October 17th

Since Glenn is gone, and the wireless access is from his house, our internet access will be sketchy for the next two weeks when Glenn gets back. Right after Glenn left, there was a brief power outage which means the wireless router needs to be reset. Our current internet access is through bar across the street, but we don't know if we will be able to use it when we leave. If we have access, there will be further updates. If we don't then we will be back to updating the blog in two weeks.

October 16th: San Jose to El Castillo

Grant woke up early to try and get boots that were slightly bigger at the supermarket, but no success. On his way back to the room he met a guy from Toronto who was about our age (he said, you can call me "Frank"...apparently that's his name, but we can't be sure). He had just arrived in Costa Rica the day before we got back to San Jose, and he was ready to move on from the city, so he decided to join us. He didn't speak any spanish at all. We had the standard breakfast at Gaudy's (two pancakes, fairly bland, generic syrup, half a banana and a small slice of pineapple), then called a taxi and the three of us were off to the bus terminal for San Carlos. The taxi was $5, which Frank paid (lucky for us). We bought tickets to La Fortuna, and then stood in the only line (we thought) that was there. When a bus pulled up next to us, the one behind us drove away...turns out, we were waiting in the wrong line. We should have been on the bus behind us, which left earlier. That should have been relatively obvious, since we were standing on the side opposite the door to the bus that people were saying went to La Fortuna. But we didn't see another line, so they left without us. Luckily, the bus that pulled up after us was going to San Carlos, which is a stop for all uses going to La Fortuna. We had to quickly change our tickets to ones to San Carlos, and in changing our tickets they took our La Fortuna passes away and wouldn't give them back. Since we had the bus mix up, we were basically the last ones on the bus. Grant managed to find a seat directly behind me, but we couldn't sit together. The ride was roughly 3 hours, and we climbed quite a bit uphill. We even made it into pine tree country. There were lots of open fields, coffee plants. when we got to San Carlos, we tried to tell the bus drivers what had happened, and a Tica lady who saw what happened tried to help us explain, but they made us buy another ticket to La Fortuna. it was only about $1.50 but we had already paid for it. The ride from San Carlos to La fortuna was 1.5 hours, and the further we went the fewer bars there were on the windows. In fact, there were a decent number of United States-calibre homes (although not so close together).

La Fortuna was decent, although we didn't leave the bus stop. Turns out, you have to pay 300 colones to use the bus stop bathroom, but we went into the supermarket that is right next door, and they don't make you pay. When Glenn came we loaded up our stuff and he drove us to the edge of town so that we could drive though and let him explain the layout of the town to us. We stopped at two stores on our way through town so that Grant and I could buy our food for the next two weeks. Apparently, we get paid on the 1st and 15th of each month ($85 each, each time) but since we arrived on the 16th we have to wait two weeks until we get paid for the first time. We stocked up on food, since there really isn't anything in El Castillo: huge sack of rice, two bags of beans, oil, produce, eggs, cereal, new boots for Grant. Glenn told us we were responsible for dish washing supplies and laundry things as well, so bought those things at the second store.

The road to El Castillo is north of the volcano, and it is about 15 miles from La Fortuna. It's actually now a national highway, and it will get paved eventually. We passed a bunch of hotels (one of which has direct access to the hot river, and it apparently a very swanky place. It's a resort and spa it it looks really nice). Down the road from the huge resort is the free hot springs that you can park on the side of the road and walk to. The roads here are much better marked than on the Osa. The land around the volcano is either government reserves, or leased to ranchers on 99 year leases that started in the 70s and 80s. The volcano had laid dormant for years, so long in fact that the natives in the area thought it was extinct. Then, in the 1960s, it suddenly blew, burring the town of Arenal and a few other villages in lava and ash. The eruption created a taller cone next to the old one. You can only walk on the lava from a 1980s eruption.

El Castillo is a small village. Basically, it's one street with a few houses, two mini supermarkets, a relatively nice school, a church, and about four houses. no gas, no bank. no bakery.There is a guy a few doors down from the volunteer house who sells fresh milk and cheese though, and that's becoming our vice. There are 300 residents in this town, and another 100 or so in the village at the top of the hill, above the observatory. One the way up the street we met Erika, the receptionist, and her two girls on the way to the soccer field. We stopped by the VOlunteer house and unloaded our things, then drove up the hill to the observatory and Glenn's house. We didn't go inside the observatory though since it was late and getting dark. Late here means about 4pm, since the sun sets by 5:30pm.

