for fun & the reaction it gets. They're not intrusive in any other way because people never feed them. The rules are strict & it works to the advantage of both.

On our second day we had a morning walk through the densest rain forest yet then an afternoon boat ride in the canals. We were lucky once again in seeing toucans, poisonous red frogs, bats, & spider monkeys.

I tried a refreshing version of coconut milk after the trek on the rainforest trail. We’d slogged through mud so deep it threatened to suck our boots off our feet. We’d climbed over fallen trees & dodged raindrops falling through the foliage. My coco loco started out innocently enough. It was the usual green coconut hacked open with a machete. But to this one, at 10:30 AM, I added a generous shot of rum.

Leaving Torgeguero for San Jose, we repeated the bus-boat trip in reverse. What are the odds that we'd have another flat? We did. We killed time watching a sloth make its way ever so slowly up a tree and I took advantage of my second flat tire photo op. We had a good laugh, & I began to question our tire karma. I also began to question the durability of Costa Rican tires vs. Costa Rican rocky roads.

Our tour group of twenty-four started as strangers & ended up as friends. There was a family of five (three kids) who we were fond of & of whom we took photos. Tentative openers in an attempt to start conversations when we first met the group ended up with long good-byes. This very considerate on-time group coalesced & crossed language & cultural barriers. A French couple confided in us that they love the USA & feel safer there than in France. They fear terrorists in their country & feel more secure in L.A. Amazing. Maybe not everyone hates us?

Feb. 1, 2004-San Jose

We visited the gold museum, which is in a lower level of a bank building. The modern surroundings served as a dramatic backdrop for what archaeologists have pieced together of the early Indians. The Spanish invasion wiped out ancient artifacts and stole the majority of gold ceremonial & decorative pieces. Even the oral history was lost. Explanations of the displays were qualified and “best guess” narrations. A special exhibit detailed pre-Colombians from 300 AD. In 1500 metal work began in the region & reached Costa Rica by 500. Conquest by Europeans halted & destroyed art of working with gold & the Spanish pillaged the area. Much of the artifacts were destroyed & the history of the people is sketchy. The museum itself was done in concrete & the ever-present spectacular woods of the country. As we entered a modest cathedral, an infant was being carried out. I was amused to see the obviously Catholic family carrying the baby who wore a red ribbon tied around its wrist to ward off the devil. A definite blending of cultures.

We ate a not so grand lunch at the not so Grand Hotel & Casino. The ladies room smelled so strongly of disinfectant & camphor that my eyes teared. It may have been worth it if the smell meant that the facilities were clean, but they weren't.

Since lunch was skimpy we decided to have ice-cream from a stand. They wouldn’t take a 500 colone note saying that it had markings on it. It was pretty raggedy & did have an ink blotch. We decided they didn't need our business & had no trouble using the note at our hotel to pay for ice-cream & an iced mocha.

David tried to nap this afternoon & read in the courtyard of the hotel. When I went back to the room he was watching the Super Bowl game. I dozed for a couple of hours & hope I can sleep tonight.

This is not a great neighborhood at night. To get to the restaurants we have to skirt a park where prostitutes & "chicken hawks" hang out. There’s a visible police presence but we power walked our way through it. We had dinner once again at the News Cafe.

We haven’t gotten much exercise on this trip. The walks in the parks have been strolls & there haven't been cities to tour. We'll have to make it up when we get home only it will be in freezing weather.

Conclusions

I defined my discomfort in this country this morning. I couldn’t fully relax in our rooms outside of San Jose. I got to the point where I was longing for concrete. It isn't that San Jose is so wonderful, it’s far from that. It’s filthy, crime ridden, & has no architecture with redeeming style. But the critters in the city keep to their turf & don't invade mine. When we're outdoors I'm in their domain so I don't get out of sorts when they appear in open-air restaurants, etc. In the other locales I've had to zip & lock our luggage when we weren't using its contents. I didn't want any uninvited hitchhikers joining us in the U.S. I don't mind the occasional creepy crawly or flying insect. We get them at home. Here there was a sense that I had to be ever vigilant in the battle to keep them at bay & leave them behind in Costa Rica.

