Monday, December 28, 2009

Davey Jones's ... pool?

Scott was certain that I was leading him to certain death when we first got in the pool. Here he is learning to tread water, which - he has informed me in no uncertain terms and in all seriousness - is "too hard". He got out of the pool when the buzzards started circling.

Critters

The obligatory bird shot:


Scott's little buddy:

La Soda Ericka!

Ooh, and look what we saw on the way:


We didn't go in, though. It was kinda creepy.

Feliz Navidad


Spanish lessons

Banana Split - La Banana Split
Pineapple - Pin~a (I can't figure out how to get the tilde to work on this computer, sorry)
Watermelon - Sandia
Six hour drive from hell - Solo' dos horas, faci'l

Bridges? We don't need no stinking bridges.

We took our trusty Suzuki down to Corcovado National Park yesterday - out on the Osa Peninsula, which is in the southwest of Costa Rica. We passed through Puerto Jimenez and travelled on to Carate - a distance of about 300 kilometers, round trip. We left at 8 in the morning and returned.... at 8 in the evening. We stopped for lunch and for gas. That was it. And here's why:


The Costa Ricans value many things more than the quality of their highways. When they're in good shape, they're in great shape; but when they're not...


Luckily, it was an astonishingly beautiful drive. The sun was out and the sky was clear (until dark, natch, when the rainforest really earned its name). And Corcovado, or the 200 sq meters of it that we had time to look at, was brilliant. And green.

Part of the problem in getting to the park was the recent (?) decision of the Costa Rican board of Transportation to renovate all of their old bridges. Which, all in all, was a good idea:


We drove over several of these on the way south, and let me tell you, I thought the bones were going to pop out of my knuckles I was holding on the steering wheel so tightly. You could hear the steel slats twang under the tires. And some of those holes looked plenty big enough for a little Suzuki Jimmy to fall right through.
And somewhere around Puerto Jimenez, they just decided: "Screw it."

Corcovado

And see, it was all worth it:

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Hi, honey!


And I was so sad to leave Erin in the United States, but here she is on our patio!

Like, whoa.

What you are about to see is real.


That is actually Scott, and he is actually in the ocean. Granted, he's only toe-deep in a receding tide, but it's a start.

Spoiled Brats





Frog poop?! This is awesome!

Some things you should know about Costa Rica:

1. It's freaking hot here.
2. The tiny green frog that met us at the front door has enough poison in him to kill eight grown men.
3. The proprietor of the Soda La Unica has informed me that it has indeed snowed here. Twice. Which I am inclined to disbelieve (see #1), but he has kindly taken to speaking Spanish to me as one might speak to a small and mentally challenged child, which has allowed me to understand about half of what he says. So, sure, it's snowed here. Dos vezes.
4. The bullfrogs are in their mating season. And they're nocturnal. And very, very noisy.
5. When the sign says that the road is "en mal estado", they are SO NOT KIDDING.
6. Shouting "Vamos, Guatemala!" at the international - but mostly Costa Rican - bike racers is not in your best interests.
7. My Spanish sucks. (See #3)
8. There are bugs, bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Did I mention that there are bugs here? Tiny little bugs that you have to rinse off of your toothbrush in the morning, bugs in your bed, bugs in the sink, bugs on the walls, and the hammock, and in the pool; there are also huge giant moths that can cover up an entire light bulb. Ants that can strip an entire palm tree in a day. Medium sized bugs that bite. And weird little palm-sized beetles that Scott likes to fling at the frogs. The frogs like Scott. Which does not stop them from pooping all over the patio.
9. When it decides to rain here, it does not screw around. Seek cover.
10. We may not come home. This place is amazing.