Walking Through Life in Flip-Flops

When they don't wash away

Just 15 minutes of rain

Oh, yes the rain came and away floated our Flip-Flops  .  Hopefully we have solved the problem as our property was taking on extra rain run off from the road..........can you say......TROCHE ( trench ) and indeed Shapiro and I dug a very nice long and deep troche across the front of our property along the road to move the water somewhere else .........Lo Siento ( I am sorry )  don't need anymore water here .   Still , we knew we need terra ( soil ) delivered to add a couple of inches of height in front of our Casa along with the driveway........however , one thing at a time as our budget for our sencillo paraiso ( simple paradise ) evaporated along time ago . 

Yet life is so beautiful here as you can see from the cut flores we get from our garden

Standing Heleconia From Our Jardin

And my fravorite Heleconia in a most appropriate Vase ( empty champagne bottle )

Hanging Heleconia From Our Jardin

Our friend Surfer Mike brought this beautiful 9 foot section of philodendron that we attached to one of our trees on the north side of the casa .  We know have 4 different varities clinging to 4 arbols but I don ' t think well have enough room for the 896 other varities of philodendron .

Regalo from mi amigo Mike

And then there are some most pecular fungus that pop up.............out of the ground here in our jardin

So...........Any Clue

And then there is mi esposa in the Cocina ( Kitchen ) making Pan...........36 years of marriage and I have to bring her to the remote jungle in Southwestern Costa Rica to Bake Bread .  I have got to say it is awesome whole wheat Pan and I do believe there is a possibility of sour dough coming to  a Cocina near me soon .  Come on mi espose.......stop making me wait for the sour dough .

Mi Esposa making Pan

It is not all work here , there are mornings where we take long walks on the beach especially when we have morning low tides .  Last Sunday we walked 6 miles and came across this


Where is the Old Bay

YES......we have blue crabs here in the Rio Coto .  So I am telling mi esposa that we should do chickin - neckin back on the edge of the mangrove and then it occured to me.............Crocodiles like chicken necks  TOOOOOOOOOO .  I do believe I have mentioned in one or two blogs that we do have Crocodiles and we have seen crocodiles...........so our game plan for the large container of Old Bay , used primarily for fresh camarones ( shrimp ) may serve another purpose when I can find an amigo that goes crabbing with the crocodiles .

In our early days of our jungle adventure and life here in our Casa , anything that moved  deserved caution........Hey , I  have watched National Geographics ,  " Most Deadly Snakes of Central America " and the funny thing , it seems Costa Rica has most of them .  And , fact number # 2 , the hospital in Golfito has the largest supply of Anti - Venin Serum in Costa Rica............Sooooo , always look where you are going and what you are picking up .  This brings me to my stump sitting friend in the photo below .   I believe he is in the Baslik Lizard family also know as the " Jesus Christ " Lizard becaus they can walk on water and on my first encounter with this lizard he reminded me of the poison spitting hooded lizard in Jurrasic Park # 1.   But alas we are friends and from the Cocina ventanna ( kitchen window ) we watch him jump up on his backyard stump to chill .



Straight Out of Jurassic Park

And still , I wait and wait and wait for my first " B C " encounter..............that would be Boa Constrictor .   And yes I am very excited for that day to come because on that day I can truthfully say , " We do live in a jungle " .

I really do try to get the blog out every week but time slips by so fast .  We are coming up on 6 months here on Playa Zancudo and in just 6 days we head to Boquete Panama to renew our tourist visa for our next 90 days .  Reflecting back on this journey I have to say it is an " Awakening " .  Understanding a different life and what we need to happily exist in an insane world .  The simplicity of our life here with no car , oh my God all of you cringed at that thought , doing without TELEVISON ,  anyone breathing after that statement and making do with what you have.........that would mean , NO WALMART or Big Box Store to purchase all those things like the 3 Chip - n - Dip sets we sold at one of our yard sales .  " Life begins at the end of your comfort zone " Thank you Neale Donald Walsch and Pura Vida 

What The Rain Brings To Our Jungle Home

Sometimes it is best to start with a photo of a sunset without RAIN , which is not that often these days here on Playa Zancudo

The rain has started along with the increased Mosquito population and I just have to say we have resorted to vacuming the Mosquitos off the screens in our kitchen most every morning now .  Life in a tropical jungle what did we expect . 

