Silvergrrl Dancing

Boy, I would be so happy if that were literally true if applied to vacations. I am not ready to go home, but tomorrow is the day.

This morning we went back to the tunnel Mercado to look for a black “no Army” t-shirt for Mick (C.R. abolished their army in 1948). No luck with that, but we found another booth with great shirts that are hand-painted by the man there and his sons. Mick and I both found shirts there that we liked. Then we walked up Avenida Central to the Central Market, strolled through there, and YES found the black “No Army” shirt that Mick wanted.

To celebrate we went to Casa 927 for lunch. After our delicious lasagne, the chef brought us each out an adorable little lemon tart.

On the advice of our friends Gina and Mike, we also stopped at the Auto Mercado and got some Dos Pinos Trits, which may be the best ice cream sandwich either of us has ever had.

The rest of the day was pretty low-key. We went back to the hotel, checked in online & got our boarding passes, and arranged for transportation to the airport. Our flight is late enough that we’ll have plenty of time in the morning to eat breakfast and get all packed up.

For dinner, we went to JR’s BBQ for ribs. The meat was quite American but the sides were Costa Rican, and the portions were huge. Dessert was out of the question.

Now we are watching TV. Mick has become a fan of Telemundo, and he thinks we have it in our satellite package at home. 12 Corazones and much, much more. I am more determined than ever to keep going with my Spanish lessons, so every bit helps.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Today we revisited some of our favorite places in this part of San José (Avenida Central and Barrio Amón), ate, and shopped. Not necessarily in that order. After breakfast in our hotel, we walked over to Casa 927. We thought they opened at 9am. We were wrong, but someone was there and went ahead and opened early for us. Really! They have a ton of beautiful and creative clothes, jewelry, hair ornaments, belts, bags, etc. What’s great is that it’s an artist co-op, so each one has his/her space and you might be able to meet the person who made the items you are admiring.

Mick wanted to walk over to Chietón Morén before we bought anything at Casa 927 so we did. Chietón Morén works with the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica, and brings their hand-crafted items to market. ALL the proceeds go back to the people who made them – the space for the shop & a small museum is donated, and all the staff there are volunteers. It was interesting and they have many beautiful and practical items. Mick would have bought a hat if they’d had one that fit him.

Next we walked over to a Mercado that runs in a tent tunnel between Avenida 2 and Avenida Central and went through it. We had each bought shirts there last year – Mick was wearing his today (the Pura Vida frog). When we got close to that booth, they flagged him down and wanted to know where he got that shirt (aqui!) and when. They had another great frog shirt (Beware the Frog), it is perfect for him.

By then it was 11:00, so we sat in the Plaza de la Democracia until another of our favorite restaurants – Tin Jo – opened for lunch. Asian food, completely delicious. After lunch we found our way back to Casa 927, where I bought things both for me and as gifts.

We returned to our room after that, and I relaxed & read while Mick went back to the cigar bar. I finished my book King Rat by China Miéville. If you are not familiar with him, he is an excellent writer.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Café de los Deseos, knowing nothing about it except that it is a few blocks from our hotel. It turns out that it is a very “happening” sort of place, bustling with young people who appeared to be mostly in their 20s. The food was good, but here’s the kicker: the tables and walls were decorated in 1960′s op-art style art, there were posters on the wall from American movies and musicians like Metropolis, Pulp Fiction, AC/DC, Ben Harper. And the music they were playing was all old American music from OUR youth – The Ghetto (Donny Hathaway), Spooky (Classics IV), Son of a Preacher Man (Dusty Springfield), My World is Empty Without You (The Supremes), some older blues that we couldn’t identify, and a woman who might have been Etta James. There is a very deep irony in that we traveled thousands of miles to a foreign country for THAT.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

It was another driving day. After a final breakfast at Café Milagro of Rainforest Crepes (chocolate & banana, yum), we hung out on our terrace for a final lovely hour then finished packing up and headed out.

The drive to San José was pretty uneventful. We had lunch half-way there (or so) at Outback Jack’s in Puntarenas. Yes, it’s  run by an Australian couple. There were all sorts of interesting sculptures and odd found objects – very colorful, as you can see from the pictures. Not to mention the hundreds of pairs of glasses, which the owner had been gifted with and put to good use.

We got gas once we got into the city, as the car rental people were coming to the hotel to pick it up, and of course they charge a fortune if the tank isn’t full. Then it was a tricky navigation among many one way streets to find our hotel, the Don Carlos. It’s a lovely old hotel with an interesting history, which I’ll tell you tomorrow.

It’s much cooler here than it was at the coast; it’s a relief not to be sweaty any more. I relaxed for a while in the room while Mick went to find his favorite cigar shop. After he came back, we went to the Super Mercado and got some juice, water, and yes, more piña empanadas. Then it was off to Kalú for dinner, one of our favorite restaurants from our last visit. We cruised their shop, which has beautiful items by local artists, then had a lovely dinner. I practiced my Spanish on the waitress and was pretty successful.

After dinner, we took a quick stroll on Avenida Central, but the shops were closing up so we only went a couple of blocks to the big square. We noticed right away that there is a new-since-last-May police tower at one corner of the square with two officers surveying the square and street. Interesting.

