Costa Rica Dog Lover

I’m obsessed with sloths!!  Today Sarah and Rene took me with them as a volunteer at the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo and I took this video of a tiny two month old baby sloth. 

My job today started with cleaning the outside glass in the snake area and then raking the grounds for what seemed forever.  When I was done with that I spent most of the rest of the day with the animals – primarily the sloths.  Three of the sloths were old enough to be out climbing on the tree where we were but two were too little.  I fed one for about an hour and then they brought out this tiny one so it could have some sun. 

I also got to have Al Pacino – a baby howler monkey – crawl around on me for awhile.  That is until he tried to get away and climb a tree and then one of the more experienced volunteers took over. 

All in all it was just a great day but I am totally exhausted tonight.  Definitely an early bed

Six months ago today on August 13th, we arrived in Costa Rica with our wonderful friends Susan and Rex who helped us with the move, and our dogs Wiley and Kaya, to begin our new life.  Right about now we were pulling into the gate of our new house after a gorgeous drive through the mountains and valleys of the country.  We decided that we would make our permanent move to the Caribbean coast after visiting almost every part of Costa Rica over the last twelve years.  The affordability of a house near the ocean in the middle of the rain forest could not be matched anywhere else that we had visited.  We also fell in love with the town of Puerto Viejo and the small coastal towns all the way to Manzanillo almost immediately.

In these last six months we have adapted quite well to our new home.  The first couple of months, we spent most mornings drinking coffee in the living room and finding new birds every day that were coming in to our yard to feed on the different fruits and seeds in the bushes, flowers and trees on our property.

In the succeeding months, we have broadened our horizons and have left the outdoor living room and started getting to know the towns nearby and areas nearby.  We attended a Christmas festival in Bri Bri, a surfing competition on a beach in Puerto Viejo, went snorkeling at Playa Punta Uva for the very first time, hiked in Cahuita National Park, and sang in a choir in the gorgeous cathedral in Limon. 

Shortly after we arrived we decided to buy the lot right next to our house which effectively doubled our property.  Our plans are to plant fruit trees and more flowers as well as build a small cabina that can be used by our friends and family when they come to visit.  We will be getting started on the planting in the next month but the cabina will have to wait a year or so.  But that is the wonderful thing about Costa Rica – we are on Tico time!!!

Wiley and Kaya are acclimating very well.  I think we were all concerned about how they would take the change in climate but so far they have held up well.  They have had minor problems but nothing that wasn’t cleared up immediately with a quick visit to the vet (which, by the way, is amazingly affordable).  Kaya has decided that laying in the leaves at the base of the giant trees is just the ticket to a relaxing day.  Wiley likes hanging out in the family room when he is not getting his twice daily walk on the beach – he has decided inside is better with no flies buzzing around

I was telling a friend this morning that our expectations of what our life would be like here have so far matched the reality.  Now I can’t wait to see what the next six months will bring!!!

Pictures from our first months:

Susan and Rex – our #1 moving helpers!!

Bananas in our yard

Cacao fruit in our yard

Snowy Egret on the ocean

Trees with oranges flowers blooming now

Church in Cartago

Male Trogon right outside our living room

Pretty much everyone who knows us knows that we love watching movies.  One of the things we left behind in the U.S. was a theater set up with a 110” screen.  We sold the theater with the house and sold all of our DVD’s in our moving sale.  We did, however, bring along an older projector that we had bought a few years ago on the off chance that we might be able to figure out a way to watch movies on the “big screen” once in a while.  Last night we did just that.  Tom put a sheet up in the living room, hooked up the projector and we watched True Grit with our neighbors Sarah and Rene.  The photograph doesn’t do the experience justice – it was really quite nice.  Once we work out the kinks, you won’t even know that we are watching movies on a sheet

Our first visitors left yesterday to finish up their Costa Rican adventure and I have to say we had a wonderful time.  We have had a couple of other people come down but they came specifically to help us move rather than just vacation.  Betty and Bill live in Spokane, Washington and have known Tom for over 20 years.  I just met them when we moved to Moscow, Idaho and we discovered we were only an hour and a half a way.  When they heard we were moving to Costa Rica and that we had set a move date, Betty booked their flight.  And I’m glad she did!!

