A Quieter Week

This past week or so has been fairly quiet.  Mike had a really bad sunburn and that kept us pretty close to home for a few days.  Lots of Benadryl and lots of aloe and a few days later it was easing up.

We also ended up with a broken bedroom window.  While out one day; the maintenance guy came and used an electric weed eater on a rock bed.  You guessed it, rocks went flying everywhere… including through our window. 

Liz, the manager, got on it right away to have it replaced; but the promises of tomorrow never came.  After almost a week; she had it replaced herself.  We wanted to be here; so there was lots of sitting around time.

Some of you have asked how my foot is doing.  The x-rays that I had done in July showed that I had 2 plantar spurs, one on the bottom of my foot and the other on my Achilles tendon. 

After waiting almost 5 months to see a specialist, she told me that I had Achilles tendonitis and there wasn’t much that I could do.  Because we left shortly after seeing her, there wasn’t any time to pursue another opinion.  I will look into in this spring when we get home.

Despite my foot hurting most of the time; I don’t let it stop me much; and have walked up the mountain a couple of times already.  And lots of bike riding too.  The bike is great for my heel; but kills my knees when starting off.  And the walking is hard on my heel; but easy on my knees… oh this getting old sucks!

I also had an cervical ablation at the end of November; and all I can say on this subject is; that it’s worse than I thought it was going to be; but better than it was.  Will also be looking into the next step on that when we get home.

So, this past week of lots of down time worked well.

We met another Canadian, who is from London, Ontario, of all places.  And his house is out our back room.  His name is Phil; and he took us up to his friends place in the mountains the other day.  Really nice place, but I certainly wouldn’t want the responsibility.  Also just a tad out of the way.

And on Saturday afternoon, we got a cab and headed up the highway to Hermossa, where there’s a weekly surfing competition.  About 50 surfers strutting their stuff and hoping for the perfect wave.

The beach is really close to the surf and it made for a fun afternoon.  Had dinner at the Backyard (the restaurant that sponsors the competition).  They had some live music playing and it was a great way to spend a day.

We’ve also played in the waves quite a few times.  Apparently the ocean is pretty calm these days, but it’s perfect for us. 

And yesterday Mike and I went to the beach where Joey was fishing.  As we were setting up our chairs, 5 macaws flew by.  There were 2 pairs and a single.  They seemed a little confused and flew amongst the tall buildings like they had never seen them there.

Turning back, they met up with another pair of macaws and the 7 of them flew around, squawking up a storm and showing off their brilliant colours.  A little while later, I was walking along the shore; when I saw all 7 of the same macaws land in a tree just up from me!  How often does that happen to a Canadian girl?  Not very.

I headed on over and the 7 of them were in the tree, just a squawking away and having a feast on the almonds.  If you weren’t careful walking under the tree, you could have ended up with one or two being bounced off your head. 

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A Busy Week in Jaco

It’s been a busy week.  Joey and his friend John picked us up around 6:00 am on Tuesday morning and off to the turtle sanctuary we went.  We were the only ones there; and there was a bucket of baby turtles waiting to be released to the ocean.

Out of a 100 eggs that are hatched, only 20 successfully make it to the ocean and only 1 out of those makes it back to the same beach to lay eggs.  Because of the sanctuary, their numbers are now 90% make it to the ocean.  The study hasn’t been going long enough to know how many make it back to the beach.

It was pretty cool to watch and learn.  And it was pretty cool to see all these baby turtles making it to the ocean.  Some would get pretty far and then a wave would come along and wash them back to the starting point.  And only 1 got snatched by a hawk. 

Back to the vehicle we went to get the guys surfboards and a belly board for Mike.  And for the next few hours, I watched the guys surfing and the waves and lots and lots of pelicans flying along the waves.  Great way to spend a morning.

On Wednesday we hopped on our bikes and drove to the South end of Jaco, locked the bikes at a gas station and started a climb up the mountain.  Wasn’t long before we came to a nice resting place and enjoyed the view of Jaco below.

Continued on up and up and up.  Finally near the top, we found a trail that lead us to an old hotel ruins.  The owners must have put a small fortune into this place.  There was a stone wall along the road, etched with lots of animals, etc.  And then the structure itself was pretty amazing.

Apparently the owners were going to bus people up to this fancy resort overlooking Jaco; but the idea never flew; and apparently the owner died a few years ago.  What a shame, but it was a nice find for us.

On Thursday with tired, aching muscles, we headed off to the grocery store.  Along the way stopped and said hello to Herman and asked if he knew of a good masseuse… what a surprise.. He did!  Herman is the “go to” guy.  He knows lots of people and has lots of friends.  And if you are looking for something, he’s the guy to go to.  Handy to have people like that down here.

