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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(highlight this link and paste in new window to view picture)

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!

Back in Business

We apologize to our faithful blog viewers for the long pause and warn you, this is a long one! Brendan and I have been back in the States more or less since we returned from Mexico in late July. Much has changed since then! In regards to Los Adobes, the Puerto Escondido find, we decided it was not in our best interest to join a partnership with two Mexicans we didn't know. Yes, many of you may have thought us crazy for ever considering it to begin with and in retrospect it was a bit ridiculous. What we learned from that experience is priceless nonetheless.

We were living in Vermont during this time of decision making and renting a small but very cute studio apartment in the tiny town of Bridgewater. Brendan enjoyed his first true rural Vermont living experience. I think it seemed even stranger to him than Nicaragua! In November, the spectacular wedding of my cousin Sarah Turner, now Sarah Lidz and her man, Jono brought us to Puerto Rico for a week. We took advantage of the trip and looked at a small lodge in El Yunque, the tropical rainforest on the east coast of the island. We thought it was a very interesting place and liked it enough to pursue the idea of buying it and went home with intentions to make something happen there. The holiday season was coming at us full force however and we found it nearly impossible to communicate with banks in Puerto Rico. As a result we found ourselves drifting from the place and lost some level of interest. Brendan returned home for the Holidays and I joined him shortly after to bring in the New Year in Washington DC.

As the excitement of the holiday's came to an end, we found ourselves at a loss for what the next step should be. We had been using up the last bit of our savings and were pretty much tired of living out of our backpacks. It seemed it was almost time to put the guest house search off for a while and behave like most people our age, jobs, apartments etc. A frightening thought, I know! As usual, I was spending my morning browsing real estate websites when I stumbled upon what looked like an incredible bungalow lodge for sale on the Caribbean coast of Coast Rica. The place had been built that year and, according to the ad, needed to sell quickly due to family issues. So, with nothing to lose, Brendan and I decided to fly down to Costa Rica on a last ditch effort to see Tierra de Suenos.

A wise decision indeed! The flight to San Jose was quick and easy and we raced to make the last bus going to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. The beginning of the drive was beautiful, up and over lush temperate mountains. The sun went down once we hit the lowlands close to the coast and we drove through miles of banana plantations in wild anticipation as we inched closer to Puerto Viejo.

As the warm evening breeze of the humid Caribbean touched our skin, we remembered some of the reasons we started this search to begin with. Sounds of reggae music poured out onto the streets and a wirey dread locked man approached us asking where we were headed. We told him Tierra de Suenos in Playa Chiquita, trying to hold back our excitement. He wasn't sure of the place, but fetched us a cab. The drive out to Playa Chiquita is only 6 kilometers from Puerto Viejo but feels a bit longer due to the slow and bumpy dirt road. Making our way to the end of Playa Cocles, a long surf beach that that precedes Playa Chiquita, the road began to narrow and lush jungle took the place of any hotels or restaurants. This rural stretch lasted for a few minutes, then we spotted the glowing sign peeking out from the lush garden , Tierra de Suenos! The manager greeted us at the front entrance and walked us on a well lit path through the rainforest to our bungalow titled "Orchid Oasis." We stepped into the beautiful bungalow and knew in a second this was the place!

Tierra de Suenos is made up of six 1 year old bungalows, a two bedroom owner's house, a reception house with full kitchen and a palm roofed yoga studio. The grounds are stunning, overflowing with birds of paradise, palm trees, banana plants and a hundred others who are not yet familiar to us. There are five adorable sloths that live on the property as well as butterflies, hummingbirds, toucans and more. Each bungalow is made from beautiful hard wood, has its own deck with hammocks and adarondack chairs. They are situated close together in a U shape to maximize the amount of forest on the land. Everything in the bungalows is handcrafted, including the bedframes and mosaic showers.

