Lyle Saves Mame from Drowning!

OK, I am sure that this title got your attention...and I am sure that you think I am exaggerating. Well, I guess I am exaggerating just a bit...but truly if Lyle had not been right next to me, I could have drowned. We spent the day at a thermal spring near Ciudad Quesada called Termales Del Bosque (Thermal in the Forest). It is this natural hot spring deep inside the rain forest. It was pretty deserted...we were the only 2 people there for most of the time! Well, it was either the heat, the minerals in the water, lack of food or water (or a combination thereof)...but I got up from a hot pool and got light headed...I leaned on the edge of the pool..sort of standing..and then I promptly fainted! If Lyle had not been there, I would have slid right into the water! He sort of pulled me out and laid me on the ground next to the pool.....I was out cold for a few moments. I ate a bit of cracker and had some "jugo de fruta" (fruit juice) and after a bit, I felt fine. Yes, I plan on getting a check-up when I get home...Carol at IAG-I want you to research my symptoms on-line and give me my diagnosis first thing Monday morning! (and DON'T tell me that I have some jungle parasite living in my brain!!!)
It was a really cool experience and very peaceful. It started to rain really hard while we were there which made the experience even more interesting...being in the middle of the rain forest, in a hot spring in a torrential down pour. After the pool, we both had a massage which was heavenly!

Beach Views

Due to our internet issues, I never posted any pictures from our day at the beach (la playa). We drove along the coast for several hours, stopping here and there to walk or stop by a market. Costa Rica is filled with such variety. In Poas at the high altitude the air was chilly and crips. There were tall pine trees along the mountainous road. At the beach it was breezy and humid...tropical plants lined the flat coastal highway. Where we are staying (near Atenas) it is somewhere in between...but the weather can change on a dime going from clear and sunny one minute to thunderstorms the next. It does keep things interesting...but for a planner like me; it can be frustrating too!

Sarchi and Botanical Gardens

Today the weather was very nice in the morning...lots of sun and warm. So instead of running around the countryside, we stayed at the main house by the pool. The main house is also quite grand in comparison to our little casita. There is an in ground pool with lovely mountain views. The house is beautiful with patios and outside areas. Oh I forgot to mention another little tidbit that I am sure most of you don't know about Costa Rica....you are not supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet. The plumbing apparently cannot handle that AND the...well you understand. And this is the norm throughout the country. In every restroom there are signs to please throw the toilet paper in the waste can. Maybe it's not called "toilet paper" in Costa Rica...sort of a misnomer if so!
Anyway, after our morning swim, we traveled to a little town called Sarchi. It is famous for the brightly colored ox cars and everything in the town is brightly painted; even the waste baskets. This is a bit of a tourist trap with many souvenir shops. But what is a vacation without a plastic key chain shaped like the country in which you are traveling?? We also toured a beautiful botanical garden near Sarchi. It was hard to find...thank God the word for botanical in Spanish is basically the same in English. We would stop by someone and roll down the window and say "botanical??"...they would point and say something we did not understand. We got there...but almost did not make it home since Lyle (the expert Tico driver that he is) almost had us out of gas traveling through windy and hilly landscapes with nothing in between! We made it though as I was wringing my hands and praying to get to the town before disaster struck. Oh, it was also the 2nd day with no rain...it got cloudy and maybe drizzled a bit...but nothing like the downpours of the first few days.

monkeys and sloths and crocs..oh my!

