La Iguana Chocolate Plantation

This place is hidden away high in the rainforest. It takes about 1 hour to drive there and the roads are typical Costa Rica dirt roads .... 4 x 4 is a must!!  We went to visit it with Andrew, not knowing quite what to expect. This place is an eco-friendly totally self-sufficient farm and it is staffed by volunteers from all over the world. They come and stay for a short time, working for room and board. The driveway gave our 4 x 4 quite a challenge. When we got there we found the volunteers working. The family that runs the plantation has been doing it for years and they have 3 hectares of cocoa plants as well as 30 trees beside the place. We tested several of the chocolates and they are 100% pure with no added sugar. They produce many different flavours as well as cocoa butter products.  They sell their products at local markets. The volunteers were from many countries and all ages. I was talking to a girl from Halifax who had been volunteering from Mexico down through Central America and was going to be there for one week. Talk about a small world!

Different types of chocolates

Volunteers working

This is where they grind the cocoa beans

Cocoa plant ready to harvest

Cocoa beans inside the plant. They are covered in a white coating that tastes like citrus. 

This small little place is tucked away, high in the rainforest on a terrible road. We were so thrilled to find it and to be able to see their processing. It is another of Costa Rica's little gems.

Pura Vida Botanical Gardens

We can thank Francine for finding another Costa Rica gem! She wanted to visit a botanical garden, so she asked the security guard for a recommendation and he led us to this place. Once again, the trip there was an adventure. It was 5 miles off the main road and when you leave the main road, you are on dirt roads which are an adventure in themselves. We climbed for 5 miles up a very steep road and were totally stunned when we found the place. It is owned by a guy from Austin Texas, who is a retired insurance salesman. He built the place about 12 years ago and now has it for sale for $2,500,000. He has a restaurant which caters to cruise ship passengers as well as large private bookings and he also has a smaller eating area overlooking the waterfall that does private dinners for about $125 per person ..... they drive you there and drive you home afterwards. The meal includes all the food and liquor you can indulge in ... good thing they drive you home.

We took about 3 hours walking around the place and it was VERY hot. We sure got our exercise. The place has a fantastic view of the ocean and I tried to get some photos that would do justice to the place.  Please enjoy .... we sure did love this place.

Eric and Bridgit walking along one of the paths

View of the ocean, way down!

At the restaurant overlooking the waterfall

Another view of the ocean with the road we travelled up the mountain

Bonus photo ... Crested Caracara

Our time here is winding down .... waaaaaaa ... don't want to go home!!!!!!

Home Away From Home

We have really loved our home in Costa Rica. It is Casa de Sophia in Casa del Sol in Esterillos Este. Of course this means nothing .... but we are on the Pacific Ocean about 30 minutes south of Jaco and about 2 hours from San Jose. It is a community, started about 5 years ago and most of the hones are owned by Canadians and Americans. Here are some photos of our home.

Front view of the house

Our rooftop area where we watch the birds and monkeys behind the house

View of the pool from the rooftop area

I have lots more photos. The home has been just great, and so has the owner. He lives in Chicago and is a cop.  He plans on moving here when he retires. We have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Of  course, everyone runs on "Tico time" ... the power goes out on a regular basis as well as the water.  But the climate is super and the people are just wonderful. It is a very clean country which prides itself on being eco-friendly. The people live in the outdoors ... restaurants and bars are all outside with no air conditioning. They are very social people and go out of their way to be helpful, even with the language barrier.  Food is a challenge at times because all the packaging is in Spanish. It took 2 attempts to get dishwasher detergent and still Bob put the wrong kind in the dishwasher. Lots of suds!! We had a good laugh.  The schools are very poorly equipped with paper and pencils in short supply. If we were to ever return here, we would bring school supplies with us to give to the local school. The Costa del Sol community helps to support the local school.

Driving is another challenge. The main highway is a very good road, but the Ticos just pass whenever they want ... you move over for them.  There are lots of motorbikes and bicycles, which make for interesting situations on the road. They park wherever they want, in any direction and apparently they do not pay any attentions to police or ambulance lights.

Grocery stores are really fun! Walmart has moved into Costa Rica and they operate Maxi Pali grocery stores. They have no air conditioning, just vented ceilings and no lights, just solar lighting through the roof. They are surrounded by security fences with razor wire and the security guards hand you a numbered card when you enter the parking lot. You have to return it when you leave. Of yes, the security guards are armed and really take the security of the customers seriously. Usually when we arrive at the store we see a US Food and Drug Administration truck in the parking lot. Apparently they keep a pretty close watch on things in all of Central America.

