shillmac

little tinamou. . .love that sound.

I think hip "did a party" last night, celebrating!

parrmt

I can't wait for the rest of the story as they say and I hope pics! So far I love it! As I told Tully, I am living vicariously thru your reports. Yours, Tully's, VG's and next up ...shillmac! Love it

shillmac

Hi Toni, it's been a long day of sorting through and uploading photos. I've got way too many! Now packing and repacking for a mission trip to Mexico next week, mountains above Puebla. Our oldest daughter who lives near tully in Florida is joining us, so we are excited to spend that time with her all week.

Hopefully I won't forget too much of Costa Rica by the time I get to post a report after the first of August. I try so hard to keep a journal and did-- until hip and tully arrived at BdC. And of course, once our granddaughter gets down there with us, there's certainly no time for note taking!

There's already talk of next June. . .think you'd be game?!

Dyer

Shillmac-- a mission trip? Beyonce on Thurs. was great, but no comparison to what you get to experience next week. Can I come in June?? DH had his second bout of pancreatis two weeks ago, so we wonder if he will travel out of the country again. Time will tell. He is soooo excited to go the Black Hills Thurs. (we had to skip the trip two weeks ago), as we will see the cabin expansion and golf in the great pines (oh, the fragrance). Hipvirgochick, sorry to hijack your post. It is sooo much fun to read. Thank you for posting I want more, please!!

hipvirgochick

Sorry I've been so lame in finishing. I'm transitioning to another job over the next couple weeks and let's just say it's all consuming right now. I thought know one would notice if I let the post drop to the bottom, LOL!

And yes, there's already chatter about dates next year, so rack up your FF miles and sign up for the cheap fare notices!

shillmac

Sure thing Dyer. Plan on it! Enjoyed your e-mail--what time is Axelrod speaking? Might be interested! Hope D. is better now. Anything to prevent those bouts? I don't know much about it, but know it can make one so sick. Obviously. Glad you enjoyed Beyonce, wish I could have gone--and anytime you want to join up on one of these mission trips, you'd be oh so welcome! It will be an awesome experience. Always is.

shillmac

And hip--yes, we notice when you slack!

volcanogirl

shillmac, I forgot to mention to you that when we were in CR, we passed a huge pineapple plantation, and it had a sign in front for the Collin Street Bakery. Our guide say they own it and that it's one of the biggest pineapple plantations in the world. Are you familiar with them? I see their fruitcakes all the time at Christmas. Weird to see it in CR!

hip, I was reading reviews of your lodge in Totuguero on tripadvisor, and someone just posted a bit about a rude guide. Thought you might want to read it - probably the same guy you were talking about. Management had a great response to the post and says they will use it as a teaching lesson.

shillmac

Yeah, they've owned that for years. Their coffee sells for something like $17 a bag online. Totally ridiculous! We actually order from them online--not coffee, obviously. But we have some of the cakes/cheesecakes,etc. shipped to friends for gifts. You should check them out online. They are in, oh what little town? Corsicana, I think--not far from you, right? Between H. and D.?

I'll bet it did seem weird to see that sign. Same for us when we saw it, I think about in 2005.

hipvirgochick

continued...

So after I got my bags settled in at SFTS and chatted with Donna and Daryl a bit we decided to head off for some lunch. We landed at Roca Verde, which is a hotel right on the beach. I had previously looked at it as a place to stay, but it looks like more of a place for youngsters/surfer crowd. Also, the beach seems to disappear when the tide comes in. The restaurant area was huge and pretty deserted. The food was decent. Afterward a couple stops for misc sundries/snacks and back to SFTS. Donna recommended dinner at Villas de las Aves and arranged with Sarah, one of the owners, for us to see all of her rescued birds. By the time we left we had lost power from the tremendous storm (fabulous huge thunderbooms and lighting) and as we were on our way the thought came to us that they probably lost power also. Duh! Getting there was adventure in itself. Windy and very potholey. Apparently, Paul and Sarah have put $20k of their own money into the road, but as the big trucks coming in to build rip it up again they can't keep it up. Villas de las Aves is built up over the fork of a river and it's serene and quiet. You can only hear the sounds of the river and wildlife. Very peaceful. The casitas are quite nice and new. The colors and decor are pleasing and they are very spacious. The added touch of private hot tubs on the decks of each is a nice addition. The pool area is nice and during the day they bring the birds outside from the indor aviary. There is also a small petting zoo on site, but we didn't make it to see them. The 2 story building which makes up Paul and Sarah's house as well as the restaurant is really beautiful. Since indeed they were out of power we were treated to a wonderful Thai salad with grilled chicken, ribs from the barbecue and homemade icecream. There fresh foccacia bread as well and it was all really delicious. If we had more time I would have wanted to come back for the 6 course meals prepared on certain nights. Sarah is Cordon Bleu trained and Paul seems just as enthused to start adding brick oven pizza to the menu, as well as other things, now that they have put the oven into action. They are both friendly and welcoming people with a lovely place and I wouldn't hesitate recommending VDLA. Sarah gave us a tour of the indoor aviary showing us all of the birds, why they were there and how she acquired them. She was certainly attached to each and every one. The Hyacinth McCaw was especially gorgeous and huge. While we were dining by candlight they were awaiting other travelers who were stuck because of a tree down across the road. They were just making it up the drive as we were leaving and we rolled down our windows and shared the exclamation of what an adventure it is go get around here!

