The Costa Rica Files, Version 4.0

For the record, since we've been in Costa Rica, the Razor has outperformed "Life in the Fast Lane" 4 posts to 0. I think I've pinpointed her problem. I wrote all these posts while Christena was asleep... "Life in the Nap Lane" doesn't have quite the same ring to it though, does it? Nevertheless, I'm sure she'll add more photos to her blog, between naps, over the next few months if you want to check it out.

By the way, if you find yourself in Monteverde, Costa Rica and your only option to leave is to drive, buy some property, meet a nice girl, settle down, and have children. Do not consider driving out. It is slightly easier than driving to Monteverde, but only marginally so.

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Tonight's hotel is very nice. As we drove through the neighborhood, and it became seedier and seedier, we'd hoped that the GPS was making a mistake. However, when we arrived we were pleased to find that there is a 12 foot wall around the entire property, which is about the size of a city block. Inside the wall, everything is immaculately tended, well landscaped and the staff is very courteous. Taylor swam in the pool while Christena and I ate dinner. Here's a photo or two:

Hard to believe that just outside the gate/walls is a place you wouldn't want to be after sun down.

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Before we left Monteverde, we stopped by a Hummingbird garden that was quite remarkable. There were probably 6 or 8 hummingbird feeders set up and hundreds of birds were feeding, seemingly without fear of humans. The Purple Sabrewing, while still a hummingbird, is about the size of an ordinary bird back home. Maybe the size of the feeder will give you an idea of its relative size:

And here are 3 birds on one feeder:
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It's been a good trip. Glad we got to do it. Thought I'd get to read more, but with all the driving and excursions, the time seemed to slip away. And I had to blog... I was able to keep up with the news and most of the daily reading I do for work and I did read one book, so I suppose I read enough. Somehow, I thought I'd read more...

I'm not sure we got a great feel for the culture here. We spent so much time looking at nature/wildlife that we didn't spend a lot of time with the people. With that said, everyone we met was very friendly and helpful. In Malaysia, the architectue was dominated by mosques, showing their dedication to Islam. Peru was about the same, except Catholic. Here, like Belize, I've seen churches, but not many, and they aren't very impressive to look at. I may be misreading that situation, but somehow I just don't feel that faith is an important part of the typical life around here.

The food was pretty average. I liked everything I ate, but there was nothing to really knock your socks off. I was expecting something sort of Mexicanesque, and while there was a lot of tortilla/rice/beans, it wasn't spicy. In fact, at times it was quite bland. The pineapple, which I assume was very fresh, was much better than at home.

Of course, we spent lots of time in the countryside, so we saw lots of agriculture. I'm not sure what they were growing, but it was certainly not cotton or peanuts. Perhaps citrus.

Beyond that, I'm not sure that I know much more about the Costa Rican people now, than when I arrived. But the scenery, wildlife, and adventure? Unbelievable!

Come whenever you can. If you have time, check out the ocean and let me know how it is. Our schedule, and Taylor's desire to see a volcano, kept us in the interior of the country.

Oh yeah, I wore twice as much clothing as planned, primarily due to the humidity. I had to let one of the hotels do a couple loads for me so I'd have enough to last...

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I would imagine that the rest of the week will be spent catching up at work and getting back into the swing of things, so I don't know when I'll blog again. I hate I missed the Weiner/twitter scandal, that might have been fun. Luckily, we have lots of politicians in America so another opportunity is surely right around the corner.