Rare photo op at Tierra de Sueños

We spotted a rare Costa Rican tree frog in the door way to our bedroom the other day. While sleeping it tightens it's body into a thin sliver so that you can barely see the lines of it's limbs, eyes, or feet.



With a little poke it awakens and red eyes expose themselves as well as an orange toe or two.

Another poke and it jumps showing off its incredible speed, flexibility and colors.

One more scare with the lens of my camera and the little fellow makes the daring decision to jump from the second floor onto a huge hanging leaf but he misses the leaf and splats onto the ground.

He survives the landing and hops back into the jungle.

I think he's done this before.

Dark and Stormy

We just survived our first tropical storm.... barely! The storm was in fact the worst anybody can remember. The amount of rain that fell out of the sky over the period of 9 days was more than fell in 6 weeks of rain 13 years ago. Neither Brendan nor I had ever seen anything like it. Buckets, just buckets! Sheets of rain so thick you could not see across the street.

A few days before the rain started we were woken up from our jungle slumbers to a terrifyingly swaying bed. It took a moment to realize what was happening, earthquake! Being from Washington DC and Vermont this is not a sensation either of us are accustomed to and it is certainly shocking. What does one do when the earth is moving beneath them, threatening to take down your house with you in it? It was too late to make any decisions when the rumble stopped leaving us both too excited to fall back asleep. It turns out the earthquake was a 6.2 with it’s center in David, Panama which is a good distance away from us. So for us it was only the aftershock, poor David was pretty bad off.

A couple days later while serving breakfast to the southern invasion (an entertaining group from Atlanta filled up the bungalows for one night after making it to the finish line of an insane mountain bike race that ended near us) we heard a loud crash. We assumed it was the neighbors who had been cutting down some trees the other day. We forgot about it until I walked dawn the path towards our house and was completely shocked seeing one of the largest trees on our property had ripped out of the earth leaving a massive hole where the roots had once taken hold. Lucky for us there was no human or house near it. The day was strangely crisp and clear yet gusty and there was definitely something brewing. That evening was the last bit of sunshine we would see for 8 days.

The rain started that night and it was to create disasters this part of Costa Rica hasn’t seen in years. Tierra de Sueños faired very well. There were some moments we got nervous watching our gutters turn into rivers overflowing the paths and rushing under some of the bungalows an inch away from the floorboards. Thankfully the bungalows were built on stilts as was our house. We watched our gutters flow out into our neighbors property who were totally flooded. The road was flooded with rivers coming up over bridges preventing any crossing. The ocean rose faster than anybody could believe and soon took out trees, flooded houses and dragged out what once was vast stretches of sandy beaches. On the fourth day of rain, the news traveled to us that a major bridge entering Puerto Viejo connecting us to the rest of the world was flipped on it’s side. There was a mad rush to grocery stores to collect supplies, nobody new when we would get support down here. We were expecting friends that night and had no idea if they would be able to cross. They did eventually show up after sitting in a bus with water up to the wheel well and an indecisive driver. They crossed the sketchy bridge by foot and made it to us to celebrate their honeymoon in the worst torrential rainstorm in Costa Rica’s history.

By day 6, Brendan’s family had arrived to Costa Rica to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and ended up sitting at a road stop half way between here and San Jose trying to figure out if they could get to us. The flooding was growing worse by the minute and landslides were preventing cars from passing on the main highway between San Jose and Puerto Viejo. They managed to find a rustic lodge whose owner, Cheeto, enjoyed wrestling a massive crocodile in his spare time and waited out the rain there until the morning when it was declared safe to cross.

The worse seems to be over and although we stayed relatively high and dry, many people in this area did not. Indigenous communities in the Sixiola valley experienced severe damage. We read that 4,000 people lost their homes last week and some areas are still completely flooded. If anybody is interested in helping these communities you can go to greencoast.org for information. We have been donating canned goods but I know they are accepting donations as well.

Amazingly, the coast is on its way to a speedy recovery. Yesterday the sun was shining and the water had retreated significantly. There is a temporary bridge allowing people in and out of the area and now more than ever we need tourism to return and help restore the flow of life in this little piece of paradise.

Nature showed us her strength and power yet again. We have a lot to be thankful for this thanksgiving.

