Punta Banco: Where the World Ends

The beach we went to today is about a 45 or more minute drive.  That means its probably like 10 miles away ;)  It is one of the coolest places I've ever seen.  The beach juts out and as you look south it looks like there is nothing beyond the spot your standing on but ocean.  There are huge hills with dense forest right along the beach.  When you go at low tide you can walk along the rocks and check out all the tide pools.  The best part is that aside from some surfers there's almost no one else there.  It is amazing.
Once again some road "paving" added a little excitement to the drive.  I am pretty sure when I backed up to let a truck by only 3 of my tires were actually on level ground and one was over a ditch.  Hooray for 4WD once again.  I don't know how these cars keep running.

Full moon

AMAZING

Chilling in the tide pools

Looking north towards the surfers

A creature of some sort. 

Swimming

Backup Has Arrived: Picking Up Mom in Golfito

So I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty that if I were stranded with my kids on a tropical island day 10 would be the point where I take my chances with sharks and go swim for help.  The girls have been real troopers and generally speaking get along pretty well together, but after we passed the one week mark it was becoming kind of an overwhelming amount of quality time.  At home we have preschool, the Y, and completely pointless errands to get us out and around others.  Here we have been together pretty much non-stop.  I am not a patient person to begin with and that was not improving.  I suppose I should just be thankful that this year we not only have separate beds, but also separate rooms.  Anyway...All is well now because mom has arrived and now the girls can direct their attention to another adult :)  Hooray!

We made a once again successful journey time-wise to the “nearby” airport.  I believe I checked the odometer and it was about a 45 km journey that took us a little under an hour and a half.  Can’t beat that right?  They had thankfully filled in some potholes with small boulders, so we cruised along at a good 20km per hour on the unpaved stretches.  We left before the sun came up, which caused only a small moment of questioning when the road forked around a palm forrest.  Thankfully I chose wisely. 

The airport is truly a sight as is the airstrip.  The entire area that the airport is in is sort of fascinating.  My understanding is that it was a huge port for shipping bananas.  I can’t remember the exact story of how it sort of fell.  Now the airport and duty-free shopping seem to be the big draws. We treated ourselves to an amazing breakfast as a reward for early morning travel.  No dollars accepted at the restaurant, but thankfully credit cards were welcome. 

At the end of what seemed like the longest day in the world, perhaps because it began at 430am, we attended a fiesta at the pool.  Although by 400pm we were sort of dragging it was totally worth it.  The little girls at the party treated Lottie sort of like a pool toy and carried her around in the water.  It was pretty adorable.  Watching kids communicate when they don’t speak the same language is pretty priceless.  The girls managed to stick it out until dark playing with their new friends in the pool.  I just have to say again how amazingly kind all of the people here have been to us. 

Today now that there was someone else to help prod the girls along we actually went for a short walk before heading to the beach.  It is just amazing to look out over the hills here.  The views are stunning and even in the dry season it is beautiful.  There was a lot of complaining about the bugs and temperature, but the flowers at the top of the hill seemed to make up for it a little. 

Did I mention is poured down rain at the beginning of the party yesterday?  As far as I’m aware that’s pretty unseasonable for late February.  I’ll still take it pretty gladly over the weather at home!!!!

Poison dart frog on the front porch.  I found him when I went to feed the dogs.

This is what vacation should look like.

Not napping, but we'll take quiet time.

Making stuff with playdoh and waiting for banana bread to cool.

This is how they "patch" potholes.

I seriously HATE this bridge.  I had nightmares about it before we came.

Here comes Mia!!!!

Making friends.

Waiting for us on the porch at night.