We survived our first monsoon rainfall just 2 weeks ago on a Saturday night with a good 6 to 8 inches of water covering parts of our yard in a  matter of minutes............and the good thing about rain that falls that hard is...........No Mosquitos .  There is no way any insect could make it through that rainfall .  So , our first taste of the start of the mini rainy season is upon us .  As for all the rain we got on that Saturday night..........soaked up in a couple of hours . 

 Now it usually does not rain all day , so we do get some awesome sunshine normally in the morning hours with the skies clouding up in the late afternoon .  I have been quite impressed by the amount of agua that falls from the sky and now understand why the Costa Rican Rain Gauge looks like a 5 gallon bucket with graduations in gallons not inches . 

The start of the mini rainy season has provided us with good info prior to the real rainy season in October and November........We have NO LEAKS in our roof......Job well done Roy and Victor......mi amigos . 

The amazing part of getting all of this rain is the sheer beauty of a very lush country........It feels like someone turned on the High Definition button on our property and all of the surrounding properties .

Looking out towards the playa and the calle

Pathway to the front puerta

As for our fruit trees , flowers and shrubs

1 of 3 of our Carombola ( Star Fruit ) Trees hanging full of fruit 

Crotons 1 of about 8 different varities here on the property

Pride of Burma ours has grown to about 5 feet tall and normally only grow to 3 feet

Costa Rica is surely a gardeners paradise...........just break off a branch and stick it in the ground and the next thing you know it is growing .  Propagating new plants here is so easy......you just have to remember to have patience and wait for the rain to start . 

I have not yet mentioned the one other insect that all of the rain has brought.........Cockroaches..........apparently they are being flooded out of their natural habitat and have decided to take up residency in our Casa.......mi esposa is not happy .  As for me , I think I have seen my share of cockroaches and I know that we don't stand a chance in Hell of getting rid of all of them so we take out as many as we can .  Anyone out there got a good recipe for deep frying insects......they have to be more tender and juicy than the beef here .

We continue to work towards completing the screening of our front porch and the front A framed rancho.........fingers crossed ,  another week,   and we will have a lot less mosquitos to deal with in the main living area.  Still I am amazed at how many of the local Ticos deal with the sheer  number of Mosquitos with out any screens at all.........not to mention all of the rainfall and living just inches off the ground .  Many of us could not imagine living with those conditions . 

Yesterday we made the trip out of Zancudo on the bus heading to Cuidad Neilly for produce and on to the border for VODKA and a few groceries  from the City Mall before heading to Laurel to complete the process of opening our Costa Rican bank account and yes we can now hide money in Central America.........if we only had money to hide .  Still life is good here and I feel so comfortable living in such an open house with an awesome jungle property just steps to the playa .  I have told mi esposa it is really going to be hard to live behind windows , doors and walls  again..........not anytime soon though . 

I do want to ask if anyone out there happens to be shopping at Petsmart.........could you check and see if they make pampers for gekcos........since the mosquito population has increased so have  the piles of gekco poop........yes I am grateful they are doing there best eating as many mosquitos as they can but I still haven't had any luck potty training them and they are pooping everywhere........Remember , Pura Vida and Sleep With Your Mouth Closed

Where Does The Time Go

So......... you think I have been laying under a palm tree sipping Rum Runners and neglecting the Blog .  Far from it , I have been hanging out with this HOT TICA up in Alejuela as proof by the photo

Okay...........the real story , Sherry and I headed to Alejuela to pick up our son Kyle at the airport for his first visit to Costa Rica on April 18 th .  This also was our first try at using the Costa Rican bus system and I will tell you it was awesome and very easy and it was a chance for us to spend some time off the playa and get another taste of civilization..........and check out some delicious Panderias ( Bakery ).....not that I am complaining but if we only had just ONE really good Panderia here on Zancudo life sure would be SWEETER .   We left Alejuela and San Jose with our son in tow on a Bus heading up through the mountains on the Central American highway to San Isidro General...........and as usual for this time of year we hit the afternoon RAIN which made the ride most interesting.......mi esposa is still having nightmares from the ride .  In San Isidro General we had a nice hotel on the city square and dinner readying for the 7 a.m. bus south 

Waiting for the bus

to Ciudad Neily , Paso Canoas to shop and onto Laurel to catch our 4 p.m. bus to Zancudo.........yes it was a 12 hour day and as our son turned to us on the chicken bus to Zancudo around 5 p.m. that day he said , " Don 't Know What You Two Where Smoking , But A Sane Person Would Have Turned Back A Long Time Ago " . 