Playa Chiquita's clutch man

On Monday we published the Pedro blog. Now it is Wednesday and two comments that were made are even more relevant:


"If Pedro tells you you’re getting a shipment of wood in September only he knows when you’ll actually get it."

Yesterday Pedro brought the wood that we've been waiting for since June. Actually, he brought half of it, but it seems the other half should arrive soon.



"If you decide not to listen to Pedro as much because you can’t be sure what he really knows you will find that Pedro is usually right and you should just listen to him."

Pedro told us in April that the new sign post we put on the road hangs out too far, that someone with a truck will surely smash into it while trying to avoid one of the monster pot holes. We didn't listen to him, but we should have. Yesterday someone, surely with a big truck, smashed into our sign post breaking it and the sign in two. Luckily Pedro was here and the damage was repairable. The sign post is back up, this time not so far into the road. It has a crack in it and a rope anchoring it so it's more Tico-style than it was, but it's up. Today we will hopefully get the sign back together as well.

Also, please note a comment on Monday's blog by a faithful blog viewer: "If Pedro and Chuck Norris meet on a hot summer day,THAT will definitely be the battle of the century :P"

Right you are, Enieda. Right you are.

Pedraso

While these pictures of Pedro may be worth a thousand words, that would only help to break the surface on what he means to Tierra de Sueños. He’s primarily our gardner, also our general fix-it man, the first person we call when we’re in a jam, a fountain of ideas on how to improve our place, occasionally our mechanic or butcher and the source of a few headaches. We met him when we came to look at Tierra de Sueños for the first time. He showed us around pointing out all the different fruit trees, admiring the handywork and quality wood of the bungalows and showing us the property lines. Without his enthusiasm we may not have embarked on this project and there’s no telling where we’d be now without his help along the way.

It’s hard to sum Pedro up, so here are some thoughts, accomplishments.


At first glance we admired and respected his outfit- a mesh tank top, shorts, rubber boots and a baseball hat. It turns out that this is his uniform and it’s unique to him.

Pedro knows a bit about everything and if he doesn’t know he will just give you an answer anyways.

If you decide not to listen to Pedro as much because you can’t be sure what he really knows you will find that Pedro is usually right and you should just listen to him.

It took Pedro 20 minutes to dig up our old sign post that was cemented into the ground after Larry, Jack (Angie’s dad and brother) and I had spent a good hour and a half at it with no luck.

If Pedro tells you he’s going to bring you half of his pig in a wheelberrow on a Tuesday, you’re getting half of a pig in a wheelberrow on Tuesday.

If Pedro tells you you’re getting a shipment of wood in September only he knows when you’ll actually get it.

Pedro loves most plants and animals. He is often stunned by the beauty of a flower and has to stop, stare and make baby noises at it. Women of all generations, shapes and colors have the same effect on him.

Pedro’s idea of a compliment is telling women they’re fat, which he tells Angie whenever she stays around long enough to hear it.

If Pedro challenges you on your tree climbing ability it’s not because he’s talking trash, it’s because he can climb better than you.

Pedro can always find a sloth in the trees.

Pedro’s favorite dish is pollo en salsa (chicken in sauce) with patacones (fried plaintain chips), which is convenient because in Costa Rica, that’s what’s for dinner.

If your car battery’s low Pedro will be happy to tow you behind him while you pop into gear. If this doesn’t work he’ll switch his battery with yours, start the car, take his battery out while your car is running and put yours back in. When you get back from wherever you were going you may have to tow him while he pops into gear because you drained his battery getting your car started and then drove off.

If you have a flat tire Pedro will drive into town and fix it long after work is over.

Pedro's son, Dennis, has not yet earned the right to a mesh tank top, but he's got the boots and he doesn't have to wear pants.

6 Month Recap

Well folks, we just passed the 6 month mark of our time here at Tierra de Suenos! Wow! Half a year come and gone and what a whirlwind it has been! We survived Samana Santa (the busiest week in Latin America), May (the most painfully slow month), a broken water pump and washing machine, termites, mold, stained sheets, broken bikes (8 of them), dysfunctional neighbors, wonderful neighbors, and most importantly, each other!

