Sounds

Judy.  Anyplace you live or go has its own set of sounds. In Athens, it was the sound of neighbors walking by, the young hawk screeching, cars racing by late at night, robins and doves waking us in the morning. 

While some of the sounds here in Uvita are familiar—the construction going on next door, cars on the gravel outside our gate, the occasional dog bark—there are others that I’ll always associate with our sojourn here. Late at night, and far too early in the morning, Jessie, our resident coatimundi (so named by a grandson in Georgia) climbs around our tin roof to bed down or get up from her nest in the eaves. Toucans greet the morning with their call, “Dios te da!” (God gives to you!). Yellow-breasted kiskadees sing “Que guay!” (How cool!) throughout the day.

Kiskadee

Early mornings, late afternoons, and sometimes midday, howler monkeys scream out, “Get off my lawn!” (No Spanish translation available.) Clay-colored thrushes, the national bird, sing a theme song from a 60’s sitcom, and the cicadas chime in as they feel the need. 

 From 8 AM till noon, we hear the whisper of the pool pump, and now and again hear doves with the same call we learned in Arizona, “Who cooks for you?” 

Afternoons sometimes bring a beautiful set of scarlet macaws, whose obvious wooing is marred by their horrific screeching, reminding us so much of a bickering couple that we’ve named them Fred and Ethel. The grey-cowled wood rails, on the other hand have a mating ritual that sounds like an opera duet. 

Grey-cowled wood rail

Some weekends a family descends on the house behind us, and the sounds of laughter, singing, and shouting fills the air. Now that we’re entering the rainy season, we hear the evening patter of rain, or, occasionally, a downpour so loud we have to put closed captioning on tv. Once in awhile, there are serious claps of thunder. 

 Always, always there’s the quiet sound of the surf, a quarter mile away, pounding in the background. 

 Not a bad playlist at all.

Hacienda Baru

Ted. Wildlife is the big draw to Costa Rica for us and millions of others. This little country, about the size of North Georgia, has over 500,000 species of plants and animals making it’s biodiversity virtually unmatched on our planet. 

One morning, in an effort to spot a few more species, we drove to nearby Hacienda Baru, a lodge/wildlife preserve established in the 70’s as an early pioneer in returning farmland to forest. As one might expect, when the cattle left and the trees returned, the wild animals soon followed. For a modest fee, one can wander the trails all day long (or til you run out of water). 

Judy and I came upon a coatimundi (raccoon-like), a collared peccary (wild pig), lots of agoutis (large rodents) and even a white-tailed deer. We also surprised a troop of white-faced monkeys who responded by throwing sticks at us. No doubt lots of other animals quietly watched us. 

White-faced (capuchin) monkey

We never saw any other visitors on our walk but did come around a bend and happen upon Juan, a caretaker and former guide who shared stories of his 28 years working there. His Spanglish wasn’t bad but Judy’s four years of Spanish lessons really helped. 

We have seen lots of expats here and some short-term visitors so it was nice to just walk in the woods accompanied by a few animals... and Juan.

Quote du Jour

“If you settle in, even for two weeks, live in a house not a hotel, and you buy figs and soap at the local places, sit in cafés and restaurants, go to a local concert or church service, you cannot help but open to the resonance of a place and the deeper you go, the stranger the people become because they’re like you and they’re not.”

- Frances Mayes, from Bella Tuscany

Color!

Judy. I’d have to say that one of the things that grabs my heart—and my attention—here is the color. Color everywhere! In the flowers, the birds, the sky, the sunsets—everywhere you look. The rainy season started yesterday, and with it will come more blossoms and color. So I thought I’d share some with you. 

Breakfast on the beach

Ted. Since the sun rises around 5:30 in Costa Rica, the birds and howler monkeys make sure we get an early start to each day. This morning we decided to drop by a little French café to get some warm croissants and coffees to go. A five minute drive took us to Playa Hermosa which translates, appropriately enough as Beautiful Beach. 

We arrived at 7:00 just as the clean up crew was finishing their tasks. 

 There were six surfers, Judy and me at this early hour. 

Anticipatory pleasure

The birds and other critters were quite active getting their own breakfasts. We saw an ibis, a cara cara, a frigate bird and lots of pelicans and hawks. Swifts (or swallows maybe?) took care of any mosquitos that thought about ruining our visit. 

By 8:30, the lifeguards and food vendors were starting to set up. Time for us early birds to head home.

Parking lot/food court

The Whale's Tail

Ted. The town of Uvita is famous for two things; whales and “The Whale’s Tail.” This is supposedly the only place on earth where both Arctic and Antarctic populations of Humpback Whales gather during calving season. In an odd coincidence, a crescent shaped rocky outcropping just off shore has created a beach extension that looks remarkably like a mile wide whale’s tail. Don’t believe me? Take a look at this aerial view.

This beach is part of Marino Ballena National Park and one morning, when the tide was out, Judy and I decided to wander out onto the beach to see what the fuss was about. The admittance fee of $6.00 US for foreign visitors (and the pandemic) kept the crowds down. This also ensured that it was the cleanest beach we have seen here. Here are a few of my snapshots.

