It's the starter

It took about an hour and a half for the mechanic to show up - he said it was the starter, and that he'd get a new one.  (Or maybe rebuild the old one - sometimes our Spanglish doesn't get the entire story.)  He said he'd be back about 3 PM.

We talked it over - figuring things wuld run late, and who knows how long the work might take - we decided we should just spend one more night here in Puerto Viejo.

So we walked around town, had a nice lunch, came back to read and wait.  Of course, the mechanic showed at about 3, and the car was ready by 4 PM.  We could head out.  But we've already paid, so we'll stay, and get an early start tomorrow.

More car trouble

Richard went out this morning to a new bakery we heard about (from yesterday's tour guide) - he brought back croissants for an early breakfast.  We later went to head out for bkfst, thinking we'd take the car and go somewhere further away.  No go.  Car won't start.  Battery seems okay, lights go on.  Starter turns, makes a hum.  No vrrr vrrrr catching sound.  Car won't start. 

So we called our man Hugo, who called a local mechanico.  And we're waiting.  And we're waiting.

We'll see if we get the car fixed today so we can head to Puerto Limón as planned, or if we have another night in Puerto Viejo.  We don't have any plans, although we were hoping to stop by the National Museum of Chocolate, which is north of here, as we head out.  If not, well, there's tomorrow.  A day or two in Limón, then back to San Jose.

Such is life on the road.

A manatee!!!!

Richard has always wanted to see manatees, and we had talked to a travel agent last trip about arranging something - but the manatees are easier to find in Panama, and we were missing a passport last trip - so we were committed to seeing manatees this time, even if it was a bit pricey.

So - the tour operator, Karina, met us at our cabina this morning.  She was very nice, and chatted with us as she drove us down to Sixaola, the border town between Costa Rica and Panama.

We had to show our passports and get an exit stamp from Costa Rica.  We had to walk across this HORRIBLE ancient rickety bridge, with boards that moved around, gaps between the cross pieces, some broken and rotted boards, spikes that stuck up somewhat - and worst, NOTHING to hold onto!  Oh, did I mention the occasional semi that came lumbering across, as we had to move to the rusted metal platform on the side????  THIS was the bridge from Hell, and it was a miracle that Richard and I managed to walk across it in both directions.

Of course, at the other end we had to go through Customs to enter Panama.  So another line, another wait - then a taxi ride to the boat at the wetlands park (because to take a car from country to country entails way too much time and effort - plus Panama is one time zone ahead of Costa Rica, so timing is of the essence when going from one country to another and coming back in the same day).

Yes, this is a bus on pontoons.  No, this is not the boat we went out in.  We were in a little outboard motorboat, with the wood planks for seats.  Maybe a fiberglass boat.  Definitely no frills.

So we went out into the wetland area, which is kind of an estuary or channel that winds between the mainland (rather swampy) and the barrier islands (mangrove swamps).  We came to the platform, sort of an elevated shelter, which is basically a wildlife blind.  There's a man who has taken on the project of putting out food for the manatees, and he hangs up fresh banana leaves and green bananas every day - he grows these organically, so they are better for the manatees.  He showed us around, and had us sit quietly for a while - manatees are very shy, and when a motorboat comes through they go off and hide for a while.  So we had to wait for the manatees to come back.

It was kind of like fishing - when you get a nibble on the hook, the float and/or the fishing rod bobs up and down.  With the bananas and leaves hanging from the low branches, the manatees would sneak up and begin eating from underneath, pulling the branches down.  So when we saw the branches bobbing, we knew there was a manatee around.

Then there was the crunching noise, and some grunting - and eventually a manatee face!  I don't even know how to describe a manatee face - grey and rumpled up and furry, somewhat like a wet Sharpei dog - it was just a big grey furry face, but without any real definition - when it was eating the leaves and bananas, I couldn't really tell what was what - where were the eyes?  Nose?  Mouth?  Ears?  Forehead?  It was just a very weird grey amorphous blob, chomping and grunting!  There were a few moments of snout sticking up, breathing - a few moments of back as the manatee lay flat on the water to better grab a few bananas.  Then a moment and he/she was gone, grabbing from underwater again.