We have entertained, and more often been entertained by, an impressive number of friends and family. The entire Boymer crew showed up just in time to help us butcher half a pig we bought from our gardener. Cheri, from Seattle, has yet to recover. My brother jack was here on termite duty for 6 weeks. Carol and Marty came from Vermont to shed some light on composting and frog catching, Laura DiCicco came and her brother, Peter, shortly followed with Erin Hurley. We spent most evenings keeping the neighborhood awake with loud renditions of Mr. Big’s “I’m the one who wants to be with you." Katie and Nona came all the way from London, and Chuck Esteves helped design a grill that is still sitting unfinished on our patio. Pete Mesavage came to celebrate the arrival of John Hurley, our partner, who stayed to hold down the fort while we went to a wedding back in the States. Jonny Johnston and his new wife Natalie came to visit us from Oklahoma, we hadn’t seen him since our Sophmore year in college. Ethan and Ashley stayed for a while, Brendan hadn’t seen him since his abroad year in Spain. Drew Gardiner taught me and his girlfriend, Cris, how to play Bridge, I'm still trying to figure that one out. Owen McCreight got really sunburned trying to surf, and John Heltman is here right now hiking in Cahuita with some new friends, Ursula, Kathy and Sachen. Tonight Sachen is cooking us a Hindu feast!

If I missed anybody, please forgive me. Each one of our friends and family members has helped shape this last 6 months, bringing encouragement, support and great fun. It appears we chose a good spot for getting visitors! The line-up is already looking good for September and October.

We initially began thinking about running a guesthouse because we wanted find a way to settle down yet continue to have an international experience, spending time with people from all over the world. We can honestly say that in the last 6 months this was accomplished. We have hosted guests from Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, States from east, south, north and west, Canada, Scandinavia, England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, China, Philippines, Israel, the list goes on! It is an incredible experience to have a place where people from all different backgrounds and cultures can unite and celebrate our differences and similarities. Our lively mornings are a time of conversation and most often laughter. After all, everybody is on vacation!

So, I’d say the first 6 months of our attempt to run an international B&B have been a success. We finally met with an accountant, Marco Hamm, the only one available in the area, who carefully wrote all our important information on a scrap piece of paper and gently placed it in his wallet. Needless to say we are still getting used to the way it works down here and although at times frustrating, all it takes is some good Caribbean food, a pina colada and dancing to a local calypso band to remind us why we’re here. We are still trying to figure out how to eat all the various fruits on our property and the best marketing scheme to get people to come, but that, after all, is the fun of it.

The Deceptive Poo Sucker

Ironic that it was Yamu who gave the septic man that name. It was he afterall who when I asked advice about our overflowing drainage tank from the kitchen sink told me not to get a septic company involved, but to clean it myself. And yet, when an enormous septic truck showed up later that day it was Yamu who had flagged him down on the road and sent him to Tierra de Sueños. And then it was Yamu who when hearing our reaction to the septic man coined him the Deceptive Poo Sucker.

As soon as the Deceptive Poo Sucker, otherwise known as Marcos, stepped onto the property he gave off the con-man vibe. You know, like he was having to gear himself up in the truck to play his part before he approached us. After he got done telling us how lucky we were that he happened to be passing by and that we should take advantage of the situation, he asked to see our septic tanks. I figured I’d show him the kitchen sink tank, the one to the reception house, which is 10 years old and the one to our house of about the same age. After looking at the kitchen sink tank he said he could take care of it, but was vague about the process. The reception house showed an almost full tank. That was the first time he said, “there’s no need to lie to you”. Our house showed the same result and inspired the same truth validating statement. He asked what time he should come the next day as it was already getting late. I said I wasn’t sure and that I was curious about the price.
“Oh, that I wouldn’t be able to say.”
“Well, just give me an idea.”
“What time should I come tomorrow?”
“I don’t know. How much will it cost?”
“There’s no way to know until tomorrow. Should I come early?”

At this point his con-man status was solidified in my mind and I was finding the exchange fairly amusing, but also a little troublesome as it appeared that we did require his services. We decided that he would come around 10am, after our guests would be out for the day and that we would agree upon a price then.

