Saturday

Our Austin friends, Mike and Lisa, were still here and after learning about the dengue outbreak on the southern portion of the peninsula, we opted to take a travel day and head north instead. Samara was our destination, with a few notable spots to check out in between.

As many of you might already know, before landing in Costa Rica, I had spent two years having Coffee With A Stranger and writing up my experience on this blog. I do intend to get back to some version of that, but in the meantime I am doing the weekly CR recap. I bring Coffee With A Stranger up because it’s significant in how we got to this spot. Here are the strangers that got us to this opportunity: Houston friend Jon Campbell introduced me to Cup 5, Steve Harper, who introduced me to Cup 55, Joey McGirr, who introduced me to Cup 59, Brad Closson who introduced me to Cup 72, Mike Leamon who introduced me to his girlfriend Lisa, who introduced me to this house-sitting opportunity. Being open to conversations with total strangers WILL change your life – that I assure you! Though I’m on a temporary hiatus from writing up official recaps of my chats with strangers, I still practice what I preach and strongly encourage others to do so as well!

OK, back to our fun travel day. Any travel story I share while living on the Nicoya Penninsula will start exactly the same way. “We set out on rutted, pothole-laden, gravel road that would make even the bravest adventurer a bit squeamish in spots and would leave anyone with even the slightest inclination toward motion sickness bent over on the side of the road.” It is what it is, and this day was no different. Akin to sea legs on a boat, I suppose, after bouncing along for 15 minutes or so, you get your bearings and settle in.

On the way, we were treated to some incredible vista views of coves and beaches and even a small waterfall right along the road. We stopped in Playa Islita for a bathroom break and walked along the beach for a break. I found some incredible pieces of driftwood that I have decided will someday be crafted into something Pinterest worthy. Just wait, you’ll see!

Further into our journey, we had our first opportunity at a river crossing. This is a badge of honor, it seems, in the area. When you return from certain trips, everyone wants to know, “Did you cross the river?” Your success depends on a few factors – the amount of rain lately, the tides and your risk tolerance. We are proud to say, thanks to Mike’s courage and water smarts, we successfully crossed the river, in a vehicle. Check!

Once in Samara we walked to the beach and found a spot for lunch. Just as we were enjoying a cold beer, something interesting began unfolding on the beach in front of us. What we pieced together from the waiter and through observation, Samara used to be a very big fishing village. Every year they had a ceremony to bless the ocean and the fisherman. In the hopes of earning them favor and thus more fish in their nets, they sent a statue of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus out to sea for the blessing and then the boats brought her back to the beach where she was met by a a pair of tasseled Oxen pulling a cart carrying a woman and a young girl, each wearing a crown or tiara. Mary was placed into the front seat and carefully strapped in and then the oxen pulled the cart and it’s precious cargo away. Can you imagine our delight at the timing? We just happened to be there right at the moment of this very special annual blessing. Remarkable!

After doing a bit of grocery shopping, we headed back to Playa Islita (and back through the river) to visit the Ara Project, a Macaw sanctuary. At 3pm each day, you can arrange a tour and get to see the feeding of the Macaws. We missed the detail of prearranging the visit, but luckily, we were able to walk around a bit and visit with a young volunteer who was in her second week at the sanctuary. We’ll go back another time to get the full tour and definitely suggest it to travelers passing through.

Sunday

The morning offered some nice birdwatching where I got to see the infamous mot mot, a beautiful bird with a fun little dangly tail feather, which brings back memories of that time I thought I was cool and got some dangly feathers in my hair. Yes, very cool, right? Come to think of it, I now want a hot pink streak in my hair. What is up with that? And more importantly, where can I find someone in CR with hot pink hair dye! 🙂

Our neighbor, Mike (AKA Butterfly Mike) does a two hour Butterfly Tour on his property. As he admits, he uses the butterflies to lure you in, but he fact is, he’s a venerable encyclopedia on all things insect – particularly, bees. A super fun part of the tour was sampling the varieties of honey from the bees he keeps on his property. Who knew there was so much variety and that honey was not only so delicious, but packed full of health benefits. Rock on, bees! Fun fact about moi – Melissa is greek for honeybee. No wonder I had such a good time.

After butterflies, we headed back to the beach to watch the World Cup final and to catch some more surf. We had a great time and Mike and Lisa had a chance to meet a bunch of our pals – which was very cool. The fact that it’s just a few weeks in and we already have a social circle is fortunate and fantastic! A early dinner finished out the day and we returned home ready to relax on the patio. But as we should know in Costa Rica, expect the unexpected.