 

I kept trying to get a photo, but the manatee (only one showed up) was VERY elusive - just bobbing that blob-shaped head up, nuzzling the bananas and leaves, chomping and taking things underwater to eat.  I may have a bit of manatee showing in the photo, just to the right of the bananas.  Then again, it may just be a ripple in the water.  The manatee almost looked like a big rock coming to life and eating on the surface - that's how amorphous it was!

After 2 hours, the motorboat returned and we were taken to the end of the barrier island, where there is a turtle project.  The volunteers had just left the previous day, but Manatee Man had a big lunch ready for us - fried fish, rice and beans, salad, and watermelon.  He showed us around, and we chatted in our minimal Spanish. 

One moment of excitement - I went out to look at the water, thinking I had seen a crocodile face (which turned out to be a log) - but then I noticed that the motorboat was drifting away from shore and starting to turn with the tide and drift seaward - Motorboat Man had Manatee Man take him out in his canoe and they brought the motorboat back to shore.  I can only imagine how long it would have taken to paddle back!

These white things are screen covers for the various turtle nests - the eggs are gathered from the nests and re-buried, and these screens protect the baby turtles when they hatch, before they are helped out to sea (as in protected from birds, crabs, dogs, etc).  The project released over 1000 baby turtles in July, so this was pretty exciting.  These nests are about ready to hatch - but we didn't have time to stay until evening and see the hatching.

Most of the groups have murals in the cookhouse, and each person signs the painting.  They were pretty cool.

Then boat ride back to the landing - taxi back to the border - passport control - cross the horrible bridge - passport in Costa Rica - and Karina took us back to Puerto Viejo.  We also saw a lot of birds on the way, and a bunch of river turtles - not sea turtles, just little grey river turtles.  Sitting on piles of stuff floating in the river, and looking around.

A long and eventful day!!!!!

Morphos and Manatees

We went out for an early breakfast, since we're meeting our tour guide and boat captain at 8:30 AM, promptly (we were told).  Ate at Bread and Chocolate - doesn't that sound like a rallying cry for a protest march?  "Give us bread!  Give us chocolate!"  Anyway, they have fabulous whole wheat waffles, and French press cafe, so I enjoyed it.  (They also make their own bagels, which Richard enjoyed with scrambled eggs.)

On my way back to the cabina, I saw a HUGE blue morpho butterfly - bird sized, maybe the wingspan of a robin!  Bright shiny irridescent blue flitting through the dark green early morning neighborhood!  I tried following it, but soon it was just a shadow high in the trees.  They usually aren't so close to the coast, but I guess this is an indication of how close the jungle is to the actual town of Puerto Viejo.

Anyway, so we're ready for a boat trip to Panama, armed with passports, printout of our return tickets, sunscreen, camera.  We are on the manatee quest!  I will report back this evening, hopefully with photos.  (I'm not planning on swimming with the manatees, although that's what Richard is hoping to do.  I'm hoping we also turtles and dolphins!  But no sharks.  No, I don't want to see a shark.)

It's my birthday

 We're scheduled for an 8 hour boat trip tomorrow to Panama, looking for manatees in the mangroves and swamps and inland waterways. 

So we opted to make today a slow and lazy day.  Also, it rained much of the morning, and even though it stopped by noon, the sky remained grey and the day just got hotter and muggier.

I bought myself a little birthday present (a cute top), and the lady at the store wrapped it up in birthday wrapping - I thought it was pretty!

We are in Cabinas Tropical - sort of a motel, but we have room #2, the Macaw room.  As I said earlier, this is a two storey room, with upstairs double and single beds, and a little balcony off the upstairs room.  Plus mosquito nets, but I always get tangled in them so we just use the fans.