That night we went to Jungle Love, the wonderful restaurant down the road owned by Yamu and Papi. I told them how I felt about the walk through with Marcos. Papi then relayed their experience of getting their tank emptied twice their first year here, the second time being twice as expensive as the first and then not emptying it for the next three years. Apparently the septic guys drive around after long spells of rain, which we had had, and ask to see people's septic tanks. The tanks fill and empty to some degree through the earth and so the unknowing suckers get their saturated tanks emptied by the Deceptive Poo Suckers. Back home I called our trusty gardner, Pedro who merits his own blog entry, and asked him to come check out our kitchen sink the next day. We unclogged the grease that was causing the overflow and it has been fine since. When Marcos showed up at 10am I met him on the road and told him the only thing that I could think of that would be quickly understood. “We checked our financial situation last night and we are broke, we’ll call you when we can afford it.” It seems that we have avoided one scam. Phew.

Fruit tree galore!

Tierra de Suenos could just as well be an exotic fruit farm. It seems everyday we discover a new tropical fruit tree just waiting to explode with some colorful, tasty, or not so tasty, edible. We enjoyed the ackee when we first arrived. This Jamaican fruit was a delight to us not only because of its delicious flavor but because it attracts Toucans. We are lucky to have the ackee hanging over our patio; a perfect spot for the collection of fruit and bird watching! We discovered a new citrus tree the other day. We already have three others bursting with the most delicious limes you've ever tasted.

It's hard to know what to do with 3 massive guanabanas at the same time. This very large fruit is great as a beverage but time consuming and messy to deal with.

We're looking forward to the water apples, that tree has yet to fruit for us, and the two avocado trees which have yet to produce. A grapefruit tree has recently been pointed out to us, it was being strangled by the jungle, hidden in vines. Pineapples were a delight a couple months ago and we're still waiting on another papaya. Jack fruits hang heavily from the trunk of a tree that actually goes right through the roof of a bungalow and star fruits are falling by the dozen. Our neighbor is quite jealous of the Mangostien tree he saw behind our storage house. Apparently this is the most delicious fruit in the world and with a little love, ours should be sprouting in no time.

We decided to give planting a few a shot and recently transplanted air-layered mamon chino, a soft spiky skinned grape thing, bayrum, and peanut butter fruit, a shrub that produces creamy little balls that actually taste like peanut butter. They all seem to be doing well so far.

We're trying to save our cacao tree from a blight and it's looking better. We just roasted our first chocolate beans! The insane amount of bananas are overwhelming but they are best bananas we've ever eaten. The list goes on and on and I haven't gotten to the herbs, vegetables and melons!

Beep....Beeeeeeeep

It’s hard to know where to start this story. It could be when brown/black liquid started spraying onto the windshield of our Galloper, or when Hernan said to call El Cubano, or with the condition of the road and the thrice broken hinges to the hood. We might as well start with the malfunctioning horn that honks at will, usually when slowing down.

Since the road is in a constant state of disrepair we slow down often and as a result do a lot of unnecessary honking. Hernan, the tattooed pierced Argentinean real estate agent that John and I were driving around with the other day, thought the honking was great. In a thick accent he says- “You know, it’s like ‘hello we are coming, it’s nice to see you’.” That is, until the horn wouldn’t stop. We turned the engine off, but kept right on honking. It’s not even our real horn, it’s the alarm horn that we don’t use, don’t want. We carefully opened the broken hood, found which horn was making the noise and tried to disconnect it. Mind you, it’s not easy to concentrate when you are being blasted with such noise. I grabbed the yellow wire, Hernan held onto the box it was connected to, and we pulled. We unplugged two boxes but failed to disconnect the wire and, in the confusion, dropped one box into the engine. It was visible and I was able to reach an arm down to get it. Reconnected, the horn was silent. I jumped back in the car leaving John to put the hood back down. He lowered the stabilizing arm, brought the hood half way down, and as you normally would, dropped it. Because the hinges were broken it fell askew and didn’t close. Having done this myself I hopped down and helped it shut. Back in the car, the engine starts no problem and we’re on our merry way. That’s when brown/black stuff spews onto the windshield. I say oil, Hernan says mud. It gets worse so I look onto the hood, which is covered in black and then see the oil light brighten on the dash. We pull over immediately and that’s when Hernan says to call El Cubano. We needed to call somebody. The Galloper looked like it had barfed oil.