We pulled up to the house and almost immediately, we all noticed something was odd. The house was covered with black lines – highways of army ants. Crap! I had been warned this would happen, at some point. And when it did, the best course of action was to leave for several hours and when you returned, the ants would have moved along.  Well, it was getting dark, we had guests and very little time to figure out a plan. So Lisa and Mike headed to their cabin – which was ant free, and Dave and I got into our room and sprayed a barricade of Raid around the doors and windows to keep the biters out. For a moment, I had visions of my poor chickens being eaten by the ants, and went out to rescue them. A quick search on Google and Dave decided they would be fine. On my way into the house, I got two bites – which is the precise number of bites you need to decide to avoid any more at all costs. OUCH!

Monday

We woke and the ants were gone. Woo hoo! And so were most of the other bugs. Even the scorpions the troops of ants had chased up the walls were nowhere to be found. Victory!

Mike and Lisa were headed North to Tamarindo, and we’d be saying goodbye to them today. Do you have friends who are super easy to have around and who you never get tired of hanging out and chatting with? Mike and Lisa are those friends. Super fun to spend time with and we were really bummed out when they headed down our drive. For two people who dig their privacy and solitude, that’s saying a lot.

We weren’t alone for long though. Alex and Emmie, two young California surfers, popped in for iced lattes and a chat. Always something or someone new around here. Quite possibly my favorite detail.  They were headed to Malpais, and though we felt bad, we decided we should at least share what we had learned about the dengue outbreak. They were quite grateful and we helped them modify their travel plans to avoid the area.

Neighbors Hank and Marie called to invite us to dinner at Laguna Mar and we were happy to have yet another entry on the social calendar. We enjoyed drinks and sunset at their place first and then off for a yummy dinner. Conversation was interesting, as always, and again we ended the day grateful for all the fun connections we were making.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning was spent dealing with a septic issue. Good times! Hey, I said every day brought a new adventure and lessons to be learned. I never promised they’d always be fun. I will spare you the details. But let’s just say I was in a bit of a crappy mood – until I looked up and saw a young woman standing on my porch.

It was 9am and she was inquiring about coffee. Um, sure thing. Yes, we have coffee, what can I make for you? I was a bit caught off guard because normally guests show up in a car and I have a few minutes to get it together. No car this time. How did this girl get here? I wondered to myself. She went on to tell me the coffee wasn’t for her. It was for her boyfriend who was currently laying at the end of my driveway. The pair was traveling on bike and were having a very rough morning. She said she hoped coffee might cheer him, and was on a mission to find something to make him smile.

Oh, for goodness sake. Yes, you can have some coffee. Get him up here and I’ll get started fixing it.

For the next five hours, Dan, Gina, Dave and I sat, talking about life, travel and adventures. You will not believe the incredible journey this pair is on. They are riding their bikes from Cancun, Mexico to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The trip will take them 1.5-2 years and when they made it to our porch, they were on Day 50.

Obviously drained and feeling down, we spent some time chatting about diet. Dave did the math and figured they were burning at least 3000 calories a day, and only consuming around 1800. Protein bars had been harder to come by (and more expensive) than they imagined and they quickly grew tired of beans. Currently, they were on a peanut butter and banana rolled up in a tortilla kick. A complicating factor was the relatively extreme budget they are on. We weren’t surprised to hear that CR was the most expensive country they’d experienced thus far.  The peanut butter alone will set you back $7 here.

We laughed, we ate, we shared. And though I know we could have easily spent another five hours doing more of the same, we knew the road ahead was calling our new friends and they needed to get some more miles behind them. We exchanged blog information so we could each keep up with each others’ adventures, and as we were about to say goodbye, Gina offered us the most special gift. She pulled out an old rusty horseshoe that they’d discovered and been carrying for miles. She said it had brought them good luck and she hoped it would do the same for us. Truly, I can’t begin to explain how much the gift meant to me. I will keep it forever. Or until someone else comes along who needs it more than I do.

***If you want to learn more about Dan and Gina and their big adventure, check out their website. They even wrote a blog post featuring their visit with us. Check it out!

Wednesday

A pretty quiet day, in total. Jonathan was here, but not feeling well. He’d stopped by on Monday to let us know, and from what Dave understood, he’d been bit by a spider and the doctor told him he needed to stay out of the sun while taking his medicine. Yikes! No problemo! Today he was feeling better, but still not 100%.

Much like the days of my grandparents, when you always keep a pot of coffee on and some baked treats in the freezer, we are always ready for drop in customers or visits from neighbors.

Today brought a nice visit from neighbor Patty. She brought me some cuttings of plants from her gardens and told me all about chaya, a huge leafy green that, once the toxins are cooked out of it, makes a lovely green side dish. Dave was slightly reluctant to have a taste of the chaya later that night, but he relented and we were both pleasantly surprised. I cooked it with some onion, garlic and fresh beets and have to say, it was pretty tasty! Plus, anything grown in your own yard, or your neighbor’s, earns culinary bonus points in my book!

