OUR RETIRED ADVENTURE
qUEREMOS VIVIR AL SOL
KSha
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
You might have guessed it from the lead-in; no salsa dancing Friday night (Too bad 'cuz my salsa girl was ready to go!). But that didn't stop us from again enjoying the sushi at the Garden bar. Norm and Karen joined us a little later with their friends visiting them from Florida. We had a very nice time visiting and tried not to talk about too much "adult stuff" as it can get your blood pumping in the wrong direction. A quick "Pura Vida" reset the mood to perfection. I think Sha worked a deal with Teresa (our waitress) for the happy hour price on our wine. That good of a deal was hard to pass up; I might have forgotten to say, whoa. I greeted the day later than normal on Saturday; however no harm, no foul. A lazy Saturday morning breakfast; some fruit and avocado toast with an egg topper was excellent! We both decided that going for a walk today was overrated; so we passed and got ready for the pool. As we got in the water, I was hoping the clouds would break up and give a nice day. That hope was dashed as the rain began in earnest several minutes later. Norm was just coming out to walk his dogs (they have two) as the rain started. The pool cabana was our refuge as the rain came down. We caught quickly up on the day's activities-Norm updated us on his doings, as mine, to this point in the day didn't require a lot of explanation. As we enjoyed the rain, Norm asked us if we wanted to join him and Karen on a trip to Matapalo beach for the afternoon. Now, you may think that during a rain storm it may not be the best time to plan an afternoon at the beach; but you'd be wrong! "We'll show you some cool things in the area, and we think you'll love the beautiful beach. Plus if it's unpleasant at the beach we'll come back home". Well we couldn't pass up that offer, so we came upstairs and packed our beach bag and headed out a half hour later (rain was still coming down, but had lightened up a little). The Information Department didn't disappoint as we drove along the curvy roads in the rain. Karen pointed out the places to know as we drove, and what would be good to order at most of them. We got the directions, pointing out the roads for different housing developments, as well all the info that you don't find in the travel guides! Norm is quite good at missing the potholes and puddles that dotted the road along our path and navigated us like a pro to a dirt road that Karen pointed to for us to turn onto. You may recall that NGG and I have always loved turning onto the "dirt road" to find wonderful places. Turns out that Norm and Karen are of the same cloth! This dirt road didn't appear to have a clear destination until we saw a clearing in the trees and saw sky...then the beach and ocean! We continued on a tiny path along the beach and parked under some trees right on the beach! The below slideshow with captions gives you an idea of the good time we had! Norm and I shore fished, I snorkeled and spotted a stingray and a little sardine along the shoreline; also saw a fish about a foot long jump straight out of the water to a height of 10 or more feet and drop back into the water! Amazing! We all took a walk down the beach and ended the afternoon with our chairs in the sand with the incoming tide tickling our toes as we just sat and enjoyed the view. A stop at the MegaSuper to take advantage of sale items of the day on the return home was beneficial to us all.
Our day was not complete yet as the inaugural CRST (Costa Rican Shanghai Tournament) took place a few hours later that evening. Marie and Eric, who are owners in the adjacent building, their daughter Elise and Lucie a friend came over to "our place" for a card party at 7 PM. We had found out at the pool in previous days that Lucy was itching to play cards and so we organized a gathering. Sha previewed how much fun our family has playing Shanghai so we made sure we had enough decks of cards and the date was set. We taught, practiced, laughed, played and had a blast! Eric was the low champion with 40 points (darn good score-especially for a rookie!). Zero documentation was done by the blog-boy...chalk it up to nervous about hosting the card party. I will have a chance to redeem myself--everyone had so much fun that we will be gathering at Marie and Eric's condo on Monday for the second round! Well, after a slow start, we had a super great Saturday! Just a reminder...WhatsApp communication is free anywhere in the world! Pura Vida!!
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Everything is green during the green season. We were woke up this morning, not by the howlers or the birds, but the pouring rain. NGG shot the early morning video for you. I'm checking and it looks like our pool water level rose a couple of inches today. For you metric math wizards that'd be about 5 cm (5.08 cm exactly is 2")! Stay in school people!