We got our groceries, and got back to the condo to have lunch before our masseuse showed up.  Actually there was 2 of them and it turned out that we didn’t have to flip a coin to see who went first.  First time in 16 years that Mike and I enjoyed a massage side by side.  It was wonderful!

Friday, we headed off to the beach with chairs and towels.  We rode our bikes to the North end of the beach, locked the bikes together at the river and off we went.  Never had been to this end of the beach before; and it was pretty nice and quiet.

Found ourselves a nice place to swim and watch waves crashing over the rocks.  A few hours later, we had to cross the same river, but forgot about the incoming tide.  Ended up with water to our waists; but that why you wear bathing suits to the beach : ))

Later that afternoon, we headed to the extreme South end of the beach; Joey was heading out fishing, so we went along.  Had a nice long stroll on the beach and was again entertained by a beautiful sunset.

And last night; to round out a great week; we went Salsa dancing with Joey and Eida and their girls and their friends.  I know what a shocker!!!  And to be honest with you; we did a lot more watching of other people dancing then we actually danced.  But Joey and his persistence, actually got me and then Mike up on the dance floor.  We had a great time!

And because of all the sun we got the day before, we both fell into bed around 2:30 last night with our skin on fire.  Mike looks like he’s a lobster today.  And I’m sure that he’ll end up with a hive or two over this.

Feel free to click here to look at our pictures.

Happy New Year!

Since the last blog; we’ve seen a turtle laying eggs; bought a bike; and celebrated a new year.

Early this past week, we were at the beach and had just found a log to put our feet up on, when a man came up to us and told us that a turtle was laying eggs further up the beach. 

We hopped on our bikes and went over to have a look.  There were lots of people there to watch; and he told me about some of the process.  Apparently she can be hours, and hours laying  anywhere from 60 to 100 eggs. 

When she’s done, she covers up the eggs with sand, and heads on back to the ocean.  It’s up to the babies, once hatched, to make it to the ocean themselves. 

Mike and Joey got to help move some babies to the ocean on New Years Eve day, but no pictures as he didn’t have the camera.  They were heading to get wood for our fire and stopped at the turtle sanctuary.  We’re hoping to get there sometime this week.

Joe, our neighbour from Indiana, decided to head home early; and sold us his bike for $60; and is it ever nice to have a bike to get around this town.  We can get just about anywhere within a few minutes… the grocery store; the beach; restaurants… you name it, and it’s an easy ride.

The bikes that we have are called “beach” cruisers.  No gears… only go as fast as the user; and when you want to stop; pedal backwards.  They have wide tires, and are great for riding on the beach. 

We’ve only taken a cab a couple of times, usually from the grocery store.  It costs 570 colones which is $1.35 to open the door; and by the time we arrive at the condo a few blocks up, it’s still at 570 colones.  I usually give the driver 700 which is about $1.40... Pretty cheap!

We took our bikes up to our old neighbourhood one day this week.  Only got a short ways up the hill before we had to get off and walk the bikes up.  Don’t miss that hill… at all! 

The place looked the same and we stopped in to say hello to Michael.  He and a few guys developed the whole area; and he also helped to call a cab for us when I needed medical attention last year.  Very nice man, and he was really happy to see us. 

Then on New Years Eve, we headed over to Papas & Burgers for a late dinner, before heading over to the beach to meet up with Joey & Eida for New Years Eve celebrations.  We had been eating turkey since Christmas Day, turkey pieces at lunch, turkey sandwiches for supper, then when the meat was done, turkey soup.  And even though we both really like turkey, we both really wanted something different.

There were probably 40 in our group; their daughters and all of their friends; plus lots of Americans and Tico‘s.  Joey had a separate fire for a grill; and during the night; hot dogs, fish and corn were on the grill.

Of course, we just blended in to the 1000’s of other people that were out there.  First time in mine or Mike’s life to spend New Years on a beach; and it’s something that we won’t forget for a long time.

Some of you will remember me talking about the fireworks from last year.  Started shortly after 6pm and stopped somewhere around 5 in the morning.  At midnight there were so many fireworks going off that you didn’t know where to look… Well, it wasn’t quite as long, or as many this year; but boy oh boy, what a show!

Like I said, there were 1000’s of people on the beach; didn’t matter where you looked, there were groups of people.  Playing music, beach fires blazing… some of them were massive!  And of course at midnight the beach was just lit up in all directions.

People cheering, whistling, horns beeping… what a sight!  And yes, Mike and I even got a bottle of Malibu rum to sip on for the night… I know what a shocker eh?!

We finally gave up and headed home just before 2 and were in bed by 2:30.  What a night!  We hope that all of you had also had a memorable, New Years Eve.  And we want to wish all of our family, friends and followers a safe, healthy and happy 2012!

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