Bugs and Creatures and Plants

Darryl, he lives on our porch

Leaf-cutter ants hard at work

Leaf skeleton we found in the woods

Teeny, tiny frog 

Oranges from our trees pre juicing - yum!

Palm in the driveway

Colourful plant

Rain

More rain

Backyard in the evening

Forest walk

Monkey ladder vine in the forest

Ayote tendril hangin' on

Sink full of mamon chinos (rambutan) from the farm

Home-grown ayote (squash)

Here are some photos from the last little while. A trip to Cloudbridge reserve to check out some killer waterfalls and swim in freezing water and some shots from a fiesta in the town next door with horse races and yummy food!

Canela

Fiera on the porch

Laura, Naomi, and Sammy at Catarata Pacifica

Catarata Cloudbridge

Mike gettin a granizado

Tag

Rocio admiring the prizes

Trying to get a stick through a tiny ring at full speed

Hiking Chirripo!

On the trail

"Spirits are high" on the trail

Naomi at sunrise

fish face, fish lake

Isaac at the top of Mt. Terbi

sitting on top of the Crestones

the Crestones

On top of Terbi!

Well we did it! Climbed the highest mountain in Costa Rica! Why?? Cause it was there. 

Left the farm at 3:30 in the morning to drive to the trailhead, and we were parked and off by 530! Early Start!! After 7 hours of grueling uphill, varying from gradual to "kill me now full kilometers of steepness", we reached base camp exhausted but happy to have that leg behind us. We all crashed hard and then had simple dinner. Turns out if your part of a tour they cook for you up there, so we had to sit eating our simple meal of rice and beans and tuna all smashed together while people around us had full meals of delicious smelling food!!! We started to get bitter about it pretty fast!

The next morning we were up at 3:00 to try and hike to the peak for sunrise! Heading out with headlamps the first part of the trail was a nice mellow uphill through a valley with lightning lighting up the clouds behind us. The sun started rising as we approached the peak and it was amazing! The final climb was super steep and once we reached the top we were treated to 360 degree views all the way to the Caribbean ocean!

Naomi and Isaac at the Summit

We had some chocolate and headed down, just as some fog started rolling in. On our way back we decided to take a side trip up to a ridge and down another way. We were told it was mellow but i think the guy who told us was actually a mountain goat, or drunk or both, cause it was nothing of the sort!! After a section of super steep uphill with steps and switchbacks, we finally made it to the top of the ridge and hiked along it towards the famous Crestones, huge pieces of jutting rock rising out of the mountain side! Pretty sweet!

So all said and done we hiked about 8 hours the second day and when we got back we were pretty beat! We had an early dinner and went to bed early in order to rest up for the hike down the mountain the next day! The hike down took 5 hours and then we bee-lined to a restaurant for a huge celebratory meal and beers! Amazing Experience!

Sunrise in the mountains

Bird at sundown

Base Camp from the ridge

Sunset in the valley

Perita!

Playa Arco

Fruit from the farm

Happy Summer everyone!  We are into the wet season here, although we still get plenty of sun and only a few hours of rain most days.  We've decided we like the rainy season, there's nothing like a nice downpour after a hot morning!

Like Isaac said, we have been busy, and enjoying every bit of it!

Homemade bbq - thanks Pancho!

The dogs, well they are never ending entertainment.  Koda got a nasty gauge in his front leg, and ended up having to get put to sleep so the vet could roughen up the wound and stitch it shut.  He fought off the anesthetic like a trooper, and also tried to wake up half way through (which led to his fourth injection!).  His stitches fell out after a couple of days (oops), and we tried to make him wear a long sock to keep it clean - ha!.  It's finally just healed up, so all is well!  Also, we brought home a little puppy that had been dropped off on the property in a sac.  She was SO sweet, a huge attention hog (Koda was NOT a fan), and although a bit scraggly, she really grew on us.  We had her fixed by a vet in Palmares, and got her some anti-parasite, and flea meds. And luckily,  Kataryn, a girl who lives just down the road was happy to adopt her, so we're really happy because we REALLY like Kataryn, and we really loved the perita, so it was happy ending!

Meet Sacita

Howlers

White-faced monkey on the farm

Our friends Mike and Michelle are visiting us from Victoria.  It's been so fun to show them the farm, and have some company!  The other day on the way down to the river, Isaac spotted a group of white-faced monkeys in the forest across the road.  It was SO cool!  Monkeys do occasionally pass through the jungle because of the biological corridor that runs through the area, but we were really lucky to see them so close, and in our forest!  The four of us, plus Koda, took a beach trip to Playa Arco yesterday, which was awesome - we had a family of howler monkeys hanging out right above the truck when we were getting ready to leave.  I think M & M might have good monkey luck.

Baby tomatoes

Growing!

What else...well our garden is exploding.  I spotted the first baby tomatoes today, and our squash plant is also fruiting!  We bought a ton of cilantro, parsley, and lettuce starters from a guy in San Francisco and planted them in the new box.  Yum!!  Another neighbour raises pigs, and one of her momma pigs just had 17 babies.  We went for a peek a couple of days ago.  There are pink ones and brown ones, I really want a brown one!  Pigs are actually very smart, and very clean.  I'm not sure what her plans are for all of those babies (well there's about 12 now, because the mom accidentally sat on a few), but oh boy would I love to just have one for a little bit.

How could you not want it?

The boys digging

Koda's camoflauge

Mike and Michelle at Playa Ballena

River walk

We took a trip up the river to check out the waterfall as well.  It has changed SO much since we were there last. The pool is much deeper, and wider, and it was deep enough to jump off!!  It's high, but not high enough to give you that icky stomach feeling, so it was really fun.

Babies

Pep talk!

Our next adventure is Mt. Chirripo!  The four of us are leaving EARLY Monday to conquer the 3,820m (12,00ft) mountain.  We'll hike to the base lodge on Monday (12km), and then spend two nights up there while we explore the area, and the summit.  We scored some awesome $2 fleeces at the Ropa Americana in town, so hopefully we won't freeze because temps at night can go below freezing.  Isaac did the hike with two of his friends a few years ago, and they survived off 4 sandwiches each, some cookies, and bananas.  Michelle and I are have decided that food is key, so we'll be expanding the menu a few items.  It's going to be muddy, but it's going to be great!!

We'll update again once we are back, and can walk!  Much love, xoxo