The grounds at our condo are really beautiful, and well kept. The pictures above are just a sampling of the flora around our pool. I believe we have a least 5 different kinds of palm trees; and everywhere that people don't drive on or walk on is green with some type of plant or tree. NGG has expressed her disappointment that I haven't shared the beauty of our complex; the walkways around the other buildings and second pool are enjoyable to traverse and I don't want my daily passages to dull my appreciation of its beauty. So, I will be a better sharer. The big rain this morning altered or normal daily routine--no walk as after a brief pause, the rains came down again...so after breakfast we watched a movie! We finished lunch to bright sunshine and headed to the pool for several hours of hot floating in our pool. I had to get some of these photos to you as our lazy day progresses. We have plans to hit the market later--need some more tomatoes and tangerines. You may recall that the salsa lessons are also on Friday nights; so we will engaging in this activity with some of our neighbors from the complex. Hoping to better represent the bald salsa community this week! FYI, new members are always welcome! As new thunder is rolling in the distance, I have received notice that the CRCT afternoon session has been officially called to order. I lost 5 games in a row before I finally won one yesterday, jeez. Sha is up 16-14 games. Come on Kev! Pura Vida!! Three rain showers dotted our Wednesday; but we seemed like we knew what we were doing because none of our plans were squashed by the weather. Our morning walk and trip to the Supercompro was ending as the first light rain began. An hour or so later we had sun and headed for the pool. About the time I was ready for lunch it lightly began to rain, and as we made lunch it was coming down good. Afternoon cribbage had me down 3 games to nil! Poop! We were both excited for our dinner plans to grill on Wednesday. While on our trip to "the big city" of Liberia with Norm and Karen, we stopped at what is now my favorite store in all of Costa Rica--I don't even remember the name of the place. They sell meat. A customer completing his purchase greeted us as we came in with, "Welcome to heaven". I thought, that's a pretty good endorsement to be tossing out to a stranger. Nicaraguan grass-fed beef was in a variety of cuts and packaging. A 2 kilo ribeye roast ended up in our bag, as well as a skirt steak and some breakfast sausages. We cut the ribeye roast into 7 half inch steaks and couldn't wait until Wednesday's grilling. Sha masterfully sauteed a bunch of mushrooms while I was grilling some potatoes and our steaks. I am not sure that I have ever had a better steak! Sha was of the same mind, and we ranted and raved as we ate. We are still talking about it a day later. We were feeling pretty good after that and might have had a little warm feeling from the wine, so we hopped on down to the pool in the dark--it was 7:30 PM. That was the way to cap off a great day! Came up to relax as the third rain shower came shortly after we got comfortable in front of the TV.
The howlers had NGG up before the sun and she nudged me to appreciate with her the sounds of the calls, the birds chattering and sound of the surf in the distance. We had coffee/tea and then some breakfast as we planned our daily walk. I have to report that I inaccurately claimed we had walked to the next town over, Ocotal, during our first couple of days here. Norm and Karen, our local guides and information center were talking with us and we realized that we hadn't walked there as we were talking about the surrounding area. So, guess where we decided to walk to today? Yep. Sha had the map out and we checked our path and felt pretty good about our plans. The map said 55 minutes to get there; ok, I wasn't that scared... We were familiar with the first part as we've walked it multiple times. As we got to the new section of road to travel I was eyeing the landmarks and any signs that popped up here and there. Don't remember if we have had the talk about Costa Rican signs or directions... Sidewalks are a luxury and do not exist once you move away from the main road of Coco. So, you walk on the edge of the road, or on the "shoulder" if there is enough flat ground next to the road. Potholes, and water puddles create obstacles that you need to weave in and out of. It's active walking, if there is that sort of thing. Have you ever seen a bald guy that's dripping sweat from EVERY inch of his body? Ask Sha what that looks like from behind...I shutter to think! We were enjoying the sights and scenery as we walked and as we continued we tried to confirm we going the right way. Sha made the brilliant comment that it didn't matter if we ended up somewhere else, because the destination was the adventure. We kept walking, stopped for a water break, and kept