Arrival in Costa Rica! Bus ride, thunderstorms, and critters

(Written August 17 by Yvette, still catching up)

Waiting for the bus

We’re in Costa Rica!  Glad we spent the first night in San Jose, as we arrived late in the day.  Once again we experienced that our spontaneity garnered us a harder trip – as it was the week-end and a national holiday (Feliz dia de la Madre!), no
rental cars were available.  So on Sunday we took a 5-hr bus ride thru through beautiful green mountains that gave way to flat land, and in and out of vigorous thunderstorms.  Well after dark, we and our 5 suitcases plus guitar, booster seats, and backpacks (!) were deposited amidst torrential downpours by the “salumi y formaggi” shop, which thankfully had a small overhang and drainage that was in our favor.  With the help of a kind stranger, we got a taxi to our house and arrived – Casa Alpaca, our home for our month in Costa Rica! 

On Samara Beach

Kamilla has had the most adventurous time thus far.  Learning #1: the “elevator” bar stools can get your leg wedged on the underside of a rough concrete counter. #2: Lots of fascinating ants in Costa Rica, and some bite.  #3: Crummy tummy often lasts briefly; she had a rough/vomit-ey first night here, luckily was fine the next day.  She announced this at 4am with “Mom and Dad, I vomited over the edge of my bunk bed so it wouldn’t get on the bed!!” Good girl.  😊 #4: When riding on a bike behind dad, don’t get your foot near the wheel – even when your mom told you to put your feet on the bars rather than hanging down (sorry, sweetie).  Two kind men helped disentangle Kamilla’s ankle from the bike, brought ice, offered a ride, and reminded Neil that “no problem, they’re all our kids.” 

Cane toads -- about those neurotoxins?

We’ve also had lots of wildlife sightings, especially small ones – just around our house or along our road.  Ants, millipedes, spiders, leaf-disguised critters, beetles, bees and wasps.  A variegated squirrel.  Bats at dusk.  A cane toad (about 8” long nose to tail -- apparently can exude neurotoxins so we won't be touching those anymore), howler monkeys, an hourglass tree frog.  We were surprised by a scorpion when we moved an end table on our porch – he got an extra special escort across the road.  A Caligo Memnon butterfly.   Spencer likes the monkeys better than the spiders (and I agree - yay mammals!). 

Intrepid outdoorspeople

What Spanish we know is serving us well, we’re trying to push ourselves a bit and also help the kids learn. And, we’re in a very touristy area where lots of English is spoken so it’s easier for us.  It’s also easy to get whatever we need – groceries, cash, taxis.  Our house is ~1 mile from town so we’ve rented a golf cart that we’ve called “Nova Roja” because it’s red and very slow. We’ll do a bit of “pay to play” over the coming days, perhaps a whale/dolphin watching boat trip, perhaps a camp for the kiddos where they can be with other kids.