Costa Rican Construction "Detours"

I am completely serious when I say I have lost track of days.  I am undecided as to whether that’s good or bad.  It might not work out so well for people depending on me to retrieve them from airports ;)  I spent the whole morning thinking today was Thursday and when I looked at my phone I had to text Dan to be sure that it wasn’t playing a trick on me.  I guess that’s what happens when life revolves around beaches and beautiful scenery.  Must be tough right?
The big excitement for this morning was going to swim in another river.  This time we found a Scarlet Macaw in the trees right near where we went swimming.  The river itself is very low, which I assume because we are here in the dry season.  It was also crawling with tadpoles and itty bitty little frogs.  The girls entertained themselves trying to catch them.  I tried to take deep breaths and not be completely creeped out by the thought of all these little creatures swimming right around me.  Sometimes I really wonder how I ended up down here.  I appreciate nature, but generally speaking like it more from a distance.  I get incredibly stressed by my kids being dirty, and that’s pretty much a constant state for them down here.  It’s always good to challenge yourself right?  There are all sorts of rules that don’t apply down here.  I eat vegetables and watermelon, both of which I avoid like the plague at home.  I live with geckos and bugs inside the house and don't bother trying to get them out.  I also accepted that my children would not be washing their hands before lunch even though they’d just been touching tadpoles.  GROSS!!!! 
On the way back from our swim we met with a slight roadblock.  I should’ve known when on the way they were dumping dirt onto the roads that things might not be passable on our return.  Conveniently there was a large pile right at the start of a “bridge.”  I briefly considered turning on the 4WD and seeing if we could make it.  I then remembered that I do in fact value my life and my children’s.  The thought of driving off a bridge ranks up there with some of my other greatest fears, so we backed up.  All I could think of was last year when a work crew tried to tell us to basically ford a river as a detour.  Luckily this time is was just a matter of heading down a slightly narrower dirt road and driving around.  Had I been thinking clearly I’d have taken some pictures ;)

I know we looked this up last year but I have no clue what it is.  Similar to eating a pomegranate but very different taste.

Reading in the morning.

Sleeping in...till 630 ;)

Macaw

TONS of tadpoles.

Swimming with Iguanas

Had we found this on our own I'd have turned right back around to go home!

I promptly reminded the girls about our "no touching the animals" rule.

Hooray for cookies!!!  Gotta have a treat after the beans and rice :)

Curled up with a good book.

Writing to friend back home.  Check out the bananas!!!

This morning I thought there wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary about today.  After a peaceful night free of dog drama we woke up to a lovely breakfast of homemade banana bread.  I also tried making cookies and they weren’t too bad.  I am pretty certain this is the first time I’ve ever made cookies without any kind of mixer.  I guess now its time to go off the grid and throw away my kitchenaid when I get home.  HaHa!  NOT!!!  I plan to be buried with that sucker! 
Anyway...My plans had been the beach but we got a little sidetracked and Gabby was dying to play with some other kids, so pool it was.  And that’s when I realized there is never an “ordinary” day here.  In the pool was what at first looked like a dead iguana.  When a more brave person than I went to scoop it out we realized it was very much not dead.  I am hear to tell you those suckers can really move in the water!  After being fished out another brave soul graciously held it up for pictures.  Thankfully that was about as exciting as the day got :) 

Two Toucan Toesday

Anyday that starts with spotting two toucans has to be a good one right?  The morning quickly got better when the woman who cleans here showed up with her nail painting supplies!!!  I am quite certain Grace is most definitely on a list of nicest people I have ever met. Her family was the one that graciously let us tag along to the river on Sunday.  We all got our nails done.  How she managed to paint beautiful flowers on Lottie's teeny tiny toes is completely beyond me.  Also beyond me is how she didn't request that I lock my kids in a closet since they spent the entire morning pestering her while she cleaned.  Truly if the beautiful scenery, tasty fruit and weather don't do it for you then the kind people here will.  I tried to take the girls to the beach but it ended up being a car ride for a nap instead.  We ended the day (at around 530pm) as it started with 2 toucans in the tree, and some fresh banana bread.  Once I figure out how to keep the baking soda from clumping in the humidity we will be in good shape!!  Story time and movie time begins at 600 in hopes we'll be in bed by 730 :)  These kids, even the evilest one, sleep like champs down here.

