Sitting by the fire in an airport? Yes, I found it slightly unusual, too. Sipping single-malt scotch (Jill's having a mocha) in The Red Lion Restaurant--Portland International, operated by the same folks that started the Red Lion chain of hotels,...
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Is it insulting to a hotel and its employees when you refuse the ice in your glass? And then, when they just dump the ice, leaving water in your glass, you drink your warm Coca-Cola out of the bottle? Glen...
Continue reading "The bar of the Villa Tournon, our hotel" »
The jet lag caught up with us and we pacified it by catching a couple of hours of sleep this afternoon. The combination of poor sleep on the plane, the warmth and bright sun of the tropics, and the exertion...
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Obviously, this is a place for touristas, but people out of their usual milieu are just as interesting to watch as the Ticas/Ticos (the female/male version of the name the locals call themselves). Particularly, the interaction, or non-interactions, between them....
Continue reading "The outdoor Cafe Parisian of the Hotel Costa Rica, San Jose" »
Sitting in the Cafe Parisian, waiting for a waitress to come by so I can mangle the language and ask for "la carta" (the menu). The time is 12:30, and we're feeling a bit jet-lagged from the overnight plane trip,...
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Prior to being picked up for a two-day rafting adventure on the Rio Pacuare, we are sitting in the lobby of the hotel after checking out. We're feeling a little brave, because we're leaving the majority of our things here...
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Fernando, our rafting guide; John, the kayaking Coloradoan; Jimmy, the driver of the food and clothes pontoon; and Jimmy's brother, who only two months ago began kayaking, are preparing supper. But I'm getting things out of order. The bus ride...
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After a brief scare (20 minutes) that they were not going to pick us up, we were off to the Rio Pacuare. The couple on the trip with us are from Italy (!); he speaks some Spanish, she fluently. The...
Continue reading "Restaurant outside of San Jose" »
In modern life, we don't understand dark. Our night is one of pseudo-darkness, a neon night. Even out in the "country" there is the glow of the city and at least moonlight. Here, in the rain forest, it is Dark....
Continue reading "Rio Tropicales camp, on the shore of the Rio Pacuare, in the cabana" »
Broad billed flycatcher? [later id'ed as a Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus]. Wood hermit hummingbird? [not id'ed]. Black and red bird? [later id'ed as Scarlet-rumped Tanager, Ramphocelus passerinii]....
Continue reading "Notes made outside the Rio Tropicales camp, by the river" »
Busy day, busy day. Breakfast cooked by the 4 men cooks again (Fernando, John and 2 others), all mixing, slicing, stirring behind the long kitchen counter. Yesterday, there was nothing better than rafting and getting off the boat to four...
Continue reading "Villa Tournon bar, same table, again" »
Back in San Jose, following roughly five hours of rafting and a two hour bus ride back. Lots of excitement. We got up for a seven a.m. breakfast of fruit salad (papaya, banana, pineapple, and orange), pancakes and ham with...
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We walked to the car rental agency from the hotel--not a short walk, and somewhat uninspiring given the exhaust fumes. When we arrived at the car rental agency at 8 a.m., we were informed that our reservation wasn't for a...
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We finally got the car, and after going over it and having the fellow make a note of every mark, then sending it back into the shop to have a brake light replaced. We drove back to the Hotel Villa...
Continue reading "Hotel Bel Mar, Monteverde" »
We got up at 4:30 a.m. to make it to the entrance of the Cloud Forest Reserve at 5:30 to meet our guide. Why so early? One of the guide books said that the best time to see birds was...
Continue reading "Cafe Hira Rosa, Monteverde" »
Black Guan [Chamaepetes unicolor] Nightingale Thrush-saw nest in the small dirt hole, with baby fluff balls inside Female Resplendent Quetzal (male later) [Pharomachrus mocinno] Emerald Toucanet [Aulacorhynchus prasinus] Silver pronged barbet? Species travel in loose flocks at all...
Continue reading "Notes made when touring Monteverde Reserve, 5:30 am to 10 am, with" »
We crashed again. Part of it was the early start this morning, part--and we hate to admit this--is the fact that we are not in the greatest shape. Although Jill rides her horse at least twice weekly, and I play...
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A cloud forest is just that--a forest in a cloud. Monteverde is a land of clouds, mists, rainbows, a dichotomy of reserve and clearcut.... The trip here yesterday began with having to push back at the car rental agency. It...
