Uvita is hot, hot, hot! I thought it was hot up on the Nicoya Peninsula. It ain't nothin' compared to here. As we headed down out of the mountains around Monte Verde last Sunday, we re-found the heat. (Did I mention the roads around Monte Verde? We thought to try to take a picture but decided a photo wouldn't be able to capture the true state of the roads there. Dirt roads certainly doesn't describe them. They are narrow, ROCKY, dirt, lanes with giant potholes and drainage ditches on the side. You bump along in first gear at about 20 kmh rocking back in forth and up n' down. Lucas often fell asleep on our way to and from the coffee farm from the jostling...just like a baby. The founding Quakers in the area and have lobbied hard against the government to keep the roads unpaved in an attempt to keep the area from being completely overrun and ruined by tourism. They have succeeded to some extent. My guess is that it is just a matter of time. We grew to find the state of the roads charming, welcomed "el pavimento" when we reached the center of Santa Elena each day, and then cursed the roads as we headed south last Sunday on hot, dusty, slow, windy roads...anxious to meet up with Libby at the coast.) The morning we left our remote farm house, Lucas woke up completely covered in bed bug bites. The picture doesn't come close to capturing the signs of the feast the critters had on our juicy little boy. His back, left side of his face and left arm, wrist and hand were completely munched. A rough way to start a long, hot drive!
It took us about 2 1/2 hours to reach the over-run, Central Pacific beach town of Jaco. Libby was arriving by a shuttle from San Jose. We met at a taco bar that had swings for chairs! A big hit with Lucas. We were so happy to see her face and be together. It actually all felt so matter of fact and normal to be eating fish tacos and sipping batidos (smoothies) sitting on swings in Costa Rica!
The jungle got thicker and the air got hotter as we drove the final 1 1/2 hours to Uvita. And then up, up, up 2.3 km on a Monte Verde-like road to our casa - Casa Uvita. We were greeted by a pair of tag wailing sweeties - Belle and Duchesa (aka Dukey) and Michele, the owner. The house is lovely - open air, view of the pacific, swimming pool, solar powered and spring fed, surrounded by the jungle. And, did I mention, it is hot here!
Since then, we have adjusted to the heat - Matt embraced it from the start while it took Lib, Lucas and me a few days to find our groove in the heat and humidity. It has been a fun week here. Let's see...what have we been up to:
1. Most importantly, we have seen sloths! Really, that is why we all came to Costa Rica :) We saw one here at the house climbing back up a tree after it had come down for it's weekly poop. It was absolutely awesome to actually see it move. It was moving fast for a sloth, but it still looked like it was moving in completely graceful slow motion. We saw 4 more on a hike at a nature preserve - 2 two-toed and 2 three-toed and one was a baby! Matt tried to capture the mama and baby with a picture through a spotting scope. (No, it is not a person dressed up in a Chewbacca costume!)
2. We went zip lining through the primary jungle just outside the beach town of Dominical in the nature preserve. It was a fun and intense day. We had gone to the preserve early to hike some trails before the zip line tour. It was hot, hot, hot! Little did we know that the zip line adventure included a 30-40 minute hike and wildlife tour UP! Lucas was pretty spent but made it (with the help of a ride on Matt's shoulders) as we tromped through the jungle in our zip line gear. When he saw the zip line for the first time, he said "No way, I'm not going to do it." No surprise, he was hooked after the first run. He and I did the course together - each hooked to the cable with him on my lap! He was so proud of himself and became the cheerleader of the group for everyone!
3. One morning, Carlos, the caretaker here at Casa Uvita, took us to a magical, waterfall jungle paradise. Up, up the rocky road we went from the house for another 15 minutes. Then down, down we hiked through the thick jungle on a slippery "trail" to our private jungle oasis - cool water, cascading waterfall, birds. It was fantastic. Near the bottom, we needed to use a rope to back down a long, slippery rock. Lucas was a pro! We swam, Lib jumped off rocks near the falls, we snacked. It took Lucas a bit to feel comfortable in the cool water, but once he did, he paddled around with glee. It was an awesome adventure. We were all very aware of how special it was.
4. Beach time. No shortage of that here. The question each day is simply WHICH beach! We have been to 3 - all very different from each other and very different from the beaches on the Nicoya. They are quite wide at low tide, much rougher surf and hot! Even the wet sand it hot. We thought the water on the Nicoya was warm! The ocean here is not far from bath water. On the super hot days, the beach is a bit tricky - hard to actually get any relief from the heat - it's hot in the shade, the sand is hot and the water is warm! One of the beaches had a river running into it. The water was cool and made a perfect place for a little person to sit and dig in the sand. The beach we went to yesterday was the best. Las Ventanas (windows) named for the caves that go clear through a rocky point from one side to the other. They are fun to explore at low tide as you can walk through them nearly all the way. As the tide comes in, however, is when the fun really starts! The waves come crashing through the caves and spill out onto the beach making a churning pool to get tumbled in. Lucas was in heaven even though he got pummeled quite a few times. He stands up, wipes his face and says, "I'm OK." He seems to really love the ocean.
5. Hang time at the casa. Time in the hammock, mask making, pool frolicking, searching with the binocs for birds, sloths and monkeys, morning walks, swimming laps, playing Slamwich, reading Magic Treehouse books, eating as much pineapple as possible, and Lucas spinning tunes naked on the patio! (Naked DJ...could be a niche profession for him!)
6. Cicadas - I don't believe I've mentioned them yet. On the first day we arrived in Uvita, we started up the dirt road. At a certain elevation, it's as if someone switched on the "cicada switch". The sound is at first deafening - you can't hear anything but that. It continues until dusk when they don't switch off but do quiet down. It is at that point that they appear, however, drawn to the light on the patin and in the kitchen. They fly around bouncing off of anything in their flight path - walls, heads, arms, doors, etc. It is hilarious and disconcerting as they buzz buzz buzz. Bella, the dog, loves to eat them, so that is endless entertainment. They are buzzing and then, as Lucas says, "Down the hatch!" Lucas is not a huge fan of the cicadas so is happy see them get gobbled up! They do go completely quiet at some point during the night. The cicada switch will turn on again just before 8:00am. They are here for about a month. Here is one on its back after flying around futilely trying to get out of the kitchen last night. It ended up as a Bella snack.
This is our last day in Uvita before we part ways with Lib - she heads north to San Jose tomorrow morning as we head south to the Osa Peninsula. It has been dreamy to share a part of our Costa Rica adventure with her. Lib has such a "jois de vivre" embracing every moment and finding fun and beauty and wonder in it all. We will all be sad to see her go tomorrow. Lucas will be especially devastated...stuck once again with just Matt and me! He loves his Doula so! Watching the love affair between nephew and auntie is magical. This whole week has been where Doula goes, Lucas goes. Each morning when he feels Doula has had enough sleep, he creeps into her room, quietly opens the mosquito netting, climbs onto the bed and gently tickles her back to wake her up. I think it is a lovely morning ritual for both of them.
Hard to believe we are at the mid-point of our adventure - 3 weeks behind us and 3 to go. The time is speeding up the longer we are here. The Osa will be a new adventure, going deeper into the jungle and the heat! After that, we head to the Central Highlands (we think) for an as-of-yet unplanned week. Then to Panama for the final week. I'm not sure if there will be internet access on the Osa. If not, I will post again once we are in the mountains.
Abarzos!
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