THE best of everything in COSTA RICA!

BEST ride-in a TUKTUK!

BEST meals- chicken and shrimp dishes at Diwo Restaurant in Playa Chiquita.

BEST laugh-happened when I stood back to close a freezer door with my left hand, as a young Tico employee was waiting to get by.  Don't ask me HOW, but my hand somehow landed at his groin level first. instead of the door. OMG! He thanked me as I let him by, but I was totally mortified.  So I did what I do when I am in such a situation.  I practically collapsed with laughter in the aisle. The more I tried to explain to Nancy what had happened, the harder I laughed, till tears ran down my cheeks. He must have thought I was "loca!" Maybe I never did touch him, but what I touched sure didn't feel like a cold door!

BEST overindulgence- supper at Diwo, where I was the inadvertent entertainment, and my generous
Handy Bro paid the entire bill! He didn't get upset with me when my fork fell in his Margarita glass and broke it!  He lost half his drink. When I sent Nancy and Eric there to dine, the owners REMEMBERED me. They kindly said "Canadians are very good!"  WHAT?

BEST scenery- was at the REFUGIO NACIONAL GANDOCA MANZANILLO.

BEST buy-tiny, waterproof little change purses, handmade, in my favourite colour, lime green, and very inexpensive.

BEST waiter-handlebar mustached Max from Colorado, at Tasty Waves Cantina. He was fun, friendly and a fountain of information.

BEST surfer dude- Erico, a Tico, all of eight years of age, less than four feet tall, who was at the beach many afternoons, with no adult supervision that we could see, expertly catching the huge waves time and again. It was such a thrill to watch him,  and at the same time, keep an eye on him until a parent sometimes showed up.

BEST exercise- Whizzing up and down the coast, on an old bicycle like I rode when I was a kid, feeling the cool breeze from the Caribbean on my face, hearing the surf crashing, and watching the waves and surfers.

BEST intentions- were to attend a few yoga classes, do my physio exercises, and take a few Spanish classes to improve my third  language skills, none of which materialized, because I was in major VACATION mode!

BEST grocery shopping- EL Duende Gourmet at the end of our lane. Moreno gives a great exchange on the US dollar, stocks pretty well everything, has competitive prices, speaks English, French and Spanish, and bakes the most delicious French pastries FRESH every morning.

BEST fruit- really fresh pineapple, at a cost of $1.36 Canadian.

BEST shade and BEST beach-  Playa Chiquita of course.

Best TICO- LICO, of course, our resident handyman, concierge and all around sweetheart.

BEST Tica- our six year old neighbour  and little sweetie, Ananda.

BEST visit-to The Ara Project, where we saw spectacular Great Green Macaws, being fed so that the babies have a better chance of surviving, thereby increasing their numbers. These magnificient birds are on the Endangered Species list.

BEST hanging out spot- outside our front door, in the jungle, with the sloths, howlers, vultures, songbirds, the aguti, Azul the black Lab. and the four resident cats. EL PARAÍSO.

You know you are almost a local when...

your neighbour next door sends her little one over to ask if she can have some toilet paper.

you know the bus schedule to go into town.

you can tell others where to find certain food items at the grocery store.

the bartender at the beach bar smiles, waves and calls you by name when you walk by and it ISN'T because you are always at the bar! You know her name is Guisella.  The owner, Grando, ALSO always smiles and waves.  She is Dixon's cousin and and he, Dixon's brother.

you know what time a local farmer goes through the neighbourhood on weekends, with a megaphone, selling his fruits and vegetables from the back of his truck.

a young teenager, whom you greeted in Spanish when he wandered down to your place (the road ends in your front yard), comes back and asks if he can borrow the bicycle by Peter's villa. WHAT?  He was very personable, spoke no English, but didn't know you could rent bikes many places along the main road. Not a local?

