Christmas in Costa Rica

Our 15th Christmas together was certainly a great one!  We spent the morning and part of the afternoon talking to many of our family and friends via skype.  What a great way to talk to loved ones; and we were even able to see some of their presents!  Thanks Dave! 

Then, late in the afternoon, we walked down to the beach.  It was by far the busiest day on the beach so far.  Lots of families playing, swimming, surfing and just plain old having fun!

We found a nice place to sit and watch the activities going on around us.  Lots of dogs playing in the waves too.  Many of them chasing… coconuts!  That’s right coconuts.  At home, people throw balls or Frisbees, but here, there’s so many coconuts on the beach, that that’s what people throw. 

There were also lots of people surfing; as the waves were plentiful; and I’m sure that one or more of those boards were Christmas presents. 

We sat and watched an incredible sunset; and then strolled up the beach and then along main street.  I was surprised at how many shops were open.  Our friend Herman was out selling tours, and wished us both a Feliz Navidad.

We continued on up main street until we arrived at Lemon Zest.  We met Nellie Lemon, the owner of this restaurant at the bank a few days earlier.  She is from Florida and was able to ask a few questions on our behalf.  She also told us that she and her husband ran this restaurant.  We had seen it advertised; and that’s where we chose to have our Christmas dinner.

And boy, was it ever good!  Mike had a yellow fin tuna steak; and I had filet mignon.  Both accompanied by a fruit smoothie.  And Mike had his all time favorite desert… crème broulee.  Although it wasn’t a traditional turkey feast with all the trimmings; this certainly was a yummy second choice.

A few friends have asked if we miss having a white Christmas.  And the answer to that is an emphatic NO!  I was born and raised in Northern Ontario; and have had my fair share of white Christmases.  In fact, the past 2 have also been white; and I much prefer being in the tropics.  This is in fact our first tropical Christmas (you can’t really count Florida as tropical, can you?)  And it was very different. 

Not many decorations up; and so many of the shops being open; it seemed like just another day.

Mike and I haven’t exchanged presents for a few years now; and enjoy the stress free Christmas that we have carved out for ourselves.  It works well for us; and don’t miss any of the pressures for a perfect Christmas.

Then on boxing day, sitting out on the balcony, I spotted a couple of scarlett macaws flying around in the trees just up the road from us.  Grabbed the camera, and off we went. 

There were two of them in this tree; and we had a pretty good vantage point; as we were above them.  Ended up watching them for about an hour.   The last shot that I took, the macaw moved as I was snapping.  So it’s not the greatest picture.  Just then, my camera lens closed; and the “change batteries” icon was displayed.

And at the exact moment when I was changing the batteries, that’s when the macaws decided to fly off!!!  The timing couldn’t have been any worse!  We had a beautiful vantage point; and they were spread out from tip to tail in absolute beautiful colours!  Hopefully, I get another chance to take a full shot of them.

And mother nature gave us another absolutely beautiful sunset last night.  We made it up to the road just in time to take a few shots of it.

All in all, Christmas in Costa Rica, was just absolutely perfect!  Hope that all of you had just as perfect a day.

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First Pacific Sunset

Not sure what has happened to this past week; but poof, just like that it’s gone.

Last Thursday, or maybe it was Friday; we decided to make an effort to watch our first sunset on the beach.  We headed downtown later in the afternoon; and ended up having dinner at… you guessed it… Rustico’s.  The food is so good there; and after looking at a few menu’s along the way; Rustico’s it was.

We then headed to the beach to watch the sunset.  Lots of people walking along; and some people up from us were having a bonfire on the beach.  There’s lots of burnable wood that’s on the beach; and it’s a good way to clean things up a bit.  The clouds helped add to the colours; and it was a nice way to spend another day in paradise.

Saturday and Sunday were pretty overcast, rainy days.  But on the brighter side of things, we talked to my family via skype on Saturday.  They were all together at my folks to celebrate Christmas.  Then it was another skype call to Mike’s family on Sunday.

We got up in the early hours on Monday to watch the lunar eclipse.  The “best” time to watch according to NBC was about 2:40 est.  We got upstairs to the road at about 2:30 and just the very bottom of the moon was still visible.  Most of the moon was red; and we watched for roughly half an hour; before the neck muscles started to hurt.  Did get to watch the whole thing on the news the next night; and it was pretty neat to see.

We were planning on heading to Manuel Antonio (big National Park) on Tuesday; but we were pretty tired from the night before.  We also needed to pay our rent; and that pretty much took care of Tuesday and Wednesday.  Long story, but we keep on being told that things happen differently in the tropics.  And I’m starting to believe it.  After 4 days of trying; we were successful by Wednesday afternoon. 

We also had 2 walks back and forth to downtown; and it was really hot here on both days.  By the time we got back yesterday; I was pooped and the idea of heading to the park today; was totally out of the question.  We’ll try again next week.