walking. Each turn in the road had us both looking to see if we were getting closer; but the road continued on. As the bald guy was running out of gas (knowing I had to turn around and walk back!), we saw a sign that read 1.9 km to some business--I was delirious and can't remember the name. I told Sha I didn't think I could make it that far...so we halted and turned around to head back the way we came. It wasn't until we hit the main road in Coco and got on the Horse Trail shortcut that I was sure I could make it home. I was surprised I made up the stairs to our condo. One hour and 56 minutes from when we left! We both said--"55 minutes, we should've been there!" The morning pool time never felt so good. We relayed our excursion with Norm and Karen and figured out that we were fairly close to our intended destination (Karen's brother lives on that road so they are familiar with it). Tired but enjoying another great day in paradise! Pura Vida! Word of mouth information from our downstairs neighbors had us realize that there was a road with a "hill" that was quite a climb just down the road from us that went up into the hillside community. We got the "turn right after end of the complexes" directions..."if you pass the Mar Azul restaurant; you're on the right road". There was partial instructions about following a dirt road; and as we were walking, we kept going when we hit the dirt road (not realizing at the time it wasn't THE dirt road and that we should have turned). We were seeing the front view of the houses we had seen from the beach a few days ago on this road so we were enjoying our choice at the time. We thought we had navigated properly when we saw a road going up. After about 700 meters of a 20 degree angle up, we ran out of road at someone's driveway--dang, back down to the dirt road. Now decision, back the way we came or keep going on the dirt road...dirt road won. We were just about to turn around when we saw a sign for "Lookout Road". This had the look of the "hill" we were looking for--50 degree incline as it started up. I got out my mental protractor; and I don't think I'm exaggerating. We labored (maybe just me) up the first 100 meters to a sharp turn and stopped to rest and get a shot of agua. We meandered up another 400 meters and were forced to stop; again a driveway--end of this line! Back down we go. Carefully. On the way down, I was marveling at how the cars were parked in the small areas by the houses with the hairpin turns off this road. I would have pushed a car up this road to live here and have the views of these properties.
We got back to the dirt road and headed back toward our home. At the end of the dirt road we decided we should go inland and see where this road went. This is the road we originally decided to pass and go straight down the dirt road. This road had an uphill angle to it, but was gradual. Thick foilage lined the left of the street and little small gated communities were on the right hand side. Three or four minutes up this road and we saw the Mar Azul restaurant! This is the right road! Not far past it was a dirt road--double cool on verifying we were going the right way. The dirt road curve off to the right, and after about 100 meters appeared to turn sharply left...and upwards. I was pleased to see that the road continuing upwards was paved...I was a little taken aback when I realized that I had miss judged the Lookout Road as being really steep. This was a grown up hill. We both felt up for the challenge and started up...when we hit the first hairpin turn to the left, we both struggled to find somewhere to "stand" and rest. We may have only covered 100 or so meters! [For you metric novices, here's some quick math: meters times 3 equals feet (3.28 feet exactly); 1000 meters equals a kilometer, and a kilometer equals 0.6 miles...this is why math is important in school people!] Looking up, we had no idea where or how far the top was. We continued up, struggling, stopping to rest, continuing on for (our best guess) a half an hour, where we both had to stop because we were breathing so hard and questioning our sanity--still couldn't tell where the top was. You will note that there are no pictures showing this beautiful area we were in; neither one of us felt comfortable enough to think to take one as securing one footing kept us both occupied as we moved--actually standing still was just as hard as walking up. I can let you know we passed several construction sites that were building homes on the side of the mountain that had magnificent views of the bay below. Mentally thinking we have to be near the top; but realizing the physical drain was too much to keep going, Sha had the great idea to hitchhike back down. I said, "What? Wait, that's a good idea!" as a truck slowly descended the hill above us. We looked like two sad puppy dogs on the side of the road, but didn't get a ride offer. Damn! We