When we got back to the house, we cut up the pineapple we bought and unpacked our things. Our window overlooks the back porch. Beyond that, a few yards down, is a river (not hot, but not cold the way it is in California). There are banana trees and an avolcado tree in the back yard. It appears to be a bit messy,but there's space for both a compost area and garden. once our room was in order we made dinner (spaghetti with chuncky veggie sauce), and we ate it on the front porch. Here, it is very safe. No one locks their doors, they're usually wide open. Of course, this attracts the bugs. I also tried out the shower. water comes into the bathroom through PVC pipes that hang from the wall and ceiling. Hot water=low flow, cold water = strong flow of water. The screen above the shower leaks some kind of dusty dirt stuff if it gets damp. But, the shower is ours only.

Grant described the volunteer house as low-income, rundown student housing, and that's exactly what it is, but it's nice. There are 5 people currently living there including us, and the kitchen supplies are lacking. But, the experience will be incredible.

Oh, and the laundry? That's done by hand, in buckets, on the back porch.

From Grant:

Traveling to El Castillo wasn´t too difficult to do. We took a bus from San Jose to Cidade Quesada (aka San Carlos), then transferred to another bus to La Fortuna. Total cost was about 4 dollars per person, and about 3.5 hours of travel time.

Once we arrived in La Fortuna, Glenn, the owner of the Butterfly Conservatory, came to pick us up. It was about 2pm. We stopped by the grocery store, loaded up on food and living supplies for the next two weeks, and then headed to El Castillo (about 25 minutes away). Glenn briefly showed us around because it was already late afternoon, and then we got settled in.

We started working the next day. We were given two tours of the Conservatory as if we were guests in order to become familiar with that process. The Butterfly Conservatory is beautiful. It is very much so a regenerated rainforest. There is a Jardin De Mariposas (Garden of Butterflys) that is probably what Jamie visited when she was in La Fortuna, it is a separate thing from the Butterfly Conservatory, and there is a story behind them that I´ll tell you another time. Anyways, from just about everywhere in El Castillo we can see the Arenal Volcano. It hasn´t been spewing any lava for the last year and a half, but it constantly is spewing out gases. It is really amazing to be living here, and seeing the volcano from our kitchen window. It is a reminder of how alive our planet really is. Oh yeah, and we have a good size river running through our backyard, and we can hear the water from our bedroom.

Today, I worked with a machete cutting down invasive plants on a hillside that has recently been replanted with trees, then I did some composting and weeding in the afternoon. Melissa did some work in the butterfly habitats, and then did some work at the reception.

Life here is going to be very simple. Our kitchen is very limited in what cookware we have, and there is not laudry machine, so we do the laundry by hand. El Castillo is pretty isolated, and there are only about 300 people that live in the nearby area. There are two little markets in town, but most shopping is done in La Fortuna because it is a little bit cheaper there than here in El Castillo. It has a feeling of being very safe here. There is a small school, church, and people get together in the evening to play soccer on a field.

We don´t have internet access from our house, but if we walk up the street to Glenn´s house we can sit outside and use the wireless there. There are two bungalows that he has so that you can ¨sleep like a butterfly.¨ They both have excellant views of the volcano and of the lake. However, Glenn is gone for the next 2 weeks, and the power went out yesterday, so his wireless device got messed up, and now we bought drinks at a nearby restaurant in order to use their wireless.