In 15 minutes El Cubano shows up with a helper in their own Galloper. Being in Costa Rica and hearing the name El Cubano I was a little surprised when he and his friend ended up being two rednecks from Florida. El Cubano is missing all his front teeth so his tongue curls to one side when he talks. He’s somewhere between 35 and 50. In two seconds El Cubano said it was the intercooler. The latch from the crashing hood had punctured it, and since it is high pressure, it needs to be welded with aluminum, something that can only be done in Bri Bri about 30 minutes away. El Cubano said it would be $90.00 to tow it to our house, have the intercooler welded in Bri Bri and re-weld the hood on site. This, compared to what it costs at our mechanic for a days work, seems like a huge rip-off; but what are our options? We’re immobile, don’t know anyone else who will tow us and do the work in any kind of reasonable time and need the car again within two days.

With the Gallopers hitched we head down the road towards home when, a little predictably, El Cubano wings an empty can of Imperial (read Bud Light) out the window. In the driveway he and his helper, who’s main job was to buy beer and fetch wrenches, work steadily at finishing a six pack and taking out the Intercooler. They then headed to Bri Bri, John along for the ride, guzzling Imperials the whole way, to get it welded. They were successful and after El Cubano reattached the Intercooler with much effort to compensate for the quantity of Imperial consumed, they were gone. He came back later in the week to weld the hinges himself and have a few more Imperials. Everything is working well and now we know another Puerto Viejo character who happens to be a traveling mechanic.

Just another day at Tierra de Sueños

Brendan and I have been taking advantage of the slow season and going to yoga classes at the Gaia Center next door. A few days ago we walked the 3 meters to our class and Ish, the awesome instructor, stopped us at the front gate saying there was a private “session” going on. He asked if we could move the yoga class to our studio (Tierra de Sueños was originally a yoga school and the property has two beautiful studios). We were delighted at this because we had yet to use our yoga facility and were happy to have people enjoy it. So the class of about 6 began breathing practice when screams came from the Gaia Center. A dramatic gust of wind, thunder shortly following, came blowing through the studio and the screams grew louder and more urgent. The quick down poor cleared and as the screaming subsided, the faint sound of a baby’s cry made its way to us. We learned later that morning that during our uncomfortable back bends and downward facing dog, a baby was born. The day turned into clear blue skies and sunshine, a perfect first day in this world. Throughout the day we listened to the sounds of a one day old through the trees: just another day at Tierra de Sueños!

While we were gone...

Angie and I just returned from a two week whirlwind tour in the states. We saw my parent’s gorgeous new house in Maine, went to Brian Becker’s wedding on Martha’s Vineyard and visited with friends along the way. Our partner, John, was at Tierra de Sueños while we were gone. The adjustment from Pleasantville to Puerto Viejo has been a bit shocking. We never could have imagined the changes that would happen in being away for such a short time.

Several of the dirt roads in Puerto Viejo are now paved. The rumor is that they will be coming down our road soon. Great for the car, tough on pedestrians as the drivers will go as fast as possible.

Where five months ago there was a parking lot, there is now a palapa roofed wireless internet spot with 6 laptops. This is the most shocking change. It’s right down the street from Tierra de Sueños and directly across from the entrance to Playa Chiquita. Internet has been a tough subject for us so far. There are constantly rumors about someone getting wireless that they will sell at a monthly rate or that ICE, the national electric company, will lay a cable for ethernet soon. For now we’re still on dial up, but with change happening so fast it’s hard to imagine that lasting very long. Then again, it is Cost Rica.

Our neighbors a few doors down sold their property two days ago. They have four small houses, so it may be run as a lodge or B&B. More competition and recognition for Playa Chiquita.

There is a huge poster on the stable down the road advertising luxury villas built to Italian standards. We’re not exactly sure where they’re going, but it’s somewhere in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately some kids have figured out that spray paint is fun. They tagged our beautiful sign, wrote on C & J’s supermarket down the street and the house across from them. They also took the old Tierra de Sueños sign that we had leaning on the gate to our parking spots. We should have the good sign painted and back up by tomorrow.

It’s hard to digest the area changing so rapidly and to imagine what the Talamanca coast may look like in 10 years. The best change was realizing after returning that we do have a quite a few friends around. It took 45 minutes to walk 100 meters on our first morning because we kept stopping to talk to people. The sloths and monkeys are still here. Our gardens are blooming more and more. All in all, it’s good to be back in the jungle.