When we arrived home from the sunset on the beach; we had taken a cab; with lots of bags of groceries. Turns out that we had a “freeloader” sitting on the sill of our door.  Mike had put down his bags to unlock the door and reached in to flick on the lights.  I was right behind him; when I heard him say “Oh, wow, look at this”.  My first thought was that we had been robbed.  But nope, it was just a 3 inch scorpion.  Yep, you read that right… he came in with us.  And was heading into the apartment.

We put a pot lid on top of him; and took care of the groceries.  A few minutes later, Mike tried to get him into a plastic container; but no go.  He started to get away; on with the lid again.  Now what?  That’s when I suggested the tongs.  Mike got him in a tight hold; and as I was getting the patio door open; the little bugger got free; and was gone just like that!

Not sure where he went; and needless to say; for the next few days; we walked around inside with our heads down. 

We have seen lots of critters around here.  We have a couple of resident lizards inside our condo.  A couple of tree frogs that like to hang out on our balconies overhang at night.  Lots of birds that fly by; including a couple of macaws.  Almost every night at the same time; you can hear them coming.  They always fly in pairs; and are really noisy as they fly.  A pair of them flew by the other night; fairly close; and then turned and flew past a second time.  Up to this point; we thought that they were only red.  But on the second time by; we saw not only the red; but blue and fuscia yellow and green.  Pretty cool.  Hope to be able to get a shot of them real soon.  Haven’t seen the Tucan’s lately; but with spending the day at Manuel Antonio (real soon); we should be able to get some good pictures.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas.  Feliz Navidad everybody!

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Beautiful Sunsets and Sunrises

Last Friday was the first day that we had our toes in the Pacific.  And much to our surprise, it was a lot warmer than either of us thought it would be.

We headed down to the beach in the afternoon; and found a nice little quiet spot; and sat on a log and watched the waves.  There was a man up the beach from us a bit; and he had 3 dogs with him.  The 2 bigger ones had no problems going into the ocean; but the little one wanted nothing to do with the water.  It was fun watching the antics. 

There doesn’t seem to be any dog laws in Jaco.  We have seen countless dogs walking around the streets.  Some with collars, but a lot without.  We haven’t had any problems with any of them being aggressive.  And it was nice to see the dogs on the beach.  At home, there’s a lot of places that you can’t bring your animals.

We continued strolling up the beach; and then headed for our favourite smoothie place.  We had also been told about a grocery store downtown.  Much bigger selection and the prices were comparable to the other place.  This time, no overcharges, and the cab ride was $5.00. 

A few weeks before arriving in Costa Rica; there was a big storm that went through.  Tore up parts of the highway; and did lots of damage.  Glad that we weren’t here for that.  The road leading up into our complex was in pretty rough shape.  Big gouges in the road; and the drive up with a cab was usually pretty interesting.  The other day we walked down; and it had been graded.  What a big difference, not only for walking on it; but the last cab ride home was way less bumpy than usual.

We also found a new way to walk to the grocery store.  We don’t have to walk on the highway anymore.  But we do have to walk up the hill to our place.  Thankfully, the road levels out just as your legs are at the screaming point.  Then as you’re getting closer to the condo, one more hill to go down, then straight up to our place.  Like I’ve said before… no need for a gym membership here.

Last night, we were entertained by a beautiful sunset.  The sun lit up the clouds over the mountains; and it made for a nice photo op for a while.

Then early this morning - 4:15 am to be exact, we got up to watch the meteor shower.  We had a nice patch of open sky above us; and after watching from the balcony for a few minutes; we headed up to the road.  Ended up seeing about 25 in total. 

We also noticed for the first time since being here; the big dipper.  Mike had thought that we wouldn’t see it because of being so far south.  But turns out, we just weren’t up late or early enough.

Mike went back to bed shortly after 5 and I sat on the balcony; listening to nature and the waves hitting the shore.  And just as the colourful sunrise started; I woke Mike up; and the two of us were once again entertained by mother nature’s magical beauty.

Some of you know that I wear a red-tinted sun glass; and boy does it ever add beautiful colours.  I’ve shared that with a few of you over the years.  Well with my glasses, the sunrise looked like hot lava.  What a great way to start the day.  Of course, I went back to bed and got up at a more reasonable hour… well for me anyway.

We were back at the pool for a few hours today.  The rain seems to have come to a stop; and the past few days have found us at the pool.  It’s a great way to cool off.

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Escaped Just in Time

From the looks of things at home; we got out of there just in time!  It’s been snowing in London, Ontario since Sunday; and as you can see in some of the pictures being sent to us; they’ve got waist high snow; and it’s not over yet.

It sounds like the city has been almost shut down.  I’ve been seeing the “cheers” about no school or work for many on Face Book.  With this much snow, it certainly does help one get into the upcoming Christmas spirit.  So look on the bright side of things… an extra short work/school week; more time to bake all those Christmas treats and decorate the inside for the holidays. 

