An update on Saskatchewan
We painted at our house in Hanley right up until we left for Toronto on our way to Costa Rica. We got the kitchen, livingroom, hallway and one bathroom finished and are ready to hang pictures when we return. Once again Marilyn has picked and combined colours to make our new home beautiful.
Painting the Living Room
Freshly painted kitchen
Oh yeah….I also bought the 1985 Chrysler New Yorker after having it checked over by Dwight (our local Hanley mechanic). Can’t wait to get it out in the spring and take a few road trips – like driving a sofa down the highway.
Our new (0ld) Car
Update on Family:
We spent three lovely days with Ryan, Sally and Evan. We can’t believe what amazing changes have taken place in Evan since we last saw him in August. He loves to play and seems to be always happy.
Sally, Evan and Ryan
Arrived in Costa Rica:
We met Amy early on Monday morning at the airport in Toronto and arrived in San Jose later in the day where Gary picked us up and drove us to his lovely B&B in San Ramon (lovely but still under renovations). We were also greeted by our friend Kelly who arrived in Costa Rica on the 22nd. We were happy to spend the first couple of days helping Gary with cleaning and organizing. During the next few weeks, we’ll hopefully be able to help with a few bigger jobs like carpentry, maintenance, and painting.
Preparing dinner at Gary's
Amy is staying for 10 days so we wanted to get in some sight seeing while she is here. Gary arranged an amazing trek for us through the cloud forest and mountain region of Costa Rica. Wow….what a day we had.
It started with Guido, Albert, and Roy picking us up at 7am and driving us to an unspoiled 130 acres of jungle (rain forest). Guido owns the land and he hacked a trail for us to follow through the thick vegetation. It was a difficult walk at times over hills, through running streams, and along high ledges. Roy, a young Costa Rican (Tiko) who has one degree from he University in Nature Studies and is working on another in Sustainable Tourism, was our very expert guide.
Guido with his machete
Roy (our guide and interpreter)
Albert drove on some very rough roads to get us to the top of the mountain where we began our trek. Afterwards we felt pretty brave and strong to have accomplished the walk without incident.
The above picture was taken just after Kelly slid in the mud and landed on her bum
At the top of the mountain
Snacks after the trek
We continued after the trek to a small farm in one of the many valleys where a family makes cheese, raises chickens and pigs, and grows fruit to survive. Raquel, who has lived on the farm for 52 years comes from a family of 28 children (her father had six wives). In her kitchen we made our own corn tortillas and enjoyed coffee made in a very unusual coffee maker (but oh so good).
Learning about cheese making
Grinding the corn for tortillas
Shaping the tortillas before frying them
The unusual coffee maker
Along our day trip (which lasted from 7am until 7pm) we saw coffee fields, banana trees, papaya, and farm animals. We also got to eat some fresh coffee beans (not recommended), bamboo heart from the forest, and a full meal of beans, rice, chicken, beets, salad and garlic bread.
Marilyn sampling a freshly picked coffee bean
Chewing on bamboo hearts from the rain forest
Eating fresh mellon
Near the end of the day we stopped at Albert’s property high in the mountains where we had a lovely dinner (prepared by Albert’s wife and friends) and eventually watched the sun set over the pacific ocean.
Kelly
Amy
A stunning view from Albert's
In all, I took 182 pictures so you can imagine how many wonderful things we saw. We also had so many laughs along the way, our sides hurt. It’s great to be holidaying with Amy and Gary and Kelly and have day trips planned for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We are off to the market tody.
Here’s a few random shots to end the blog.
Sunset over the pacific ocean
