Tuesday, Jan. 31 (Day 9) Barra Honda NP, CR

Caving in Costa Rica

Today we visited Barra Honda National Park where we were lead through the jungle to go caving.

in front of the park map before our hike & spelunking adventure



leaf tasting with our guide

Our guide had us chew on several leaves with different flavors: lemon, avocado, anis (licorice), & even spicy salsa. Some are touted to lower blood sugar for diabetics, some to lower blood pressure, another to cure sinusitis & migraine headaches & even one that can be used for eye drops to cure all your ophthalmic ailments! We should have stuffed our pockets & opened our own jungle-derived pharmaceutical company!


entrance to "La Cuevita" on the ground to the left

Stacia, Avery, Kyra & Cannon went into "La Cuevita" which was a tight squeeze to get in!
Our guide had to unlock the grate to access the rabit-size entrance. There were lots of cool stalactites, stalagmites & columns of calcium carbonite.







Stacia & Cannon ready to spelunk

 

Kyra makes the hole look big, right?

Kyra & Avery inside "La Cuevita"

caveman Cannon

Paul, Sydney & Carley descended into a larger cavern (Terciopelo) with safety ropes, carabiners & several bolted  ladders. The guide had us turn off our lights at the bottom where there was no light whatsoever, a reminder of the darkness described at Christ's death in 3Nephi chapter 8. After just 2 minutes it got uncomfortably claustrophobic & I could think of nothing but wanting to turn on my head lamp!

getting ready for the descent

Carley was first to go down

Sydney was next to brave the depths of the cave

Carley & Sydney among the stalactites of Terciopelo

Back to Samara Beach

After our day of caving, we again played & surfed at Playa Samara. Sydney & Carley got to use surf boards for free this time as part of their lessons & we rented another board for rest of us to share.

Avery on her way out to catch some waves!

Our fist sandcastle, the old pile-on & drip method

The finished product

Bakery Stop in Nicoya 

On the way home from Samara we had to stop at a bakery of course & get some goodies. Stacia found theis delicious bread that was like cinnamon rolls lined with dulce de leche... mmmmm!!!!

Stacia with a great bakery find!

had to get this pic of locals with their baby in tow



Monday, Jan. 30 (Day 8) Samara Beach, CR

We've only missed one day of blogging, the day we traveled from San Jose to the beach house. So this is a retro-blog moment from Wed., Jan. 25 since the blog master doesn't let you create an entry on a previous day missed!

Wednesday, Jan. 25 (Day 3) San Jose to Playa Junquillal, CR
On our way from San Jose to the beach house on the Pacific Coast, we stopped in Nicoya for a much needed ice cream treat at "POPS Helados." Cannon spotted the missionaries across the street & we called them over: Elder Larson from New Mexico & Elder Flores from Guatemala. They had just gotten out of a meeting with mission leaders announcing the new schedule policy for Latin America.

Paul visited with them, mostly in Spanish. Elder Larson was so excited that we had met an old companion of his, Elder Gieger, back in San Jose where we stayed. Stacia was thoughtful enough to get the phone number of Elder Larson's parents & send this picture with a message that he looked happy & healthy. Their response touched our lives as we touched theirs.
From the mom: O thank you so much! This brought happy tears to my eyes!!! You can't imagine how this warms my heart!  Thank you for taking the time to send this to me.  We hope you have a wonderful time in Costa Rica.
Stacia told her no problem that she knew any mom would love to see any snippet of their child on a mission.
She replied:  Thank you!  He has been out for seven months and we miss him horribly!  Thanks again and enjoy your trip!!!
Stacia was expecting this.  The next text was not what she was expecting:
Next text:  This is his Dad.  Thanks so much for texting!  I didn't tell my wife but he had over 100 degrees fever last week and I've been praying that he would be better.  Your text and picture show he is!! My wife was just staring at me as I started crying, thank you for thinking of us he is a wonderful son!!!!!!They had been worried about their son who had been sick with a high fever earlier that week. Stacia's text was an answer to a parent's prayer: just to know that your son is doing better, thousands of miles away from home! What a testament to our family that Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us.  It was a special experience.

In Nicoya with Elders Larson & Flores at POPS Heloados (ice cream place)

Now back to Today.
Monday, Jan. 30 (Day 8) Playa Samara, CR

Stacia relaxing while the kids play in the water

Breakfast was cereal for the early risers & scrambled eggs for the sleepy heads. We got off earlier than usual so we could have more time at Samara beach, a little further away. Samara is a large picturesque cove with smaller waves, less concerning for vigilant parents.

Cannon celebrates another beach day

Kyra, Cannon & Avery facing the shore

Avery, Cannon & Kyra facing the ocean

a break for lunch at "Arriba" restaurant

Sydney & Carley with their instructor

Carley riding in!

Sydney riding in!

the end of a great day of surfing

Leaving Playa Samara. All smiles, except for Cannon

Sunday, Jan. 29 (Day 7) Santa Cruz, CR

Our 1st Sunday was filled with a high & a low: going to church the high; going without water for the day the low. Isn't this exactly the 3rd world experience we wanted? No, actually we envisioned observing the 3rd world from the comfort of our air-conditioned, water-plenty world.