We had dinner at a complex called El Pueblo. It’s a pseudo Spanish village/shopping/dining center. It would appear that without the bar business it’s a dying place. The entrance is heavily patrolled with armed security guards frisking young men who are unaccompanied by women. David thinks that the way to smuggle arms or drugs in is to have a sexy young female carry it.

We ate at Lukas. It was a varied menu with local fare & Mexican food. The menu was bi-lingual & provided some amusement. They had "tacos elaborated with beef" & “exuberant beef steak." The food was good & the portions large as they all seem to be here.
I've noticed that there aren’t many black Africans in Costa Rica. I don't know if they've disappeared through intermarriage or if there never were that many. I would have thought the slave trade had brought them to this place.
Feb. 2, 2004-Going to Florida We met an Australian couple at breakfast this morning. It was their first day in Costa Rica and they were slightly jet-lagged but eager to learn the ropes from “pros” like us. We tried to hide our astonishment when they told us they planned to stay in the country 5-6 weeks. He was a surfer & they looked forward to a lot of beach time. I can’t imagine that surf here is better than in Oz. We figure that we stayed 3-4 days too long and we were only here sixteen days. I can’t fathom six weeks.

David & I agree that this hasn't been one of our best trips. There is little history & not a rich culture here. Most of the point of the country is that it's green & a non-military democracy in the midst of the chaos of Central America. I guess that’s achievement enough for one tiny spot on the map.

Toby

Torteguero to San Jose

Jan.29-31, 2004-Tropical Venice
(photos:Our cabin,
Classroom)

To start at the end, I want to say that I consider our trip to Costa Rica a success. My goal was not to see any snakes & I succeeded. Here they call them vipers. It sounds so much more sinister.

The trek to Torteguero consisted of a 1 1/2 hour ride to breakfast, another 1 1/2 hours to a boat, & a 2 hour boat ride to the Pachira Lodge. The guide, Julio, provided narration the entire trip making it hard to doze, but it did serve as white noise during which I slept. As it turned out he was excellent & knowledgeable when I tuned in.

We entered Torteguero National Reserve by way of a river & semi-natural canals. Semi-natural means that the original small rivers are constantly being dredged to allow larger boats to pass. It’s like a primitive Venice. The society is totally reliant on waterways for transportation. We passed the mouth of the river where it joins the Caribbean Sea & could see waves rolling in the distance. Although we didn't make an effort to spot wildlife as we sped to the hotel, we did see cayman, turtles, heron, pelicans, & crocodiles. The water level was low & we did get stuck. The "captain" had to un-mire the engine from the weeds at one point. I thought he might have to dive into the water to do it, but he was able to do it from the boat.

There were twenty-four tourists in our group & all were very considerate. We were from different countries. The narration was in English & Spanish only. Everyone was polite & quiet when the other language was being used to explain things. A tourist from Italy was fluent in German, Spanish, French, English, & Italian. He helped translate for those whose English was rusty.

Lodging

We were wait-listed for the Pachira Lodge & I think they’d just finished building our room. Our closet was incomplete & they were still roofing the bridge to our section. The Lodge is built into the jungle. Each building houses four guest rooms. The cabins are constructed primarily of wood, are on stilts sunk into mud, & are connected by a series of thatch-covered bridges & walkways also on stilts sunk into mud. The operational words are stilts & mud. The name of the game was staying out of the mud. It pours every day. Luckily for us it rained at night. The lodge is prepared for rain & provides sturdy ponchos, high rubber boots, & golf umbrellas when needed. Rooms have cross ventilation & ceiling fans but no A/C. There's no concern about opening windows since there are only screens. The walls between the rooms reach almost to the ceiling. It wouldn’t be a good place for a honeymoon. On the other hand it’s spectacularly beautiful. The landscaping is lush & butterflies abound. Monkey & sloth sightings are frequent as well as the occasional toad in the swimming pool & iguana on the path. There’s a common dining hall, bar, & pavilion that follow the style of the rest of the buildings. These are all on the canal. We were lulled to sleep by the sound of the Caribbean located on the other side of a narrow strip of land beyond the canal.