knew we had to walk back down. Only very slightly easier was our return to the bottom, knees and thighs were begging for mercy by the time we returned to THE dirt road. Thankful to be on relatively flat ground, we both mused how we probably could've made it to the top if we hadn't climbed those two roads before we found the big hill. Big talk as we didn't even know how much farther we had to go. Well, that afternoon we had plans to travel to Liberia with our neighbors Norm and Karen for supplies. We took the hill road out of town; because they told us about it and knew we'd tried to climb it. As we crested the top in the car, we realized that we had only made it about two thirds of the way up to the top...humbling to say the least. We will be back to try again; so stay tuned for that adventure...hopefully with some pics to give you a better perspective. Pura Vida!! The CRCT (Costa Rican Cribbage Tournament) 2022 is tied up after 11 days of dramatic play! Sha made multiple game comebacks to take the victory from the Kevster as he stalled at the finish line in recent play. It's all fun and games 'til you lose those close ones. Sunday breakfast at home of Mamon chinos and tangerines and dinner out at Sal y Fuego; we both enjoyed a ribeye--mine with shrimp, capped a great weekend in del Coco! We were joined by a new friend at the pool on Monday. We didn't have anything to eat; but I think we made a connection. We decided that we would hit the beach to watch the sunset tonight, before we grilled dinner. Our host has some very nice beach chairs that we loaded in our shopping cart along with a small cooler and walked across the street and down to the beach. It was one of the hotter days (high was 88 F) today, but as we set up camp, we enjoyed a nice breeze that was very comfortable as the evening was cooling off. The sound of the light surf and the scenery created a beautiful ending to the day. We came home and grilled some pork chops, added pasta and a bottle of Cab for a wonderful meal. Enjoyed an evening rain shower before we turned in. Pura Vida!
Sleep in Sunday abruptly ended at 6:55 AM, local time. It was probably for the better as it is hard not to get up and enjoy the day. Coffee, tea and some scrambled huevos y cebolla y queso got us ready for our morning adventure. Sha wanted to explore a section of road behind our condo, so we headed off that way. We navigated the new terrain and made it back to our main road. We decided to head for Iguana Lane, a 100 meter stretch of road that leads right to the beach, and is about 150 meters from the entrance to our gated community. As we turned the corner onto the Lane; I realized that NGG had suddenly appeared and that her "antennae" were up. As I looked at her she was raising her hand and I heard it too; a male howler monkey quietly, grunting deep and slow. With eyes wide, and huge smiles on our faces, we were scanning the tree tops. We walked about half way down the Lane when we heard them moving towards us. We were in one spot for about ten minutes as we watched the first troop of a male and four females, then another male with three or four females climbed through "our" tree and then slowly climbed away and out of sight.
I'm sure you were also thinking, like me, that NGG isn't going to wait until January or February to see a howler. Well, you were right! We are still on the trail to get the definitive picture of the elusive skunk squirrel--had a close sighting today on the Horse Trail at the end of our walk today; but couldn't get the shot before he scampered away. Stay tuned. Well, couldn't wait to share the howler pics with you today. Sha is on the balcony listening to the rain shower that just began--think I'll join her. Hope y'all are having a great Sunday! Pura Vida! Except the love of my life!! (And that's all I need!!) Today was a little hazy for awhile, and we didn't go to the pool until about 2 PM. Marie, one of the owners in the building next to us join us after a bit. She's a Frenchie that we danced salsa along with last night. A university professor at U of Mass. Talks funny, but is super nice! Had a great conversation about Coco, events and the world. We realized we didn't play any cribbage yesterday, so we had to hit it this afternoon. Sha took the day with 2 wins to 1; currently Kevster is up 10 games to 9. She almost double skunked me in the last game...I my have to return to the Buzzed Monkey for a momentum boost. Second installment of our fish market is on tap for tonight's dinner; our shrimp is the main course accompanied by broccoli and cheese pasta. We ventured into choosing a bottle of wine as well (as reported earlier), and everything came out perfect! We are finding out where things are happening, and Fri./Sat. nights are the (main) nights for live music. Since dinner and wine were set, we are already planning next weekend's adventure to see some of that.
