July 8, 2015

Getting into the airport was quick – going through immigration even quicker.  Our bus driver stood outside with a sign – Ilona Munzer – and announced to me that the roads had all been flooded due to heavy rains, so we would have to take the long way – 5-6 hours instead of 4 – to the resort.  More adventure for us, even though we were all so exhausted.  I have recently resigned myself, once again, to the idea of everything happens for a reason.

His son joined us and sat upfront.  My kids and I were in the back of a van...racing through the streets of Central America.y two men - <smile>  - perceptions are everything.  Ivan  was a very nice man..he stopped at a little restaurant for us with traditional Costa Rican food.  It was delicious.  The rice and beans are incredible and the coffee..oh, the coffee is like Swiss coffee.  I shall have to buy some of this Costa Rican coffee and make it at home.  We drove up into the hills – bananas, coffee, coconuts, potatoes, other things which I can’t even identify.  Little shacks, dotting the hillsides, but so many with their satellite dish….  I had no fear here, even though their driving appears to be somewhat reckless there is an organized chaos behind it.   I thought of the man driving the white truck in LA whom I’d seen from thousands of feet in the air.  I wonder what his story is.  The kids and I tried to sleep – the kids got more than I did, but I managed to get a few minutes in, too.  Soon, we were at the resort, within 4 hours, as if he’d taken the original route.    

We made plans for the time his son would pick us up next Wednesday, and then we were in our resort.,  beautiful jungle paradise.  We were brought to our room and treated to a guava drink.  Ethan started exploring right away and found a trail of ants – exclaiming he felt like he was in a National Geographic film:  the ants all carried a single leaf.  The first thought was to hit the beach – because that’s why we are here, so we walked over, down the path, noticing the joys of nature- crabs, lizards, grasshoppers the size of Toledo….  The kids saw coconuts everywhere and we noticed the surf pounding the beach.  Red flags were up in several places – warning of a dangerous current.  We headed back and had a lunch served by  the sweetest of ladies.  I had Maggie promise she would be daring and try new  things – becoming the explorer of flavors.  I call her Dora now.  She loved the 2 variations of chicken we had – one of them being a banana curry, I loved the fried green plantain chips – the rice and beans were delicious, too.

The next adventure was the swimming pool.  We changed into our swim clothes and got into the pool across from our room.  The water was lovely and as tired as I was, off and on, it was quite refreshing.  We had our masks and snorkels and had fun going over diving signs.   A brother and sister played ball in the pool – there language not English.  I assumed Swedish (I couldn’t hear them well as they were quiet) but found out the next day they were from the Netherlands.  After the pool, a quick rinse of and shower for me in cold water (I learned the next day that I had pointed the faucet the wrong way) and then…dinner!

As the kids were getting out of the pool, the rain drops slowly began.  A howler monkey chortled with glee.  We walked to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a delicious dinner – for the most part.  Poor Ethan had been experiencing an “interesting” stomach ache, which he knows leads to illness (but then he’s fine immediately after) so he left dinner, torn as he wanted an ice cream.  Maggie and I waited and order deserts to go and joined him in the room.  At this point, I had been up far too long, so after the desert, I brushed my teeth and went to sleep.  The kids followed me soon thereafter.



 Pictures:  Kids enjoying coconut; A restaurant in San Jose for the best gallo pinto!; Going to market; Our resort room at Cariblue; a stranded boat on the beach.