We floated across the canal to the town of Torteguero. It exists only to support the tourist trade. It’s ramshackle & littered. What passes for a high school has a leaky roof, moldy books, & bars on the unscreened/unglazed windows. The colorful houses in green, turquoise, yellow, & coral punctuate the squalor.

Toby

Manuel Antonio to San Jose

Jan. 28, 2004- Pros & Cons
(photos:Howler monkeys,
Interbus glitch)

We learned a very important Spanish word:jubilation, or something similar. It means retired. It is apt. I’m trying to keep in mind that I should be jubilant in between scratching bug bites & sleeping on rough nubby sheets. David said the sheets just make it easier to scratch. We spray but the mosquitoes find a way around it.

We have a sneaking suspicion that as we walk the park trails, animals are watching us. They must alternate days when they take turns crossing the paths so tourists can spot them. We continue to have extraordinary luck in sitings & skilled guides.

While we were waiting for our last interbus to whisk us away to San Jose from Manual Antonio we eavesdropped on a howler monkey squabble. I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of it. There were three distinct voices at different locations all yelling & screeching. It sounds like lions roaring at times & at other times it has the sound of heavy furniture being moved across a wood floor.

In retrospect, the monkey spat wasn’t an auspicious beginning. One couple was late for pick-up & our interbus driver decided not to wait beyond the twenty minutes we had. They later called on his cell phone to tell him they were in a taxi chasing down the bus & asked him to wait for them. He & we did. Then we had a tire that was losing air. When we stopped to have it checked they decided it would be ok for the five hour drive to San Jose. It wasn't . Fortunately we’d gotten through the remote areas without incident. An hour out of the city we had to have the tire changed. I took photos. One passenger was ticked off & I told her it was just part of the adventure. We all walked over to a supermercado & amused ourselves looking at the unfamiliar products. One I particularly liked were sanitary napkins whose brand name was Saba. That's what our grandkids call David. It's Hebrew for grandpa.

Our five hour trip turned out to be 6 1/2six and a half hours. We checked into Hotel Don Carlos once again & headed for the Balcone Europa Restaurant. It was suggested by the hotel but was pretty bad. I only ordered black bean soup. It’s customary to make it with hard boiled eggs but the ones floating in my soup had distended & reminded me of bull testicles. It was tasteless as well as gross.

A major difference between Costa Rica & Mexico is that there’s little bargaining here & none in stores. They also don't seem to have a tradition of paying bribes to officials to gain favors or just to get things done. Refreshing.

We leave for Torteguero tomorrow at 7:30 AM. We'll really be out of touch. It's in the Northeast corner of Costa Rica near Guatemala.

Toby

Manuel Antonio-Rematch

January 26-28, 2004- Foodies
(photos:Happy hour,
Day in the sun,
Sewage ditch in Quepos)

We watched the sun set last night from a second story bar. I ordered a tequila sunrise & David ordered beer. We didn´t realize it was Happy Hour. We got doubles on our drinks and were very ¨happy, happy, happy.¨ We would have appreciated the music more if it wasn´t deafening us in stereo from our bar & the one next door. David thought they could save money if the restaurants combined their efforts & used one band. This was the first place that offered a discount for cash. They said they wouldn´t add the 13% tax to the bill. Guess what´s not reported to the government?

We diluted the booze we consumed with a lame excuse for nachos at the bar. As a result, we wanted a light dinner. The best black bean soup in Costa Rica was reputed to be at a restaurant nearby. After we ate, David said if that was the best, then Costa Rica doesn´t have good black bean soup. I had “casado typico” with chicken. It was translated on the menu as “typical casado.” It had chicken, rice, black beans, salad, vegetables, & plantain. It´s kind of a sampler platter & might be their version of our blue plate special. We entertained ourselves by watching wandering groups of half-naked young bikini-clad bodies.