We walked carefully along a stream to the beach

Lots of sand

And lots of rock

View from a nearby hill

Pura Vida

Judy. I have to be honest enough to tell you that coming to Costa Rica would not have ordinarily been in our game plan. I had been there many years ago with a travel agent acquaintance, and had spent four days in an all-inclusive resort, with occasional forays to the Volcano Arenal, casinos, and shops, and didn’t want to repeat that experience. I might as well have been in Florida. Costa Rica is definitely a tourist destination, and expensive in many ways. These are things many people enjoy, but not for Ted and me. 

 However, in spring of 2021, almost fully vaccinated, we were ready to hit the road again. There just weren’t that many countries willing to accept visitors. Costa Rica was one, so Ted began to research what we might enjoy doing there. He found that, while still not a cheap place to visit, April was the end of the tourist season, and if we were careful, we could find a place that matched our ideal spot: a small, but vibrant town, with opportunities to explore, and only enough tourists to make those opportunities available. And so here we are in Uvita. 

 It was not an auspicious beginning. Driving down we stopped in the surfing town of Dominical—very touristy. We got burned at a restaurant with overpriced, overcooked Mahi Mahi, and saw stands of rows of identical t-shirts and beach blankets, probably manufactured in some other country. Yikes! What had we done! 

 But then we got to Uvita, turned onto a country road and found Alegría Tropical, our home for three weeks. 

Alegría Tropical

 Our little house is just outside town, about four blocks from the Parque Nacional Marino Ballena beach. We have a pool, and across the road is a pasture filled with cattle, although new construction is all around us. This is an ideal surfing area. We’re a short driving distance to the supermarket and various restaurants and sodas (small family eating establishments—cheaper than restaurants). 

 

Dishwashing soap and jam 

Our first trip to the BM Supermercado (and the name enough was to give us pause) sent us into price shock until we realized that if it was imported, like peanut butter, the cost was extravagant, but if you learned to cook like a Tico (Costa Rican), you could eat fairly cheaply. That evening we scoured the Internet for recipes, and I made my first batch of Gallo Pinto (literally Speckled Rooster), a delicious combo of rice, black beans, red peppers, onion and garlic—and the ever-present Lizano sauce. We’ve eaten it at breakfast (traditional), as a side dish, as tacos. 

The good life

 I had scored some mangoes at the car rental agency in Liberia, and we bought pineapple, watermelon, and bananas from roadside stands. Yes, we’ve splurged on cookies, but mostly we’ve been able to keep life simple and tasty. 

 As in our other destinations, we don’t go exploring every day. We walk the neighborhood toward the beach and the troop of howler monkeys, enjoy the birds that visit the yard, walk up the road to catch a glimpse of the mama and baby sloth who live in the trees, and listen for the coatimundi who’s building a nest on our roof. We expect babies soon. Occasionally we drive to a beach for a long walk, or make plans to see a waterfall, but mostly we’ve just settled into life. The sights and sounds are a gift in themselves. 

Pura vida, mis amigos. Pura vida.

Why Uvita?

Ted. After two days of travel, we have settled into the Airbnb where we will reside for three weeks. A friend of Judy’s asked how we decided on the village of Uvita for the bulk of our one-month stay in Costa Rica. As our VP for logistics, the response falls in my bailiwick. 

On two trips to Nicaragua we have explored volcanoes and coffee fincas, gotten lost in a cloud forest, kayaked in the Pacific and taken a zip line tour so we decided our focus this time would be on wildlife. I found lots of helpful information on the Internet. TwoWeeksinCostaRica.com proved to be the most useful. Based on the time of year we were visiting and our desire to see lots of animals, I was drawn to the Southern Pacific Coast since it seemed to be a bit less touristy and the best region for spotting critters. Centrally located along the coast highway, with no big hotels, several restaurants and a good sized grocery store, Uvita seemed to be a good base for exploring the area. 

We’ve only been here a couple of days but so far, Uvita seems to work for us and we've just had one small disappointment - the humpback whales are gone for the year. 

Our casita with lots of screens and a/c in the bedroom

We really like our little house. It's on the edge of the village (there’s a little farm across the dirt road from us) so we get lots of animals coming through our yard. 

Our neighborhood

I keep the binoculars handy when doing my Tai Chi outside, as invariably I need to stop to observe a toucan or some other interesting creature. The afternoons get quite warm here so Judy has concurred that our little pool is a nice touch. More to follow…

Our afternoon respite

Family

 Judy.  After we checked out of our Athens house and before we left for Costa Rica, we drove south to visit my brother Chuck and his wife Rose Lane. Last summer we paid a quick visit to brother Billy and his wife Marilyn, but with the pandemic raging, we chose to meet in a restaurant, masks on, and distanced from everyone. Still, we were happy to get that much.

But Chuck, Rosie, Ted, and I are fully vaccinated and have been careful, so it was a hugging, laughing exploring kind of visit. They live on a beautifully serene farm, so there were lots of walks.

At the end of the day, though, it was the hugs that were the best. Here's to more time together!