Killing time in the tropics

I can't think of a better place to be to just plain RELAX. Saturday we spent the morning at Cocles beach watching the Puerto Viejo Open Surf Competition. The waves seemed just right. The sun was out and there were some amazing surfers out there. Makes for a good day all the way around. Monday we spent time fishing on the Rio Carbon behind our house. Not much to report in the way of fish but it was a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon. Tomorrow we take off for the Pacific Coast to visit Manual Antonio National Park then to San Ramon as a jumping off point for some Central and Northern sights. Our friends leave on Sunday morning and we pick 2 more up that evening. Should be a busy few weeks ahead. Glad we had time to relax.

So what’s a “tontorican”?

Perhaps the time has come to explain a little about the origin of TONTORICANS. We came up with the name to describe ourselves, half-time residents of TONTO Basin, Arizona, and half-time residents of Costa RICA. You probably wouldn’t guess that from reading this blog since I have only focused on life in Costa Rica. So, here is a little about life in Tonto Basin. Tonto Basin, Arizona, is in Gila County about 83 miles or 1-1/2 hours from downtown Scottsdale. Although it is still desert, the temperature remains a little below that of the Valley and drops a great deal more at night. We’re live about 5 miles from Roosevelt Lake, on the east side of Tonto Creek. Because it is located in the Tonto National Forest with close proximity to the lake, Tonto Basin has become a popular destination for outdoor loving people, especially fishermen, hunters and ATV enthusiasts. There seems to be an ever-increasing number of retirees and weekenders settling down here. So how do we spend our time? Well, we like to garden and I had great success growing tomatoes this year, as well as several types of peppers (see photo). Our peach tree was fruitful and made a lot of local birds very happy. I think they are currently finishing off the grapes. The 2 apple trees had a few small fruits on them when we left. Nothing yet on the plum and nectarine – perhaps next year. We play shuffleboard at the Butcher Hook Saloon a few times a week and started playing every once in awhile at Cactus Flats as well. It’s common for friends and neighbors to get together for BBQs (see photo). There are also miles of dirt roads and trails for ATV riding. And of course there is the lake. It’s close enough to the Valley for a day trip and there is a modern motel, the Tonto Basin Inn, if you decide to spend more time here. There is also a grocery store, a hardware, and 2 gas stations. Several bait shops and restaurants. The town is still small enough to be friendly but large enough to accommodate most needs.

New day. New beach.

Thursday promised to be another beautiful beach day so we headed to Puerto Viejo to pick up our visiting friends. They had enjoyed all of the different beaches so far but today I decided we should try a new one. So off we drove to Playa Chiquita, about 3 miles south of downtown Puerto Viejo. We saw blue ocean at the end of an unmarked (as usual) road and headed down. Someone had already constructed a palm covered “shelter” under the trees which made a perfect home base for our lazy afternoon at Playa Chiquita.

Giant headlight bugs.

Okay, that may not sound like a scientific name but it definitely describes this strange looking beetle-type animal. It’s about 3 inches long with a black spot on its head. The spot on the bug’s head lights up to help it navigate through the dark jungle at night. I guess this one just wanted to hang out on our porch until it got dark. I will add more “technical info” on this little fellow as soon as I do some research.

Any day fishing is a good day…

Bill and Gordie decided to give surf casting a try on the beach outside of the Agape hotel. No fish were caught but it appeared they were both enjoying the activity.

A day at the beach…finally

On Saturday the sun finally came out. We took full advantage of it. First thing in the morning we headed for the local farmers’ market so Bill could get an idea of the produce and products available here. We bought a wonderful loaf of home made bread with chunks of organic chocolate. I am already planning a weekly trip to the market just to pick some of this up! I also bought some organic coconut oil since I had just run out. After the market we picked DorisAnn up at the hotel and headed for the beach at Cahuita National Park. As usual, the water temperature was perfect, the beer store close by and not too many waves. They enjoyed this beach so much they have decided to spend a couple of days here after their hotel in Puerto Viejo is up.

Rainy day activities

As luck would have it, it rained 6 out of the first 7 days that our Arizona friends, Bill and DorisAnn (see photo), were in Puerto Viejo. Luckily the bars, restaurants and shops are still open but it definitely cuts down the beach time. We have spent many hours playing Rumikub and have also tried Dominos – a very popular game down here. We also tried to take advantage of every break in the weather and explore the area. They are staying at the Agape hotel which is on a jungle-beach path that connects the main shopping area of Puerto Viejo to the main surfing beach, Cocles. (Photo shows Bill, DorisAnn and Gordie leaving the Agape gate to walk along the path). We took the path to a small beachside restaurant late one afternoon for a delicious meal and “happy hour.” Another afternoon we took to path to Cocles beach. The path was a little muddy causing DorisAnn to slip – no injuries but a great photo which is NOT shown here. For that you will have to ask her personally!

New neighbors

The neighborhood has grown since we were last here. Construction is underway on a gas station on the highway. This will save us from driving 45 minutes to get gas and 45 back as we now have to do. There is also a Palí market on the highway where the old Hone Creek Super market used to be. Palí is a national food store and is 51% owned by Walmart. The locally-owned Hone Creek market has built and opened a new store on the same road a short way down from its original location. There is also a new clothing store next to the market. Any day now I expect to see Hone Creek listed on maps. Not too much has changed along the 2-1/2 mile un-named road we take to get home. The jungle is greener than ever (Gordie has already spent many hours cutting down plants so we could find our burn barrel and front porch). All of the cats have left and most of the bats left once they realized we were back. There are still 3 dogs hanging around, Brownie, Tiger and the mom, Stripe. Sadly, my favorite dog, Spot, passed away a short time before we came back. Life can be difficult for animals in the jungle. We were happy to see we have new next door neighbors – a Tico-family that formally lived 3 houses down. Geese, chickens, puppies and kids are all part of the entourage they brought with them. They will make great neighbors and we are looking forward to the next 3 months down here (even though it has rained since we arrived – another day, another story).

Heading back to Hone Creek

We landed at the airport in San Jose on Sunday night only an hour or so past our expected arrival. Not bad. In addition to 4 bags of luggage plus carry-ons we brought two friends back. The rental car man was waiting for us and gave us directions on how to get from the airport to Highway 32 which heads out toward Limón and Puerto Viejo – our destination. But, we didn’t like his route and decided to rely on instincts and past experience. On our new route we found a beautiful park, a striking church and a working girls’ neighborhood. But, our best “find” was the taxi driver at a gas station who let us follow him to the highway entrance. Weather was also not on our side. The low, dense clouds through the mountainous Braulio Carrillo National Park kept us at a snail’s pace. When we hit the other side of the mountain it was approaching 11 PM. We decided unanimously to spend the night in the first town we hit, Guápiles, at the Hotel Talamanca Pococí (see photo). The hotel was only $44 for a 2 room suite, which slept 6 and included a delicious “typical” breakfast of juice, eggs, rice and beans, tomato, plantain and of course coffee. Can’t beat that. As a bonus, it is adjacent to Lucky’s Casino where we stopped for a few well-deserved beers and a little extra spending money.