La Exotica bar and restaurant, Ojochal, Costa Rica

Had a most exquisitely yumptious dinner out last night at a French (Quebec) restaurant. Oooh it was lovely and pretty and elegant and the food was so delightfully presented and tasted divine.

The tiramisu was exceptionally good.

The staff were charming, knowledgeable and responsive yet employed deference and made you feel special; table waiting is such a subtle artform, if done well. We felt like VIP's and enjoyed a very luxurious evening. I didn't flinch when the (big) bill came - it was worth every moment. Such good attention to detail is hard to sustain and they did a superb job. It's a long time since we have enjoyed fine dining together.

Burp! Ooops. Tonight we are having sardines picante on toast!

TripAdvisor mess up...fixed!

Phew! I am saved.

There is a 'delete' option on reviews you have written. It means you can't write about the same place again for 3 months. But at least my well intended but 0 stars review will disappear and won't do Alejo any damage. Uli can resend our positive review instead and hit the correct number of stars this time.Doh!

The website for the aparthotel is www.apartotelplayaluna.com so you can see where we are parked.

Walking "quickly!" along the Whale tail at Uvita Point, Costa Rica

We walked all the way out to the whale tail and then walked back - quickly. Why? Because the whale tail is sand and rock formation that only appears for a short while at very low tide. It looks just like a whale tail from the air.

I am sure we had plenty of time to walk leisurely there and back. But it is a long tail and once we were at the end I looked back and got the heebie-geebies and wanted to run all the way; I was worried the sea would rush in and we would be stranded. What a baby! Uli was his cool self as per usual and wanted to start snorkelling. Fine - I'll see you later then, cos I am off!

By the way, I have worked out how 'Jesus' appeared to walk on water; he knew about tides and sandbanks. His audience didn't!

Capuchin monkeys at Manwell Antonio National Park, Costa Rica

Spent the day at Manwell Antonio, a beautiful tropical forest national park, just south of Quepos. Quepos was a seedy dump, but when you drive up the hill to the park, there are very nice hotels and apartment. Almost too nice really...the place was chokker with tourists and the park overful.
This is obviously the mecca of coastal tourism of CR.

The last time we saw these curious monkeys was at Monte Verde, Costa Rica. They look like they are wearing a little hat.

The park beaches were gorgeous - white sand and coconuts, all natural and unspoilt, thank goodness. A kind chap gave me his two spent tickets for free!! That saved us 20US$. Yippee!

Beach, bar and restaurant hopping!

Think we are now getting the hang of how to relax on the Costa Rica coast, Gringo style; we had a lovely vacuous day visiting different unspoilt beaches, then hotel and restaurant bars for coffee and then we had lunch in a posh restaurant called La Exotica. It is curious to see these elegantly presented developments tucked behind the tropical jungle and the sea.

I should be crawling up waterfalls but it is quite pleasant to follow your nose and see what the muy rico Gringo's get up to when they 'vacation' here. I am becoming somewhat tired of rice and beans and scrambled-to-death eggs. Here there is International cuisine - French, Thai, Italian...not a refried bean in sight!

We have reserved an evening table at Exotica. I am going to dust off a dress and fish out some high heels and war paint my face. I will order delights like homemade liver pate with a caramelised onion jam, or duck breast with orange confit. Voila!


Why all this extravagance? Well, once again the Queen of Outrageous Requests managed to cut a deal at the place we are staying. So we are going to splash out and spend the saving on hedonistic pursuits...my favourite being eating scrumptious grub.

TripAdvisor mess up!

I wrote a nice review for Alejo the owner here at Playa Luna Aparthotels. Just as I hit the send key, possibly an error occured - it all happened a bit quick - where instead of giving the place 5 stars, it gave the place 0 stars! Good grief. I will have to wait til it is published. It has gone into the ether. If its wrong how to fix it? Dang - trying to help the guy who deserves it and end up making a mess.

Playa Uvita, Bahia de Coronado, Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica

Yesterday was freezing. Now its too hot!! He he. There can't be that many countries where you can wake up in a tropical cloud forest at over 3,000 meters, then jump in the RV/car and be at a beach on the Pacific Ocean in less than 3 hours. Uvita is a beach south of Quepos. My first take is that it is a well maintained Gringo holiday resort.