Breakfast was the usual pancakes, beans & rice, tasteless melon & papaya, eggs, & cold cereal. They also offered a bit of humor in signage. They thanked their guests for their ¨comprehension¨ in not using the trails within the complex that were under repair. They translated the Spanish ¨comprehesion¨directly into English instead of the more idiomatic English word "ünderstanding."

Good Morning Sunshine

We were up at 8 AM & at the beach at 9:30. Since there’s nothing to buy in the stores, the ocean beckoned. We rented two lounge chairs & an umbrella for $7 for the day & settled in. Vendors plied the beach but were not aggressive. Restaurants had waiters circulating with menus in case bathers wanted a seaside lunch. We sipped coconut milk from a coconut, read, watched butterflies, birds, & people. One young boy was making money having his picture taken holding an enormous fish. Horseback rides were available & the horses that were paraded by were not beach broken nor did they wear diapers. The sand here is tan rather than white & is dense. It doesn´t slide from underfoot in the water as in Florida. The waves are gentle. Here the Pacific lives up to its name. It was nice to let our toes run free without the constraint of the walking shoes they´d been cooped up in for days.

David went in for a last dip as I watched a crab labor through the sand. David emerged from the sea having found the one huge renegade wave of the day. It had stripped his glasses off his head strap and all. Unfortunately this isn´t Disney World where they dive for lost items at the day´s end. Fortunately we brought an extra pair of glasses along & he is functioning again.

We ended the afternoon at our hotel pool & realized that it has a swim-up bar. A very exasperated howler monkey was bellowing from the forest and colorful bird life was preparing for the night as well.

January 28, 2004-Communication Snafu

I tried to write using Word yesterday but the computer I was using wouldn´t save. In fact, AOL is giving us a hard time. We’ve been able to open our mail but can´t reply or send new mail. I keep writing & saving to disk. It will be a good record of the trip & maybe I´ll be able to send it to those who want to read it once I get home. I´ve also had to contend with ants crawling on the keyboard & terminal. . It´s very frustrating. There´s a storm at home & we´re concerned. Since we can't reach our family by email we may have to get another phone card & call home. Somehow things were easier in Cambodia.

As I was walking to the internet place this evening I picked up a bat escort. It sailed over my shoulder as I walked down the covered lanai at the hotel. I happen to love bats & thought it was a treat. There are tons of the critters here. They do the best they can eating the bugs, but, even though we spray ourselves, we´ve gotten lots of bites

For all its green consciousness, Costa Rica doesn´t seem to pay attention to air pollution (mostly vehicle exhaust). Smells of mildew, mold, & garbage meld into an interesting 3rd world aroma, but this isn´t a 3rd world country. Aside from good education & medical care, every hovel seems to have electricity & potable tap water.

We ate at Karola´s the other night. It came highly recommended by a shopkeeper but fell short on food. In addition there was a very loud American who was dominating the conversation at his table & was audible throughout. Last night we had an excellent dinner at our hotel. I´ve been eating a lot of fish (sea bass, tilapia, tuna,mahi mahi) & David has had some great beef dishes with varying sauces. Last night´s had a spicy bean topping.

Seen One

We took another guided tour of a park yesterday. They´re all similar but we learn something different from each guide. This one knew a lot about medicinal use of plants & was able to find us two & three toed sloths. Their faces look like they ran into the back end of a truck at 100mph.. We saw capuchin monkeys, coatemundis (a raccoon relative), an agouti (a huge rodent cousin of squirrels), iguana, & lizards. This forest is between the Pacific & a series of canals. We had to be ferried into it by rowboat at a cost of 25 cents each.

We’ve continued to ask what nance is. This guide pulled out a book & showed us that the wine we had was made from the fruit of what we call a shoemaker´s tree. That didn´t help too much, but he said it was a kumquat size green sweet fruit, not a cashew by any means.