Tomorrow: hanging out in the big city.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

How hard should it be, really? Last year when we were in Tamarindo we found a shop that had terrific shirts, so we had high hopes for our prospects here in Quepos/Manuel Antonio. After all, the two areas are similar in that they are beach towns on the western coast of Costa Rica, catering to the young surf/beach crowd and highly touristy. And the Quepos/MA main drag is a lot longer than that in Tamarindo. But I am sad to report that the shopping here is dismal.

But we did find some cool things, like:
* a smoothie place that heat-seals a plastic film on top of your cup, and gives you a pointed straw to pierce it. Voilá! A lid that can’t crack, fly off, or spill.
* a shop with local art had bowls & plates made of coconut and cinnamon that smell wonderful.
* some amazing restaurants, like Emilio’s Cafe (which makes a frozen lemonade with fresh mint) and Sancho’s (great fish tacos).

This morning we went on a tour in the Manuel Antonio Parque Nacional. We had gorgeous weather and our guide Mauricio (Mau for short) had a keen eye for animals for us to observe. Two different kinds of tree frogs, both two and three toed sloths, toucans, Africanized “killer” bees, a baby green iquana, a boat-billed heron, white-faced capuchin monkeys, black iguanas, and more. All the guides had telescopes that they would set up focused right on whatever animal they spotted, and each person could just look and see it. Mau also was expert at holding cameras up to the telescope and getting great pictures.

This was our full day here on the west coast. Tomorrow we get to have a leisurely morning, then drive to San José for the last part of our trip. I really like this part of Costa Rica, so I’m sorry to say good-bye to it. But San José will be fun, too.

Adios for now!

Monday, April 23, 2012

If you go anywhere in Quepos/Manual Antonio area, you should take the tour at Villa Vanilla Spice Plantation. It was fascinating and delicious. During various parts of it, we ate samples of :

• Fruit around cacao bean
• Dried Cacao bean
• Dried roasted crushed cacao bean
• Chocolate candy made with cacao & spices from the farm
• Pepper
• Ceylon Cinnamon bark
• Cinnamon tea
• Vanilla cheesecake
• Vanilla ice cream
• Chocolate cookie made with cocoa mix
• Cookie made with cacao nibs
• Hot chocolate drink

Our guide’s name was Giselle, and she did a wonderful job of describing everything and answering all our questions.

I was fascinated by their farming methods: all organic & sustainable. They interplant the spice plants with flowers & fruits to draw insects away so they don’t need pesticides. They burn the leftover cinnamon wood to heat the drying ovens in the rainy season. All the bio waste (hulls, leaves, animal manure, etc.) is composted to use on the plants.

I also learned a lot about vanilla plants, cacao, allspice, cinnamon, and pepper.

This is a vanilla flower – the blooms are open for only a few hours in the early morning, and they are hand- pollinated. The workers go around every morning and look for open flowers, pollinate them, and mark the plant. That’s how they know when to harvest the pods.

Did you know that Ceylon Cinnamon is the superior variety, with health benefits that Cassia Cinnamon does not have? Guess which one is what we normally find on our stores – that’s right, NOT Ceylon.

Also, I had no idea that cacao flowers and resulting pods grow directly out of the trunk & branches of the tree. like this:

In the center of the photo is a tiny cacao pod, below it and to the right are flowers. How crazy is that?

 
So all in all, this is the most interesting part of our vacation so far. You can bet I bought wonderful things in the Spice Shop at the end! I can’t wait to get home and make cinnamon tea.

Manuel Antonio, CR
Sunday, 4/22/2012

I have to admit, I like really nice hotels and restaurants. Our new stopping point, the Buena Vista Villas in the town of Manuel Antonio, fits the bill nicely. It’s interesting in that it spans a pretty significant slope from beach to road. To get around, you call the desk & they send you a shuttle. You walk DOWN to where they pick you up, and when they drop you again it’s ABOVE your door, so you still walk down.

We started our day with a canopy zipline tour at Osa Mountain Village. It was lovely and exciting, including a couple of places where we rappelled down. The other people with us were a young couple with their 3 year old daughter, who was just too adorable. She rode each time with one of the guides, and after about the second line she was loving it.

After that, we headed down the mountain to this beach town, night & day different from both of our previous stays. After settling in a bit, we walked down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It’s a beautiful little beach and it felt fantastic to be in the water.

Back at our room, we showered and watched the sun set from our balcony. For dinner, we went to Salsipuedes, a tapas restaurant. I know I’m going to like a place when it has 2 dogs and a cat hanging around inside. They had great music playing, and now I know about a new-to-me Argentinian musician to check out – Diego Torres.

Which prompted a whole train of thought about how insular Americans are – south of us, there are whole peoples and cultures that we know almost nothing about. Countries that are having conversations with each other that we are completely missing. I have barely dipped my toe into that pool and I really regret what I’m missing.

This little 3-year old girl was part of our zipline adventure this morning. Too adorable for words.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

We heard howler monkeys off in the distance this morning. Early, when the birds were at their peak. Happily, Mick and I both got back to sleep and managed to sleep in until after 6:30. Oh, frabjous day!