We have another double bed downstairs, and the TV.  And another fan.  

 Plus the stairs, which make great shelves for storing stuff - since we don't have a closet, shelves, dresser, or table.

 We have another private terrace downstairs, complete with mural showing a sloth, various birds and butterflies (including my blue morpho), flowers, an ocelot, macaw and toucans - and very comfy hammocks for lazing away the day.  And of course a waterfall and plenty of greenery.

 We've had a relaxing day full of chocolate - and several walks around town.  It's a quiet little town, not much happening.  The kids all seem to either bicycle around or play at the soccer field, which is about two blocks away from our cabina.

 One of the funny things is that we see people around town that we recognize, just from being here a few days.  We smile, they smile, there's the little head nod, and that's about it. 

Not much else to report.  Tomorrow should be very exciting, and we're getting all set for that.  Then on Friday morning we'll head to Puerto Limón, the "big" town on the coast - definitely more urban, although the city park has parrots and sloths.  We hope to get a room at the Park Hotel, where we stayed three years ago - then Sunday or Monday we'll head back to San Jose for a few days before flying out on Aug. 11.

Until then, the adventures continue, and I will keep blogging!

And thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Mosaics and Chocolate

I do have paragraph breaks in here, but somehow everything is running together - and I can't seem to separate the paragraphs without losing photos.  So we'll just have to learn to live with it.

 Wandering around Puerto Viejo, we see all kinds of mosaics – it seems to be a common art form in Costa Rica.  So of course I take tons of photos of mosaics – in showers, in restaurants, in hotels, signs, etc.  

This is just a sampling – Café Viejo is a lovely Italian restaurant where we’ve had great pasta and a delicioso panna cotto con frutti di bosca (Italian cooked cream custard with berry sauce).  The floral designs are from a hotel we looked at – great mosaics, not such great rooms, and a very pushy person who showed us around and we didn’t much like her so we opted to stay at our funky two-story room.

We also had a repeat visit to the gelato place – funny how so many Italians have ended up in Puerto Viejo.  Apparently there are several Italian restaurants up and down the coast around here.  I chatted with one of the partners, he showed me the gelato machines in the kitchen – I think he liked the fact that I asked for the dark chocolate and also the caffe gelato – his comment was “perfetto!” – he and I agreed that this was THE perfect combination of gelato flavors.  Although Richard had the dark chocolate with some raspberry gelato, and that was also a wonderful combination.

Our afternoon was a trip to the ChocorArt chocolate farm – we started with a visit to their coffee shop, where I had a chocolate frio, iced chocolate drink.  (Richard had the brownie.)  They make their own chocolate using the chocolate they grow organically, pure unrefined cane sugar, and various spices they grow on the farm.

We had about an hour hike through the farm, where we saw various cacao trees with different kinds of cacao pods (and which the owner said is a fruit, not a vegetable – but it is definitely healthy for you!!!).  He cut down a ripe cacao pod and we tasted the white pulpy stuff, which is what the Mayans originally ate.  We got the whole history of chocolate, which originated in Venezuela, but then the Mayans and Aztecs and eventually the Incas spread the plants all over Central and South America, and of course the Spanish brought it back to Europe.  

Anyway, the Mayans ate the white pulpy stuff, which tastes okay but has a horribly slimey texture that I just can’t get past – bleah!  Like overcooked okra!  Anyhow, then the Aztecs figured out that drying and roasting the seeds (beans) made a great drink, and they added various spices.  The European monks who established missions in the Americas added sugar (well, honey) – and theobroma cacao, food of the gods, was born!