Saturday night, we watched quite the fire works display off our balcony.  We finally went up to the road, just in time for the finale.  Huge bursts of red, white and green fireworks for at least 10 minutes.  Then about 10 minutes later, it started up again.  Not sure what the celebration was, but it was nice to watch.

We were back at the grocery store on Sunday to return our blender.  And apparently the “Taurus” brand that we bought, turned out not to be such a good product.  Another lady was standing in line to return a Taurus coffee pot. 

We also found out that the cashier overcharged us for our bottled water.  We buy 2 cases of 6 bottles at a time.  Instead of charging us for 12 bottles, she charged us for 24.  Hope that was the only time.

The only reason I noticed this is because we needed to return the blender; and the water was on the same bill.  I got looking at it; and realized the overcharge. 

When we arrived at the customer service desk; a man came over and started speaking Spanish to us.  I told him, that I only speak English.  He said no problem; then turned back and asked if we were Americans, I said no, Canadians.  He then smiled; and said he’d be right back.

He sent Ricardo over to us; and thankfully his English was way better than my Spanish.  I explained that the blender started to leak within a few seconds of use; and then a piece went flying off.  No problem he said, we could get another of the same or upgrade to a better one.  I also then explained about the water overcharge.  Without hesitation, he also refunded the overcharge on the water. 

We upgraded to a much better blender, bought a loaf of bread, a container of milk; and the difference was about $2.20.  We’ve made fruit smoothies every day since; and the new blender works like a charm.

Sunday, there were Mayoral elections being held.  And for most of the day; people were driving around, honking their horns, waving their flags, playing music; and just plain old celebrating. 

A couple of times there were parades of cars going up and down the boulevard in front of us; and also along the highway.  Lots of happy cheers.

And today; as London was being dumped on; we took a walk around our complex again; and took some pictures of some of the beautiful foliage around here. 

Hopefully, it’ll help with some of our family and friends.  They can dream about the tropics; and hopefully warm up a little.

To warm up, take a look at our pictures

Still Raining

Another week flew by in Costa Rica.  I would recommend to anybody who wants to vacation here, to wait until after the rainy season is done.  We have had rain everyday since arriving on the coast.  So far we’ve only been caught in it once. 

It’s usually sometime in the afternoon; and it’s very refreshing to have the humidity let up while it’s raining.  We aren’t complaining though… cause it’s way better than snow.  Looks like we escaped just at the right time.

We have our own washer/dryer in our condo; and it was an added extra bonus.  I've been using a laundry mat for 4 ½ years; and it’s wonderful to have on-site facilities.  So that’s what we did on Tuesday, some laundry and some cleaning.  And a relaxing day for the rest.

A few weeks back we needed to get some money out; and it was our first introduction to the banking system here.  Very small bank; with an armed guard, who opened the door for us.  He then asked us to remove our hats.  There was only one teller; and he was behind bullet proof glass.  We were the only ones in there.  Only problem was, they wouldn’t let us take money out of our account, only off the credit card.  And they didn’t have a bank machine.

On Wednesday, we needed to get some more cash out; and stopped at the first bank that we came across.  This time there was a bank machine; but you can only get US funds or colones.  You get more colones for a USD than a Canadian dollar.

So into the bank we went.  This time, as the 2 armed guards were pointing at our hats, we were one step ahead, and the hats were already in the process of being removed.  Guess a hat obscures your face too much; if you were ever stupid enough to try to rob a bank here!

This time we were also wanded down and I was asked to open my bag.  There were lots of people in the bank, but the air conditioning felt sooo good after a long walk; that we decided to wait.  The guard directed us to a machine; where we got our number.  Then he pointed to chairs; and indicated that we sit.  Kind of reminded me of waiting at the passport office, or to renew your drivers license.

It’s a good thing that there were chairs and that it was cool in there, cause it took us 45 minutes to change some US funds to colones.  Also, nobody stands in the bank, except if your already at the teller.  Like I said, you’d have to be a “few bricks short of a load” to try and rob a bank here.

Mind you, you also have to be very patient.  The tellers and slow and even our simple transaction took the better part of 5 minutes.

We then continued on to walk the rest of main street.  We were hoping to stop and get a fruit smoothie, but they were closed.  So onto the post office we continued… which was a the opposite end of town.  Off the main street, in a dilapidated old building.  Costs more for 8 stamps then it did for 2 smoothies.  Then off to Rustico's for another delicious dinner.  $8.00 for both, and that includes a huge plate and a drink! 

And today we headed back to the grocery store for a few more things.  We decided to buy a blender to make our own smoothies; and don’t you know, the thing broke within the first few minutes.  Guess we’ll be back there tomorrow to get another one.  We did manage to puree the fruit enough, but something else was missing; and it wasn’t near as good as the place downtown.  But we’ve got 5 more months to master making a smoothie.  Any suggestions out there in blog land for a fruit smoothie?

Take a look at our pictures.