you accidentally run into this woman who stayed at the same hotel as you, six years ago.... the Banana Azul.  At the time, Cleo was in her early seventies, bombing around Puerto Viejo on a scooter with her Toronto Jamaican boyfriend Micheal,  living the high life.  Fastforward six years... she is probably close to eighty now. I am walking by this beautiful house and gardens, and behind me are two other tourists, as well as Nancy and Eric.  The tourists are wondering if this place is a hotel.  Of course, me not being shy, lean in the entrance way and ask. Cleo beckons me in, warmly welcoming us ALL, TOTAL strangers, to stroll through her garden, all the while chatting away from her seat on her open veranda.  When I give her a little Canada pin by way of thanks, she starts telling us her life story, and THAT is when the light bulb went off in my head! OMG, it's Cleo from Banana Azul.  I knew that raspy voice had sounded familiar and I remembered she was a dotcom millionaire.  Big hugs all around, as she remembered me, that I had stayed in the Howler Room, and I, that she had stayed in the corner SUITE, with the ocean view.  I had even kept her business card, as I had checked her out online when I returned to Canada.  She was everything she said she was. She gave me another business card.  Although retired, she is still a hussler.  Apparently, Michael is no longer in the picture.  We exchanged big hugs, took pictures, and I left thinking, "What a marvelous blast from the past!

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!

"WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS GOING TO BE LIKE TONIGHT?  IT'S GONNA BE HOT AND WET!  That is nice if you are going to be with a lady, but it ain't no good if you are in the JUNGLE!"

I am quoting Robin Williams from that movie, with thanks to Eric for bringing up the former's great line.

It IS HOT and WET here!  You live in the jungle.  You take a shower because you are hot and sticky... you won't get dry because as soon as you step out, you will be hot and sticky again.  It takes getting used to.... or acclimatizing, as we say.  I must say, I am adjusting quite well.  There are advantages to extreme heat and humidity.  1). You drink a lot of fluids.  You don't always drink the RIGHT ones, but you do drink a lot. 2). You eat less, plain and simple.  You don't have the same appetite.  You aren't always yearning for comfort food to warm you up. 3). You don't cough every morning, and blow your nose at least a dozen times upon getting up in the morning.  4). You have a better sense of smell, perhaps because your nostrils are lubricated naturally with the humidity. You can chuck that "SECARIS" lubricant you stick up your nose back home.  5). All jungle fruits and vegetables are just so FRESH... so all food tastes simply more delicious!

S-O-O-O-O... hot and wet versus cold and snowy?   The occasional deluge versus three nor'easters in March?  NO CONTEST!!! I will take the jungle... but just for one month.

¡PURA VIDA!

While people watching in Costa Rica....

I have noticed that toddlers on the beach DO NOT wear swimsuits.  I haven't seen one swimsuit yet.  All wee ones are naked as a jaybird, and SO cute, as they run around, covered in sand.

I also noticed a North American girl trotting down the beach, with fronds from a coconut tree slung over her shoulder. On her head,  she wore a bright green hat woven from the same fronds.  They also use fronds from palm trees to make fences here.  Our villa owner, Peter, had a big load delivered the morning my siblings left.

I have noticed that NOTHING goes to waste here.  For example, baskets on bicycles that we rent, are often an empty plastic pail, or even a milk carton.  The latter a bright neon green, to boot!

While sitting in our favourite taco hangout, I noticed what sounded like a car backfiring, every minute or so.  It was a little disconcerting, not knowing what it is was.  Our waitress, a young Canadian from St.Catherines, told us the noise was driving her crazy and explained what it was.  It was FIGS dropping off the trees overnhead, and landing on the plastic roof of the café.  LOL  To add insult to injury, you couldn't even eat them, because they weren't ripe.  When you crack them open, they are brown, instead of pink.

I guess you have to be here in July, when all the crabs that live in the jungle, come out to mate for a few days.  They can be heard clicking and clacking through parking lots, roads and beaches. Honestly!  Patrons of this same café, sitting at their table, we were told by another waiter, will certainly notice the crabs making their way over their feet!  Crazy!

I have also noticed that many of the flowers here are very "phallic" looking.  Eric's comment? "Well, it's "natural" selection.

I can smell my perspiration. Now that's bad!  Average day here, temperature wise = 32 degrees Celsius and with 50% plus humidity.