Continue reading "Outside the borders of Monteverde Reserve, in the Hiro Rosa Cafe, cocida vegetariana" »
The adventure continues. Jill had a rough night in battle with Montezuma's Revenge. We're not sure why it hit her and not me, because she's the one who is paranoid about what she eats and how it is prepared in...
Continue reading "Hotel Tamarindo Diria, Tamarindo" »
We sit here awaiting lunch, listening to the ocean and a spanish version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man." I am hoping they hurry, since we have to meet our ride in the lobby at 2:55 pm for our horse ride....
Continue reading "Outdoor restaurant of the Hotel Tamarindo Diria, our hotel, Tamarindo" »
Lunch once again on the patio. We were able to get a new battery without much trouble at all. The car started immediately this morning, enough that we thought something might be amiss in our diagnosis of a dead battery,...
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Well, I am getting more behind as time goes, but I am determined to catch up tonight, before and after dinner. It may be tough since we met a chatty, friendly couple from Canada, Sandy and Dave. They're about our...
Continue reading "Restaurant at the Hotel Rancho Suizo, our hotel" »
Breakfast by pool side while water aerobics are going on. Jill and I have found something funny--the things that we had feared most have happened to us. Jill was paranoid about getting sick, yet it is she who has to...
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Dinner at the lodge restaurant--the lodge is a much smaller place that is more to our taste than the Hotel Tamarindo Diria was. The other people staying here at the moment are from Canada--Sandy and Dave--she just got her degree...
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Common Black Hawk [Buteogallus anthacinus], hunting at a small stream, just beautiful sitting so still! Yesterday at Tamarindo, Brown Pelicans [Pelecanus occidentalis] hunting in the ocean, a White-throated Magpie-Jay [Calocitta formosa] in hotel shrubbery, a Rufous-naped Wren [Campylorhynchus rufinucha] eating...
Continue reading "Notes made on the side of the road from Tamarindo to Nosara" »
Well, as is often the case, all things work out okay. Glen and I followed our noses in the Suzuki along the Playa Posado beach, the park beach near here (Ridley turtles nest here in the summer, I believe). We...
Continue reading "In a hammock at the small outdoor bar of Rancho Suizo Lodge" »
Sitting in the shade--Jill in a hammock, me at a table--next to the outdoor bar that is stocked with soda and cerveza that you help yourself to on the honor system. We're back from a morning of snorkeling and a...
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Ugh, teach me to drink cervazas with an intestinal system not fully functioning. I also wasn't very diligent in catching up. I seem to have covered the highlights of Tamarindo (turtles and horses). Glen and I have been discussing what...
Continue reading "Porch of our cabana at Rancho Suizo Lodge" »
Today, the beginning of the end of our trip--we head back to San Jose today, as our flight leaves tomorrow. Inevitable as the tide.... We rested yesterday than returned to the beach. Our original tide pools were all covered with...
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Sitting down for the Continental breakfast that came with our lodging here on our last full day in Costa Rica. Last night we went with Dave and Sandy to the P. Jungle Bar for dinner-not as good as the previous...
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We stepped out of the car to get some Lifts (lemon-lime soft drink here). The soda also had a huge pile of coconuts. Glen got one and they chopped off the husk and dug a little hole for a straw...
Continue reading "In line for the Rio Tempisque bridge, about 9 cars back" »
Nine vehicles off from making the 11:30 a.m. ferry, so we had a moment to pause and drink two Lifts and a coconut, waiting to catch the 12:30 ferry. We lost a little time because we had to get a...
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We are waiting for the transfer from here to the airport for our trip back to Washington. I am (more than) a little nervous that they are picking us up at 8 am for a 10 am flight. We asked...
Continue reading "Lobby of Villa Tournon, San Jose" »
Bird count in Costa Rica stands at 19 birds positively identified, not including the many others I did not get to specify, several captives that don't really count (Pepe, toucans, etc.), plus the one's Eric identified, but I didn't very...
Continue reading "Notes made on the floor of the Seattle airport, Washington, USA" »
Jill's checking us out of the hotel, and then we will sit here and wait for our transfer to the airport. Jill's concerned because the transfer--arranged by Panorama Tours here in San Jose--is scheduled to pick us up at 8...
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Obviously, we made it. Indeed, we had time to buy the majority of our souvenirs, including coffee, a shirt, and some coffee liquor. We are tanner, and relaxed, though sad to return. It is always hard to return from such...
Continue reading "San Jose airport, United Flight 888, waiting to depart" »
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