However.......once he got here he understood..........the journey is worth it .  So for 10 days he swam and worked with us on our  casa and jardin .

Biking on the Playa

Unfortunately..........we did have several nights of MOSQUITOS.........life in the jungle .  So our son got a chance to see how different our life is here and just how difficult it can be to get the things you need and I am sure he is certainly not going to miss riding the bus to Zancudo which he had to do one other time .  On Saturday before his flight out he got to see our other option for leaving the playa.......by BOAT .  We headed to Golfito and a rental car for a slow ride up the coast for some site seeing and a night in Atenas and another night in Alejuela before his flight back to the  states .

Why is mi esposa bring home another ROCK

The photo was taken at Playa Dominical before we headed up the mountain to a favorite Soda with an awesome view

Imperials and patacones with a side of nachos

A stop along the coast highway to stretch and another awesome view

Just south of Jaco

We gave our son a quick tour of Jaco which I believe he wishes we lived in with the nightlife , bars , restaurants and people...........why did I throw in people......well it is kind of like this , here in Zancudo at this time of the year there are not many of us here .  All of the snow birds have headed back to the US , Canada or Europe leaving just a few to weather the rainy season .  No problem getting a seat at the bar or restaurant here in Zancudo .

We stayed in Atenas up in the mountains just west of San Jose.........what a cool little town . They were celebrating with a festival in reconition as National Geographics Best Climate in the World with festivities on the square.......FUN .  On Sunday we headed just east to Aleujela with a stop at one of the hundreds of viveros ( nurseries ) for just a few impatiens , coleus and geraniums along with a couple cactus.........you do not know how wonderful it was to shop at nursery.......something we have done all our lives in the states spring after spring..........it is the small things that truely mean the most .  So.....now we want a vivero here on Zancudo and a panderia........but do we really need these things?  We chose this place for it 's  traquility , beauty and playa.........I think we will travel away every once in awhile for our vivero and panderia fix .

So.....our son headed home on April 30 th and we headed back to Golfito to catch the 12 p.m. boat back to Zancudo with flowers in hand . 

The rain has come and normally everyday at 3 or 5 it starts and in the morning when we open our eyes it truely does seem like we live in HD ( High Definition ) techno color......the crayon box has exploded here in Zancudo .  As for me I am gardening as hard as I can and happy with my new Lipstick Palm

Hibicus shorts and a lipstick palm

We are coming up on 5 months of life here in Playa Zancudo and if I were to tell you everyday is paradise it would be a lie..............life here is difficult but life here is also very beautiful and the beauty is what keeps us here .  Pura Vida

Melt Down Under The Palms

Yes..........my first melt down in paradise .  Why you ask........PATIENCE.......I have none .  The cause of the melt down was just one door , one door that was hand built , paid for 2 months ago and has been sitting in the shower in the 2nd bedroom waiting to have framework built to hold it in place .
    

The Cause

Having  OCD ( Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ) here in the jungle definitely is not a good thing .  There is always something falling from the canopy above or crawling and trying to make your home their home.........ants........more ants and then there are the gecko's who have not been toilet trained.....well it is not like they leave a very large pile.......but it is there .  Then mi casa has no real storage space.......and again I have to remind myself I am only wearing bathing suits and tee shirts with flip flops all this fits nicely in one section of the wardrobe .   Let us not open up my organizational problems since I have not cut enough bamboo to build the storage facility.........Now back to the ugly part of the melt down , I yelled to mi esposa ,  " THE FOR SALE SIGN IS GOING UP WE ARE HEADING BACK TO DELAWARE " this happened on Lunes  ( Monday ) of this past week . 


Today is Domingo ( Sunday ) , just 6 dias from the MELT DOWN and what a difference when you just have PATIENCE and of course LUMBER .

