Filed Under : by Greg L. Miller
Thursday, June 24, 2010I will be checking in a couple in less than three hours. I find myself wondering where they come from and what colors and characteristics they may have. I suppose the answer lies in whatever this space and time wants in this pocket of paradise. At one given moment many threads or peoples coincide and clash, resulting in the weirdest ripples. For what reason does this happen? Is there such thing as destiny or fate? Perhaps it’s one big ball of chaotic energy that has no purpose.
I'm on vacation but yet working in a hotel; YET AGAIN. I start to look around my immediate environment and want to make it as good as it can be. I mean why not? And this is all for free, not impressed. These people expect a dream vacation and I have the power to make their first impression good or bad. The banana tree is molting. A bat took keen interest to it. We had to clean animal dong out of the pool last night, maybe from a monkey or a raccoon. The pool works through ionizing the water and doesn't use chlorine. It could be a big lizard or a jaguar but its best not to think like that. The pool might be considered a good water hole to the more attentive critters. Maybe I can take the big machete used to hack bush and tree leaves but come on, big slick cat vs. man with cane or machete. There is a brown lizard under the washer and drier. I had to kick out two intruders this week. They were nice enough but somehow got passed the locked gates. I got the impression that they might have been scoping out the place but they had gentle demeanor's, no big deal. Sometime between the years 2000-2003 when I was a night auditor at the hotels in Marquette a story comes to mind. At Value Host Motor Inn in Marquette on Halloween night a couple checked in. At 1 AM the husband freaked out and had me call the ambulance because his wife was having seizures. The whole night I had to deal with Marquette cops and military personnel as they put her body in a body bag. A few days later all video surveillance and records were erased and my coworkers thought I made it up a good tale.
Regardless, management does not rent out rooms to locals in Costa Rica. I made friends with my neighbors who own a craft store. They have the whole paradise reality mixed with local customs and pagan spirituality. Kelly thinks the store is a souvenir store but I think it’s a craft store. They made mention that they wanted to take us around to a hot Spring near a Volcano. I'm terrible for I don't know how to pronounce their names let alone write it. Next week Kelly and I are heading to Nicaragua for a short trip. We are going to see Granada, two other towns, and a cigar factory. I'm still not sure if we are going to Panama or just chill on the Caribbean coast next month. I love the vibrancy.
It’s been a few days. The new people came and we helped them, Heidi and Eric. Sure enough they had scorpions on the toilet and a faulty gas leak upon arrival. We met them at the gate and explained the situation. A couple hours after they arrived there was a chaotic mess with their gas lines which resulted in a group effort from everybody. Jessie the dude upstairs, finally semi fixed the issue by putting twigs in the leaky valves which pressed some lever down that stopped the gas. Needless to say they aren’t going to be able to cook. Jessie is into property rentals around the world and was an insurance collector prior to coming here. We ended up chilling with them and had a few mixed drinks at the pool. The pool has taken routine maintenance and there has been a lot of landscape work done this month.
It’s been a few days. The new arrivals bailed and the property manager never came back. They were supposed to collect rent five days ago but no one has shown up outside the maid who seems to be not want to knowing anything. We did more work to keep the jungle and possible bad people away. Many locals comment and appreciate that we have been here over a month. The locals chide and gossip that the people who run Gardenia left and are not coming back. We have a machete that we need to use to keep the plants from overgrowing into our possessions; it’s not like America where you can to have guns. Actually that's not true. Most people own guns and you can pick up handguns everywhere but that's another side of Costa Rica. There is an inner strength in the knowledge that your skills are good enough in the wilds. We have internet and a pool. Kelly is very happy. We are doing a good job in keeping the place in proper order. Whenever I wander outside I'm hailed by dozens of people who seem genuinely happy that we are here. Its nice and feels like a warm community. Many people in the community are telling me I should be getting paid a minimum of 500 dollars for watching the hotel and that I should work as a manager in resorts around town. I think I will when Cecelia is 18 and with Kelly. I do not miss Michigan. The trails around the rain forest make walking and doing chores not long.
Stay tuned in for next week’s adventure which will take us deep into the jungles of Nicaragua, local pottery with the locals, surfing, and much more.
Over the hill are coasts and more rollings hills. As a fine painter dabs and strokes their paint brush on a canvas so do houses pop out of trees in the landscape. Exotic birds ranging from red, yellow to green chat in eagerness as they pluck mosquitoes from the air. There are moments in which the surmounting spirit of Costa Rica can be felt as gentle waves turbulently inch closer during high tide or when showers briskly start and finish in deluges that baffle the senses.
Everywhere are parrots and lizards that keep steady watch, today we decided to walk up our hill which became three hills. A driving passion coursed through my body as I felt it was a good day to hike and see the sunset. Through word of mouth, I heard that there was a three story house that overlooked the bay and the owner was renting out the first floor for around 1200 US dollars. In Costa Rica everything is for sale and nothing is a secret. One often has to be careful to not end up in the newspaper. As in New Zealand the people and community feed off of gossip, unlike New Zealand there is a strong American presence which divides the communities further. Somewhere in this chaos exists order as the people live in balanced harmony. We have no convenience store or general store for its more about who knows who and most goods are driven into town. Kelly told me the main road is paved every few years but the constant battle with nature is forever present. The rain forest is always victorious. As we hike up the hill, sweat pours of my body. Many times there is simply no point to have a shirt on. No one cares what you look like and obesity is viewed as wealth by many. Undaunted I listen to the parrots chirp and sing. I see two sitting next to each other, reminding me of two lovers sitting on a swing set. Further ahead nifty Costa Rica houses temporally cut off the view to the coast as they have fences around them. There is one house that looks empty and has a for sale sign but when we get closer a dog unyielding barks. I think that is the house I heard about.