Back at SFTS began the ritual of relaxing and reading out on the lovely patio for a short time before collapsing into bed. The lighting continued on until the wee hours.

June 23 - We were up and out early to take the horseback ride to Nauyaca Falls. For the town seeming pretty quiet I think all the tourists were here this day! There were about 30 of us I think. This was fine because all the horses seemed to split up into their alpha groups and a guide stayed with each one. Note, there was not introductory for commands, nor were helmets issued, if that's a concern to you. The horses were all very healthy looking and well cared for. The ride was beautiful, if not challenging at times. By this I mean as a fairly inexperienced rider (I'm ridden probably 20 times in my life) there were indeed rocky, slippery places which at times became hairy because as soon as one horse would want to trot/gallop, the others in the group would as well. The saddles were not the most comfy and we trotted A LOT. Galloping is much more comfy but after trotting as much as I did that day there were places I won't mention that were sore for days! There were a lot of giggles though! We stopped and had a nice breakfast (and coffee thank goodness). The waterfalls were beautiful and even though I didn't go in, it was a lot of fun watching all the brave ones (with help from the guides and a knotted rope) climb up the falls and jump or dive off. Got some great pics. There were some tired looking people that arrived by foot, and that would have been a very long and strenuous hike had they the same starting point we did! After a good time at the waterfalls we headed back and had lunch. Everyone shared stories of their adventures so far and then we continued back to where we started. This was a great day and I highly recommend it!

Pasha had schedule a massage that day and I was determined to get some pool time in. SFTS has a lovely rancho with full bar (non-profit on the honor system) and had Campari with which I was delighted for afternoon apertif's. It was somewhat cool and started to sprinkle, but it was lovely just as well.

Power was back on, but a torrential downpour came in around 4:00pm so we decided to stay in and make due with what leftovers we had. From the night before we brought out our ribs, baguette from our welcome basket as well as the mango and pineapple, funyuns from my own stash and wafers for desert. Not 5*, but great atmosphere and company!

June 24 - Today we headed to Hacienda Baru. After a stop for a tasty breakfast at Deliosa we made our way there. There are just a few cabinas set on nice property, gift shop, restaurant, etc. There are a few trails and we decided to take one part way (omitting the steep part) and then back again to the beach. The trails were pretty, lots of swampy areas with dragonflies, and we ran into a troop of Capuchin's that we watched and took pics of for quite sometime until they started throwing nuts and branches at us. The beach was very nice, if not deserted. The water was toasty, but not swim because of riptides. I was determined to get some sun here and laid out on the sand while Pasha spotted her first sloth! She was so excited and it was a big one too, up in the tree eating and lounging. After the hike back we wandered through the butterfly farm. Tried, unsuccessfully, to get some morpho pics. The cafe there was quiet so we headed into town to Tulu for lunch. It was a good place for lunch, I mean, I never did have any bad meals for sure. Back at the rancho some more relaxing and down time in the afternoon.

That night we decided to have a cocktail at xxxx (can't remember the name, will have to post back) where they offer a wonderful view of the sunset. The restaurant and menu looked fancy, but we had already decided to eat at Soda La Mancho, a tico owned place, which was the best decision! The arroz con camorones jumbo was spectacular and lots of fresh grilled veggies to go with. Pasha's looked just as good so we were both happy and stuffed. By that time it was time to head back, finish laundry and packing so we could head out early the next day...

janenicole

Yay, hip, you're hammering out your report! Keep it coming!

volcanogirl

hip, I'm loving all the details. Those rainstorms are wonderful and cozy to me. I'm usually content to just stay in the room and watch them roll in. Funyuns! I haven't thought about those in years - must go find a bag now!

Eressea

hip-no worries about the installments - i'm just fretting because i won't be able to go back this year. ;-) now that exams are over, i can finally read about something fun again.

hipvirgochick

Getting ready to continue on with our road trip to Bosque del Cabo. In the meantime here's a link to some of the photos taken this trip...still working on some captions.

http://picasaweb.google.com/storm.pura.vida

janenicole

Love your great pictures, hip! Wow, Chin Chin (at BdC) has really grown since we were there! And those rafting photos - I definitely have no desire to do that!!

You are not off the hook getting the rest of that report written!

tully

We have some of the same pics

Did we ever find out what that weird thing was on the pool deck at SFTS? I see you took a pic of it and still don't know what it is. Some type of carapice (sp?)