Costa Rica Day 3: Wild Life

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Costa Rica: Life in the Wild

Up at 5:30am. Left at 7am for Canoa Aventuras for the Safari Float on the Rio Penas Blancas. We saw: Emerald Basilisks (Jesus Christ lizards), howler monkeys (tons), iguanas, birds: kingfisher, tiger heron, blue heron, egret, sandpiper, sloth, oreo snake. Went to Don Pedro’s farm. Don Pedro just passed away 2 weeks ago. He was 102 years old. We were greeted at the makeshift dock of sand bags by 8 year old Emmanuel. We ate queso fresco, pan, maduras (fried sweet bananas) and limonada at the traditional costa rican farm. We sat at rustic tables on small rustic stools on a dirt floor. The boys wandered back down to the river where Emmanuel was swimming and decided to swim with him in the river even though the guide, Edson, told them he had seen 2 crocodiles on the way down. Truly, he did! There are tons of crocodiles in the Penas Blancas in the rainy season but very few in the dry season, but still SOME! The kids swam with Emmanuel until the rest of the group met us back at the boats. Mikey was really sad to have missed the tour of the farm so he and I walked back up. I was shy to ask the ladies of the house sitting at the table but I mustered some courage and asked “Podemos ver la cocina?” They were SO nice and showed us all around their traditional kitchen (no power, wood stove, everything hand crafted by the family over the last century). They showed us the food and stove and offered us some more fried bananas (they called them platanos. I guess it depends on where you are. In Puerto Rico they are called amarillos or maduras). When I told them “me gusta mucho! Son muy delicioso!” the lady of the house (Amala, probably in her 80s, Don Pedro’s daughter, with her beautiful wrinkly smile and single tooth) filled a paper bowl with all of the leftovers, covered it with foil and insisted I take it. I did my best broken Spanish to ask about the farm and who owned it and told them that their home was very beautiful they were gushing and said how nice I was and how cute Mikey was. They were SOOO nice! I thanked them over and over and had Mikey tell them “Gracias! Su casa es muy bonita!” They laughed and smiled and said Miguel was muy lindo. I loved that interaction!  When we finally got back to the boats, our boat was the only one left. The kids said goodbye to Emmanuel and Pablo got us back on the river. Pablo, our guide, was awesome. So patient and very knowledgeable about the river, the animals, birds and the plants and trees. I think he got a kick out of our big family. Everyone is shocked by the size of our family. It’s pretty hilarious!

We went home for some PBJ sandwiches and fresh pineapple and mangos and a swim in the pool. The kids swam and played gorilla with Jeff (keep away with a ball in the pool with Jeff being the narrator of his mockumentary about gorillas while he teased the kids during keep away. It was pretty hilarious.

Later we headed back into La Fortuna and out to the Arenal Oasis hotel where we had a nice dinner of casados with chicken in the middle of the jungle. The restaurant was just an open air kitchen and an open air dining area with picnic tables in the middle of the jungle. We were the only patrons. We ate our food and met our guide, Jason, at the restaurant. I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Two hour tour. Heard the rain coming. We saw cicadas, crickets, katydids, several species of frogs, mating frogs, and a boa constrictor! We ate termites. Jason prayed to God for a snake. Calvin spotted it. Jason thought it was a fer de lance and freaked out for a second. Then realized it was a boa. The boa gave us a show. Great night! More details tomorrow…. Too tired tonight

The kids are totally into learning spanish now. They have these little flip notebooks and are constantly writing spanish vocabulary words to add to their list of words and phrases they know. I love it! They've also loved drawing in their sketch book. Every travel guide and local has warned us about petty theft here in Costa Rica so we have been able to sufficiently scare the kids into not bringing anything that could get stolen in the car when we're going on our adventures. So...no electronics at all! I bought them each a half size sketch book and a pencil pouch full of pens and pencils so they have LOVED bringing their sketch books along and drawing pictures of our adventures. It's awesome!

Queso Fresco, Pan and platanos at Don Pedro's farm. Everything was made/grown on the farm. So delicious!

Mikey and Isaac kept "falling" off of the raft to cool off. 

One time Pablo teased "bye Mikey!" then he stopped and we got him.

Trying to keep up with his big brothers, Mikey playing soccer with a coconut.

A family that rows together...?

Mikey was our expedition photographer. I have dozens of pictures with his fingers in them!

Our guide, Pablo.

Enjoying our little snack at Don Pedro's farm on the river.

Swimming with Emmanuel in the Rio Penas Blancas.

Isaac loved cooling off in the window of the van.

Tired kids on the way back from paddling.

Dinner at Arenal Oasis, a little cluster of cabins in the rainforest with this little restaurant on site.

Kira was the first one to eat a termite. They taste like carrots! Seriously!

Red eyed tree frog

Another frog, can't remember which.

A little birds and the bees in the rain forrest. 

Jason, our guide, and the boa constrictor we found.

A little fall of rain...

Two injured boys. Both got cut on the steps of the pool. 

Jeff dominating in keep away.