People wear their shirts inside out ALL the time. Why? One side gets dirty? Just turn it inside out!!

The BIGGEST thing I have noticed here, though, is THE much slower pace of life.  It HAS to be. The heat and humidity can be debilitating.  The humidity is often over 80 percent.  I am almost happy that we have an odd day with no sunshine.  I simply could NOT accomplish in one day here, what I do at home.  At home, I don't stop much.  Here, I have done nothing but sit, read, eat, sleep, soak up the sun, swim, bike, observe the flora, fauna AND wildlife, blog and post pictures.  OH, AND get bitten alive by these tiny ants and what I call "no seeums".

A small price to pay for a daily slice of life in the tropical rain forest of this magnificient country.  PURA VIDA!

While out and about this past week...

I heard and saw a toothless, local drunk man keep hitting on my sister, while I was waiting in line at the store.  Ronald, our little handyman, from the Bribri tribe, was there in the background, watching. He finished his drink, hopped on his bike, came over to Louise, shook her hand and started chatting with her.  The drunk backed off right away!

I learned how to correctly spell the name of the fish, JUREL, which is mackerel, that we see Ticos jigging for, on the beaches.  They also fish "pargo", which is snapper.  An older, sun wizened
fisherman whizzed by me, on his bicycle, his front basket full of these two gleaming fish, and he yelling out their names at the top of his lungs. Voilà! A true slice of daily life here.

Ananda, our seven year little neighbour, is a total little chatterbox. She tells me everything!  She and her sister have different fathers. However, her mother's current partner lives in Belzile, but comes to stay once in a while, for a month or so. Her Mom speaks English very well. Ananda speaks a little English, but we converse mainly in Spanish, since I need the practice.  Her mother is a cook in a hotel close by.  We hear her in the morning, calling out to Ananda and her sister Amah, to get ready for school.  The two sisters leave on foot, at 6:30 am. So that is ANOTHER reason we are up so early every morning. No more sleep once we TOO are awakened by "la pequeña madre."

Our concierge/caretaker Lico has five daughters, with four different mothers, only he calls the latter "ladies." He is single and in his early fifties. I am beginning to see a pattern here.  Remember our shuttle driver Dixon?  He has seven children. I didn't think to ask how many wives he'd had!!  Someone thinks he said four as well! Yikes!!!

I can't tell you how many young Ticos I have seen bicycle by, one hand on the handlebars, and the other either talking, texting or looking at their phone screen. Truly "loco!"

While swimming, strong rip tides suddenly pulled me out too far.  I didn't panic but Louise kind of did, as I wasn't catching up to her as she swam to shore.  She asked a younger man to guide me in and he did. Bless him!  We had been discussing The Trump, and hadn't noticed how quickly our feet no longer touched bottom nor how far out the waves had pulled us. LESSON LEARNED.  Don't discuss politics while swimming in the Caribbean!

Daily life/Notre vie quotidienne

You fall into a nice little routine in Costa Rica.  Although I must admit it isn't easy to do nothing, we are slowly getting into the groove.

Many nights, it rains overnight, and it rains HARD!  THE howler monkeys really HOWL then, so that takes some adjustment.  Most mornings we are up at 6:00 am with the toucans and other birds that start chirping early.  We are usually in bed by 9:00 pm.

We are right in the jungle, but a seven minute walk to the beaches of Playa Chiquita.  Our mornings are spent observing  the sloths, the parrots and toucans in the tall trees above us.  In late morning we hit the beach until late afternoon.  Supper, a few drinks on the patio, and chit chats with our convivial caretaker Lico and his native BriBri tribe helper Ronald, and our neighbours, who are locals, as well as visitors, round out our day.

I am signing up for a few private Spanish lessons, hoping to improve my fluency, but in the meantime, Lico is a great quasi tutor.

We have taken in some local areas of interest, but since this is my second visit to the Caribbean side of this magnificent country, I don't always join the other three.  I am quite happy to sit and read, (I am finishing my third book in a week), listen and look, and soak up some sun and humidity.  My hair has gotten whiter, and totally curly.  Chuck your hair straightener if you come this way!