A Very Beautiful Puerta To Mi Casa

Looking Out

Lumber , oh what a wonderful word .  That really has been one of the biggest issues living here , waiting for your supplies to be delivered or just trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get what you need .  I mean really........the closest ferreteria is about 20 miles away on a road that is rock , gravel and pot holes and  the fact that mi Escalade has only one very small storage basket attached to the handle bars used primarily for carrying cervezas and one would need alot of cervezas to make that trip on a bicycleta  and I really don 't think there would be much madera coming back to Zancudo . 

But on Mericoles ( Wednesday ) I caught a  ride to the frontera ( border ) with our friends who were picking up ceramica for their real estate office and anytime you can catch a ride with the possiblility of having your groceries transported back to Zancudo without having to use the backpack.........you got to go for it .  Home Run........not only did  I get all of the really heavy grocery items along with molita (ground beef )  and pollo ( chicken) ,  I got 7 pieces of beautiful milled and squared 2 X 4's at the new Agrocoopeallanza by the Aciete plant ( date palm oil plant ) just southwest of Laurel .  Now the funny part of my adventure is I caught a return ride to Zancudo with the Amigo who was delivering the ceramica and mi amigo habla no Engles and mi habla poquito Espanol so in my best spanish I yelled ALTO ( stop )  and I got my wood for my screen puerta that had been driving me crazy . 

And the 4 pieces of TEAK that we had purchased to cap the knee wall on the porch had finally dried and could be squared , planed and set in place

Teak sill on knee wall

Now , I wait again first for mas colones por mas madera por maya ( more money for more wood for screen ) .  PATIENCE

We have finally seen the rain we have been waiting so long for especially ME , why........so I can start working and developing the gardens .  It is kind of funny as our friend Surfer Mike had said it will rain at 3 or at 5 and he has been right on the money .  The afternoon showers either at 3 or at 5 have made the greenery of the jungle even more intense and the hibiscus are blooming like crazy.   And that banana that I planted on April 1 well see for yourself .

Me and My Banana

Speaking of bananas , we have put in at least 4 more varieties over these past couple of weeks along with 10 new palms , 8 yellow palms and 2 fish tail palms .  Have outlined our driveway with 76 small rooted Ixora shrubs that bloom an  awesome orange .  In the coming week I need to get the 24 papaya plants I started from seed in the ground and protected from IGUANAS .

24 Papayas

So , I really don't think I will put the For Sale Sign up just yet........there is still alot to for me to learn and as far as working on being tranquillo  (tranquil) ..........it 's going to take several years to get there but the journey will be great .

Pura Vida 

Life in the Jungle

Been getting great responses to our blog .  But we rarely get any questions about daily life in the jungle , which I can truthfully say is very different from our life at the farm .

So , this weeks blog is all about jungle living , the good , the bad and the uncomfortable .

Starting with the things that create  the uncomfortable such as ANTS and yes I have mentioned them in a couple of blogs...........they truly are EVERYWHERE .  On more than one occasion either mi esposa or yo has made the mad dash for the waterhose after stepping onto a colony of fire ants........these are very little ants that pack one mean ass bite that burns intensely for about 20 minutes followed by itching .  What have we learned..........watch where we are stepping .  Oh.....by the way they climb trees so you have to watch where you grab hold of branches and then there are the.......

WASPS..............of varying sizes .  I personally know how bad the small wasps sting from construction on the house when I was hit 5 times by the attack possee while removing a rotten fascia board and sadly after killing off what we thought was the entire colony 3 escapees hit me from the backside .    So , when we see the really big WASPS.......does a 2 passenger Cessna bring to mind the size...........we get out of  their way .  Got hit last year after purchasing the property by 1 black wasp on the backside of my hand through a LEATHER glove , the result...........one very large cartoon hand with the swelling lasting for several days . 

And then there is................Polvo ( dust ) since we are experiencing a very dry season and remember there are only 2 seasons Wet and Dry........it has been really DRY and we have no glass in our windows to keep out the dust . I believe we have had 3 rain showers within the last 3 weeks and that is all the rain we have seen since Enero (January)   ............but soon the rains will come and it will rain , Rain , RAin RAIn and RAIN .  We will definitely be blogging about the rain .