Today we traveled a short distance to Oratina where there is an adventure park called Turi Bari. There we cruised via zip lines high above the forest! The weather was muggier there and it's already 3PM today and there is no rain (for the first time). The zip line was exhilarating; especially when the guides decided to pump the line up and down while we were on it ....scream?..yes I did ! After that we toured the park with a guide who pointed out the various flora and fauna. A baby monkey took a liking to Lyle and climbed on him! Within a few seconds he peed and climbed down. Guess Lyle looked like a port-a-john to him. We also saw a huge sloth and her baby sloth high in the trees. Even the tour guide was excited by the baby sloth...que linda! There were interesting sights....huge bamboo trees, butterflies of all kinds, big termite nests in the trees and Lyle's favorite-cutter ants. He is obsessed with these ants! We have them at our house too and he'll watch them work with fascination. When he gets back to Pittsburgh, be sure to ask him about them (you'll be sorry you did). There were also strange fruits...one was called horse's testicles..I think you can picture what these looked ike. At the end we saw crocodiles...really big and really ugly crocodiles. We had seen some yesterday at a place called The Crocodile Bridge. They don't even look real...like one of Angelo's rubber toys; except much bigger. Tonight our host (who is Japanese) is preparing an authentic Japanese meal for Lyle's birthday. I am guessing there will be no black beans with this dinner!

Lyle Turns 50!

Happy 50th Birthday Lyle!
You look pretty good for being so close to death!

Scenes from 1st 4 days

Here are some pictures that describe our first few days here. We spent Day 1 in the town of Atenas (about 8 miles from our "casita"). Apparently Sunday is the day they auction off cattle in the town square. Very festive atmosphere! Day 2 we visited Poas Volcano, some waterfalls and we toured a coffee plantation. Lyle did all the driving and the GPS worked surprisingly well. Some of the roads could hardly be called roads! The coffee tour was very informative...we now know why coffee is so damned expensive! there is a ton of work that goes into it's production. These people pick the beans by hand and get paid a whopping $1.50 per 25 pound basket. Day 3 was (today) and we traveled along the coastal cities and stopped at various beaches including Playa Jaco and Playa Hermosa. We had lunch (rice, beans, chicken and fried plantains) at a local diner...muy deliciosa!

INTERNET!!!FINALLY!!

Well it is Day 4 and we finally got internet restored here! I never realized how much you rely on technology; especlally in the middle of no where. So I'll try and post some pics and let you all know what we have been doing wth our time here thus far. Afew general observations about Costa Rican life:

• Even though they are "laid back people" when they get behind the wheel of a car there is a miraculous transformation. They become total maniacs..passing on the right and left, around hair pin turns, down the steepest road I've ever seen and on the narrowest of streets. I think it must be the coffee. Lyle has become quite adept at driving "Tico Style"and he will likely be a menace on Pittsburgh streets for the first few days back.
• When they say "rainy season"-they mean RAINY season! The weather has been extremely consistent since day 1. It is bright and sunny first thing in the morning (say 6:00 when the cock crows and the cattle are mooing and the dogs are barking). At about 12 noon it starts to cloud over and by 2PM there are torrential down pours. I am talking thunder, lightening ....WET! So we have had to adjust our plans somewhat to go do things really early so the early morning noises have been a blessing ...really!
• The term "tranquilo" is supposed to mean for someone to calm down...sort of like Seinfeld's "Serenity Now". We have found ourselves saying "tranquilo" under our breath a lot..sort of like a curse-you know, "serenity now, insanity later". So all you people watching HGTV and thinking it would be cool to live in Costa Rica-"TRANQUILO"!
• Inconveniences aside it is a beautiful country filled with all types of scenery. We've been in the mountains so high you could not see 100 ft. in front due to the fog. We've been at beaches with dark black sand. We have seen cascading waterfalls and a volcano all in the same day.
  

We're Off to Costa Rica!

Here is a map of Costa Rica for all those who are "geographically challenged" (AKA: All of you!) Yes, tomorrow morning Lyle and I take off for his 50th Birthday Adventure. I guess there are worse places to be on one's 50th birthday (jail, hospital, 6 feet under) and we are hoping to make the best of it even though it is the "rainy season" in Costa Rica now.
We will be near the city of Alajuela (see map) in a smaller town called Atenas. Lyle's actual birthday is Wednesday the 27th so technically he still can be considered among the "young".....until Wednesday.