They arrived here a week ago and we spent the ensuing week relaxing and seeing the sites.  We went snorkeling at Playa Punta Uva, even though it was way too rough to see anything; had lunch in Manzanillo and people watched; attended the annual surfing competition and watched some great dancing up on stage; took a hike through the Cahuita National Park and saw howler and capuchin monkeys, sloths, raccoons, lizards, and gorgeous coral reefs; toured the Jaguar Rescue Center where they take in orphaned and injured animals of all kinds and then release them to the wild when they are rehabilitated; ate wonderful food – both at restaurants and at home; went shopping at the funky stores in Puerto Viejo; and talked and talked and talked.

It has been nearly a month since I posted something.  On January 5th Tom and I headed to San Jose so that I could catch a flight to go help take care of mom after she fell and broke her hip in mid December.  We went a day early so that we could spend one day getting our Costa Rican driver’s licenses.  After reading what some people had written about the experience, I expected it to take most of the day.  However, we were done in about two hours which I thought was great!!!  Now we have valid identification and can legally drive our car – what could be better?

I got to Casper the afternoon of January 7th and was greeted by my son Jordan who had driven up from Gunnison, Colorado to help me get mom situated and to hang out with me for a couple of days.  We went immediately to the rehabilitation center where mom was recuperating and found her to be in excellent spirits and very happy to see us.  She came home the following Monday, January 10th, and began the long process of recuperating at home.  I stayed for a little over two weeks and then was relieved by my sister Jerilyn who came for a week.  She was followed by Rachel, a very good friend of mom’s from Denver who will stay this coming week.  By the time Rachel leaves we are hoping that she can be on her own and that my brother Tom and his wife Shirley can manage the care until she is back to picture perfect health.

I came back to Puerto Viejo on Tuesday and it is so good to be home!!!  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous – mild temperatures, sunny, humidity not too high – really just perfect.  After the cold and blizzard conditions that we had off and on in Casper, I have to say that I really do prefer this climate     Tom came to San Jose to pick me up and I was able to get some photographs of some of the trees blossoming in bright orange flowers along the way.  It is summer now in Puerto Viejo (although I have to say that it is hard for me to know the difference between one season and another yet) and there are new sounds all around. 

We went out to dinner with friends Sarah and Rene and Rene’s daughter Julia and had a great time. We ate at a pizza place in PV that was wonderful.  The owner is from Italy and makes delicious thin crusted pizzas.  After dinner we went to a bar called Mango’s which is evidently one of the major happening places in our little town.  We drank some beer and listened to the band before we headed on home.  It was a really fun evening. 

Yesterday we were surprised by a couple of huge Iguana’s who are living in the trees next to our property.  We have been hearing them but this was the first time I got to see them.  They actually were mating – quite an interesting sight – so perhaps we will see some little iguana’s in the not too distant future………… 

I have been reporting on the rainy weather we have been having and we fully expected for it to continue on New Years Eve and New Years day.  Instead it started clearing up on New Years Eve and New Years Day was absolutely perfect!!! 

We had planned to go to a party to bring in the New Year but I opted out at the last minute because Kaya and Wiley began acting pretty nervous about all the fireworks.  Also, we had a visit by a couple of dogs who somehow got through our double fence and plopped themselves down on our deck like they owned the place.  When we opened the door to the kitchen and walked out there they were to greet us.  We had heard Kaya and Wiley barking for a short time but figured that they were just talking to people walking down the road.  Wiley, who can be very dog aggressive, acted like he wasn’t even noticing these two dogs.  They were absolutely the most docile dogs I have ever seen.  Clearly they were someone’s pet as they were well fed and very comfortable with humans.  Wherever we would sit, they would both come and sit right next to us.  Tom went on to the party with Sarah and Rene and I stayed home and watched all the dogs.  The visitors stayed all night on the deck and then left in the morning.  I looked for them on the road and down on the beach but couldn’t see them.  So I am sure they found their way back home.  They really were just wonderful dogs.

Tom said the party was great fun and I will definitely plan on going next year.  There were a bunch of musicians there and so people were playing guitars and drums and the women were dancing.  The party started at 9:00 so that people would still be up at midnight    As soon as the clock struck twelve everyone started heading home. 

