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

Trip to Cahuita, with M n M!!

Playa Negra

 Whoot!!! Its been awhile since we've posted a blog and its not because we haven't been doing anything!!! We took a trip to San Jose to send one of our old dogs up to Canada to live with my parents and when we were there we bumped into our old friends Mike and Michelle! Ohh joy! So we headed off to the Caribbean coast for some fun in the sun......we stayed in our own little cabin just outside of town and it was beautiful! we spent the first day swimming in the ocean on Playa Negra, an amazing black sand beach.

 The next day we went for a stroll in the national park and saw some monkeys and bugs and crabs and a couple of sloths! Right at the end of the hike there is a guy with  little restaurant so we stopped for some amazing food and free use of his pool! AMAZING....every hike should have a pool at the end of it! The next day we went over to the sloth sanctuary where they have been rescuing injured and orphaned sloths for years. We had a little tour and got to see some sloths up close and some baby sloths! Weirdest animals ever!
The drive home the next day was over three different mountains and only took all day, no big deal.We were about 20 minutes away from San Isidro when we came around the corner to a semi truck hanging over the side of the mountain! The tow trucks were hard at work pulling him back onto the road and we were delayed another hour and a half or so......just what we needed after about 6 hours of driving! Finally we made it home and crashed......HARD.

Biggest Hermit-crab evar!

Koda at full sprint

Sloth and his little friend

The best things

Tree frog we found during some pruning

Newest nest!

One of my most favourite things to do on the farm is to go for fruit hunts with Isaac.  We get on our boots, and head out in search of a tree full of ripening deliciousness.  It's similar to a banana hunt (but on banana hunts I find I'm always a bit more nervous about snakes because we are usually in the cafetal and it just seems more snaky to me. Also, Rocio and Diego saw a boa in the forest across the street the other day!)  We've picked limon mandarinas, and guavas (which are like a giant tough pea pod - not like the english "guava"), limons, starfruits, oranges and lately the best one ever - manzanas de agua.

 A couple marañón fruits - who knew - a cashew too!

Manzanas de agua are these red skinned, white fleshy fruits that get all cracked and wrinkly when they are ripe and have the most refreshing floral fruit explosion taste you have ever tasted!   Yesterday we went out to get a bag full (to eat and make juice with).  Isaac climbed the tree to get the best ones, while I stood below him, alternating between dodging the super ripe ones that fell from his shaking, and catching the ones he was tossing down.  I don't know why, but it's just the best thing ever!

View from our picnic spot

Isaac made a friend

Today, we went on a horseback adventure with Selimo (a man I met on the back road while I was walking the dogs one day).  He really, really wanted to take us for a horseback ride in the mountains, so last time I ran into him we set a date for this morning (which I am very proud of because this was all done in Spanish - right from the first time we met him).  Anyways, he told me it would be "tranquilo," which I then told to Isaac, so we were both looking forward to a nice little ride.  Well, like most activities in this country (birthday parties, tamale making, etc.), why rush through something when you can take your time and really enjoy it!?  We left at 8, and got home around 2:30.

At one point, we came to a fork in the road.  Selimo said something which I thought was "okay, we'll go up this way and come down that way,".  Isaac answered and then looked at me and said, "Perfect."  I hadn't gotten it quite right.  We were going to "go up this way, all the way to the top, then come back down, and go up the other way, all the way to the top, then come back down and go back up the other way halfway (to his cousins house, who has tilapia ponds, where we are going to stop and have lunch).  We didn't have any money, but he insisted.  At the top of the second mountain we stopped, and he pulled out bread and tuna, and pink drink.  We parked ourselves on the grass, overlooking the entire valley.  It was so nice, Isaac and Selimo talked, while I half-napped, and after about 45mins we hopped back on the horses.  We went to his cousins for lunch, which was a plate full of rice, veggies and a whole fried tilapia fish each!  I'm not the best whole-fish eater...but as Isaac ripped off the deep fried tail and chowed down, I realized I'd better just go for it, or else I might miss out!  After lunch we headed down to her backyard where the ponds were, and sat around and talked for another hour with Selimo's cousin before we got on the horses to head home.  It was great day, and thankfully a bit overcast or I might have melted.  And, I hope we're able to walk tomorrow!

The greeting party on the way home

Tamale Party!

Big spoon!

About a week ago Rocio called the house in the morning and told Isaac that I should come down because she was making tamales.  Of course I ran down right away, not knowing that Isaac failed to tell me before I left that I probably wouldn't be back until sundown.  If you know anything about tamale making you would know that it is an ALL DAY thing, not just a couple of hours (which is what I thought).  Also, let me start by saying that Rocio had just spent the previous day making 1000 tamales in 12 hours with about 25 people for a fundraiser at Diego's school.

Colourful ingredients

I got down to her kitchen to find her mid-tamale making (she had started at 5am, and by this time it was just after 8).  I helped out by mixing up the batter in a HUGE pot, which we then poured into an even bigger pot on the fogon (wood stove) that was full of boiling meat juice (maybe lard?).  We stirred it all with an enormous wooden paddle, and when it was done Pancho and Jose had to come and take it off because it was too heavy for both of us to lift.

Ready to wrap

Then we headed out to the pagoda and got ourselves all set up.  All the fillings were already out, along with a big stack of cut banana leaves for wrapping (hence the 5am start). (The banana leaves are also the story behind why she was on a tamale making marathon for the second day in row - the school was going to get rid of the extra banana leaves, so she brought them home to use herself!).

Stockpiling...

Muchos piñas!! 

The first step in tamale making is to spoon some batter into the center of two banana leaves stacked on top of one another (that was my main job!).  Next, I passed the leaves down to Rocio who put 1 spoonful of rice, 1 piece of carrot, 1 piece of red pepper, 1 piece of green bean, and 1 piece of pork (and nothing more) carefully in the middle.  Once all the ingredients were safely in the middle, Rocio pulled each side of the banana leaves up, rolled it down, folded up one end and then folded up the other.  This makes one tamale - but tamales come in piñas, which are two tamales back to back, and then tied in a special way with some string.  So, I spooned batter, Nina (Rocio's friend) put on the rice, and Rocio did the rest.  Once we had our first 100 (so 50 piñas), we put them in a big pot over a fire and let them cook.  And we continued...240! We made 240 tamales, cooking the last batch at around 4pm.  It was a long day, but a really wonderful experience.  And so worth it because fresh home-made tamales are DELICIOUS!  It wasn't long before Rocio had Adrian hollering at passing cars that we had fresh tamales for sale!

Ready to eat!