Where we live

-Sorry about the drought, folks. Now we're blogging.

We wake up every morning with the birds, many of them. Becoming more knowledgeable everyday about which bird is making which sound, we have impressed our recently visiting friends with our new ability to discern the chirp of a toucan, follow the sound to a neighboring tree and then spot the colorful beak hidden in the leaves. When our ackee tree was in full bloom toucans would frequent our very own patio which made this practice much easier! Hummingbirds are not so difficult to find, however. In fact you must watch yourself for they will plow right into you if one of our peach colored hibiscus blossoms is on the other side. At least one hummingbird a day flies into our kitchen, in the front door, out the back. Scarlet rumped tanagers are constantly trying to seduce the not so attractive females by showing off their full inflatable red puff while the white-necked puff bird watches quietly. The morning excitement is quite outrageous and makes rising a delightful experience, unless of course we have the opportunity to sleep in which is pretty much impossible.

If the bird sounds are not enough, once out of bed and down stairs to our open air living room, we are quickly reminded that we live in the jungle. Some mornings it seems as though everything grew over night. Massive leaves hang heavy with dew and some bright new blossom shows its brilliant colors. If it rained during the night the jungle may appear to be devouring our house, something it would gladly do if we did not keep up the battle. Heading to the reception house where we serve breakfast we are encouraged by a pink and black butterfly through the narrow jungle path. Everyday without fail this butterfly shows us the way. We've barely made it to the reception house and as one of our friends put it, we feel like we're on an episode of Lost!

Brendan and I have also become quite adept at finding sloths. These adorable little tree bears love certain trees on the property and can be spotted hanging about quite frequently. They climb down to the ground once a week to relieve themselves and this is the best time to catch a close-up glimpse of their permanently smiling faces. Howler monkeys you may not see but will definitely hear! We thought the novelty of these loud monkeys would wear off but hearing the wild roar throughout the jungle still brings a sense of excitement and rawness.

Speaking of rawness, I will try to paint a picture of the beaches across the way from us. Golden sand unites the jungle with the sea. The crystal clear, green tinted water creates a lagoon feeling. While swimming in this salty lagoon gazing out the jungle cliff back drop it is easy to lose sense of time and place. You can walk along the beaches for miles and see no houses, hotels, restaurants and often no people. Each corner unveils a new cove or stretch of beach different from the previous. The beauty of this coastline is honestly breathtaking.

I felt it was time to attempt describing our new home in terms of beauty. In my mind this blog is no exaggeration. I am amazed at the raw beauty of this earth. It is beyond humbling to be in a place where nature is so powerful, enchanting and mysterious. I feel overjoyed to not only be a part of it myself but to have the means to share it with you......

It's a Dog's World

We’ve met two of our neighbors through dog fights- unorganized ones. The first time I was taking the garbage out to the street when I heard our neighbors start up their four-wheeler. Having already been reprimanded for our dogs, Cody and Drake, being tire-biters, I held them in an effort to maintain our reputation as slightly annoying, but well-meaning neighbors. They shouted an exaggerated good morning as they passed to make up for our relationship getting off on the wrong foot. I returned the salutation, glad that I was holding the dogs, and then let them go. That was it. They saw the neighbors dog outside his gate and immediately rushed him, bowled him over and attacked, viciously. I ran over and pulled our dogs off. The neighbors, who had heard the commotion, reversed the four-wheeler shaking their heads disappointedly and called their dog who ran off. Later that day the same neighbor saw me at the supermarket and said their dog was bleeding after the scuffle, that we have to do something about our dogs.

The next fight was different. This time I had one dog, Cody leashed. He was waiting patiently outside the neighboring supermarket as I picked a few things up for breakfast. Up walks a guy with three dogs, one of whom rushes Cody, bearing teeth. They go at it and it seems pretty even. The first time I had been able to get ahold of our dogs once they had taken the other one down. This time there was no good way to get in the middle. The other owner wasn’t moving either. The grocer, Chris, leapt over the counter clapping, shouting, running at the dogs and telling the other owner to control his. They stopped, the other owner pulled the chain around his dog’s neck and I grabbed Cody. Needless to say, adrenaline was pumping. Chris was mad that, James, who I shook hands with for the first time moments later, didn’t pull his dog off. James said he’s not getting in the middle of a dog fight. I was surprised again at how fast it happens and hoping that it wasn’t Cody that had started it. James apologized, I introduced myself as a new neighbor, we bought groceries holding our dogs close.