October 15th: Puerto Jimenez to San Jose

We woke up at 6am and hurried to the airport, where the same guy from yesterday told us the plane that was suppose to land hadn't even left San Jose yet. We had to wait several house before the plane even left the city. During our wait an older, very smelly dog with flies surrounding him came into the airport and kept creeping closer to us. I felt horrible, but he smelled terrible. It was so bad that I actually had to shoo him away, something I never thought I would have to do to a dog. The plane arrived and we had a mostly smooth flight back to San Jose. In the middle of the flight there was some turbulence as we went over some mountains, but otherwise it was fine. Midair, they told us that the small Pavas airport was closed, so we flew into the international airport. From there a shuttle picked us up and dropped everyone off en route to the Pavas airport. then, the driver was kind enough to drive us straight to Gaudy's, for a tip. At Gaudy's we got a different room than the last one. It was a little bigger, and it slept three people. But, the queen bed was horrible. We found out later that the mattress felt like sleeping in a lawn chair. It was not worth it. Plus, the toilet in our bathroom kept making a horrible groaning sound no matter what we did.

We left all out stuff in the room, then wandered to downtown to find the Coca Cola bus station, and to get work boots and Harry Potter in Spanish. There are many indoor open markets downtown, like Bazaars. They sell pretty much everything there: clothes, food, soccer equipment, spices, meat/fish, and there are some pretty sad looking pet stores. The animals themselves didn't look terrible, but they were stacked in small cages. It was pretty awful. I found work boots pretty quickly, but Grant only found some that were slightly too small. He bought them, then regreted it later that night. Turns out, American Shampoo/Conditioner is very expensive. I should have brought that stuff from the States. The sidewalks outside the bazaars are very narrow and full of people competing for space with street vendors selling everything from produce, sweet breads, socks, underwear, remote controlls, and DVDs. We walked a long ways before we could find a book store. For the most part, any stores apart from the bazaar seemed to sell only clothing. On our way back to the central bus station, we had a sandwich at Quiznos. it was basically the same as what we were used to, but it was very expensive and the method for retrieving you sandwich is different. We waited a long time for our number to be called before we realized that the line we were watching was actually where you're suppose to go after you order and pay. Before we left the central bus station we tried to find our exact terminal. People kept pointing us in the right direction, but theneighborhood got sketchier and sketchier so we gave up and left. We found it online later. We bought juice at the supermarket, and we talked to my sister on Skype! Busy day.

October 14th

Today was suppose to be our last day in Puerto Jimenez. We made a big breakfast to use up the last of our food, which meant we had some eggs with our cheese. We packed and headed to the airport where the guy working there told us the rain was so bad in San Jose they weren't sure they would make it off the ground. we waited for a few hours before our flight was officially cancelled. we were put on the list for the first flight back to San Jose the next morning, but Gaudy's wouldnt give us a refund on the night we were missing because it was less than 24 hours notice. Luckily, Grant explained his situation to the ETS people, and they agreed to reschedule his test at no charge as long as he provided proof from the airport that the flight was actually cancelled. the rain actually was pretty intense; we checked back into Federico's (he gave us a $4 discount, which was pretty kind of him) and we waited until the rain let up to go for a walk up the highway and then to the water front. It was the only night we had experienced so far where there was any significant wind. It actually got to the point where I had the hint of goosebumps on my arms! nice reprieve from the hot, humid air.

When we got back from our walk, the British guy Jonathan, and the two Americans from Washington (Jason and Amy) were cooking dinner, and they asked us to join. Jason and Amy had spent the day sport fishing, and the caught 4 giant mackaral. They had too much fish to finish before they left Costa Rica, so the three of us helped them out. Jonathan also made a pretty interesting salad: soft potatoes with avocado, purple onion and lemon. everything was, as usual, amazing.

After dinner Grant and I joined the other three on a night walk with a local guide. We started off in search of Caymens at the preserve by the waterfront. We saw one fairly close, but the rest were a bunch of eyes that reflected in our headlamps (Grant and I discovered that our lights were essentially out of battery. they were only useful for finding your water bottle in a dark tent. A strong head lamp is essential for a night hike. still, the sounds of the rain forest at night made up for the lack of light). After the caymens, we headed to a spot on Gringo londia where the guide had found red eyed tree frogs. It took some hunting, but he came out of the brush with one for us. It had giant red eyes and an all green body, and very long legs. The ones on the caribean side have orange feet and blue down their sides, but not the ones on the pacific. We also saw two snakes, neither of whom were poisonous to us, but one which would cause a nasty bite if frightened. A few spiders and a bird crossed our path also. We didn't take our cameras on this hike, but it was a lot of fun.