For me those are the only discomforts of life here in the Jungle..........BUT WAIT......mi esposa has something to say...........HEAT and MOSQUITOS .   Yes it has been HOT , temperatures into the mid 90's during the day cooling off very comfortably at night . With the ceiling fan I am fine but  mi esposa will turn on the wind tunnel fan at the foot of the bed........believe me they could use this fan as an engine on a 747............At least we have electricity... most of the time to power her wind tunnel .   And now  mi esposas # 1 cause of discomfort........MOSQUITOS , funny thing with it being so dry we have had very few mosquitos and I don ' t recall 1 complaint this week from her about the mosquitos............that is because the no sees came to town for a couple of early evening biting sessions on her .  Nothing likes me so I never get bit .  Oh well , life here in the jungle . 

Still nothing seems to be that bad here..........I certainly have had to learn PATIENCE.....well sort of .   It is frustrating to wait.........we instant gratification , give it to me now , service in 30 seconds or less Americans.............we wait for nothing .  You will wait  HERE especially in this very remote wild west forgotten corner of Costa Rica .  But that is what brought us here.........remote quiet jungle life .  Forget it.........quiet certainly is  not the operative word to discribe the jungle.........for at least 3 to 4 times a week the howler monkeys usually start their morning ritual of seeing who can howl the loudest at about 4:30 a.m. followed by every damn bird in the jungle that does not sing in the night time choir ring in for their morning singing session at 5:33 a.m........no not 5:30 or 5:45 it has to be 5:33 but that is okay since the 5:45 bus is heading south out of town sounding as a bus should sound on a bumpy dirt road gearing up and down with windows rattling just lightly enough to hear .  And then just maybe we can doze off for a few more winks when to the palm tree tops land 3 african parrots with more mouth than a bus load of 60 year old women heading to a Billy Ray Cyrus concert . 

Then a long walk on the beach with the sun rising above the jungle and all is just a faded memory as the Osa Penisula sparkles across the aqua waters of the Golfo Dulce and looking north to the mouth of the Rio Coto and the sunlight glimmering on jungle covered mountains above Golfito..........this is home .   Just as the tide so goes the Ebb and Flow of life here in our jungle home .

So......I don't really know what to list as the BAD part of life here........except for not being able to see our children and grandson , our family and friends........that is hard but soon we will all be together again here in our home in the jungle or back in the states .  Our first 3 months here has passed very quickly and we have about 1 year left before we head back to the US for our first visit .  We are here for a year.......working on our casa making it a home and enjoying a different life without an easy button .

Always remember Zancudo is the last frontier in Costa Rica and we are remote.......we have heard this more then one time........... more like a thousand times since we arrived  from people who happen upon this sleepy little beach village .  For us life is simply beautiful with an occasional frustration that soon ebb with the tide  then one more amazing sunset and the sounds of the night jungle.........Oh , did I forget to tell you about the sounds in the jungle at night............That will have to be another blog so on with the pictures because I know you are tired of my ramblings. 

First Banana

Why does the caption say first Banana when in previous blogs we have talked about our 20 plus banana trees.......well technically we have Cuadrados ( a 4 sided starchy member of the banana family ) and yes they are great to eat.....green in stews or just boiled with Salsa Luzano or sliced when ripe and fried in butter with miel ( honey ) and canela ( cinnamon ) for breakfast or dessert .  We do have a recipe for Cuadrados Lasagne using the sliced green boiled cuadrados as the lasagne noodle but we are just waiting to pick up mozzarella at the border on our next trip .

Fresh eggs and Fresh milk

Yes that is mi esposa with her 2 liters of fresh cows milk still warm straight from the teet at 1500 colones and 1 dozen fresh eggs also 1500 colones .  Note:  In order to get the eggs we have to produce the carton.........Egg mans rule .

Just a friend who leaped from a palm tree I was planting

 You know there always has to be something you look forward to anywhere you live........for us it happens every other Sabado noche ( Saturday night ) at Olas Bravas with our friend Ellie and her awesome pizza..............

Ellie , Sherry and our PIZZA

We have eaten many pizzas in our day and I will tell you I would put Ellie ' s pizza up against any and hands down she will take the prize for........Best Damn Pizza .  The cool thing about going to Ellies is we bring our own beer just like the good old days at Nicola's back in the 70's .

Today we end with a quote by Neale Donald Walsch , " Life Begins At The End Of Your Comfort Zone " .

