Havin a blast on Costa Rican farms

When we left off last, we were enjoying the rain in Monteverde after an exhilarating zipline ride through the rainforest. The rain didn’t really let up for the rest of the day, so we spent the afternoon planning and preparing for a feast that night.

The plan was to make steak sandwiches that Stew had dreamed about a few days earlier. And by dream we mean he actually woke up in the morning with the words “steak sandwiches” on his lips. We have been eating rice and beans for almost every meal, and Stew was craving some seriously filling food. Tori also woke up with a craving and was whispering “salami and cheese” before we even got out of bed. After our strenuous day on the lines (we did actually have to hike, which really means waddling because of the harnesses), we decided we deserved it. Also, rice and beans was getting pretty old.

So we hit the grocery store which was strikingly similar to any grocery store in the U.S. and had anything we could possibly want. There was real cheese, Italian meats, tapenades, ranch dressing…all of our greatest desires. We each gathered the necessary ingredients to satisfy our dreams: good hard cheese, fancy peppercorn salami, a pound of steak, a pound of bacon, a bottle of ranch, sautéed pepper and onions, and fresh tomatoes. The meal turned out to be amazing, but we kind of disgusted some French tourists but their pasta carbonara was crappy and they ate their bacon raw. After dinner, we had a little party in the hostel with the owner and a couple kids from the U.S., including a girl that lives in Georgetown.

The next morning, we decided to brave the rain and go for a hike. We had been really excited about hiking in Monteverde, but the constant rain had dampened our spirits. We had bus tickets for 2:30, so we got up at 9 a.m. to get going. The hike turned out to be a lot more difficult than we expected, partly due to the steepness but mainly because of the slipperiness of the mud. The rain had made the path pretty much impassable, and we gave up eventually and walked back to town. Still, we saw some beautiful views from Cerro Amigos and got to walk through majestic forests.

The five hour bus ride turned out to be only three hours, which is the first time a time estimation has erred in that direction. When we arrived in San Jose, Tommy Thomas, a friend of Tori’s parents from the 80s who’s been living in Costa Rica since the late 80s, picked us up and took us back to his cool herb farm in the Central Valley, about 30 minutes outside of San Jose. We’ve been living the high life since!

Tommy’s house is awesome. It’s inside his farm, in the mountains above San Jose. It’s nestled above jungle ravine on his farm, so when you look out from the window it feels like you’re in a forest. After an unfrigginbelivable dinner of homemade Indian food (Tommy worked as Peace Corps volunteer in India during the 60s), we went to sleep in preparation for an early morning trip to Tommy’s buddy Bob’s house. Susan, Tommy’s girlfriend came by in time for breakfast that morning. We left about 9:30, after the best Costa Rican coffee and smokey thick-cut bacon ever. Bob is a motocross racer/surfer who also owns businesses in Costa Rica and spends about 1/3 of his time there. He owns lottts of acres on the banks of a river near the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

Bob’s house is also totally awesome. Apparently it’s the fashion to have a farm in Costa Rica, because Bob has a business growing ornamental plants for the US, and also leases land to a pineapple grower that supplies pineapple to the largest fruitcake producer in the world. A less bizarre but equally sweet thing about Bob’s place: he uses part of land for a tourist adventure center which runs canopy tours (ziplining through the jungla) and white water rafting trips.

The afternoon we got there, we jumped into duckies, or inflatable kayaks for white water rafting, and headed down the Rio’s class III rapids. Tommy and Bob were each in a kayak, while Stew and Tori took the double. Apparently we still haven’t learned that we are not the best kayak partner pair. To be fair, white water kayaking is a lot more difficult than rafting. You’re on your own, so you’re doing the work.

We started off with Stew in the back and Tori in the front, which was pretty hilarious. We managed to hit almost every single object in the river that we intended to avoid. We managed to get stuck for a solid 45 seconds on a rock, hit the bank of the river, go over the rapids at their most gnarly areas. The ride was a lot of fun, though occasionally painful when we slammed our butts on the rocks, or when wasps attacked stew’s face about ½ through. He powered through, to the amazement of all. When we switched seats about 2/3 of the way down the river at the suggestions of our guide, we manage to do a little better on the directional front – the kayak doesn’t really move where you steer if it’s heavier in the front than the back, according to our guide.

That night at dinner, we discovered that Bob makes a mean pina colada and tenderloin steak. We had fun hanging out with Tommy, Bob, Susan, and their friend Maria.

The next morning it was time to zipline again! The course was totally different from the course at Monteverde: instead of going through cloud forest, we went over a river and through the jungle in a big loop. We also got to pass over a garden that Bob is starting. The garden has many of the same plants as Tommy’s, but they look different here because of the wildly different altitude levels.

Bob was heading back to the U.S., so we had to close up his house before we could leave. Apparently, people will steal just about anything if he doesn’t secure it. Someone broke in and stole some guitars so he put bars over the windows. Then, someone used a crow bar to remove the house siding and broke in that way. Now, Bob goes so far as to remove the ceiling fans. Pretty hilarious, but I guess necessary.

Back at Tommy’s, we had another party before Bob flew out in the morning. We got to stay in Tommy’s tree house, which is pretty much the coolest place in the world. There are three rooms: one with food, fridge, and hot plate, a bathroom, and a three walled bed room with a great view of the central valley and San Jose’s lights. With plumbing, electricity, a comfortable bed, and a nice view, we were as happy as could be.

The next day, Tommy and Susan gave us a tour of the farm. We got to see all of the herbs which he grows and sells. There is an amazing variety and more basil than you can dream of. Even more impressive than the herbs is his personal garden. There are plants from all over the world, some exotics, some natives, fruits, cacti, gingers, bamboos, and a thousand gorgeous varieties of each. It really is impossible to even describe how great the garden and its well maintained paths.

After lunch, we decided to make dinner for Tommy and Susan in appreciation for all of the wonderful meals and hospitality they had given us. Lasagna is our specialty and something we haven’t made since California. Plus, access to an herb garden makes cooking really fun and delicious. In the end, we wound up with red pepper, artichoke heart, hearts of palm, spinach and goat cheese lasagna, along with a caprese salad, and garlic bread.

Today, Tommy took us to Zoo Ave, where we got to walk through a jungly area filled with ever specie of animal in Costa Rica, and a few others. Maybe they don’t have absolutely everything, but darn near. The birds are especially impressive, but caimans and mountain lions and monkeys are pretty cool too. We really can’t list every species that we saw, but they were all pretty cool. Evidently, there was an artist on staff, too. All around were well done paintings in various styles (cartoons, dark/trippy/creepy, realistic) warning against the harms of eating turtle eggs or buying endangered animals or advising children of the importance of conservation. It was a great zoo and it really made us miss our camera (which had been destroyed the day before in unfortunate circumstances.)

Afterwards, we went out for pizza and bought a new camera at the mall. It was kind of a pain and they screwed up the purchase. After some awkward arguing in Spanish and a long wait, we eventually walked out with a wad of cash and a camera, and all we had to do was sign this little receipt. Tommy took us to see his spice warehouse, his factory, his office (Tommy runs a spice import/export/processing company in addition to the herb garden), and the storeroom where Susan keeps all of her imported furniture from Indonesia (a business she runs). It was the first time we’ve seen a proper factory and it was really cool. Plus, it smelled great.

Now we’re going out for Peruvian food. Tommy is great and really generous. We’re having a fabulous time and this is one of the most amazing places we’ve been. We posted a photo album on Stew’s facebook. They should be available for anyone to see, but if you can’t find them let us know and we’ll figure something out.