Delicious coffee, piña empanadas, and almonds once again tided us over until breakfast was served at the restaurant here. After breakfast, Jim Gale took us on a tour of Osa Mountain Village. It is very cool, what they are doing here. They have a large organic community garden as well as chickens, goats, rabbits, and a couple of tilapia ponds. All the food produced is free to the OMV residents as part of their $150/month homeowners dues. They have other plans to help themselves become energy self-sufficient. What I like even better is that they seem to be good neighbors with the Costa Rican community around them. In addition to providing good jobs at good wages, they do business with local farmers and other businesses. They are not just rich gringos in an isolated community.

After our tour, we hung out and napped and read, had lunch, napped & read some more, then went to the pool for a dip & some sun. It was late enough by then that we did not get fried. The beauty and peacefulness here are almost beyond description. As evening arrived, the birds and insects started up big time, and the howler monkeys were MUCH louder than they were this morning.

Now, after a delicious dinner of paella, we are set for the evening. We also have some eggs and onions to make breakfast for ourselves in the morning, since Ricardo who runs the restaurant won’t be there as he’s heading to Panama early. So we’ll be eating eggs from the hens we saw this morning!

Tomorrow: the zipline tour, then off to our next destination.

Friday, April 20, 2012

We woke to bird calls at 5:30 AM in our lovely room at Ama Tierra. Due to the 2 hour time change, that actually felt like sleeping in. Since breakfast was not available until 7:30, Mick made coffee and we finished off the pineapple empanadas we bought yesterday. We also had some delicious almonds & cranberries glazed with honey & sea salt. While we snacked, we watched the last half of the Peaceful Warrior. Our host had lent it to us to watch in our room, and we only managed to get halfway through it last night. It’s an incredible story.

Real breakfast (or 2nd breakfast, as Mick fondly called it), was eggs and fruit and gallo pinto and toast. I was very proud of myself for being able to successfully ask our waitress for more fruit for Mick in Spanish. Then Jill (the owner at Ama Tierra) took us for a tour of the yoga center, which is REALLY lovely. I got to try the aerial yoga equipment that is currently there, as you can see from the photo with this post.

When we got back to the main lobby, they were playing cumbia and merengue music to as a prelude to the dance they are having there tonight. As a result, I got turned on to a new Cumbia band! The DJ was amused by my description of pobrecita Americans who do not know how to shake their hips.

Then it was time to leave. We got directions from our hosts on how to continue west to get to the highway we needed to find. Unfortunately, their step-by-step neglected to mention a critical item, which resulted in a few extremely tense heart-stopping moments as we had to back about 100 yards down a steep, rock-studded dirt road. Our directions had been to proceed on a particular road until it came to a T, then turn right. What was missing was that before the T, the main road would bear off to the left, and we needed to follow that instead of continuing straight on. Oops! It became clear we were on the wrong track, because they would have mentioned it if the road was that bad. Thankfully, we managed to get ourselves straightened out & only lost about 15 minutes. It’s probably a good thing that the mistake was so obviously wrong, or we would have gotten really lost.

After that, our drive was mostly pleasant, except for another 15 minute dirt stretch with steep switchbacks. Iguanas apparently like sunning themselves on the roads here – we saw several that scooted out of the way as we approached.

Lunch was a plata tipica at a little restaurant by the road, very yummy. Then we found our way through all the little beach towns down to our destination, Osa Mountain Village. As the name suggests, it is up in the mountains that hug the coastline here. It is at about 2000 feet, and that climb is accomplished in 7 km of yes, more very steep winding switchbacks of bumpy dirt road.

Here at OMV, we are staying in a beautifully furnished rental unit. It feels very American in terms of the appliances, TV, furniture, etc. The pool and bar compare well to those at any tropical resort. But the views and the wildlife are really spectacular. I am listening right now to a chorus of insects, some familiar and some not, with a waterfall whispering in the background.

Tomorrow: more Osa Mountain adventures and DEFINITELY some pool time.

Ama Tierra

Ama Tierra, outside of Puriscal, Costa Rica
Thursday,  April 19, 2012

By Costa Rican time, our alarm went off at 2:15 this morning. Quick breakfast and last-minute packing, then off to the airport for blissfully uneventful flights.

Once in San José, all that changed. There was an accident near the airport, so the shuttle that was coming to take us to the car rental place was seriously delayed. After we eventually got there, they did  not have any GPS’s for us also thanks to the accident. The one we were supposed to have was in a car that was to be picked up at a hotel, and the guy hadn’t even gotten to the hotel yet. So we headed out into Costa Rica with just a map and our wits. Since I get carsick if I read in a moving vehicle, I drove and Mick was the navigator.

It actually is not as bad driving here as I feared it would be. In many ways, it’s like driving on Maui was. Once I got used to it, it was fine.  Our first landing spot is Ama Tierra, a gorgeous yoga retreat center south and west of San José. Dinner is pretty soon and we are having fresh-caught tuna, barely seared. After that, I don’t think we’ll be up too much later since it’s been a LONG day.

Hasta mañana.