We got up about 7am, left just after 8am & made it to the chapel in Santa Cruz about 8:45. We first met the Bishop's wife, Angela Spaulding. She & her husband have lived here before, now back for a 2nd time, kids grown, serving faithfully: she's the Primary President with about 8-10 children total. We next met Kristin & Jeremy Thelin who moved here last August with their 4 kids & plan to stay 2 years. There is a youth overnight activity next Friday night in Playa Conchal: the boys sleep at the Spauldings & the girls sleep at the Thelins. Sydney, Carley & Avery are excited to go. We'll give you a full update next weekend!


 

Kyra & Cannon (closest to camera) with 2 Thelin
 boys to his left, coloring in Primary

Stacia with Angela Spaulding

Stacia chatting with Kristin Thelin

papaya & passion fruit smoothie

 We got back to the beach house & still no running water since the morning. Paul visited with the guard/maintenance man across the street at the fancy Iguana Villas & said the water tank in Paraiso 2 miles up the road was being repaired. We thought about calling our new friends at church to crash at their place!









After a leftover lunch (with a funky-tasting tropical fruit smoothie that Paul had all to himself), some down time & a few naps, we rushed down at 5:30 to watch the sunset at our nearby Playa Blanca.


Playa Blanca

beach selfie, not so flattering

a more flattering silhouette

Sydney & Carley & the sunset over the Pacific

Paul spent about 2 hours cleaning & disinfecting the 2 toilets with dish cleaning cream trying to subdue the increasing mal odor. Luckily, the yard hose was still dribbling water & he could collect enough to pour into the toilets to flush the contents. We filled every container we could find with the hose water, just in case the water shortage continued for days.

Not luxury living, but a great life experience! The picture, of course, is AFTER all was clean! The water did come back on that evening & Sydney's surprised reaction was worth it, "water!" In our comfort-complete world, we seldom get the chance to appreciate the simple essentials such as running water to drink, wash our hands, clean the dishes & not often mentioned, flush our waste!

Saturday, Jan. 28 (Day 6) Santa Cruz Market & Playa Blanca

We have been getting to bed between 10 & 11pm and sleeping in until 8 or 9am. The kids have been switching places in their beds for fun, sometimes during the night. Us parents are in the other end of the house in a queen and there's a bathroom in the middle. The "house" is actually a trailer from a semi truck. Pretty ingenious! There is air conditioning which makes it really nice.



 All 5 kids comfortably in 1 room!

Today's breakfast was cereal, "Glacs" looks like Frosted Flakes but has a flavor of that mixed with Captain Crunch. Kyra thinks we should get 5 more boxes & have it for dinner too. This box only lasted until noon!


Cereal makes kids happy



 After a slow wake up, Stacia, Paul & Avery drove to Santa Cruz, a central town of the Nicoya Peninsula about 30 minutes away & saw this vulture just as we left our place.


There are several vultures hanging around, not sure why...

Our only goal in Santa Cruz was to find the farmers' market and load up on more fresh fruits & vegetables. After a drive through town, Paul got out & asked a lady about the market & we made it!



Stacia & Avery at the market



Paul pays for some oranges & 1 sapote (gross mushy fruit)



Fresh fish, yum! Didn't get any



We shared some pineapple soda, super sweet



Sydney & Carley enjoying the chips & dip we got

All but Kyra & Dad went down to our own little beach, Playa Blanca, which is about a 6 minute walk from the beach house. The sand is nice, shore somewhat rocky, but there are lots of shells to collect & miniature hermit crabs if you look close enough!

mini hermit crab

Friday, Jan. 27 (Day 5) Playa Tamarindo, CR

After pancakes with Aunt Jemima, we went to check out Playa Tamarindo which is about a 25 minute drive from the beach house. We stopped at a fruit stand run by the friendly owner who had us try different fruits. He claimed that this small yellow tomato-like fruit inside a husk had 7 different flavors as you chew (uchuva). It was a mix between a tomato & an orange.

After some research, this little guy originates from Peru & has many names: golden berry (South Africa, UK), cape gooseberry (US), poha (Hawaii), uvilla (Ecuador), uchuva (Colombia).

 

He next had us try pipa juice which are from water coconuts. They are thinly lined with hard coconut and contain mostly juice, more than expected! The granadilla fruit was not a favorite as it looked like slimy fish eggs, though mildly sweet. We got the little tomatoes, a papaya, star fruit and the bananas were 10 cents a piece so we loaded up!

Next, he sliced a granadilla for us to try. It was not a favorite as it looked like slimy fish eggs, though mildly sweet. We did not buy any of these. We got the little yellow tomatoes, a papaya, star fruit and since the bananas were 10 cents a piece, we loaded up!

granadilla web pic

star fruit web pic



papaya web pic

Tamarindo beach is a wide fine gray sand beach with shallow water for a ways out. It's a main destination for locals and tourists so crowded in town and busy on the beach with many walking vendors selling wooden bird whistles (souvenirs for Avery, Kyra & Cannon), necklaces, pipas, water & of course beer. We rented 2 surfboards for $10 each and everyone tried riding the waves, without much success staying up for long. Cannon was actually able to stay up the longest (4-5 seconds) because of the size ratio. We'll have Sydney & Carley take surf lessons next week to learn the basics.

The papaya, which is a common fruit in Hawaii, is something that we've tried before as a tasty fruit juice but it turned out to be a big bust. I peeled & cut it into small chunks, removed the slimy seeds & even chilled it in the freezer but no one liked it. I'll be having the rest for breakfast.