We inherited Cody with the property. He’s a year old and must way at least 60lbs. For all intensive purposes, we also inherited his brother, Drake, who is smaller, more aggressive. They’re from the same litter, different Dad. Drake really belongs to our neighbor, Liam. He sleeps and eats there, but spends his days here while Liam is off working in town. For being puppies they’re really good dogs. The most annoying thing they do is fight each other over our affection, Liam’s, the guests. They’re both leaners because otherwise there would be room enough for the other one to sneak in and steal some caresses. When you pet Cody, Drake comes over, bites his leg and tries to get between you and vice versa. Usually you end up with the dogs, haunch to haunch, both leaning against you with you bent over rubbing their bellies. Fair is fair. They come when you call, mostly, sit, shake and only bark occasionally when they don’t know someone.

At first we thought everything has hunky-dory with the dogs. Sometimes they were here, sometimes they weren’t. They go to the beach with the guests, who love them for it. Then the neighbors complained about their tire-biting habits and there were the fights. We started asking around, investigating our dog’s reputations and the general habits of the neighborhood dogs. We bought Cody a leash a few days ago to see if we can keep better tabs on him. After our survey and taking Cody with us everywhere it seems that our dogs are just like everyone else’s. If you’re on our property, or in front of it, you have to recognize Cody and Drake’s territory. When they are out of their territory it’s the other way around. We like having them here as they are warning against unexpected visitors. Liam told us that they have had problems with petty theft, which we have avoided thus far probably owing in large part to everyone knowing that we have dogs. Our guests find them endearing, part of the experience. We’re doing our best to keep them from running too wild, but after our investigation it seems that chasing a moto, drawing a little blood is just part of being a dog in the neighborhood.

When a dream becomes reality.....

The transition from backpacker with no responsibilities to bungalow lodge proprietor has been nothing short of surreal. Wake up every morning at 6:30 to the loud sounds of the jungle (we probably couldn’t sleep in if we wanted to) and get to work. Put on a pot of coffe, organic, free trade produced by a local indiginous group from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, by the way, and prepare to make breakfast for our guests. We put on some good tunes with our sophisticated music system, an ipod with mini travel speakers, and start cutting pinapples and mangos. When breakfast is through and the guests have had enough chatting, we are left with a messy kitchen and a list of things that need to get done so long it is almost laughable. Trying not to allow ourselves to feel overwhelmed we just dig in. Chosing a task is never very difficult because inevitably something crucial to the functioning of the business malfunctions, breaks, or doesn’t show up.

Our first day on the job, the very sweet couple from VT with thier UVM attending daughter came to us after breakfast wondering why there was no water in their bungalow. Our responce? “Hmmm, we don’t know.” So we all traipsed through the jungle to the shed/washroom and examined the two water pumps. Playing with the pumps and electrical boxes proved to be useless and we all looked blankly at eachother. We couldn’t help but chuckle at the situaiton and thankfully the good ol’ Vermont gang found it quite amuzing as well. The water kicked back on shortly after so it ended up being pretty harmless. We have had this issue a few times and not until three days ago did we actually get a knowledgable person over here to explain how our water system works. Few, that one’s in the bag!

Rule number one for running a business in Costa Rica is- Laugh! If you don’t find it somewhat humorous that the government decided to change all of the phone numbers in the entire country during Easter week, hands down the busiest travel week of the year, you're probably not gonna make it. Water problems on the first day, HA.

Russ to the rescue

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We hoped, as we exited baggage claim in San Jose with a few hundred pounds of luggage, that someone would be waiting for us with a sign bearing our names ready to take us on a car search. No such luck. We piled our stuff against a pillar outside the airport and waited. After about 10 minutes a guy with a handle-bar mustache, sporting a hoop earing showed up to the gate with "Angie" written on a white board. "Angie" didn't believe that it could be her, but after some urging approached and found that, in fact, it was Russell, who we had exchanged several emails with in an effort to hire him as a car expediting service. We shook hands, relieved and Russell pulled the car around. Thankfully, it was big one. We spent the rest of the afternoon between three dealerships that bring used cars straight from Korea test driving Hyundai Gallopers.

