Went To Get Some Eggs

We finally moved into the "Artistic Cabina" up in Quebradas outside of San Isidro. Another great Craigslist connection. I gotta take that Craig out for a beer some day, he's changed our lives more than once.

Only a half hour bus ride out of the "big" town, we can feel the slower pace of country life out here. The crystal clear river tumbles by, the hummingbirds sip from the heliconia, the parrots make a ruckus. Really peaceful. (yawn)

It's hard for us to adjust to the peace and quiet after leaving the bustling town below.  We hung out there for 7 days and stayed in 3 different hotels.

We're also having to adjust to the "artistic" aspect of our new home. We've never lived inside a work of art before and it doesn't feel like we belong in the picture yet. But it's really cool, and I'm sure we'll be posting some photos soon.

For me, part of adjusting to a new place always seems to involve going out for a walk. As a bonus, we needed some eggs, so that gave me a destination.

The tiny town of Quebradas has several little grocery stores about half a kilometer down the hill. So I strapped on my sandals and brought the camera along.

Have a quick look at our new neighborhood.

You walk up the driveway past the grapefruit tree to the gate.

Looking right, it's all uphill to the higher mountains.
Nearby Mt. Chirripo is the highest point in CR.

Looking left is the road downhill to Quebradas, with homes and small farms  along the way.

The road is bordered by high hedges.
Plants do well here with plenty of water and sun as well as nice black soil.

I bet an American lives here.
He's probably a Republican. Note the high fence and lawn.

When the clothes line is full just drape it over the hedge.

Uhh...I don't know either.

Looks like a neighbor is developing quality seeds for use in Central America.

This area is littered with large rounded boulders.
Some have ancient indigenous petroglyphs carved into them.

This is a more recent petroglyph.
Quebradas Natural Reserve is nearby and environmental consciousness is high-ish.

This little girl let me take a picture of her doggie.

Moms walk their children home from the school bus stop.
The umbrellas are for rain and for sun shades.

Bimbo is the Wonder Bread of Latin America.

Claro and Movistar are the two main cell phone competitors.
Coke has it made in the shade.

The federal government decided to put up some signs about petroglyphs.

You don't see as much razor wire up here.
I think this is the only one I saw.

Just a jumble of roadside greenery?
Nope, it's a food forest, with avocados, mangos, oranges, limes, and bananas.

Home sweet home. This is a "Tico" home.

This recycle station is for the elementary kids to use. It was empty today.

That's our bus. It runs to town every hour and costs 35 cents.

I found my eggs at Mini Super.
I left my heart in San Francisco.

There's been an elementary school here for 76 years.

Old style.  I bet this place has been here a while.

A more artistic way to keep people off your land.

Garbage bags accumulate in the raised cage for weekly pickup.
For dumping, they drive it 100 Km up the coast to Puntarenas.

No matter how small, people like to name their Finca and put up a sign.

On Google Earth you'll see a dozen pictures of this rock.
There is a strong energy vibration running through it.

Can't tell what is being grown here.
Farmer's Market is Thursday so we can find out.

Turn right through our gate and walk down into our jungle paradise.

The " Artistic Cabina" is our place for the next month at least.

Hi honey, I'm home!

Organic eggs. Mission accomplished.

How Do I Feel About Bugs?

Recently Jeff and I learned that when someone asks, “How do you feel about bugs?” – to get really CLEAR on why they're asking a question like that.

It hops, it flies, it tickles.

I answered by explaining that I'm not too concerned about bugs but that Jeff is getting a bit more concerned lately. I thought that was sufficient – though later I realized that I hadn't understood the question.

Call it a June bug or scarab beetle. It's real buggy.

And so blithely starry-eyed, we moved into the “Owl House” at Saramandaia, a 36 acre verdant, jungly hillside in Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica, preparing for a lovely one week long retreat in the wilds of Costa Rica.

Granted, the home is “rustic” with functional yet unsophisticated furniture, appliances and cookware. But rustic is fine. It works. What we were excited about was the setting: in a tantalizing, non-muggy jungle on a hillside complete with a fantastic view into the canopy. Colorful butterflies flitting about, hummingbirds buzzing around all day long, green and red parrots charging by in flocks overhead, multitudes of types of birds we've never before seen – most of which move too quickly to get pictures of.