Yesterday, New Years Day, I noticed that cars were streaming in on the road from Limon.  It was amazing.  Since it was such a beautiful day the beaches were full and the town was rocking!!  Tom and I went into town to have lunch and people watch and it was great fun.  We ate at a restaurant called Café Ivon that was quite good and a perfect place to watch people come and go.  There were people from all over the world as well as from all over Costa Rica.  Across from us was a couple who have a business braiding hair.  They didn’t have any business while we were there so their very cute kids were having a great time playing in the sand and just hanging out.  When we were done, we wandered over to the wonderful ice cream shop in town (honestly out of this world!!) and then headed back home to sit out in the living room and finish enjoying the day.  Sarah and Rene stopped by after spending the day on Playa Chiquita so we have a few beers and did a lot of chatting and laughing.  I honestly could not have started the New Year any better.  Pura Vida!!!!

Pictures from the day:

Boats on the beach

Horses on the road

People on the beach

Kids playing

Visitors

Ice Cream Shop

Of course – the required VW bus!!

As I sit listening to the fireworks beginning to go off to celebrate the new year, I am amazed to think back on where we started and where we ended this year.  At this time last year, we were living in Moscow, Idaho and working at the University of Idaho.  We had our house in Costa Rica but at that time we honestly thought it would be a couple of years before we were able to actually make the permanent move.  In February we came down to stay for a couple of weeks in our new house and by the time we left we knew we had to figure out how to get here sooner than later.  We had put our house in Moscow on the market to sell in late January and the first offer came in within a week even though our realtor and pretty much everyone else had said it would be at least six months before it would sell due to the downturn of the market.  Once we closed on the house in April and had rented a short term house (the “barn” ) we had changed our date to leave the university to the end of July.  

We left Moscow the last week of July, drove to Wyoming to see mom and brother Tom and other friends, then went on to Colorado to see all the kids.  After about 10 days in Colorado we boarded the plane to Costa Rica – dogs and all – and have not looked back.  Nothing to date has been much of a surprise.  The flora and fauna are amazing, we love our house, and we have begun making wonderful friends in our new little town.  In addition, some health issues that have plagued me for years are beginning to abate due to the amazing work of a therapeutic masseuse.  I also started taking yoga classes and my teacher is perfect for me.  Love your body!! she says and I try to do just that   

It is not all idyllic – theft is a major concern here and it is important to not take safety and security too lightly.  It also has been raining pretty steadily for the last month although today the sun has been out and we are reminded how gorgeous it is when the rain stops.  Actually, although it is getting a bit old, I still don’t mind the rain.  I love to read so I have spent a lot of time reading over the last month.  Although books are not easy to come by here, I have a Kindle and have about 300 hundred books downloaded that I have not yet read.  Now – once those 300 are read I might be singing a different tune.

Today (since it is not raining) the birds are out, the sloths are drying out in the trees and the howler monkeys have been howling.  I just don’t think I will ever take for granted the amazing diversity of the wildlife, the flowers and other plant life.  While I was never one to want to live near the ocean, I have found that listening to the varying tempos of the ocean at night is something I miss very much when I go away.  And the ocean tells us when the weather is changing.  During the stormy and rainy season, the oceans waves are huge and the beach has debris (I prefer the term “treasures”) all over it.  As the rain abates, the ocean becomes very calm and the beach is busy with people walking, swimming, and playing volleyball. 

Next week I will be going back to Wyoming to take care of mom for a couple of weeks.  She broke her hip a couple of weeks ago and so will need some help after she comes home.  This is just one more reason retiring early was such a good idea.  I no longer have to worry about trying to get off of work when I need to take care of family or just visit.  Sure takes the stress off………

So – next year I can only hope that it will be as amazing as this one was.  I am pretty sure that it will be!!!

This is a picture of a two toed sloth just hanging out in our trees.  They are very different than the three toed sloths – they move much faster and are more aggressive.  I think they look like a cross between “Cousin It” and “Chewbaca”.  We have had several sloths around lately.  The rain seems to make them sleepy so that just find a tree and roll up and sleep or look around for hours. 

We woke up this morning to some hopeful signs of sunshine – I see bits of blue all over the sky and the rain stopped about two hours ago.  Yesterday the tourists were out on the beach even though it was overcast and the waves were HUGE!!  If I had come thousands of miles to vacation, I guess I would be out there too.  I am thinking that November and December may not be the months to visit

I will be leaving next week to head to Wyoming to take care of mom for a while.  She broke her hip about 10 days ago and had surgery to repair it.  My wonderful sister is flying me back using her airline miles – she flies all over the country in her consulting job almost every week so she has a bunch.  It is an amazingly generous thing to do though – thanks Marla!!