Going to settle in to enjoy our wine and maybe a movie. Big kisses to our family (and friends if you want one). Pura Vida! Just got home from the Farmer's market (Fri. night)...one stall of fruits/veggies and a trinket stall full of bracelets. Not exactly what we were thinking, but we were able to get some tomatoes, bananas, tangerines and onions for future dishes we have planned. We were looking for avocados, but none to be seen. We enjoyed our wine from last night at the Garden Bar and figured we'd have another glass since we walked all the way over there (a whole 2 blocks). As we entered the open-air bar we noticed a cleared area that was readied for dancing. Salsa music was jamming and a local couple was working the floor, demonstrating the steps and the beauty of the dance. A glass of wine had us chair dancing pretty quick and before you knew it we were on the floor practicing our steps with guided lessons. 1-2-3...5-6-7-8. Simple right? Nobody told us there was no 4 and that the songs were 10 minutes long! Sha was "salsaing" with the other gals, with the hombre, and with the whole group--I did my best to join in and shake it like a polaroid...don't think I embarrassed myself (too badly); but still need some work on "salsaing" like a Costa Rican. We had a blast and we were both soaked to the skin. We had a burger and were pooped and ready to go home; but not before we signed up for the Salsa contact group so we don't miss the next practice AND the upcoming party to show off all our practiced moves. A shower, A/C and probably an early turn in... Wondering what will be on tap for tomorrow? We enjoyed a tangerine we got last night for a breakfast starter; added a banana and a bowl of cereal to complete a nice start of the day meal. We still had avocados on our list and a few other items we needed from the store, so we headed to town on our morning walk. We heard about another potential shortcut into town that would get us closer to our intended destination. We are calling this path the Horse Trail--there was plenty of evidence that it was aptly named (clean your shoes before coming in the house!). This almost made the walk to town too short! NGG seemed to kick into gear in the more natural setting and started finding animals in the trees. She thought she identified a sloth in the tree top; it was one of the skunk squirrels. Mostly white with a black stripe on its back (unseen in this photo). We'll keep working on a better pic of this. We got the avocados we've been wanting, chips, jalapeno peppers and found a bottle of wine that we will try with dinner; also bought a back up raft for the pool...hole by the seam and our initial repair job holding, but sketchy. Sha mixed up a batch of salsa when we got home...my mouth is still on fire-glad she only used one pepper, and some guacamole. Had to put them both away so they didn't ruin my lunch! I have come to realize that I haven't shared pictures of our place. Mom and dad got the video tour last week of our 2nd floor condo that overlooks the pool. We have a 2 bed, 2 bath condo with a loft and a third bed. We really like it--I hope the pics do it justice... Be back soon... Pura Vida!