No post is finished without a picture: here is the giant tree that we passed several times on our way to and from Matopalo

October 13th: Matapalo

This morning we met a British guy named Jonathan. He was staying at Cabinas The Corner, where we were originally going to stay in Puerto Jimenez. He said it was basically a bed and four walls, and there was no hot water and not even a place to make coffee in the morning. So, he moved over to Cabinas Backpacker, the most happening place in PJ. After breakfast we decided to walk somewhere, since our plans to spend the night in Corcovado got washed away in the massive amount of rain. It took us a while to get going. we didn't have a set direction, and our plans evolved between leaving the Cabina, then coming back to get something we though we might need, then leaving, then going back, etc. etc. Eventually we made it down the road to Matapalo, where we caught one ride almost immediately from two guys who were also staying at our Cabinas. They were working at a farm along the way, so they took us as far as the entrance to that farm. We walked maybe 1/4mile past where they dropped us off, and another guy in a truck picked us up. He took us all the way to the turn off to Matapalo. We asked two different people for directions to the waterfall that was there, and we found it! It was a little ways past the beach where we went with Dominic. we took a turn off to the lower falls, which didn't take long to find. we only stayed for a few minutes before we took the steep path up to the upper falls. the path was on the overgrown side, and it was super steep. It used to be a drive way of some sort, because it was partially paved, but the concrete was slick from moisture and plants. At the top of the driveway we took another path down to the base of the waterfall. I was plenty terrified, since just the day before Grant and a guide who came to Federico's were talking about the poisonous snakes that have been seen there. Luckily we didn't see any. Grant actually got in the water, but I was too scared to get in. it was a pretty windy, and it took about 2 seconds for the mist to soak my legs. The 90 foot waterfall was beautiful:

We walked back from the waterfall and sat by the water for a bit, then decided to start heading back. You have to be careful to either count on taking the bus back, or leave with enough time to hitch a ride or make it back to the city before it gets dark (and scary). We decided to walk. Right after we stood up though, we found a family of monkeys! They were black with white faces, about the same size as the monkeys we saw a few days ago. They were adorable, and they reminded me of my cat with their slightly curled tails. We spend a good 45 minutes watching them swing around in the trees, steal coconuts from the ground, and try to steal food from each other. we eventually left when two of them sat on a low tree branch and bared their teeth at us. We had worn out our welcome.

We walked a solid 3 miles down the road back to Puerto Jimenez before anyone picked us up. It was an older couple, and they already had a boy who looked to be no more than 13 hitching in the back. We stood in the bed of the truck for the ride back to PJ. It was good to get a little bit of walking in since we hadn't done much in between all the rain.

October 11: Puerto Jimenez, Playa Preciosa

Happy Birthday! When I woke up, Grant gave me a beautiful little box with a butterfly toe ring inside! Both are really pretty. The toe ring replaces the one I had to take off when we were backpacking in Oregon last year. I opened my cards also - it was so weird not celebrating my birthday with my whole family, like usual!

We went to the bakery and I ordered another loaf of cream cheese bread (this time, I got pan salada, or salty, since we tried the dulce, or sweet kind, the day before). We picked up some fruit and eggs at the fruitstand, and some boxed milk (which is super weird, I think. Neither the boxed milk, nor eggs, are refrigerated in the store. You can find both of them on the shelves. That wouldn't fly in the U.S., but no one has gotten sick here, so I guess it's okay to do that.) at the corner store. During breakfast, we got another guest here at the hostel: Ryan from Nova Scotia. The three of us walked to Playa Preciosa after breakfast, except this time we decided not to take the road; we decided to walk along the beach. Except, the tide was coming in...so the beach quickly turned into water. We ended up crossing the river to get to the other side by simply walking through the water. We tied our shirts (and in my case, my dress) to our heads, and we walked through the water. Most of the way, it was about waist deep. Some of it was too deep to touch, so we swam with all our things in our hands.

