My Costa Rica - Excerpts from my journal of the year 2000...We found a stretch of land almost four acres in size along the Rio Ora just up the dirt road from Playa Carrillo in Estrada. This was a tiny village with one very small store, a restaurant serving exquisite local food, a lovely resort run by three Italian brothers and not much else.
Local ancestors of the once fierce Chorotega tribe wore headbands and gauchos, carried machetes from their sides, and fished in the rivers for their suppers each day walking the jungle paths their forefathers had laid, barefoot - without fear.
Many in Estrada still worked with oxen in the fields and drove their cattle down the middle of the road, using horses for their transportation.
Women collected fruits and vegetables from their gardens, carried them in handmade baskets on their heads, and created the most fantastic foods I have ever tasted, doting on their husbands and children all the while.
There were tropical birds everywhere. Unafraid of man. Up close and personal, each and every day. I saw herons, curasow, cotinga, parrots, parakeets, aracaris, ibis, flamingoes, roseate spoonbills, pelicans, ospreys, frigates, egrets, cuckoos, hummingbirds, swallows, sandpipers, gulls, tanangers, falcons, hawks, doves, and more.
The mountains looked as though they were draped in velvet and sloped down to the bluest sea I'd ever seen. The local women showed me where to find the wild orange, lemon and banana trees, and the mangos grew in abundance everywhere. There were even pods hanging from what the locals called Sandala Trees which had seeds surrounded by a sticky brown ingredient that tasted just like chocolate.
The beach a mile down the river from our land was black,volcanic sand, sea turtles, shells, and breakers to excite the wildest surfer's soul. The beach in Playa Carrillo was sparkling,white sand, calm, inviting, lined with palms, and always warm. Then there was Punta Roble with a natural swimming hole when the tide was out where thousands of tiny, tropical fish could be seen trapped in the water left by the receding tides.
There were monkeys everywhere, and we saw many things we'd never seen before. There were jaguarundi, margay, coati, armidillo, crocodile, black panther, boas, otters, butterflies beyond belief, alligators, iguana, deer, possum, and more.
This was, indeed, a magical place. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
I will be posting excerpts from my journals about Costa Rica. These were my adventures. I hope you enjoy reading them. I'm glad I went. I can't wait to go back again.
January 16, 2002 – Estrada, Costa Rica
Here we are in Estrada, Costa Rica. It is prettier here than I remember. Our friends are all doing well. The Saint's new baby is so beautiful. He is very handsome and fat. I brought gifts for all of our friend's children.
The house is fine and it is very green. There was a lot of rain last year and the Saint (a local man we contracted to help us build the house) planted trees and cleared near the house a lot. We saw CheChe and Mirta at their store in Playa Carrillo.
It is night now and we have lights from the pick up truck and a kerosene lantern. Frank says it is just like we never left. Everything is the same.
Sunday, January 20, 2002 4:30 a.m.
So peaceful here on the river. I have been reading for about an hour by kerosene light and NO BUGS!! I think that's because there's a wind blowing. The weather here (in the dry season) is spectacular. About 70-75 in the evening and 85 or so in the daytime. Of course noon to 3:00 is unbearable but I like to take a siesta. If I get up real early (4-5:00 a.m.) and nap at noon I can actually stay awake later on Saturday nights!
Last night we went to Eugenia's (Rancho Tico Restaurant) for jumbo shrimp but there was a sports fishing party of 15 that had already ordered all the jumbos. Frank had rice with small shrimp instead. Monday she'll have jumbos plus her delicious caramel flan.
Dinner (I had fried fish, fries, salad, coke – Frank had two beers, shrimp, rice, fries, salad) cost 2,900 colones. This is the equivalent of $8.71. That's freakin' amazing.
Eugenia's son, Asdrubel never did make it to the U.S., but he did receive the letter of invitation we sent to him.
This year I'm going to keep track of expenses. Need to make a donation to the school and police department. Gave gifts to friends and something to the Saint to help with the new baby.
His family was flooded out last winter (our summer in Maine) for five days due to heavy rains and Hurricane Mitch (I think that's what they called it). It was pretty bad, according to the Saint. They had to stack all the furniture (and ours that he had taken up to his mom's house like my stove, table, etc.) atop of each other to try to save what they could from the flood. Sounds to me like they are lucky they are alright themselves, let alone worrying about the furniture.
The congo monkeys are howling. It must be time for them to get up. I have only seen a few come through here probably looking for food and apparently not finding the fresh green, new shoots in the trees that they love.
The house is chock full of tiny spiders (and one big one) but I've cleaned as high as I can reach and Frank kills all the big bugs for me. In fact, something rather large (sounds like a Palmetto bug) just flew past me. I hope he keeps on going away. I can also hear a motorcycle on the dirt river road to Camaronal.
Frank and I swam in the river two days ago. We were a little leery of alligators – the water is a bit dirty right now with bad visibility.
I am as white as a ghost and haven't dared go to the beach. Think I would like to today, though. We almost went to Carrillo last night but there was a party at one of our friend's new neighbors (Stefano's old place – he sold out, moved to Nicoya, worked in a Chinese bazzaar type store, learned the ropes, and opened his own.) The party had started at 4:00 and it was now 8:30 p.m. I fugured everyone was good and drunk by then and we didn't even have a buzz so we decided to go home. After all, we could burn the trash and watch the fire! Finding something to do here takes on a whole new meaning.
Will, his girlfriend (novia) Graciela, and son Daniel came for a visit yesterday. Graciela can't speak any English at all but Will can and he and Frank manage fairly well. I enjoyed the company as well as the effort. It has to be difficult to visit people that don't speak your language.
Haven't seen many people. Want to do a little visiting today. Will have to give everyone a chance to sober up first, though.
There is so much to do here on the house. The grounds look unbelievably good, though. Frank is installing the shower head and faucets and that should be done today. We have been showering outside at dark. It's cold. I don't think it's going to be any warmer in the house but at least we will have some privacy.
Speaking of which, Herardo and his wife came by yesterday, too, and invited us to go up to the rancho on his land (about a 20 minute walk away). They have cows up there and go back and forth a lot across our land to tend them. They have a rancho up there with a beautiful view of the ocean. Frank asked Herardo before if he wanted to trade properties and he said no. We think, maybe, however, that they invited us hoping we are still interested in buying/trading for it. Hell, I'd like to own the whole place. Over half of our land was underwater last year from the sounds of it and the whole center of Estrada.
When we were in the restaurant last night (it's halfway up a BIG hill – foot of a mountain actually) Asdrubel said the water came up to the field being the house and restaurant. The road to Hojancha flooded and the road to Carrillo. Susie told me the Red Cross (La Cruza Roja) had to send food to the school in Estrada (which they had set up as a shelter) by boat for the people of the town. Somewhere on our property Tad marked a tree to track how high the water was during the peak flood while kayaking past our house. I can't wait to see it. He has pictures of our house, too, but he can't find them!
Talked to Zack (that's my son, who was spending the winter with his dad in Maine) two days ago (Friday afternoon). He sounded good. Told Frank he had a date with Anna and sounded happy to me. Told him I'd talk to him on AIM Monday or Tuesday at the latest. We are taking the truck to Carrillo (Miguel has a new shop there – he moved from Samara) Monday, so I'll probably use the computer then. Have to get to Nicoya Tuesday and get the truck papers updated and get insurance (it's mandatory here, too, for autos). More later – making gallo pinto.