We took a public bus to and from Quepos, a neighboring town. The place was pretty shoddy & we had to jump over an open sewer to get to the crumbling steps that led up to what could have been a picturesque promenade along the ocean except for the smell & ever-present trash. We got a good suggestion for a lunch place & enjoyed watching a man carrying a huge fish down the street delivering it to a restaurant, store, or taking it home for dinner. A pretty yellow lab was wandering through the tables & begging from the diners. What he didn´t know was that there was a bright pink note on his collar asking people not to feed him.

We needed a swim & hit the pool when we got back to the hotel. We enjoyed talking to two women from Delaware, both Spanish teachers. We also watched our resident iguana on a hot tin roof..A grounds keeper was wearing protective head gear, a mask, & had his lower body wrapped in a black plastic trash bag. I guess he was an example of an “elusive human weed wacking leaf cutter.”

How humid is it? People at our hotel restaurant store the salt & pepper shakers in a cabinet with an illuminated light bulb to keep them dry & flowing.

We´re leaving at 2 PM for what is probably a five hour drive to San Jose. All the drives are long. There are two to three transfers & even if the roads are good, which happened only once, the transfers & rest stops take awhile. I´m not complaining. I look forward to those potty breaks.

Toby

Manuel Antonio

Jan. 25, 2004-Resort Report
(photos:Beach in our backyard,
Tropical Sunset)

We really appreciated that the roads between Arenal and Manuel Antonio were all paved. The mountain curves were still hairpin but it was an easier ride than we thought it would be. We passed nurseries with fields of plants whose relatives I have killed. I can’t name them all but there were rows and rows of corn plants and dieffenbachia among others. Impatiens grew wild on the hillsides. I was reminded of my black thumb.

Our hotel, Playa Espadilla, is across from the beach and 100 meters from the entrance to the national park. We had lunch at the hotel and prices here seem slightly higher than elsewhere. Breakfast is included with our room. We met a nice couple from Iceland, of all places, & chatted away. I think we’ll try to fly through there on our trip to Scandinavia whenever that will be. We’re on one trip & already planning another.

I wonder why paradise can’t be bug free. David and I seem to have gotten some kind of bites. They’re not of the mosquito variety. I’m guessing flea or spider but they seem to appear on different parts of our bodies on different days. They itch. We’re using cortisone cream which helps.

We booked a guided walking tour of the park directly at the park office rather than through the hotel. It’s less money that way. Hope the weather holds.

This sun worshipper’s Mecca is peopled with beach bums & scantily clad beauties. Unfortunately some of the scantily clad aren’t beauties including the trio we saw changing clothes on the beach European style. Whenever we enter an area we raise the average age significantly. There is also a gay presence. We spotted a rainbow flag emblem on a hotel as two men walking arm in arm entered it. There were several other men who seemed comfortable showing minor forms of affection in public. I wonder how safe this country is for them?

We tried to walk to the next town, Quepos, but even though it isn’t far, it’s all uphill on a narrow road. Everyone told us to take a cab and after we walked a half hour we agreed with them. We turned back and will most likely cab it tomorrow.

We finally found hot weather and plan to enjoy it. It´s about 90 here but has been cooler in the other places. We’re going to walk to the beach now for sunset.

Toby

Arenal

January 24, 2004-Let It Flow
(photos:Arenal erupting,
Towel swans)

We must have good travel karma. People come here to see the lava flows at night and are disappointed. Last night we sat down to dinner at the patio restaurant of our hotel, the clouds parted, and the fireworks started. We could see the glowing red and gold sparks and lava trails shooting from the top and the glowing boulders bouncing down the hillside. The molten trails shimmered as an afterglow amid choruses of oohs and aahs from the diners. It was like 4th of July fireworks only they have them here every night.