Tierra de Suenos enjoys the best of all worlds. Playa Chiquita is a quiet village with three restaurants and two grocery stores as well as a community center that offers yoga and capoeira. It is a quick bike or taxi ride to the lively town of Puerto Viejo where there are bars, clubs and a variety of restaurants, but far enough away to not be bothered by all the noise . It is smack dab in the middle of all the best beaches in the area including the darling Playa Chiquita itself which is a 3 minute walk from the lodge. The area is considered the most diverse in Costa Rica with it's mix of Afro-Caribbians, Hispanics who have moved from more urban areas and indigenous people of the area. Ex-pats from all over the world have begun to flock here as well. The most incredible aspect of all this diversity is the very mixed nature of the groups. People in general live in harmony and honor the true meaning of the Costa Rican phrase, Pura Vida.

We recently signed a buy/sell contract and plan on closing the deal on February 25th. A friend of Brendan's from DC, John Hurley is funding the project and will be our partner in this endeavor. We will be moving down there to live and manage after close. The closing date is exactly one year and one day from the time we started this search last year. This seems to be an auspicious time of year for us! We imagine that we are going to run into countless obstacles as we learn the ins and outs of the business and plan to maintain this blog through it all.

Tierra de Suenos already has a website that we will change a bit to make more our own, but please check it out: www.tierradesueno.com For the best viewing of the photos in the upper right hand corner click on them, then click "view album", then "slideshow"!


After The 25th, reservations are open. Come visit us and see what it's all about!

Los Adobes

Mazunte is a small layed-back town on the Pacific coast. The water is blue-green and clear as can be. One can easily forget what year it is by the amount of hippies floating around. A typical night in mazunte consists of sitting under an umbrella, toes in the sand drinking Corona and eating an unbelievably delicious Pescado Empapelado (fish in a bag,) grilled to perfection by one of the sturdy El Pescador family girls! We Stayed at a place called El Posado Arcitecto, designed and run by an Italian guy. Our room with a view was built into the cliff directly in the center of the two beautful beaches. The room had some unique features including a swinging bed, proving to be more interesting than comfortable! We played a nightly game of vollyball against some very impressive five foot tall mexican girls...they beat us everytime! After spending a couple lazy days in Mazunte, we headed an hour north to the hot-spot Puerto Escondido.

Once a small fishing village whose economy was enhanced greatly by selling turtle meat and shells Puerto is a now a popular tourist destination for surfers and beach goers alike (and a safe haven for turtles). The Puerto Escondido area consists of five beaches. Playa Zicatela, where we stayed, is famous for the Mexpipe, a world renowned wave. Only the most experienced surfers or experienced idiots dare to risk their lives for an incredible ride. Surfing has quickly become my favorite spectators sport.
















Just as our trip was nearing an end and we were still not completely sure of our next move, an opportunity presented itself to us here in Puerto. A small hotel called Los Adobes was recently put on the market. A middle aged couple bought the land and built this quaint hotel with a swimming pool and garden 10 years ago. They made improvements little by little and maintained it beautifully. Unfortunately, the couple has been plagued with health problems over the years and the wife has recently passed away leaving the hotel in the care of her children. By happenstance we arrived to see the hotel just before the children came down to sort out loose ends and prepare it to be sold. We had a chance to stay at the hotel for a week, meet with the children, who are both in their 30's, several times and also with the real estate agents(two Americans that have been living and working in Mexico for 20 years).

This small hotel is what we have been searching for. It has an excellent location just a short walk from the beach, restaurants, bars, internet and shopping. It is beautifully designed with adobe walls and a palapa (palm) roof. With a few touches and a lot of energy we know we can have Los Adobes overflowing year round.

We are moving ahead with the support of the family, the real estate agents and the hotel staff (Estella, who has worked there for 9 years) to raise the money and take the necessary steps to be the new owners.

From here we're stopping in a mountain town called San Jose on the way to Oaxaca where we will reunite with Abigail, Angie's dear friend from home. After a few days there we are going to Mexico City as our last stop before two back-to-back family reunions in Colorado. We'll be fine tuning our business plan along the way and keeping in close contact with the family and real estate agents. Keep your fingers crossed for us and before you know it you may be relaxing by our pool in Puerto Escondido!!!!