TOUCHDOWN!
We have arrived! Thank goodness my son Alex came down with me
since I traveled with 7 bags (2 oversized), my gato (cat) and
2 carry-ons. All in all, the
only glitch in the airplane ride was in Kansas City when Alex and I were
settling in to wait for the gate agent to call our flight and I looked up to
see that we were the only one’s waiting.
My heart raced as I ran to the gate. As we would later find out
Continental is the worst airline for customer service, and they must know it
because the flight attendants were very happy to keep us supplied with free
drinks.
Customs was a
breeze. Our bags came out quickly and we
just had
to check out with a customs official, show paperwork for kitty to a
different official and send our bags through a large x-ray machine.
Kitty went with me. $200.oo
in tips later, the entourage landed on a tiny grass strip in Quepos, in a tiny
prop airplane. Alex was a bit crazed
because our ride wasn’t there yet and it appeared that we were out in the
middle of now where. He was still spooked from the driver that told us that
just last week a plane like ours crashed in the river killing the pilot who was
transporting a planeload of cocaine. If you know Alex you know that this is the
last thing that should be said to him if he is going to be comfortable with my
safety.
Our arrival day was
spent with a guide who took us to the car rental location ($690 for 2
weeks. The rent is cheap but they really
get you with the mandatory insurance.), to a grocery store that seemed very
much like a third world country (soy milk?
They show you soybeans!) and finally to our house where kitty was so
happy to jump out of his kennel. In the
grocery store I bought boxed milk, unrefrigerated eggs, a box of peach juice, a box of fruit
juice, 3 peppers, cucumbers, tiny potatoes, lots and lots of bottled water,
sausage that Alex thought looked disgusting, ginger ale, bananas
and chocolate. I amazed myself the next morning by making potatoes
with the sausage and added eggs to Alex’s.
Our cabana is down a
long, l0ng rocky road that winds around and through a palm plantation. These palms have a fruit, a nut that is
harvested for oils, lotions and hair product.
The product is sold worldwide and is one of the three industries here in
Costa Rica.
coffee and tourism are the others, although certainly the drug
trafficking is making somebody rich. It
is situated between a small stream that winds around our house and joins the
river in the front
of the house. I wandered
down to the river on our second day to discover a great spot for a barbeque. A terrific kitchen, outdoor
wood burning stove, beautifully made wooden chairs and table, smack
dab at the edge of the river. Between the rain and the river I’m in audible
heaven!
Fueled with a delicious
breakfast and serenity with my surroundings, I grabbed Alex for our first
adventure. I was necessary for us to
drive the 20 minutes back into town at 7:30 a.m. to check in with Iquana Tours
in order to catch their ride up into the mountains for the zip line
experience. Six of us gathered to listen
to the safety instructions from our two guides. Harnesses and helmets on, we
made our way into the jungle, past the enormous nest of the queen of all leaf
cutters. If you don’t know leaf cutters,
they are ants that work all day cutting leaves and carrying the leaf on their
backs to the nest.
Only females do the work, the men die after sex (I could say a lot
about that!), and some of the females are tiny and sit on top of the leaves
cleaning off any fungi or other ailments.
They all travel in single file lines going in each direction. Quite a
feat.
Once we got to the first
platform for zip lining, I couldn’t help smiling as Alex squealed along. We had a blast and were treated to fruit and
wafer cookies when we finished. Cool.