There are 2 national parks here we want to explore. Maybe we will also spot the hump-backed whales on their migration. The last time we enjoyed these magestic, gentle and playful creatures was on the west coast of Bahia de California. The little babies we saw then are probably making their own way on the migration by now. Loved those whales!

We are staying parked in the grounds of Playa Luna aparthotels. Alejo is the owner and we feel comfortable and safe and we have internet and a big pool. This time we are paying 25$US per night and Uli is complaining about it!!! Had some laundry washed and dried - by the owner - - how embarassing!

Quetzals in mountain tropical cloud forest of Costa Rica!!!

Good - A dream has come true!!! We saw 3 respendant Quetzals.
Bad-Writing this Blog is already driving me crazy because it is getting out of sequence and I have to back track and I cant find the fr*gg*n locations of the places despite having 3 maps a my disposal!
Ugly -Nothing - thank goodness!

Ok, more details:
First - Quetzals!
You HAVE to make the effort to see these absolutely stunning, gorgeous, shy birds. they are from the Trogon species but I think they belong under Birds-of-Paradise. We saw them in the Cerro de la Muerte cloud forest, south of Cartago, Costa Rica.
NB To increase your chances of seeing them:

1. pick the right season -its February now


2. drive to an altitude of min 3,000 meters


3. hang out for the clouds to clear


4. get up at the crack of twit


5. hire a guide and make sure he is carrying a telescope powerful enough to spot the man on the moon. We went with a guide called Jorge Serrano. His family owns land in the area and own and run Hotel De Montana, Paraiso Quetzal http://www.paraisodelquetzal.com/ He charged us 10US$ for the guided hike 1 1/2 hours and guaranteed a siting. Very sweet chap and spoke some English. The hotel is rustic and clean and cosy and you can rent cabins with amazing views. You can watch at least 5 types of humming birds whilst you sip a warming mug of locally grown coffee after the hike.


6. hike uphill in wet slippery cloud forest for an hour or so

And then, if you are very very lucky you will see these most exquisite of birds high up in wild avocado trees. You have to have a guide - it would have been impossible for me or Uli to have spotted the bird without one. I think we are the luckiest people on the planet to have seen these feathered creatures!!

Location

We were planning to drive with Harvey down into the valley and stay at the posh Trogon lodge (in their car park!) but decided not to put Harvey (and us) through the ordeal of trying to drive down and then having to hire a tractor to pull us out. Last time we did that was in Belize, and some kindly Mennonites dragged us out of a mud pit. I wish Winnebago would make a 4x4 motor home so we can drive up and down steep muddy roads.

We stayed up on the main carretera in the secure car park of Los Chespiritos cafeteria http://www.chespiritos.com/ owned and managed by a Manuel, Eladio and Herardo. They let us stay 2 nights for free and we frequented their cafe in return for their kindness. Lovely local grub and very reasonable prices. They even had a friendly dog to keep us company in the car park. Thanks Boys - we had a very welcome and safe stay with you!

But my, it was freezing up there at night > 50 F.

We visited The Trogon Lodge http://www.grupomawamba.com/ which I highly recommend and enjoyed breakfast there and watched humming birds.

Harvey gets new shoes/tyres

Oh dear. A huge rock wedged itself between 2 of Harvey's rear tyres and created a blister spot on each. Can we keep going with the damaged tyres?

Apparently not; they risk bursting. We dont want to be up a creek without a paddle and with burst tyres so we had better sort it out.

Much, much later, we have secured replacement tyres - it has taken us 9 days to secure new tyres. We were initially 'manana'd' for the first week; we called a supplier and they assured us they could have the tyres within 3 days. We called each day and each time they promised the tyres for 'manana'. Lesley became cross and insulted and suspicious and so we took to the road in the Tracker and luckily found a supplier who had 14 of the correct tyres in stock. We never learn! And we never went back to the tyre shop who had taken our order - serves them right!

