From about Sept.3rd to 17th was nearly solid travel. We spent a few days in San Jose, then ventured to the Caribbean side of the country, then back to the north Pacific coast.
On the Caribbean side, we spent a morning snorkeling off the Cahuita Reef. Just chock full of colorful fish. I’m sure I spotted Damsel fish, Parrot fish, … and many more that I can’t name.
We mostly cruised the coast to get the flavor of the area. It’s just as the guidebooks describe - more Jamaican than Latino. Fewer people, surprisingly different terrain, and a very laid back attitude. We stumbled into their dry season, which was a relief after lots of rain.
On our return, we stopped at Caño Negro reserve. This is a unique area, where the rivers flow from the volcanoes (Tenorio and others) towards Lake Nicaragua. It’s important as a nesting area for many birds. We took two boat tours - one AM, one PM, to catch (figuratively) as many birds as possible. Caimans (like half-size crocs) like to lounge on the beaches here. The crocs are there, but rarely seen.
After Caño Negro, we drove to Playa Hermosa and stayed for three days. We updated our diving skills with what they call a “Resort Course” sanctioned by PADI. It covers the basics you need for a closely escorted dive. We spent an afternoon in their pool clearing masks, clearing our ears, giving each other the OK sign, and so on. Then the next morning out on their boat for 2 dives. It was perfect for us, not having been in SCUBA gear for nearly 20 years. Like the geezers we are, we reminded the instructors that the last time we dove was before they were born. I think they gave us some extra lead weights for that.
And then back to Playa Grande.
We haven’t lost interest! We’ve just been without adequate Internet access for a while. Still lots of photos and stories to tell.
Our friend Sid arrived in Tamarindo Friday afternoon Sept. 2 by air. After a quick introduction to the village and beach of Tamarindo, we drove back to Playa Grande. Before we left Tamarindo, the rain began. Before we had reached Playa Grande, the water was pouring down in 50 gallon drums full.
So a few little problems. First, the reservation that we’d made for Sid at the RipJack Inn had been inadvertantly given to a group of surfers who had pulled in during the day. In the downpour, we got a little wet checking out the problem. The power was flickering as we left. We darted back to the car to install Sid at the Cantarama hotel in the Palm Beach section of P.G. We got a little wetter. By the time we got back to our lighthouse we were a little wetter we had two problems: the lights were out, and our bedroom was 2 inches deep in rainwater. It was probably good luck that put out the lights before we electrocuted ourselves! The hotel owner, Louis, offered to put us up in a nearby room, which sounded pretty good at this point.
Between all these extra visits in and out of the ‘cruiser, we we pretty soaked. And, for the first time in weeks, actually chilly! We dried out and went to dinner at the Cantarama. Chef (and owner) Manfred cooks some outstanding cuisine. By morning, the storm was past and we had clear skies and sun. After a great breakfast at Cantarana, we set out for Monteverde, a mountain village in the cloud forests.
Sid’s a great bird watcher, so we went on a couple of guided nature hikes in the Cloud Forests of Monte Verde. This area is nearly all primary forest, in its original form. Here’s Sid with his camera aimed at some very cool birds. We saw the elusive and magical Resplendant Quetzal that every guide wants you to see - and for good reason. Its tail is long and the bird is large and colored in every tropical bird color you can imagine! 
Here’s Sid with us on his last night before flying home (and then on to Australia and New Zealand a few days later!)
Lesson #2 When you live in your bathing suit, it’s a good idea to rinse the sand out from time to time.
Last week, we took the immersion course at the Wayra (y-rah) language school in Tamarindo. We were in two separate classes, and spent time on conversation, verb conjugations and vocabulary. We’re both a little better off for the training, but disappointed that the classes didn’t propel us forward more. We’re practicing often and getting better. See the Spanish lesson at the end of this session!
Here are our instructors at Wayra: Edwin and Geovanny.
What We’ve Learned
After nearly 8 weeks of travel in Spanish speaking lands, we’ve made some interesting additions to our vocabulary. 
Some of our real-life lessons appear below …now here is your Spanish lesson for today
Sentences
Quiero una ventana trasera para un 89 Landcruiser FJ62. (I need a rear window for a 1989 Landcruiser FJ62. Uh, it was a dark and stormy night and the tree just jumped out at us and smashed the tailgate window. Not so easy to get things fixed here.)
Por donde se va a San Ramon? (How do we get to to San Ramon?)
Por donde se va a {insert many names here}? (How do we get to to …? Repeat as needed.)
Vocabulario
multa (Fine - as in traffic fine or border crossing “formality”. Count on forking over some cash.)
placas (plates, as in license plates. We removed our California plates, on the advice that they are often snatched as souvenirs. It turns out that as a means of enforcing traffic fines, the CR police confiscate plates, so we are often stopped on the mistaken idea that we owe traffic fines. The officers are invariably courteous and friendly and wave us on once we show our auto import paperwork.)
quince dias (fifteen days, as in “it will be ready in 15 days.” In practicality, translates to “never”)
exento (exempt… as in your dog is exempt from the $20 import fee. Had we known this word at the time we crossed the border into Nicaragua, we would have saved $20 in “fees” paid to our border crossing “assistant”!)
tivon - (t-bone steak - and a good one, too!)
Doctor de chiropractica (Chiropractor. The roads here are horrible and Carolyn’s neck has been compacted and twisted like an old tree. (no jokes, OK?))
repuestas - parts, most often auto parts. Part of our quest for a new rear window.
As described in the August 31 entries. Here are some photos of us enjoying the lighthouse’s (semi) private pool and the lighthouse itself. Here’s Carolyn cooling off in El Faro pool.
And here, Fred resurfaces in El Faro pool.
And here is the Faro from outside - see its tower shape.
