Day 329

Day 3

A new life. A new countup/countdown.

We took off from San Francisco at the decent hour of 10 am on Wednesday, September 1st. We flew to Houston then to San Jose, Costa Rica, where we (and our 5 checked bags, our 3 back packs, our one purse, our one additional carry on tote and our one paper bag filled with Trader Joe's snacks) were picked up by the Best Western van and taken to the downtown Best Western Hotel, Casino and Denny's. After a restless night's sleep, another van picked us up in the morning and took us to the lovely little domestic airport, where we somehow boarded a six seater puddle jumper with all of said baggage (minus the Trader Joe's apple they took at agricultural customs).



After a rocky rainy 35 minute flight (with one stop), we landed on the small airstrip of Nosara. After many "losiento"s about the weight and number of our bags, we waved to the only person waiting outside the fence and made our way to the waiting car of Monica, the property manager. Pathfinder full of baggage and us we set off through the village of Nosara, stopping quickly at the supermercado to power shop for enough food to last us through the night at the house.

Ah, the house. The house is spectacular. Ocean view from every room. Huge deck with table, rocking chairs, hammocks, and stools.



Eye level with the jungle canopy layer, where howler monkeys make their daily rounds, babies on their backs, roaring at one another at the top of their lungs (or, rather, the hollow enlarged hyoid bone next to their vocal chords that serves as an amplifying chamber for the male vocalizers). Hummingbirds, magpie-jays, swifts, and other, as yet unidentified, birds flit from tree to tree, while coatimundis saunter on the ground and insects of every variety appear in every nook and cranny.


Sadie is our resident bug expert and official test case. She has been bitten by leaf cutter ants when she obliviously put a hand in the congo line of nest building, and had the unusual honor of being the first person I've heard of who has been bitten by a cute fuzzy green caterpiller she rescued from the road. She shakes her clothes out for possible scorpions like a pro (okay, not yet - that one still freaks her out), and feeds leaves to captured walking stick bugs. I'm working on establishing her daily bug and critter chores, such as wiping down the counters and tables in the morning of poop from the geckos that live in the ceiling.



But where was I? Oh yes, the view, the view. Stunning. At night the sound of the ocean receeds as the sounds of the jungle take over, but in the morning (after the howlers wake me up at dawn) I listen to the crash of the surf admist the call of the birds.

The town itself is quiet. It is the "low season", the rainy season, the time when the residents take their holidays in drier, more lively locations. Half the stores are closed, the roads are muddy potholed adventures, the children are all somewhere else. Sadie's school doesn't start until October 1st, though a quick visit to it today assured us the wait will be worth it (at least based on the grounds, who knows about the quality of the education).

My favorite part was the parking lot where you drop your kid off...



Did I mention the view from the house? It's not the Bay, but it is ocean to the horizon. It is jungle and flowers and rain and waves and a few roofs here and there and a couple of surfers in the distance. I'll post a picture when I can get a good one during a break in the rain.

We are settling in, but not settled. Doing nothing is not easy and we are eager (perhaps too eager) for school to start to get integrated into the community and establish a daily rhythm to our lives. Pura vida does not come easy.