We have yet to find some live monkeys in the area; although NGG has spotted some beautiful yellow birds, a crane (or egret?), some fat iguanas and squirrels that look like skunks (gonna need to get a pic of those as they are weird looking). Mango season may be the best time around Coco for the howlers to come back--that's not until Jan./Feb. Some recent development, we are told, has taken down some of the trees that they have frequented in the past in the area so we're not sure as to our probability of sightings. Our second venture to the Buzzed Monkey proved to be better for the Kevster, who came out smoking as the 29 board went back into action. We came for the "famous" smoked brisket and were disappointed when that arrived on site later than planned and wasn't ready as touted. Besides Sha getting smoked 4 games to nil, we enjoyed an order of smoked pulled pork, smoked beans and mac-n-cheese. I had begun this post at the one week mark, yesterday, and it dawned on me that we had been here for a week; but it felt like we had been here seven days. That post got swallowed by the ghosts in the ether when we lost internet connection for most of the day yesterday. I thought I was funny...hoping that it can carry over today. The Farmer's Market we had planned to visit yesterday afternoon was empty when we arrived. Hmmm. Found out that the market got moved to today (Friday) so that the dance event (and lessons) could coincide together and draw a bigger crowd. We will find out later today if I can dance Costa Rican. We didn't let our 3 block walk go unrewarded though. The market is in an area outside a hotel and has the Garden Bar in the middle of the market area. We had heard that the sushi was very good here; so we sat down for a try. We found a wine we thought "read well" and ordered a glass and a spicy tuna roll. Darn tootin' good. We thought another glass sounded good and added a dragon roll to help it go down. Good choices and we enjoyed. Sha let the stray gato (cat) lick our plates off, then we walked home with our headlamp on. We've awoke each day to a beautiful sunny day that starts in the high 70's and by 9 AM it's in the mid 80's for the day. Sha's still sweating on me during our morning walks--but I don't mind. The tide was high this morning and cut us off from the Ocotal end of the beach, so we walked through a few neighborhoods on our return home. On different corners, some days you'll see a little stand with someone selling fruits and/or vegetables. We've seen a woman selling these spikey looking strawberries on the corner of the street we turn to go home from town. We finally were prepared with 1000 Colones to buy a kilo of these spikey things; Mamon chinos at the end of our walk this morning. We are both trying to come up with descriptive words to describe the taste...delicious is the easiest; but it is sweet and firm around a seed inside, maybe plum-like... Won't be the last kilo of those we buy!
Sha is attempting to fix one of our pool rafts that has a slight leak as we relax after lunch. Getting ready to hit the pool for the early afternoon session...I hear the neighbors talking at the pool so we'll have to be going so we can catch the "latest". Enjoying the beauty of CR! Pura Vida!! Happy mother's day to you Costa Rican mommas! It's a holiday today!! All government offices closed, if asked to work today it is double pay. (Still glad I'm retired.) We are settling into a nice routine of waking up with the birds in the trees talking about their plans for the day, having a little coffee on the balcony (me), then setting out for an exploratory walk or a trip to the store in town. We are finding little short cuts to our favorite stores as we are exploring. Returning home requires a shower on my part, only because Sha is bumping into me as we walk and getting her sweat all over me...jeez. A little relaxing as we contemplate lunch plans. Yesterday we went around the corner from home to Saboras, a little outdoor cafe. Azteca sopa and Mixtos tacos (carne, cherizo & pastor), yum. Then, after coming home it's usually time to see what temperature the pool water is at...(been perfect everyday so far). Additional hydration is needed after a tough day in the pool on our rafts and then the competition starts. First day I was feeling good, up 2 to 1; but yesterday I got hammered 3 to nil! We were at the Buzzed Monkey during Happy Hour for my devastating defeat on the 29 board. Gonna blame the monkey and the great country music track playing as well as needing to rebound and play better in the next round! I might have rehydrated more than needed as evidenced by some poor choices during play (Kyle, Kev & Jen; you would've been disappointed!). We have a great many places near us and the little ways into town to eat; as well as our kitchen. We've done both dine in and out; we like the little sodas that feature reasonable local dishes (getting better at remembering the food pics)--found out the hard way that our hotdogs have casing on them-not edible; ha! Yesterday, we were happy to find out that it was Fish Market day (Sunday). We walked 2 blocks from the house to the market and found a plethora of things for sale, including fresh fish. We bought a kilo of sea bass and a kilo of jumbo shrimps--two plus pounds of each for a total of $30. Also got some homemade pineapple and bacon chimichurri for the fish. A little relaxing after dinner, and I've been reading the awesome book Josh gave me (finished it last night and trying to see how I can get the next one buddy!); maybe TV if we can find a movie, and then 9ish is about all I can take. That's a typical day for us so far.
We are looking forward to the Thursday Farmer's Market (same place as Fish). Sha just fixed us some noodle soup (Mrs. Grass is everywhere!) and it is time for the pool. Pura Vida! |
Kevin & Sharon SeibelBeginning our next big adventure! Archives
December 2023
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