I am pretty much used to the smaller ones of these.  This one was waiting for me in the morning and was bigger than my hand :(  I just realized that these things are making the noise I couldn't identify in the house. 

teeny tiny toes ;)  BEAUTIFUL!

Caught it!

Truly lovely painting.  My hands maybe not so much.

This is what happens when you spill watermelon all over.  This is why we eat outside.

Awesomeness!

Cows on the Beach at Pilon

Two things I most certainly never learned in school are Spanish and what to do when a wandering heard of cattle interrupt your picnic at the beach.  Both of these things have made me feel completely incompetent in the last 24 hours.  So the Spanish has probably been an issue for more like the past 4 days.   The cows were a new level of ignorance.  The girls thankfully napped on the quick drive to the beach and when they finally woke up I noticed a cow as I was getting them out of the car.  I figured if I left it alone we’d be all good.  I got them all set up on a towel with their lunch and then I noticed there were at least a dozen cows.  I realized my initial assumption that they’d stay off the beach lived up to the rule about assumptions.  I made the girls eat quick and we relocated slightly further down the beach.  All was well for a while and then I noticed that the cows had moved further down and were now coming down onto the beach and heading our direction.  I thought maybe the all-purpose noise that the dog whisperer uses would shoo them away.  Then I worried that they’d think I was challenging them and charge me and my innocent children.  I instead decided that walking in water up to our knees and avoiding eye contact would be a better approach.  A couple of them started making cow noises which made me a little nervous.  Like any good parent in a nervous state I have now probably instilled in my daughters a lifelong fear of bovine :(  We’ll call this today’s failure.  Luckily a nice man with some very cute dogs and a rope came by and ushered his cattle back into their pasture.  The girls were quite relieved I was able to go collect our sunscreen and shell collection that I’d intended to sacrifice to the pending stampede. 
Todays major wins include scarlet macaws flying past during dinner and the tasty dinner itself!!!!  Homemade guacamole and of course the ever popular beans and rice.  I also threw in some homemade chips just for added nutritional value.  HaHa.

living it up in the ocean

lovely sandwiches on homemade bread

Help with the dishes?

Since when do cows like salt water?

Right behind my perfect shady picnic spot :(

Back Online!!!

Ok so I suppose if inconsistent internet access is the worst problem I have on this trip then I really can't complain.  I feel like I have been in some kind of withdrawal.  Was there really a world before google and FaceTime???? 
So yesterday in an effort to save my children's skin, mine is probably a lost cause at this point, we stuck to the pool.  I am pretty sure this was the worst idea ever.  At least when we go to the beach we get in a short car nap on the way to or from.  The pool just requires walking back and forth on a gravel road with two tired kids.  I informed them after a couple tantrums that we'd not be returning to the pool till another adult arrives.  Who knew taking two kids to the beach on my own would be simpler than a pool?
Much to our delight the fruit and vegetable man arrived in the afternoon.  We stocked up on bananas, watermelon, avacados etc.  I generally ignore all things financial but I must say the change in the value of the dollar has finally hit home to me.  I think the exchange rate used to be close to 530 colones per dollar and I believe now most places use 490:(  Cry me a river right?
The girls were flat out exhausted by dinner.  The little devil child threw a tantrum and went and curled up in one of the beds we aren't currently using while I was cooking.  This called for an evening wind down with The Princess and the Frog.  My dear eldest child is desperate to befriend all the people who work on the Finca and begged Freddy to watch the movie with us ;)  He broke it to her gently that he had to go home.
The girls were gone asleep by like 700 pm as usual.  We have two gorgeous dogs who stay by our house who last night about gave me a heart attack.  They told me it was good to have the dogs for security.  Last night in the middle of the night these two dogs and it sounded like 100 others were going completely insane right outside our windows.  My initial irrational thought was that surely some criminal was about to break in.  I then reminded myself that I am not at home and so my second irrational thought was that a jaguar was certainly outside ready to jump through the window and maul me.  Neither of these were the case.  This morning I was informed that the dogs were chasing a stray cow or horse.  I also saw a light come up and heard the gate close, which was apparently Freddy coming to fix the problem.  That had almost scared me more than the dogs.  Somehow my children slept through this whole drama.  How its possible that Lottie never sleeps through the night at home, but is completely oblivious to this ruckus all of 5 feet from her room is COMPLETELY beyond me.  I guess once again this is not something to complain about? 