Thursday

Jonathan was back again and feeling good. He surprised me by suggesting that he go get some fertilized eggs from his mom and put under our little red hen.  Dave and I had both been feeling bad taking the eggs she’d accumulated out from under her each day. And when Mike and Lisa were here, Lisa also felt bad. We all worried we were dashing her motherhood dreams. Jonathan must have sensed our angst, so together, we were going to let the little momma fulfill her wish.

We marked the eggs with a piece of burnt wood and put them under her. She was totally down with the entire experience and after just a few moments of scratching her hay around to create a little nest, she puffed her tiny self up, almost doubling her size and gently sat down covering all six of the eggs we’d presented her with.  Nicely done, wee hen! In 20 or so days, we should be welcoming some little chicks into the world. So stay tuned for that!

Dave had a bit of a scare today. Somehow, it’s always poor Dave on the receiving end of the big, nasty critter scares. First, the Coral snake (which thankfully ended up being a dead False Coral), next the scorpion that charged him and today, a big, huge, nasty spider. I consider a spider over 1″ to fall into the “huge” category, but this guy was a solid 6″ and will likely grow with each telling of the story. Dave would be the first to admit his reaction was dramatic. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say Jonathan assumed Dave had been bit by the thing, based on the reaction. We were all relieved that he’d not been bit, and then Jonathan told Dave that if he had, he would have had an hour to get to the hospital. Considering, on a good day, we are at least an 1.5 hours from the nearest hospital, we will be triple checking every bag, box or board we pick up from now on. I suggest you do the same.

With Dave escaping the deadly spider bite, I dealt with my increased cortisol levels like any good human does, by baking. I plucked a few lemons from my big old lemon tree, and whipped up some seriously fabulous lemon cookies.

Neighbor Wendy, who had been traveling since my arrival, finally paid us a visit – and just in time. She got to sample the yummy treats for herself, and, thanks to a recipe from my friend Jill (via Martha Stewart), I also made some delicious, tropical cocktails to welcome her.

Friday

Big day!

Today, neighbors Hank and Marie were heading into town and offered to take Dave and I along.  Patty joined in on the fun and we headed out – as you now know, the same way every adventure begins – We set out on a rugged, pothole laden road… We made all the stops in Carmona! The bank, the muni (short for municipalities – where you go if you need to pay taxes, get permits, or generally have a day to kill standing around, shuffling from line to line.) We hit the home goods store (which I PROMISE to write about another time, complete with pictures!), the agriveterinario (animal supplies) to get some parasite meds for little momma hen, the ferreteria (the hardware store) where we picked up some saran verde (green plastic) to keep the chickens out of our little garden.

Then we moved along to Nicoya where the first stop was the Bebeteria – and how thrilled was I to discover this little gem. Fresh fruit juices/smoothies are HUGE in CR. The guy that runs the stand in Nicoya is a juice-making rock star! For about $1.75 we got the most nutritious, delicious 20 oz. of happiness in a mug! I would make the trip for the juice alone!

Fridays are Farmer’s Market Days in Nicoya, so we stocked up on fresh produce before hitting the MaxiPali (not the name of the latest gotta-have dress or a 90’s R&B singer, but the local mega super store). Here you will find everything you need. Not necessarily because they have everything – but because if they don’t, then you can’t get it and are out of luck. Nothing like the US where buying, say, a tube of toothpaste presents dozens upon dozens of options. Add to that the fact that I can’t really read the labels, yet and you are left with – do you want the blue one or the green one? Fewer options – really not such a bad thing.

This week, like the others before it, was full of new faces, places and challenges. It was so wonderful to have visitors from home and to get our first shot at being the “local experts”. But it was harder to say goodbye to them than it is to the random folks who stop in.

We are making shifts. We are moving away from the private, solitude-seeking people we had a tendency to be, and are now always ready for and open to guests walking in the door. We are enjoying finding our place in our new community, while keeping the ties strong to those back home.

Old friends and new friends – both are welcome, loved and will always have a seat at our table. Well, except those with eight legs. We’ve gotta draw the line somewhere.

In case you missed Week 1, Week 2, or Week 3 of the big Costa Rica Adventure – you might want to go back and get caught up. If you’re curious how this adventure began, we created a FAQ to cover most of your burning questions. If we missed one, leave it in the comments below and I’ll do my best to get you an answer.

Thanks for your support and for reading the blog. We hope you are enjoying the journey as much as we are. Feel free to share with your peeps – we love new readers and friends!