Pura Vida

90 Days In 3 Days Out

Where did those 90 days go ?  Wednesday of last week mi esposa and yo headed to Panama as our tourist visa was about to expire........our 90 days in Costa Rica was just about up so we headed to David , Panama hitching a ride with friends who were doing a one day shopping trip to David...........Cheap Prices Bubba .  David  is about 3 hours from Zancudo and that also depends on how fast we stamp out at the Costa Rican Imigration Office and how fast we stamp in at the Panamanian Immigration Office .  As always the prime factor is.............how many people are in line waiting to either stamp out or stamp in .  We stamped out of Costa Rica in 15 minutes but it took over an hour to stamp into Panama.........Oh Yes.......one big ass tourist bus and 2 very slow Panamanian Immigration Officers on duty .   However I am not complaining because this is all just one big learning curve and it is awesome just to stand back and check out the people .
Traveling on the roads in Panama is very much like traveling on the roads in the US.........it almost makes one cry thinking about our return to the roads of Costa Rica or should I say the lack of paved roads especially the 25 kilometer stretch from Naranjo to Zancudo..........bump.....bump.....bigger bump and the POLVO  ( DUST ) along with the fact we will be riding the chicken bus on our journey back home.........enough....... on with our 3 days in David .

First stop was to the DO - IT Center ( mini Lowes )  and for all the preaching on changing our consumer attitudes.........well let's just say........ ANXIETY ATTACK.............and.........DO YOU TAKE VISA .  To many things very low prices and what did we buy............I am ashamed to list the items but half the blame goes to mi esposa.......SHERRY who just kept saying , "And This Is All I Need " ....so we bought  4 flower pots , gardening tools , 2 sets of bathroom rugs , 1 wind tunnel fan , 1 toaster oven ( OMG melted cheese toast when we get back to Zancudo ) and 2 blue storage tubs which cost about $34 dollars in Costa Rica and only cost $12 at the DO - IT Center , 1 toilet seat for $7 and in Costa Rica it is $22 and finally another set of bowls for the kitchen .  Still there was so much  more we wanted like a weedeater $79 and I will tell you they are $200 plus in Costa Rica........no need to dwell Costa Rica is far more beautiful than Panama at least in mi ojos ( my eyes ) .

So we loaded up our friends car.......hugs and kisses and off we headed in a $2 Panamanain taxi to Parque Cervantes in the center of David and a room for 2 nights ( air condition , TV at $38 / night ) .  The real killer was we stepped into the bar next to the Hotel Iris throw back 3 beers and 3 vodkas along with an appetizer for less than 10 bucks........really.......beer is 75 cents and a mixed drink is  $1.25 and the appetizer was $2.50 .  Panama is by far really inexpensive .

Second day did some window shopping just so we would know what was available in David .  Breakfast was awesome coming in under $5 for 2 people.......have I said how cheap it was in Panama.........enough.......so what is there to do for 2 adventurous people exploring Panama .  Head to the Panama Agriculture Fair  .  Got to the Fairgrounds at 11:30 AM cost $1.50 per person and what a great time we had .  As we always did at the Delaware State Fair it was off to the livestock barns to see

Awesome but TOUGH on a plate

Turchicken ?

And what a treat to have a Zoological park

Seen their cousins in the Rio behind our Casa

Need my blanket back you Acoutamondes

The vegetable gardens were unbelievable , just never think that here in Central America they grow delicious potatoes , carrots , sweet onions , zuchinni , and beautiful cabbage

All that slaw

Parmesan soon

Simply Beautiful

Just wish we could have brought back some of these

Need Herbs at our Casa

and a little more color would not hurt

As always at any agricultural fair even in Panama , locals have to show off their sewing and growing skills

Do you have these in larger sizes

I would like a pound of all of those

As you see we had a really good time at the fair and if someone had ever told me that one day I would be walking around an agricultural fair in Panama I would think their queso ( cheese ) had slipped off their pozuelo ( cracker ) .   The fair food was great , alot of hot dogs on sticks and everything imaginable grilled and always cheap even the 75 cent Panamanian beer , bottle in hand strolling the fair grounds .  Sadly the day came to an end and me esposa and yo headed our separate ways , her with

One RED HOT Latin Pepper

and me

With one Long Lean Zanhoria

Yes , we did make it back and as the old proverbial saying goes , " There Is No Place Like Home " even if that casa sets in a jungle on the southern part of one really beautiful Central American country. 