There is a real sense of community in this little village. You see the same locals, and visitors every day, everywhere, in your daily jaunts.  Everyone smiles and greets you! My sister, who didn't always feel safe on the Pacific side of Costa Rica last year, is a lot more at ease here.  I can see why many people choose to retire here, or to spend their winters.

LIFE HERE REALLY IS "PURA VIDA"

A PURE AND SIMPLE LIFE

What can I say about PARADISE?

I can say that ...

when you are on the beach, you will see gorgeous pelicans flying overhead in perfect formation.

you will see horses trotting by with bareback riders, led by a Rastafarian looking, dread locked,  handsome, young man, shielding his eyes from the sun.

a tiny, three year old will suddenly run up to you on the beach, and shove a handful of small, dead fish under your nose.  He will solemnly declare that they are " pescacitos muertos ".  He will then inform you that they are "sin ojos" (without eyes) and when you ask him in Spanish where they went, he will shrug and reply "Perditos!"   LOST!  You  will pull out a tissue, hold it to his nose and he will blow like a foghorn, before scampering off, never to be seen again.

a man holding a beautiful four month old baby, upon seeing the look of longing on your face when you walk by, will offer him up to you.  You will dash over and experience pure bliss and wonder, as you snuggle this warm, sweet smelling body close to your chest.  When you have to give him back, you will spread kisses all over his sweet chubby face, hands and feet and YOU will scamper off.

you will get a bug bite while sleeping, and scratch it.  Not good!  You will wake up with a swollen hand, which some say is the result of an ant bite, others say a spider bite. So out comes the Benadryl, teatree oil and prescription ointment. Your hand still looks terrible but you hope that tomorrow your hand will look better.

you will see some REAL diehard fisherman jigging for "hurel", one of them with crutches!

your beer that you poured into your Tim Horton's mug to keep cold, but did NOT drink right away, will suddenly blow its cap with a huge pop, and soak everything in your packsack with beer.

you will buy fresh fruit and cheese at the local market, and enjoy a simple repast for your Saturday evening supper.

you will realize that you are living "La Dolce Vita" and you will be ever so grateful.

What's not to love...

about traveling? ALL of it! The highs and lows, the adventures and misadventures, the people you meet, their culture, history and geography you experience, their language you try to speak, the beauty of their country that you soak up.

When you travel, you have to expect the UNEXPECTED!  Your flights WILL be delayed; you WILL arrive late, but thankfully, this time you will NOT miss any connections.  You WILL get up at 3:30 am to catch a 5:30 am flight.  The luggage carousel WILL break down and it will take over an hour to deliver your luggage. The taxi van WILL have a flat tire shortly after leaving the airport, breaking down right in front of Walmart. Yessir! Walmart is in CR!!!  Your replacement taxi will not be able to get up the 45 degree driveway of your hotel, because ANOTHER taxi is stuck there having backed out DOWN the driveway.  Your driver will jump out, other men will come running, and they will rock that taxi to get it unstuck.  All the while you are sitting there watching this unfold, your brother in the front seat declaring that the taxi is going to roll down and HIT your vehicle. It doesn't.  It is now midnight; you have been up for twenty-one hours and you don't really care if it does!!  Midnight, and you are at destination.  Sweet!

A half decent night's sleep, a breakfast of fresh fruit and toast, and you are on your way again, to your final destination for the next month.  Your Panamanian/Costa Rican private shuttle driver, a charming, black 51 year old, is informative and fun. You know he is totally at ease with the  four of you, when he engages in political commentary and drops the "F" bomb more than once!  He also happens to be the former mayor of the little town where you are staying, so he knows EVERYONE and EVERYTHING!  SWEET!

You WILL arrive at your final destination, and it IS sweet!!

PS:  You WILL notice those toilets in airports that flush automatically and do so BEFORE you even stand up! There is so much suction that your bare backside gets sprayed!  Plus the swooshing noise causes you to practically jump out of your skin!