Fun, fun, fun in Costa Rica

There is so much to do here and so little time. We are now down to four as Dave, Andrea and Andrew have left us. Actually Andrew is in San Jose right now waiting for his flight early Saturday morning. It was great having them here with us and they kept us busy.  Here are some of the fun things we did.

4 x 4 ATV Adventure

Here we are all set to go

Our group

Andrew .. his white shirt was toast

Andrea ... sorry Dave, no photo of you

Monkey Man Tour Through the Mangroves

This was so much fun and absolutely stunning scenery. We went by boat, at high tide through the Mangroves and did get to see the monkeys. They jumped all over the boat and we each got a monkey on our heads.

Needless to say, our hats all needed to be washed.

Manuel Antonio National Park

This is the most famous National Park in Costa and the smallest. It only allows 600 people a day into the park. We hired a guide who took us through the jungle and showed us so much more than we would have ever seen on our own. The park also includes about 6 pristine beaches. It was a very hot day, so the beach felt great.

Toucan

Howler Monkey

3 Toed Sloth

One of the lovely beaches

Dave eating termites

Andrew eating termites

Three bats

Sunset

The end to another wonderful day

Next blog ... chocolate factory in the rainforest .....

Rainmaker Canopy Walk

We did a lot of research on canopy walks and Rainmaker seem to be the one most highly recommended. So far, we had not had a bad experience with our excursions and this one turned out to be another fantastic time. Andrea, Dave, Eric and I got our cameras, water bottles, hiking shoes and set out for another adventure. The place is only about 10 km south of our house and about another 10 km inland, through the Palm Oil groves. Of course, we drove through many little villages and were amazed by the local flora and fauna. 

The place is owned by a man from Washington, DC. it has been in operation for over 22 years and this man is in the process of converting it to a conservation area. It cost us each $15 US and the trail of 4.5 km long and basically goes up to near the top of the rainforest (the canopy) and descends down to the river at the base. We have been to 4 rainforests in Tobago, Brazil, Puerto Rico and here and this one is absolutely the best.

The bridge walk up to the top and along the top had many bridges of variable lengths. They were restricted to the number of people allowed at a time on the bridges and were quite an engineering marvel. I figured if Eric would cross them, they must be okay. At the top of the canopy, the bridges literally went from tree to tree, with platforms on the trees. It was a challenge to take photos on the bridges because they moved around quite a bit. At the top of the canopy, it was literally breath taking. There was no way a person could capture the magnitude and beauty.

Once we descended to the river, we cooled off under the waterfall. When we returned to the main house, we were able to buy a wonderful lunch for $5. It was a typical Costa Rica lunch consisting of rice, black beans, rice and chicken mixture, salad, plantains and tortillas. They also served a delicious fruit drink that put Eric's blood sugars up over 10! I have many photos and here are just a few.

The main building, where we had our lunch

Eric testing out one of the bridges

Andrea near tree roots

View half way up. That's the Pacific Ocean out there.

Butterfly on water bottle

Tree station half way up. 1,000 meters high!

Long bridge

Top of canopy

Another long bridge

Resting on another tree platform

Cooling off at the waterfall

Interesting insect

Return trip along river

It was a great trip but an intense hike. We were all pretty tired, but managed to stop off at a beach and enjoy taking more bird photos. So far Eric has logged almost 70 birds.

All for now ... love to everyone and we do NOT miss the snow??

Neofauna Butterfly Farm

This tour was spectacular. We were able to see many frogs, toads, snakes and butterflies. Other than the butterflies, all species are kept for only 2 months and then released back into their natural environment.  Our guide was a young fellow, who studied biology. He had a real passion for all the insects and reptiles.  Here are a few of my many photos ...

These little green frogs remained in the cage because they are highly poisonous. All the frogs have some degree of poison.

The snakes were very interesting. The yellow viper was the smallest, but most dangerous snake.

The deadly yellow viper. Can strike in a mini-second. Very small, deadly snake.

The very brave Francine wore this lovely snakelace!

The butterflies were my favourite. There were 60 varieties and it was quite a challenge to photograph them.

This is the butterfly's tongue!

Inside the butterfly garden.

The weather continues to be hot and sunny. Absolutely perfect. Andrew arrived today and hasn't left the pool. Down to the ocean in a while .... we can hear the surf pounding from our deck.

Love to all....