Pura Vida

Rhythm of Life

Sol........Mas Sol......... Mucho Mas Sol .  Since our arrival on December 28 the sun ( sol ) has shone everyday and I am enjoying the sol but I do wish it would rain just enough to help the plants since we are truly in a very DRY season .  Mi esposa is muy contento though.........with the dry weather there are very few mosquitos so no bites .  I do believe we have the mosquitos under control for this month .

We took a trip on Monday to Rio Claro and as always a trip from Zancudo means one of two things.........a boat ride or a very long bus ride just to get the first leg of your journey under way.  So , we opted for the boat ride to Golfito and then a taxi ride to Rio Claro to " The Paradise Tropical Garden " , and a tour by Robert Beatham who has lived here since 1964 , he was originally from Maine .

Robert Beatham and the giant Fan Palm

An amazing 28 hectares of property he has worked and groomed into a beautiful garden that provides us inspiration for our property on a much smaller scale .

Cj and Sherry at Paradise Tropical Garden, Rio Claro

Mi esposa has always said I have a Grande Cabeza ( Big Head ) but I disagree and I have the proof

Small Head Big Frond

Enough......as I want to share some other pictures of the gardens

Shampoo Ginger

The ginger in the photo above can be used to wash your hands or hair  by simply cutting off the blossom and turning it upside down the liquid just pours out.........quite amazing and so beautiful .

Upright Heleconia

And I could go on an attach the 50 other pictures we took of the numerous varities of heleconia , gingers , torch gingers , and palms of all varieties .  The most amazing part of our trip to visit Robert was his knowledge of the plants he grows and how many of these plants are used as medical remedies to fight and control hypertension , diabetes , cancer and skin conditions .  Please take some time and check out this website I have attached .  I look forward to spending time volunteering at " The Paradise Tropical Garden " to learn more about the native Costa Rican Tropical plants from Robert Beatham .
http://paradise-garden.tripod.com/
                                                         

As the weeks have passed here at our Casa here on Playa Zancudo..........we are at WAR.......Si........WAR with the monos .

1 of the 30 Caupuchin monkeys raiding our bird feeder

Oh yes.........if you think squirrels are good at eating up everything you try to feed your birds......then let me introduce you to the.............Bottomles Pit of the Thieving Banana Muncher........aka , the cute little white faced CAPUCHIN.........just don't stand under the tree looking up because those little *#$@#* will piss on you.......Oh YES they will .  A possible solution to our war.........Give them the Casa and a large supply of  bananas and we go off and live in the jungle .  I must admit they are quite cute and very entertaining to watch but when it comes to getting a banana or 20 bananas they can be aggressive .  We stopped feeding them at the back of our yard at the jungles edge and forgot that we have numerous fruit trees on our property so they are just enjoying the buffet of gauvas , cacao , carambola, water apples and some type of long dark pods ( name unknown ) with a licorce tasting seed in them .  But if they even think once about eating our gwanabana ( we have 6 on the tree now ) which can cost $10 to $20 dollars for each piece of fruit.......we are having monkey stew every noches Martes  ( Tuesday night ) .

It seems our social calender stays somewhat full here on Playa Zancudo .  This past Friday we had great guests for diner and wonderful conversation and laughter especially when the large frog leaped from above onto our guest and onto the side of the sofa without histeria .  The frog was cute with big brown eyes........hey we are living outside inside , it is the jungle .  Our guests / friends have done an awesome job getting the library up and running here in Zancudo for the children and adults so if you have time please take a minute and check out all they have accomplished with Biblioteca de Zancudo , Thank you Susan and George . 
http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-0466-4bc6-8a65?ln

Life here is wonderful , the food , the people , the beauty of the jungle and playa and most of all the simplicity..............just like our big fish hanging on our porch

My Rooster Fish from a Palm Frond

 

Fresh Heleconia and Ginger from the jungle in our Bamboo Vase

Any least not forget mi esposas wildlife photo of the week

 Sherry named  her discovery " SPOT "

Life continues here in paradise.........no regrets and a lifetime to enjoy our tropical Casa.........Pura Vida