It took us all day to do 4 things:

1. drive out of the finca - problem with wet mud, uphill exit and had to use wood to level off the ground so Harvey didnt scrape his underbelly/fuel tanks on the ground. Managed it in the end and saved $30US by not hiring a tractor to pull us out of mud.
2. go and buy the tyres
3. have the tyres fitted at another location
4. find a secure place for the night

And people wonder what we do all day!

Now we are off again, 450$US lighter in pocket. Ouch! It was great to have a refuge at La Flor eco-finca, but we were getting itchy to return to the road.

2,300 metres high in mountains of Costa Rica

Brrrr! Its chilly here. We are somewhere along a mountain road south of San Jose on our way to see if we can spot the elusive Quetzal bird.

We are parked outside a 24 hour Police office so feel quite safe, but when the articulated lorries drive by, Harvey shakes a little. Thank goodness for earplugs, a warm duvet and of course my snuggly Uli.

Unfortunately its only a temporary reprieve; we need to find somewhere secure and conventient to park as a base from which to explore the area. Fingers crossed!

La Flor de Paraiso eco-finca,Costa Rica

We are staying a few days at an eco-finca, 1 hour east of San Jose, Costa Rica. www.la-flor.org It's a small farm located in a beautiful cloud forest 1,300 metres high. its on the edge of the Orosi valley and lake. We are parked up in front of the horses and goat's stables. Feeding time is 0600hrs. Great to be right next to nature. Its a really lovely location and friendly eco-responsible facility to visit and stay a while and even learn a thing or two.

There is a course going on at the moment on permaculture www.permaculture.org I managed to wangle my way into a lecture - it was fascinating. I shall put a course on my wish-list, I would like to learn more about nature and how to work in harmony with it.

Yesterday, for Valentine's day we toured the valley and lake and ended up at MONTANA TRUCHA DE CACHI, a trout farm and restaurant with a difference; you catch you own fish and they cook it for you al gusto. It is well designed and incorporates the river and nature in the area and the trout was yummy. Thanks for a lovely Valentine's Day, darling Uli!!! xx

Alternative lifestyle:10 degrees above with Kim and Barry

Had a fun and spontaneous day out yesterday. Drove from Guayabo National Monument east to Mighty Rivers Eco-farm www.mightyrivers.net near Siquirres. The owners were on vacation but we were lucky to meet Kim and Barry instead who were caretaking. They have moved from USA and have bought land in Costa Rica and plan to build a home from scratch and run a Photography Course business www.10degreesabove.com I had a peek at Barry's blog www.hovlandphotography.blogspot.com he is very talented so I am sure the business will be a great success.

We shared ideas and experiences, cleaned the car, burnt the rubbish, tried to cure some bamboo that Barry wants to use to make a St Valentine's gift for Kim - but I think we scorched it instead!

We had a refreshing dip in a local river and ate delicious handmade ice cream made from milk and eggs from the farm.

Kim and Barry were great company and hosts and we enjoyed hanging out with them in such a beautiful, eco-friendly area of Costa Rica.

Scrambled brains

I have scrambled brains today; not noodle-like, more like too much electricity and confusion.

Uli has already slotted straight back into life with Harvey. I have not. I feel unsettled. I feel tired. Yet I feel antsy. I don’t know what to with myself. I guess it will take 3 weeks to get back into it. Apparently all habits - good and bad - take 3 weeks to adopt/drop. I will be patient and just go with the flow and not put pressure on myself and just accept that it will take as long as it takes.

This park in Costa Rica is nice. My favourite butterfly the morpho azul is fluttering all around. the first time I saw one was when I was just a kid and it was in a presentation box, nailed to a bit of cardboard. I was disgusted and appalled and saddened at how all these beautiful butterflies were dead and pegged out. But at the same time, when I saw the big blue one, I remember saying to myself I wonder where that came from? One day I am going to see one of those alive….and here I am doing it. Woooo!!!

Back on road after a year in Granada, Nicaragua

Now at Guayabo National Monument, east of San Jose, Costa Rica. A very beautiful and tranquil nature spot. My favourite butterflies - the morpho azul - are fluttering around.

Yes, we finally left Granada, Nica. It was a wrench. So much to do and in the end we left with a list of 'to do's 'that was not completed.

This is the start of the third leg of our Americas tour. Panama and South America, here we come!