And this doesn't even include the troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys that cruise by the house several times a day, often gifting us with close-up glances of what it means to be truly wild and free. What a marvel to gaze directly into the bright eyes of such an intelligent, though non-human, being.

Hi 

But during our first full evening in the home, my mind kept returning to our host's initial question: How do you feel about bugs?

You see, sometime around 7 pm every evening this pleasant research station converts into a war zone of buzzing, whizzing, flying, running, bombing BUGS. It's like a witching hour. The flying beetles find their way in and circle the room. June bugs bumble about. Certainly the most voluminous population is the moths – of all sizes, followed closely by all manner of miscellaneous tiny flying thingies. Then unexpectedly from no where, an inch long flying cockroach launches into the room or darts out from under the cushion I'm sitting on – and runs across the wall. Get anywhere close to it (to smash it!) and it suddenly flies off again, and again, and again.

The infamous flying cockroach.

Everybody's texting these days.

And every so often one of the half dozen 3-4 inch-long geckos that are also cruising the walls during these eventful evening hours, nabs a cockroach. It's amazing to see it happen. The gecko dashes across the wall 3-4 feet in a flash, grabs the cockroach while running, and finds an opportune spot on the wall to somehow swallow that huge cockroach whole.

We OFTEN wished there were more geckos – more to eat up all the ants, moths, gnats, beetles, cockroaches, and other busy buzzy biting creatures that found their way into this most interesting abode. Who needs TV in a place like this?!

The problem is the roof: an intact clay tile roof – with no ceiling, no protective barrier between those artistic-looking clay tiles and . . . us, with just enough room in the joint between each of the tiles for harboring and breeding tons of insects. They live there all day long, until the evening witching hour when the indoor lights get turned on. Then they fly out, run out and simply drop out from every disgusting crevice to join in one helluva party.

Really a beautiful roof in very good condition.
It does not leak in a downpour, but bugs can get in.

The next time someone asks you: How do you feel about bugs? Please, ask why they want to know. Exactly why. We certainly will.

But other than the bugs in the “Owl House”, we really liked Ciudad Colon and would gladly return there for a very long time, given the right opportunity.

Stained glass window repairs are falling behind. Those darn earthquakes!

This beautiful relic is fenced off and falling apart. 

Ciudad Colon: 45 minutes west of the Costa Rican capital of San Jose, is a homey and friendly town with it's own fun, attractive Saturday farmer's market. 

With a great community atmosphere, in the evenings the town park converts into a maze of soccer and basketball games, families picnicking, teenagers hanging out, exercisers walking, and skateboarders zipping about.

Nice place. Worthy of our consideration.

Now to check out San Isidro del General in the southern part of the country.

Monkeys

We share our jungle forest hillside with a band of white faced Capuchin monkeys.

Or rather they share it with us.

They fly through the trees every morning, feeding on the bananas and other natural fruits that they find.

Completely competent and comfortable in their natural environment. A little curious about us. Always on the move.

They run (RUN!) off the end of a branch 50 feet in the air, with arms raised in glory above their heads, flying down to "catch" a lower branch.

Using their tail to steady themselves, they always turn to check whether we saw their latest stunt.

After all these years thinking of "forest animals", I find that I cannot think of these little men-in-the-woods as animals.

They are more than that, and my heart goes out to them.

Have a look at our little YouTube monkey video by clicking here:

YouTube Monkey Video

Our screened porch looks out on a mesmerizing jungle hillside.

This jungle used to be a tree-less over-grazed pasture.
The Wallaces fenced their 36 acres and left it alone for 40 years. This is the result.

Our comfortable screened porch at "Owl House".

Monkey spotting can be difficult in the jungle.

There's one!

The leaf cutter ants on the march.

At the base of the hill is a pleasant stream.
Watch out though, if it rains in the hills 10 miles away there could be a flash flood.

"Explore!" is her other middle name.

Bananas and papayas are so common around here
I almost forget to take pictures. Hummingbirds too.

I've been learning how to take better candid shots.

I will learn the names of every tree. For now I'm just amazed.

Just hanging out.

Just hanging on.