Ryan is the one in the middle picture. When we got the other side of the water, we walked along the beach until we got to the same beach outside of Iguana Lodge that we went to with Dominic. It was pretty drizzly the whole time, but Grant convinced me to get in the water and practice diving into the waves. It was a lot of fun, and we must have been in the water for about an hour. When I finally dragged myself out, I was surprised how tired I was from treading water against the current the whole time. One our walk back, we got an awesome surprise! Right by a body of standing water (which means mosquitos...) I saw some Squirrel Monkeys in the trees! There were a whole bunch of them! The video is a bit jumpy because I was getting bitten all over by bugs. Hopefully the pictures do their cute faces more justice:

They were super cute! Worth the mosquito bites. When we got back to the hostel, Federico was cooking up a storm, and he had decorated the back porch with a beautiful table, balloons and flowers. It blew me away. He and Grant cooked a bunch of incredible food: Thai seafood soup, Palm Heart Green Bean Guacomole salad, rice and lots of drinks. I worked on my spanish a bit while they were cooking.

I'm in between Ryan and Grant, with Federico joining in for the picture. Oscar, the guide, is next to Grant. I'm not sure who the guy across from Oscar is, but we danced a bit later.

Two ladys who came to the party we so sweet: they both gave me earring and bracelet sets that were handmade. I couldn't believe how nice these people all were, especially since I can barely talk (at least in a way that they would understand) and they have only known me for a week. The Tico people are truly incredible. Here, I'm wearing one of each set of earrings.

Once the food was done, everyone got dressed (Federico was quite stylish) and the party started! There were about 9 people for dinner, then when we had eaten all that we could take (and believe me, Federico kept asking everyone if they wanted more, and it's hard to refuse when he put so much time and effort into the delicious meal), we cleared the dance floor and turned up the (already loud) music! It turned into a dance party!! We listened to all kinds of music (we loved it so much that we went across the street and borrowed the flashdrive that has all the music on it so that we could take it with us). Everything was amazing. Half way through dancing, Federico and Grant got out a HUGE cake! It was made by someone in town that Federico knows, and it was the smallest size they made (it serves up to 25 people...) It was handmade, from scratch, and so rich. I've never had such a good cake!

Me and Federico

Me and Grant

Me, Grant, Federico and the lady who works here at the hostel (I'm terrible with names!!)

Everyone got GIANT pieces, and the cake was so good! After cake, we cleared the flood and turned up the music! Grant and I loved the music so much that we copied it from the lady across the street in the morning. We danced for so long, and whenever any of us (Grant, Ryan or myself) tried to sit down, one of the others would grab us and make us get up! Federico was quite the dancer! We must have danced for about 3 hours. It was 11:30 when the party started to die down, but I think it only stopped because it was obvious that the three of us gringos were exhausted. The Ticos could have partied all night. In the morning, Federico told us that Latinos love to party - we found that out first hand. It was so much fun! I've never had such an interesting birthday, and although I miss my family, it was a lot of fun. Everyone made the day extremely special.

October 9th: Puerto Jimenez

Today was a slow day. The rain continued all night, and all day. We had gallo pinto with Federico and the Portuguese couple in the morning (gallo pinto is a very common breakfast dish consisting of beans, rice, spices, all wrapped up in a tortilla with eggs. its really good). We also had pineapple, and yogurt. We sat around, Grant studied, I updated the blog, and we got started with picture uploading (took a while). We walked through town in the rain to the pier to see if we could buy some fish, but the rain was so heavy that no fishermen were out. We walked to the supermercado 96 on the corner and got an interesting cheese, plus a bottle of Costa Rican rum for Federico to thank him for his kindness (plus, he had used the last of his to make us drinks on our first day here). Then I tried to study four verbs (estar, ser, hablar y tomar) while Grant hung around the kitchen, helping Federico make dinner and writing down the recipes. Federico made white rice with salsa (carrots, choyote, etc in small pieces), a white fish in coconut milk and spices. Federico made the coconut milk by hand: he cracked open a coconut that was growing on the tree outside, and he sat on the handle of a machete and ground the fleshy inside of the coconut to make the pulp into shreds. then, he put a handful of shreds in a cheese cloth, and squeezed it over a bowl to get out the juice. We also had plantains for dinner, which are really good. Everyone (Grant, Federico, the Portuguese couple and myself) all tested the rum in a fruity drink (the name of the fruit escapes me, but it grows on a tree right outside our cabin. it's the same tree where the skinny green lizard was sitting in an earlier post). Everything was very rich and very filling. After dinner we sat at the table, drank tea and talked (I mostly listen. I can understand generally what everyone is saying in Spanish, but my vocabulary is not strong enough to actively participate in conversation). We also met Oscar, the Tico who took the Portuguese couple into the National forest. We will probably go with him tomorrow. At the end of the night, Federico got out his camera so we could all take a group picture, which got us started on silly pictures. Those will be posted later, since they're all on Grant's camera and we left that cord in San Jose.

