Day Six - Costa Rica

For a weekend, we were up pretty early. 6am will become the norm I think, as the girls tend go to bed very early here and so wake up early as well. We have breakfast on the porch, which is very nice, and this will become the norm too!

While we are out there, Alan uses the binoculars to see if he can spot anything interesting. And he does – an iguana sitting in a large pandanus tree watching us eat brekkie! He is barely visible without the binoculars, even though the tree is only 10 metres from our house, He is very well camouflaged.

We head into Puerto Jimenez early to beat the heat of the day. We find a restaurant with free wi-fi, and sit and have ice coffees while the girls drink watermelon juice. Our internet connection isn’t great here, and we don’t get to email everyone back home very often. Our weekly shop at the large supermarket doesn’t take long, and we’re back home before lunch. The trip to Pto. Jimenez takes around 20 minutes.

The main street of Puerto Jimenez

 After lunch, I take the opportunity to take some photos of the house we are calling home for the next 4 months, the property and surrounding forest. It is so beautiful here! There is a storm coming and it’s hot and humid, so the girls strip off to dance in the rain!

Tayen and Saige having fun in the rain!

The afternoon is fairly quiet, and I’m trying to learn a bit of Spanish to help me communicate with the locals. I learnt a few words before leaving Australia (thanks to Dora and my iphone!) and here at the house Tristan has left a phrase book and some flash cards. Hopefully by the end of our time here we will be able to speak and understand some Spanish!

Alan goes out collecting bugs as soon as it gets dark. He’s been very cautious due to all the tales we’ve heard about the vipers here in Costa Rica. They are deadly venomous, and can be quite hard to see. There is the Fer-de-lance which is terrestrial and frequents paths adjacent to water ways at night. During the day it hides in undergrowth. Then there is the Eyelash viper who is arboreal, and will hunt through the trees and branches at night, and sit very still somewhere in a tree during the day. So while we are out collecting bugs, whether at night or during the day, we always need to be checking our every step, and also checking the branches above our heads. So far we’ve been a bit nervous about the dangers, but I’m sure that once we get used to it, we’ll feel much better about it all.