The first dealership we went to was washing the vehicle we were to test drive as we pulled in. The engine was immaculate, new hoses, everything wiped down and glistening. The inside was the same. We took it for a drive and found that, in general, it rode quite well though the shocks and steering felt a bit loose. I figured that this was going to be how the rest of the day would go: looking at recently cleaned and touched up 11-year-old cars, not knowing where dents and dings had been and then being surprised when the sloppy ride didn't match the slick appearance. It didn't end up that way.

The second car we drove, at a different dealership, ran out of gas halfway up a hill on a narrow road with a bridge at the bottom. After the salesman tried for 15 minutes to get it going again we walked back to Russ's car and went to the next dealership. We found a couple suitable cars there, and after the mechanics tried several batteries in each one, test drove two. The others we wanted to test drive they couldn't start. Apparently, these cars haven't been used in at least a month and the dealerships don't like to put gas or good batteries in them in case someone tries to steal them. That's all well and good unless you're trying to buy one and can't test it because it won't start or drive for more than a few blocks. Russ dropped us off at our hotel planning to get back at it the next morning.

Russ picked us up around 8am. We headed back to the dealer and spent the next three hours test driving cars (20 minutes) and waiting around( 2hours, 40 minutes). Once we decided on one we liked, a '96, Russ took us around to the bank, the lawyers and back to the dealers. Yes, you need a lawyer to buy a car, and a phone and pretty much everything but groceries. Russ dropped us off at the hotel again around 6pm with a plan to pick up the car on Monday afternoon or Tuesday after it passed inspection and got temporary tags.

The car wasn't ready by Monday. They told us Tuesday by noon. We closed on Tierra on Monday with John there. Everything went smoothly. Russ showed up at the dealers at 8:30 on Tuesday to see how things were going and push them along. He spent the whole day there mostly waiting for paint to come so they could touch up rust spots. Our plan was to find a futon and leave around noon to get to Tierra by 4pm. We found a futon, which Russ loaded into his vehicle along with all of our other luggage and headed over to wait at the dealers. We drove out in our new/really old Galloper at 7pm, got lost for an hour and a half and then headed for Tierra. We got to our new home around midnight and went straight to sleep after unpacking. Tuesday we woke up at 7am and cooked breakfast for our first guests. So far, so good and a big thanks goes out to Russell who made the Costa Rican car buying process go as fast and smooth as possible.

Loose Ends

The last two weeks have been a buzz of excitement as we try to get as much as possible done before heading to Costa Rica next Thursday. We finished our business plan, revised it a few times, opened a joint bank account, purchased a domain name and some hosting space (www.tierradesuenoslodge.com), created business cards, got a skype number (802-659-0336) that acts as a regular US number but connects to our computer anywhere in the world, researched cars and hired a car buying service, started accepting reservations from the website and drove through NYC to Vermont for a last goodbye. Now we're back in DC for a week, then it's off to San Jose.

We're being picked up at the airport by a car buying service who will take us around to trusted dealerships where we will drive diesel Hyundai Gallopers (fairly large SUV's) and hopefully find a suitable one in our price range. They're imported directly from Korea where, supposedly, they were driven on good roads through urban areas as opposed to long miles on bumpy Costa Rican roads. We decided SUV so we can haul passengers and supplies, diesel because it's cheaper and there is the option of using biodiesel. The possibility of driving around on recycled vegetable oil while smelling like popcorn is very exciting.

With or without a car we have to travel 4 hours to Puerto Viejo next weekend to walk through the property one last time, make sure everything is still there. John, our partner, is meeting us in San Jose on Sunday so we can all be present at closing. Tuesday, John flies back stateside and we head to Tierra de Sueños, hopefully in a car with a new futon in the back so that we can furnish the top floor of the "Zen Garden" bungalow for a family of three due to check in the next day. The current manager will give us the keys and then we're on our own. On Wednesday morning we have to cook breakfast for at least 6 guests, hopefully more.

We're excited, scared and very curious to see how this all goes. We hope you stay tuned as we get things going and come visit soon!