October 10: Puerto Jimenez

The Portuguese couple left this morning after a breakfast of yogurt, bread with cream cheese, coffee, papaya and mango juice. There were a few street vendors walking through town today. One guy was selling honey, so we bought an entire Jose Cuervo bottle full for $7. Another guy was riding a half bike, half produce cart, and we bought a plantain from him.

The last picture is of cheese we got at the supermarket on the corner.

After they left, Grant and I went to the bakery to ask for bread with cream cheese, which Dominic had said was really good. Tiene pan con queso crema por dentro? The lady said there were two kinds: salada y dulce (salty and sweet) so we tried the sweet kind today, and we'll try the salty kind another day. The loaf was 1,000 colones, or $2. When we walked out of the store we tried the bread, and we got it right! (we've tried twice now, and we havent quite asked for the correct thing). We walked through town towards the ocean, and we stopped at a pet store to see what they had. They had some parakeets, three lovebirds, a few bunnies and three ducks (the ducks cost $3 each). We walked a little further and ran into Miguel from the other day. Miguel was with the man he works for, who has a house near the one we trespassed in the other day. His name was Bill, and he lives 8 months in Costa Rica, and 4 months in Aspen, Colorado. He is partially retired, and he also sells firetrucks in Central and South America, and he sells real estate here. He said a little house like the ones here in town would be about $30,000. A property away from the beach would be $50/square meter, but a property 1-2 miles or closer to the beach would be upwards of $100/square meter. He said he though property in Panama was a better buy now. He actually lived 7-8 years in Petaluma in the early '80s.

After leaving Bill and Miguel we walked along the waterfront and looked at the macaws in the short trees. We took a few videos, which turned out better than I thought they would. It was hard to see the macaws on the camera screen because it was bright out, but the video is decent on the computer.

We also talked to an old Tico who tried to guess where we were from, but got it wrong every time. He told us to have babies in Costa Rica, and we laughed. Next we wandered over to the library in search of a Harry Potter book I could buy (in spanish). I lost the copy I bought before we left, and I never found it. We didn't have any success, since the library was only for borrowing (duh) but I did find the children's book, Goodnight Moon, in spanish at their library. The lady who works there directed us to a small store near our Cabina, but we didn't have any success with Harry Potter books there either. I did get two small paperback notebooks for writing my spanish words/verbs/phrases in though.

For lunch, Grant made an incredible meal of yucca and sweet potatoe, rice, frijoles (beans) with coyote (which is rich in iron, similar in taste to cilantro) and a salsa of onion, tomato, red pepper and more coyote. We also had some fried plaintain that Federico made for us. He used to be a chef, and everything he makes is incredible. I know food pictures are ridiculous, but here they are:

After lunch we walked to the outskirts of town in search of a Chemist, Allison, who has a lab in town called Rain forest Solutions. She makes natural products from things found in the rain forest. She was outside when we came to her house, but she was busy so we made an appointment to meet her at her lab in town in 2 hours. While waiting I finished and submitted my application for UC Davis (aaaaaaahhhhh.....). We met Allison and the lady who works for her (I didn't catch her name) at her lab, which was really interesting. She makes soaps, creams, insect repellents, liquid soaps, everything, from natural products. She flavors everything with essential oils. She spent about 45 minutes explaining all the processes, which Grant and I vaguely remembered from Organic Chemistry a few years ago. In the end, we got a cream that is good for sunburns (necessary, since I burned myself the second day we were here), a small bottle of the natural insect repellent (anything is better than the awful smelling stuff I bought, and my legs and arms are covered with bites) and a bar of soap because the humidity and heat makes everyone sweat like crazy. It seems that most people here shower at least twice a day.