Oh, great story – at the end of the harvest, around the New Year, the cappuccino monkeys come down out of the hills and they eat the cacao pods – they climb the trees and twist off the pods, then climb way high into the trees and bang the pods against the tree to split them open.  Very smart monkeys, and they really love eating the cacao – the owner said this happens every year!  Other animals, like squirrels, climb and bite into the pods, but they only eat a little bit.  Agoutis eat the fallen pods sometimes, but not always.  So not only humans like cacao, but a whole lot of other animals!

After our hike, we saw the fermentation area, where the whole beans are left to sit in the sun – the white goopy pulp ferments, and it takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks for the stuff to ferment and dry out.  Then the whole beans go into a special drying rack where they sit in the sun and really dry out – again, a few days to two weeks, depending on the weather – and there’s a rolling roof to cover them up when it rains.

Then the beans are roasted over a fire, and when still warm they are crushed with a big stone – then the chaff is blown off, and the crushed beans are saved.  This is ground up – Richard and I both took turns grinding the beans, in something that was like a meat grinder, with the hand crank – and this is where the cocoa butter comes out of the beans, they come out almost like a very dark peanut butter, oily and dark and gloppy.  And of course the smell is WONDERFUL!!!!!  Like very dark chocolate!  The whole roasted beans taste delicious too!  Dark and rich and chocolatey, with absolutely no sweetness because no sugar has been added.

So – we started with a refreshing drink made from hibiscus and ginger – very nice!  Then we had a bit of the original cocoa drink, with cacao, honey, cinnamon, maybe cardamom.  Very tastey, although not what we normally think of as hot cocoa.  

Then the unrefined cane sugar was melted over the fire, and mixed with the ground cacao – this made almost a very thick chocolate fondue, which we ate out of little bowls – rich, intense, sweet, grainy, and delicious!  Oh wow, food of the gods indeed!

Our next treat – the owner showed us how when this is cooled, he forms the chocolate into rolls in waxed paper (after adding flavorings) – we tasted the chocolate chili combo, which was just spicey enough to give a little zing to the chocolate.

We had lots of questions (there were two young families from South Africa, and a man and his son from Montreal, so we all had questions), and a lot of conversation, and it was great fun!  Plus all kinds of butterflies fluttering by, and some kind of bee or wasp who showed up for the chocolate grinding – they didn’t fly into the chocolate, they just showed up to smell it.

We had a GREAT time – and that was just about it for the day.  We’re hanging out, catching up on internet stuff (when the server is working) – and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.  Maybe some beach time, and we’re still trying to arrange a manatee expedition.  I’ll keep you posted!  

Another mango sneak attack

We went to a nearby panederia for breakfast.  I ordered the pancakes (pan queques) that come with fruit on the side.  We told the waiter "Mas importante, no mango, muy allergico" and made the choking motion with hands around neck.  I added, "Yo muerte!"  He nodded, and went to the kitchen.  Eventually he brought out breakfast - mediocre pancakes (too eggy), and fruit salad that had no mango in there - I definitely checked it out.  We ate.  We paid.  We walked.  I started coughing and having more and more trouble breathing, complete with the itchy throat and runny nose.

So we walked over to the little surgeon, who we knew from 3 years ago when I ate granola that had dried mango in it.  I was even in his computer system!  A shot of epinephrin in the arm, several hits with the nebulizer with breaks inbetween, he tried another shot intravenously but my veins were having none of it (they roll, they collapse, they clot, this time they put blood INTO the syringe, I have no idea how).  So he went with a max dose of prednisone today, decreasing for 3 days.

I'm okay.  I'm shakey and tired from the meds.  We napped, we read, Richard went out and picked up lunch. 

And when we get home, Mercedes, I need a list in Spanish saying I'm allergic to mango and please wash the knife and cutting board or plate with hot water and soap before cutting fruit for me.  Or maybe I should only eat bananas, which come with their own protective coating.

Last note - there are vultures all over Costa Rica, they fly in the sky in circles, they land by the side of the road - but here, in Puerto Viejo, they land in the trees and lurk ominously, like bad omens.  Maybe I should have listened to them!