We were seated next to two women from Woodstock, New York. Susan is a retired teacher and Charleah is a retired social worker. We dropped a few hints and talked about our daughter Wendy and her partner and it wasn't too long until they told us that they’re a lesbian couple who have been together eleven years. They told us about a site called Travel Dykes. I guess they´re in touch with women all over the world. They´re meeting one of their email pen pals in San Jose.
We returned to our room and tried to continue watching the lava activity from bed but the clouds had arrived. None of the hotels until this one have had heat or air conditioning. Ours has an A/C window unit but it’s too cold here to need it. At the previous hotels we just snuggled under quilts and blankets.

Most of the hotels use septic systems. They have signs everywhere telling guests not to flush toilet paper. Plastic bag lined trash containers are provided for the disposal of used paper. At first I thought it was gross but it really doesn´t smell.

As in several foreign countries hot and cold water taps are reversed. The hot is on the right. It’s even more confusing when the hot is marked with a ¨C¨ for “caliente.”

We walked to downtown La Fortuna yesterday afternoon. We went into every gift shop and realized that the arts and artisans are really inferior here. We’ll save a bundle in souvenirs. We did find a bargain though. I bought a banana for ¼ of one U.S. penny.

We’d started our rainforest walk today at the Observatory Lodge that used to house researchers from the Smithsonian. Since the volcano grows four feet taller each year, the flow has taken a different direction and can´t be seen from that lodge now.

What are the chances that we’d be on a tour this morning with a couple of gay men? Bob, a nurse, and Al, a wallpaper designer, have been together for twenty-three years. We trekked through a primary and secondary growth rainforest and forded a hot water river with them and the guide Jose. I thought I was tired of forest walks but this was special. We started out in a grassy area that the 1968 eruption of Arenal had destroyed and ended up crossing a field of lava rock that was from a 1982 eruption. It was great fun scrambling over the boulders. What a surprise it was to see orchids growing on the lava. Flowers are so abundant in Costa Rica that the women here prefer artificial ones since they cost more.

I asked our guide why there were paved roads going to the sites in this area and not in other areas. He said that the other tourist towns believe that if they pave their roads people will take day trips from larger cities. With the roads so bad tourists stay longer. The Quakers who settled in those remote areas also wanted to keep it more natural. Makes sense.

After our walk in the lava field we came back to our hotel to find that the maids had created two swans from our towels and had decorated them with orchids. We called everyone from the tour in to see them. AWW!

We watched the volcano before, during, and after dinner, but there was a cloud cover and we finally went to bed without seeing any sparks. Fortunately we’re old and have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. As I was sitting there minding my own business I heard a rumble. Sure enough, at 4 AM, Arenal was putting on a show. I woke David and we sat entranced watching from our bed for half an hour. It was a real bonus.

Toby

On To Monteverde

January 21, 2004-Surprises
(photos:David enjoying view of Arenal volcano,
Boat dock & "African Queen,"
Quetzal)

We met a couple from Paris and became their worst nightmare. When they asked what David was retired from he said he was a rabbi. Their faces were blank. We had to explain what that was. So they were stuck eating dinner with Jewish Americans. Actually we had a pleasant time with them.

The name of the sport that we partook in as we leaped from tree to tree yesterday was ¨zip lining.” I’d call it hang gliding on cables.

January 22, 2004- Smoothish Transitions

Stop signs here read “alto,” but David thinks they’re just a suggestion.

On our drive to Monteverde we continued our relationship with Costa Rican roads. They seem to go from bad to worse with potholes expanding to pits. On one of our tours a passenger got so sick he asked the driver to stop so he could throw up. We were easily distracted by flocks of blue jays who were smart enough to flee the cold north and by dozens of butterflies who needed no coaxing to display their colors.

In some ways Costa Rica is pretty progressive. There’s a 98% literacy rate and the’re gearing up to use geothermal power from the many volcanoes. It’s a laid back society. Even the horses we rode yesterday had no bits. They were controlled by rope halters. That’s not to say that Costa Ricans haven’t learned from the many German settlers. The interbus schedule runs on time. Drivers won’t drop off passengers and their luggage until the connecting bus (they’re really vans) has arrived. It was a relief not to be stranded at some remote rest stop. One was not so remote. There was a Subway Restaurant where we stocked up on provisions.

