On to the Caribbean Coast

Today, we head to a little beach (Punta Uva) just south of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, where we will celebrate our 1st anniversary. We cannot believe a year has passed since our wedding, and we are looking forward to a few days of relaxation on white sand beaches.

We rented an "eco-friendly" house that was up on a hill, overlooking the jungle and beach. Needless-to-say, we felt rejuvenated afterwards. Pictures below.

View from the deck of the house:

Mark relaxing on the deck:

Lindsay relaxing on the deck:

The beach:

View of Mark on the beach from the ocean:

La Playa en el Pacifico

We spent 2 days at the beach near Manuel Antonio (on the Pacific side of Costa Rica) after our first full week on the farm. It was our first beach experience since we began our travels and it was a relaxing time. Will post pictures in the next two weeks.

Our Time at Villas Mastatal

Aside from practicing our Spanish with the lovely owners (Javier and Raquel), talking with the dogs, pigs,

geese,

turkey,

and cows, and avoiding the large grasshopper like insects,

we have engaged in various projects on the farm. We have milked Lucrecia (the vaca),

Lucrecia gives almost 3 liters of milk every day!!

mixed manure to create a more nutritious environment for plants, cleaned the pig pen

to help foster the biodigestor (as the poop decomposes, it creates a gas with which you can cook!),

planted pineapple tops, (peeling back to expose the roots)

(digging and planting the top right into the ground)

harvested bananas, re-planted banana trees (that had fallen),

cleared and planted a field with corn (maiz), planted orange and guayabana trees, cut bamboo,

cleared and created terrazas for planting chayote,

harvested and replanted yucca roots, cleaned the yucca to make yucca cakes,

cleared a garden and planted mustard and cucumbers,

and built a bus stop for Villas Mastatal complete with a green roof (plants on the roof tend to moderate the temperatures below the roof - its a permaculture idea).

To keep us energized, Raquel has made amazing food from delicious gallo pinto (rice and beans mixed) to arroz con leche. Other food: mustard greens with fresh farm eggs, empanadas, salads, platanos, yucca cakes, pancakes (for breakfast), ...the list goes on... (but we did NOT starve).

Beans and rice are a staple for almost every meal, and we helped to pick the rocks out of this huge bag. The orange bag lasts the family for about 6 months! They planted them in Sept-Oct, harvested in Jan, and dried them until April, when we arrived to eat them!

Rice and beans, meat skewers, and delicious yucca cakes:

We had pineapples coming out of our ears: Can you find the pineapples in these pineapple plants?

Here they are:

Yum!

All this food has to go somewhere, so we greatly enjoyed contributing to compost via the compost toilet, with an amazing view:

In the afternoons, we have rested on the hammocks (hamacas) with or without precious Miguel the dog,

read, played games,

hiked, and told stories. It has been a wonderful two weeks!

Plus One

We have found a farm that we love! Villas Mastatal is Costa Rican-owned and is located about 3 hours from San Jose, in a little town called Mastatal.

The owners, Javier and Raquel (and Raquel's parents: Mario and Lucia) have welcomed us like family.

We are thrilled to be here, work hard, practice Spanish, and learn more about the Costa Rican culture. Today, we made a cilantro garden,

shoveled manure, planted pineapples, and harvested bananas.

The week has started off well!

Where we are sleeping...the volunteer house:

View from the inside:

Our bed:

The view from our bed!

¡Eruptions!

From Monteverde, we headed to La Fortuna to hike to Costa Rica's most active volcano: Arenal Volcano. (I know, we seem to be attracted to areas with volcanos...)

We first cooled off in the locals' swimming hole, which was complete with a long rope swing. Refreshing and fun!

Towards evening, we took a volcano tour and hiked to a look-out point. There, we watched the volcanic rock pour from the cone and roll down the mountain, leaving burning red deposits in it's path. As it became evening, the bright red color of the burning rock became much more distinctive.

We then headed to a natural hot spring where we sipped a rum and coke and soaked along our fellow hikers. It was another exciting day!