Our pillows for tonight cracked us up:

When we got back to the Cabina, grant worked on his chemistry for the exam he takes on Saturday, and I worked on my other graduate school applications (almost done!!). It was another slow day because of all the rain, but it's been really nice. I'm enjoying the slow pace, and I can already see how returning the the United States will be a shock. Here, life is slow. People spend a lot of their day socializing, and they are not in a rush to do anything. They spend time cooking their own food, they socialize in the sodas (small restaurants) and they talk with the vendors who walk by on the street. Everything is relaxed here. it's a third world country, but life is wonderful here. Grant and I have already talked about where the best place to buy a house would be...we may never come back!

Only kidding :)

October 8th: Puerto Jimenez to Matapalo and back to Peuerto Jimenez

We woke up at 5am, Grant went to the bakery to buy a regular loaf of bread and a loaf of cheesy bread, and we had a light breakfast of plain yogurt with papaya, some bread, and some mango juice. we weren't too hungry since it was so early and we had eaten late the night before. the birds were awake already though, and it was bright out and they were very loud. One bird that perches nearby has a chirup literally like a siren, and he likes to sing all morning starting at about 5am when the sun comes up (here, the sun rises at 5am an sets at about 5:30am). we sunscreened ourselves since we both got red the day before at Playa preciosa, and we gathered our backpack and walked to the wterfront to meet Dominic. We walked through the town and out to the road that leads to the next town, Matapalo, that is about 18km from Puerto Jimenez. Our plan was to walk, and if we got picked up that was great. Matapalo is not a real town like Peuerto Jimenez. Basically, it consists of a small bus stop where the colectivo (bus) comes by twice a day, and a steep, narrow gravel/dirt road where a bunch of cabinas and lodges are located. that's it - there's no store or anything. so, we started down the road to Matapalo, past the houses on the outskirts of town, and into the cleared fields where the cows were kept. we walked maybe 1 mile south down the road when a truck passed by us going in our direction. There were two people in the cab, and one man and one boy in the bed of the truck. they were on their way to work at one of the Fincas (farms) between Puerto Jimenez and Matapalo. apparently, it is common for a Tico (Costa Rican) to pick up anyone walking along the road. Apparently, Americans who come and are driving big cars that they rent almost never pick anyone up, which is really a shame. we met several very nice people simply hitch hiking yesterday, and it was wonderful. (lesson: if you are an American and you are driving in Costa Rica in your big rented 4 wheel drive car, pick up the people who are walking down the road. they will almost never ask for a ride, but they will accept it if it's offered. this is a natural thing here, and it can lead to new adventures). Anyways, the truck picked us up so the three of us climbed into the bed of the truck with the man, boy, and all the tools, and we flew down the dirt/gravel/rock road. it is very full of holes, and the bed of the truck was super bouncy. we were going between 15 and 35 MPH, which was fast with no seat belts as we clung to the edge of the bed of the truck. It's funny - the Tico drivers fly all over these roads because there is no traffic, and they want to avoid the side of the road with the most potholes. So, they sway side to side depending on which side if smoother so they don't have to slow down. A four wheel drive car is essential because of the rough nature of the roads, and because the road is often intersected by rivers. Many people fly by on little motorcycles, often with someone clinging for dear life on the back. They took us between 5-6miles, then let us off at the entrance to the Finca they work on. we walked maybe 1/2 mile more, until we reached Playa Tomales. There we turned off the road and walked along the beach towards Matapalo.

the beach near Matapalo is much rockier, but beautiful. there are so many beautiful shells, and so many were whole. there were also a few beautiful crabs:

we walked for a while:

(that's Dominic and Grant walking down the beach). We even walked over some very old coral reefs that were very slippery:

true to form, Grant found some edible plants. there was a tree, Siriguela (that's portuguse, and he isn't sure how to spell it). it is a small orange fruit with a huge seed and very little flesh. but if you get one that's ripe, it's worth it. Grant climbed the tree and shook it so the ripe ones would fall into the sand and we could eat them:

we also pretended we were tarzan and Jane when we swung from a large branch:

of course, grant wanted more coconuts. we took a break in the shade to wait for grant to crack one open. the first had a fermented taste, and grant and Dominic said they felt the alcohol in it. I didn't like the fizzy taste, so I only had a sip. we cracked it all the way open, and watched the hermit crabs (which were EVERYWHERE around the roots of the coconut tree and along the shade line) fight over the coconut pulp:

our rest spot was beautiful:

the second coconut was a lot better, and we carried it with us the rest of the walk so we had some more water. we kept walking until we found an archway along the tree line:

The lodge we came across was deserted, and Dominic led us onto the property to explore. There were two open cabins, one with just a bedroom that had no walls (but a ceiling) and one that was two stories (also open). there were also numerous faucets along the path, so we think there must be campsights for the high season when there are lots of tourists.

perhaps we were a little nosey, but we got to see a blue lizard, and orchid, and a strange tree related to the banana:

Dominic actually took a nap in the hammock on the porch of the largest house. While she napped, Grant and I walked around the next corner on the beach so we could try and find Matapalo. When we came back she was sitting on the beach with Miguel, the man who cares for the property during the low season. He drew a map in the sand that explained how to get to Matapalo. we walked through the property to the main road, and almost immediately came across a river that was pretty deep and wide that covered the road. luckily, a land rover drove up right away, and he stopped and threw the door open. we all hopped in. The passenger was a Tico that the driver had picked up on the road, and the driver was a German man who had driven his Land rover from California all the way to the Oso Peninsula, where he was currently staying. He did it with his girlfriend, but she had gone back to Russia to visit family. the drove really REALLY fast, and he flew over rocks and potholes and rivers. we got to Matapalo in no time. He dropped us off at the driveway to his Cabina, which was right on the beach. Grant layed in the sand:

while Dominic and I watched the ocean:

the skies were darkening, so after sitting for an hour we decided to start the walk back. it was likely that we would get a ride, but you never know: the rain was going to come, and the bus was not going to pass by for another 4 hours or so, and sometimes people wont stop for you. So we started walking, which was not a bad thing:

Here's an example of a river that crosses the road:

Here is an example of a country school. the ones in town are not as nice, I don't think:

We also saw a dead snake, some ants that were hollowing out tunnels in the embankment on the side of the road (they were carrying the bit of mud to the entrance to the bottom, but it was a vertical climb and some had loads so big that they just fell off the cliff and into the pile of mud they had created) and we saw several mushrooms that looked like Turkey tails from home, but weren't exactly those. Grant is the person to ask for that kind of detail. Several motorcylces passed us, and it had just started to rain a little when a truck drive passed us at the same spot we were picked up earlier going towards Matapalo. This truck had two people in the backseat, and the driver, so he let the three of us jump into the bed. We rode the whole way back to Puerto Jimenez in the back of the truck. it was bouncy, but the rain drops felt great. The truck dropped us off on the outskirts of town, where Dominic immediately saw a friend who was selling tamales outside the big supermarket. grant bout two for 800 colones, then we picked up some vegetables at the stand on the main street and walked back to the cabina. Took a cold shower, and on the way back from the bathrooms we saw a very green lizard in the tree outside out room:

look carefully, he's in there! After our shower the rain really started. We sat down and tried the tamales, but it turned out they had chicken in them so Grant ate them both. I had the leftovers from dinner the night before, and Frederico gave us a lot of food that he had made earlier in the day. He had fried plantains, mashed potatoes, a green salad, cauliflower. He gave grant a dish that he made with meat, and since I don't eat meat Frederico made me a fritata with green onions which was delicious. He also gave us fresh papaya juice that he made in the blender while we were eating, which was so refreshing. The portuguese couple who is also staying in the cabinas with us made frederico dinner since he has been so nice to us all, and they asked us to eat with them too. We were so full, so we just tried everything and it was really good. during dinner, we enjoyed the thunder and lightning show, which was raging most of the night. the rain was nice though, because it cooled the air and actually decreased the humidity. we didn't need the fan in our bedroom until half way through the night.