It has been a while and we appologize. Semana Santa was last week and the country nearly shuts down while everyone gets the week off to celebrate the Easter. We get to internet as often as we can, we promise! PHOTOS, we now have photos… Thanks to Martins amazing techie skills (which is why we have photos after ONLY 2 and a half weeks…) but of course we are on vaction after all.
Since we last wrote, we prepared for an extended vacation to Puerto Limon in the Limon province on the Eastern coast of Costa Rica. It is the transfer station for thousands of Dole and Del Monte banana and pineapple containers that were getting ready to be shipped off to the US and beyond. It is quite an amazing site to see containers stacked 6 high and covering acres of land all awaiting either a ship or a truck to haul them around the world.
We spent the week in Limon on the farm of and Tio (uncle) Villalobos. The live in a small village called Las Brisas and have 40 acres and 40 cattle, which they milk every morning so that the aunt can make many differnent fresh cheeses. They also sell eggs from their chickens and fruits (guava, gauyaba, sweet lemon, guanabana…) from the various trees within their property along with the leftover milk.
One of the days we had the “pleasure” of helping slay a chicken for lunch. It´s a long story but sarah got dubbed the name Sarah Gallo (Sarah Rooster) because when she was disgustedly holding the chicken in a bucket at an arms distance, Walter snuck up behind her and poked her sides. Sarah let out a squawk and everyone burst into laughter and almost crying… it is a name that she will never be able to live down!
The Villalobos have a simple life only 45 minutes from some beautiful Caribbean beaches. One of which we visited called Cahuita which is located within an national park and next to a little beach town of the same name. We were lucky to see a howler monkey as we entered the park. The weather wasnt the greatest, cloudy rainy and a little sun but it sure beats the 100 degree days they are used to. It made it more easier to spend the entire day on the beach. Kiera loved the waves so much. The pictures will say it all! www.flickr.com/thesawinskis
Sapprissa played again against Adelante (mexico) and won almost effortlessly for those who follow futbol. Martin, Edgar, Walter and Priscilla went down the mountain to watch the game at a cousins house. While Nani, Nahomi, Issac, Sarah, Kiera and Villalobos all managed the farm. It is a good thing that we rented cars because what Ticos call a road we call offroad 4×4. It never ceases to amaze how well theTicos can drive and the roads they are able to manuver (mainly out of necessity and no other options). It definitely puts our potholes and ugly roads to shame. If only we owned a rally car would martin be in heaven.
On Sunday we headed off to see Volcan Irazu which is in Cartago to the East. We had to make a stop at the Basilica so that Walter and Priscilla could thank the Virgin Mary for finally blessing them with a child. They found out that morning that one is on the way after a year of trying along with many false positives.
We then drove for what seemed like hours up the side of a mountain to visit Volcan Irazu. When we arrived they wanted to charge the Gringos $10 per head plus parking and tax while only $2 for the Ticos. The park was only open for another hour and disgusted at the difference in fees, Walter bargained our entrance fee down from 22 dollars to 4, not bad! The clouds were so thick that could could see the volcanoe but the trip was worth it. We waited at the edge of the crater, taking turns blowing until dizzy, hoping to move the clouds. Just as we were leaving the wind shifted and pushed the clouds out of the crate and we could see it all. Beautiful indeed!
On the way back down the mountain we stopped at a Linda Vista Restaurant for a late lunch. The walls adorned with foreign money, notes, business cards and even underware. We continued on our way home down the mountainside and just as we reached the base, we lost our brakes… not the best thing to happen on the side of a mountain. Aftering using the emergency (rightly named) brake and waiting for a hour for the brakes to cool down, they were back to the race to San Jose.
Tomorrow we are heading to Liberia, Guanacaste to visit Edgar Andres and familyfor a few days and hopefully be able to see some more beaches. It is a 4+ hour bus ride but as luck has it we will be hitching a ride with another friend of his! Allan Cascante works Tuesdays to Fridays in Liberia. We are excited to visit some more beautiful beaches and see more beautiful country side in CRs northern province.
Kiera is still doing great! Despite all the changes she is experiencing she continues to be a trooper. Her¨go with the flow¨attitude is the only way we are doing what we are doing. Everyone still loves the linda machita (little blondie)! It has been really fun seeing Kiera and Isaac interact. They live worlds apart, speak different languages, are exposed to different things, yet they are SO similar. It really is a beautiful thing, we are all humans regardless of where in this world we live!