Crafts while mom makes breakfast! 

The "baby" pool

Just some perspective on driving.  That in front of me is a "bridge."  Across the bridge is a truck full of horses.  They were kind enough to move so I could pass.

A fancy bridge

heading through the mts

Here's hoping the internet holds out!!!!!  We are on our way to the beach again today and then home for more beans and rice and fruit this evening :D  If you don't hear from us for a while it's because the technology isn't holding up.  No worries!

Technology Woes

Want some?

Loving the beach

Sand bath?

Pancakes = success!  Bread not so much, but I'll take small victories.

Playing peacefully

At the playa

Eating Costa Rican Apples!!!!  Freshly picked.

Breathtaking!

This is probably right before she got knocked over with a stray ball.  Oops!

Beautiful watch made from palms!!!!

Seriously beat after a day in the river and at a soccer game.

Eating outdoors is a must!  Great scenery and keeps the bugs outside.

Not a bad view right?

Greatest purchase ever.  Power is sometimes not a guarantee in the evening ;)

Toucan right outside our door!!!!

So the internet is not quite working as I had planned.  This is pretty devastating to me because it means I can’t look up things like whether ants eat salt.  I really needed to know if salt also needed to be crammed into the fridge along with pretty much every other grocery I purchased.  I was also kind of hoping to be able to google recipes and such.  Luckily there is an over thermometer here so I was able to figure out some Celsius to Farenheit conversions and thus we are not starving.  I am lucky I can figure out the monetary exchange rates.  Converting temperatures is asking too much. 

So I’ll start with the major failures for today.  There is a close tie for first between not applying sun screen to my already crispy skin and not getting my camera out of the car to take pictures of the girls playing in a river today.  I know my lack of sunscreen comes as little shock to anyone who knows my obsession with tanning, but forgetting the sunscreen and the camera were more a matter of unclear plans based on my pathetic Spanish.  Perhaps I should also include the unfortunate side affects of antibiotics on Lottie’s tummy, but I don’t want to be the person who talks to much about their kids toileting issues :(  Let’s just say in a place where bathrooms are not as readily available such issues are a little more stressful.

I’ll move on to the day’s successes.  After a morning of peacefully playing, coloring and reading books together, which was a marked improvement over the previous day, the girls and I were invited to head to the beach with the family who cares for the property here.  I believe plans were changed from playa to rio after they saw the state of my children’s skin.  I will not be using that stupid spray sunscreen anymore :(  Our hostess road in the car with us, and it was a lovely lesson in communication for me.  As stated my Spanish is probably similar to that of a Dora-obsessed preschooler, and yet I managed to converse with her the entire 30 plus minute car ride.  I was even able to “translate” some of what the girls were trying to tell her.  I think I may have doubled my vocabulary. 

At the “river,” which was more of a stream, the girls were entertained by our host’s son catching teeny tiny shrimp.  The shade and cool water was definitely preferable for their sunburns.  After the river, and this is where sunscreen would’ve been helpful, we went and sat at a soccer game.  The girls were once again thrilled to cover themselves in sand, which just about makes me crazy.  Truly I don’t understand how it’s enjoyable to rub sand all over.  Not to mention the sand here pretty much turns you black.  They were then completely fascinated by the “crafts” being made out of palms by our host’s son.  It was pretty wonderful to see how happy they were to play together, despite some significant language barriers. 

Tonight officially marked the first dinner of black beans and rice.  I would like to add rice cooker to the list of greatest things since sliced bread.  I feel like I have been cheated pretty badly that this was my first experience with one!  And now let the frijoles con arroz marathon begin.  Once the fruit man comes up the road tomorrow we will be throwing down with some pina and bananas!!!!!