The mountains separate the weather systems here. They block most of the clouds and rain migrating from the Caribbean to Pacific coast. Monteverde and Arenal are popular destinations and major gathering spots for clouds as well as tourists. It makes sense. That’s where major rain forests are.

Today was quetzal quest. A quetzal is an elusive bird with brightly colored plumage. We started our walk in the rainforet reserve with high hopes. Our guide, Pedro, spotted a howler monkey right off and with his power telescope we had a great view. He found a male quetzal soon after and I had the first look. As I was enjoying the sight the bird flew away. I thought the group would murder me at the end if I was the only one to see it. Fortunately a female was found later on and she co-operated by posing long enough for all of us to gawk. We spotted some guinea fowl, a huge rodent whose name I forget, lizards, and a nesting tarantula all decked out in black and orange.

Our hotel in Monteverde, the Heliconia, is built up the side of a mountain with red metal roofed buildings resembling Swiss chalets. We were upgraded from a junior suite to what must be a senior suite. The bad part was that it was up a series of flights equal to seven stories…plus connecting ramps. The elevation is 4500 ft. above sea level. It literally took my breath away. After several shleps to the room I got acclimated. Our rooms reminded me of an eagle’s nest or aerie. They included a loft area and two balconies plus an enclosed solarium/deck with a planter overflowing with geraniums. The suite sleeps six. The thirty mph wind howled through the gaps in the jalousie windows and at times we thought the roof would lift off. With it all it was sunny and clear, unlike the days before we arrived in Monteverde. We invited our neighbors who were from Cincinnati to join us for orange wine that we bought for $1.75 at a nearby “supermercado.” The store also had wine made from ¨nance¨. We later found out that it was cashew nut wine. It was good too.

Pizzeria de la Johnny came highly recommended for dinner. It would have been a fine restaurant anywhere. David had steak Diablo for $10 and it was a feast. We ate at a different place for lunch. There was a parade of ants across the threshold and the owner assured us were harmless but we decided to eat outside. If she knew the ants were there I wonder why she didn’t spray them?

We walked our laundry over to be done across from the hotel and, as those of you who know me, this made me feel secure.

No trip should be without an AOL and bank melodrama and this was no exception. AOL blocked us for sending “spam” since I had so many on the travel email list. I ‘ve stopped sending except to a few friends and family. Our bank VISA card will only work at select ATMs. It doesn’t matter if the machine declares that it’s VISA compatible. We have to go from bank to bank until one salutes. We spent $15 on phone calls and over an hour straightening it all out.

January 23, 2004-Arenal

We woke to rain and gusting winds. We found our ponchos and trekked to the office to find out we were told the wrong time for the van to Arenal. We could have slept forty-five minutes later. As it was we woke up at 5:45 AM. It could have been worse. The van could have left forty-five minutes before we got there.

It used to take 4 ½ to 5 hours to get from Monteverde to Arenal. Then some genius started running boats across Lake Arenal. The trip was cut to 2 ½ hours. We rode 1 ½ by van, floated thirty minutes, and had a short ride by van to our hotel. David thinks it was much shorter than 2 ½ hours. Our driver said that the old way to Arenal by road was really bad. I don’t know what he considered the road we were on to be but it would have been condemned in the U.S.

The boat going across the lake was out of African Queen but at least they made us wear life vests. The ¨dock¨ was a mud bank down which we and our luggage slithered.

We’re at the Volcano Lodge, which is a lot nicer than we expected. There are two rooms to a building. They have red tile roofs and white stucco walls. The plantings and grounds are stunning with the volcano out our back door. We have a TV and between that, our books, and the view, we may stay in the room for two days. The trick here is to be able to see the volcano sans clouds especially at night.

Toby