I’m sitting here on Christmas morning listening to the howler monkeys who are very near our house for a change.  I have been taking photographs of our natural Christmas tree – it is a green tree with bright red upside down flowers and we love having it as our reminder of Christmas.  It is raining but looks like it may clear up a bit – we’ll see.  Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with our neighbors.  Rene and Sarah brought over dishes and dishes of antipasta and Tom made a wonderful Brazilian shrimp dish for the main course.  I made my famous chocolate mousse pie although it was pretty flat since I didn’t have a mixer to whip the whipping cream.  It still turned out quite good. 

This morning I went with Rene and Sarah to The Bridge for the annual Christmas party that Barry and Nanci put on for the Bri Bri (and whoever else shows up for free food and entertainment.  There were about 100 people there and it was a wonderful few hours.  I got to help Rene and Sarah entertain the group.  They are professional guitarists and I accompanied them on the tambourine   One of the highlights of the party was when all the kids tried to break the Christmas pinatas.  Each of them were blindfolded and give the opportunity to break it.  When it finally broke, candy and prizes spilled out all over for them to pick up and enjoy. 

After we left that party, we came back and picked up Tom and went to an open house at the botanical garden just down the road.  It is an annual event that began many years ago at an individual’s house and moved to the botanical garden two years ago.  It is given for anyone who lives in Playa Negra (our neighborhood) and it was great to meet so many of our neighbors.  I have seen many of them at the weekly farmer’s market but I never knew any names or have had the opportunity to actually talk to many of them. 

So – it has been a really wonderful day although we are really missing family today.  It is a bit difficult to be so far from everyone this year but it was great to meet so many new friends.  Feliz Navidad!!!

More pictures

Sarah      Rene

Getting ready for the pinata

  Getting ready to eat

Since we moved here (and even before) I have heard about a place just across the river in Panama that sold all sorts of items for substantially less than what we can get them for in Costa Rica.  Tales of a case of beer for $9, good wines for under $5, and electronics for next to nothing were told over and over and the items were said to be obtained in Chase, Panama.  The sole reason for existence of Chase, Panama was to sell these goods and hundreds of other things, to people in Costa Rica.  All you have to do is drive to a spot in the river on the Costa Rica side.  Then you get on a canoe conveniently supplied by some Costa Rican entrepreneurs  and motor across the river to go to the stores that have everything you ever need for cheap, cheap, cheap. 

So this morning Tom and I, along with friends Sarah and Rene, popped in the car and headed to this most amazing place.  We did make one tiny mistake which was that we didn’t have the exact directions to the place on the river where you cross to Panama.  Because of this little misstep, we ended up driving to the very end of the road which was many, many kilometers past where we should have turned.  The road was so bumpy that we all are still experiencing sore butts, but I have to say the trip was beautiful!  When we got to the very end of the road and arrived at a town called Shiroles, we asked where the boat crossing to Panama was.  A wonderful Tico tried telling us where we needed to head back to and finally drew a map in the dirt to help us better understand.  The key word was “tunnel” and since we knew that there was only one tunnel on the road we had just traveled, we were able to find our way back to the place where we should have turned.  For future reference (although I don’t plan on going back to Chase, Panama) it is important to take a left turn at Soda El Paso in Chase, Costa Rica   This will get you to the river where you cross.  The most exciting part of the trip was when we encountered a bus on a very narrow piece of road and the driver just kind of plowed on through – we thought we were going to end up in the creek!!!  It was quite scary……….

We finally arrived at the point in the river where we could cross.  We parked our car and headed to the canoe that we take us across the river.  It took about one minute to cross and then we climbed the hill to where the shops were.  Only there was only one shop.  We had understood that there were several shops, each with different types of goods.  Still, we headed in with great expectations but all we saw were some electronics and lots and lots of clothes.  No beer, no wine, and the electronics were not nearly as inexpensive as we had thought.  It was quite a disappointment but now at least we have “been there, done that”.   We did pick up some Christmas lights and Rene and Sarah got a couple of items so we do have items to help us remember the day

After wandering around the store for about ten minutes, we crossed the river back to Costa Rica, and drove to Bri Bri for lunch.  Then back to Puerto Viejo to be greeted by the dogs and then an early evening and off to bed.  Quite a day!!