Unlike New Zealand we do not have to take public transportation and unlike America we do not have a car. Other visitors blaze past us on four wheelers. In the distance are more hills and valleys, all covered by dense rain forest. There are volcanoes in the distance. The difference between jungles and rain forests is that jungles grow on the ground while rain forests grow in the canopy. Finally we make it to the top.
Outside our front door is a banana tree. Banana trees go through four stages as they bloom. It takes about three months to get bananas and each stalk can carry up to a hundred bananas. In many countries in Latin America places such as Dole and Tropicana own plantations and its a crime to pick the fruit. Costa Rica is not one of these countries. Every night we get bats that swoop around the developing bananas. This tree is currently on the second stage of development. I have found myself managing our resort for the next few weeks. The manager went to California and asked Kelly to look after the hotel when she was gone. Kelly is to busy so I took the responsibility and we are not getting paid. For that matter we are getting nothing for it but I'm glad I can help. So far we have fixed the pool, removed intruders, are giving people keys who are checking in next week, been in contact with maintenance over small issues that the other tenants are experiencing, and a whole bunch of other tasks that come up. Thank God that I have two in a half years of night desk clerk experience from Marquette Michigan. Some aspects of life is primitive but as a whole life is good.
After sunset we drink our fill of water. These are the water bottles we must painstaking carry every few days through sun or rain. They are heavy and contain six liters, ironically bottled by Coca Cola. Thanks for tuning in this week.
The next few weeks will be busy with work. Kelly has a lot on her table and unfortunately responsibilities comes before play, or so I'm told. Life is good and I'm busy volunteering. On my spare time, which just happens to come around daily, I leisurely walk down to the beach, through trails in the rain forest, eat at both fine and cheap restaurants, and say hallo to many characters. The following are some snap shots throughout the week. Sunsets are spectacular, wildlife is abundant, food is aplenty and of course whatever you dream about materializes in this paradise.
On top of our hill, its nice for cardiovascular activity. On the way you can expect many birds ranging from all shapes and colors and at the end of the day watch the sunset.
Birds like this fly around you as they chirp.
More fine cuisine. Today we found a wonderful little taco restaurant. A very nice old woman made us Costa Rica food as we watched a mighty guard dog chase a raccoon up a tree. Of course the lazy cat just watched in jest.
At night we sometimes mingle with the locals and our musician friends. We met these fine musicians at a art gallery. They have a good number of families from America that live here and they made their own community. The food is just like back in the States outside of when eating local cuisine and if you can think about it they have it. It is a very friendly towards Americans and other tourists.
We then walk back home under the stars on the beach. You pass many places like this, called cabanas. No more funds for a few weeks, its back to simplicity.
Sorry about not posting in the last week. I just landed a volunteer job through the United Nations to help PEIO write and research textbooks and courses. Botswana is looking for someone to help twenty four others edit their new constitution which is 300 pages long. They are having the UN be involved because they want it to come out with UN principles. Part of me thinks it would be cool to help edit history in which two million people have their own bubble kicking. Its been busy and good down here.
Monkeys can bellow for up to two in half kilometers. After a languidly three days of aimless wanderings through a endless mirage of roads and trails we learned that Monkeys, as like most animals, are creatures of habit and remain in the same territory over time. One the greatest tools a tracker has is that animals have a tendency to not travel past a mile. Being a little impatient to find the monkeys we caught wind that a hotel on the beach was also a refuge for howler monkeys. Armed with this knowledge we headed there a couple of hours before sunset. In Costa Rica the bugs foray at dawn and at sunset which means these are the times when a person becomes a walking cloud of chemicals to repel them. The mosquitoes travel as deep clouds and sometimes swarm you to feed off of your blood just as a vampire slurps the blood of its hapless victims. The other day Kelly had about thirty buzzing around her head as we watched a spectacular sunset after dining out. We made it a point to eat at the highest ranking restaurants in our area and there are many! My wife has learned that tacos are not the same as in America.
Not expecting its light child like nature I didn't have to time to adjust the camera. Note the white bandage around its tale, the Monkey is being rehabilitated and lives here with its family. It has friends that walk on a bridge over the road who visit it daily.
We like nothing more than to see more so down the trail we trot.
Leafs overhead shimmer as they drift down. Behold Monkeys in the tree limbs! They are in the black shadows and you can see their tales and limbs as they slowly move from one branch to another.
Not only were there Monkeys but also cats, dogs and raccoons.
The grounds was nicely laid out with the beach in the background
This concludes the first Monkey expedition. Stay tuned in for Granada, volcano's, surfing, more restaurants and bars, and whatever else paradise wants to share. Kelly and I have seen many monkeys while wandering and will post a few more in the future.
Day II: Monkey Expedition becomes Shell Day!!!
After resting I decided that it would be prudent to look at some of the exquisite shells we found in the last two weeks. Do to the fragile ecosystem and regulations of customs most of these shells will not be brought back.
This one reminds me of the movie Little Shop of Horror, "Feed Me"
This one is like a castle that is half built. Note the inner spirals.
Mini Volcano's.
Corral. Customs forbids these to be carried out of the country. Up close there are thousands of holes.
Reminds me of a oyster, I have no idea what it is.
More shells. The one on the bottom reminds me of a coiled snake.
These are about 5-6 inches in length.
This concludes Shell Day! Come back tomorrow to see the conclusion of monkey expedition.
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