We have had a busy couple of weeks since getting back from Manuel Antonio. Emma and Clare have visited the dentist as well as the orthodontist and we are embarking of braces for Clare. Emma has been in the chair for the removal of some teeth in hopes that her teeth will follow a natural path towards alignment. Our orthodontist is quite well regarded professionally and we are confident in his approach. The value of dental care here is hard to overstate. Tami and Bill did not escape “The Chair” either.

Emma had a field trip last week to Banco Nacional where one of her classmates fathers is a director. Dad attended as well. We met the jefe grande and the class really enjoyed visiting the vault, the 19^th floor helicopter pad as well as sitting around the ornate board rooms.

Clare is preparing for the performance of the Fifth Grade play, “The Emperor’s New Cloth.” She is starring as Milk Lady (by special arrangements with SAG and AFTRA!) Clare also competed her Space Camp preparation project and presented before a group of parents. We are getting all set to send her off June 28^th for a week in Huntsville Alabama for an exciting week with NASA. She is part of a group 22 Lincoln students who earned an invitation to attend with good grades and behavior.

We are so proud of both of our girls who showed flexibility and resiliency through our relocation.

Tami left this morning for her last business trip to Coronado. Her coming week is booked full of appointments with existing and new clients interested in some face to face time. While not looking forward to the journey, she understands the importance of the being on site for her clients.

With the end in sight for our adventure, I thought I would ask the girls to sum up their thoughts so far. When told of our impending trip, Clare remembers being “freaked out.” In her words: “I really wanted to stay home because of my friends. I would miss my teacher , family and pet fish. I did not even know Costa Rica existed.“ “When I got here, I thought it was pretty cool because of all the trees and animals. The people are nice.”

“Lincoln school is good. I like that it is challenging. I thought is was very big and I love small schools. I like my clubs, my favorite was journalism. I like that there was so much to do. Lunch is longer and I liked the cafeteria. I also liked the playground, gym and track.”

“Now that I am getting ready to leave, I will miss waking down to the river on our property and playing with Chester the dog. I really can’t wait to play with my friends and see my family back home.”

Emma remembers not knowing anything about Costa Rica but thinking it would be a fun adventure.

In her words: “ I was pretty scared about moving to a new school and about speaking Spanish.”

“Costa Rica is a beautiful place… all the trees and mountains.”

“I thought my new school was SO BIG! I like most of the people in my class especially Amy, Maria Marta and Daniella. The Cafeteria was my favorite. You can buy lunch. My Coronado school does not have one of those.” “I can’t wait to see my friends back home. I feel sad that I have to move away from my friends here.”

Adds Clare: “When I get Coronado I am just going to run to see my friends!” Emma is really looking forward to seeing her friends too.

There are many “must see” sights here in Costa Rica. Some we have yet to get to but many, now that we have been here for 4 months, are already in the log book. One that we had missed was Manuel Antonio National Park. That was rectified this weekend with a family road trip in our Trusty Terios!

We departed Friday morning, early, letting the kids miss their half-day of school and made quick time through the city and on toward the coast. The trip was advertised as 3.5 hours on our GPS but road construction in several spots coupled with single lane bridges at several locations added time to our drive. We arrived at Tulemar Bungalows and Villas around 2:30 and checked into our room. The rooms are set up as detached bungalows and we were not far from the pool and restaurant. Quite large, we had a full kitchen, two queens beds in the bedroom and a single day bed in the living room.

We headed to the pool first thing. In a twist on the old Fred Astaire number, we spent the afternoon “Swimmin’ in the Rain.” After all, this is the rainy season but if you ask at any hotel worker, they will call it Green Season. This is no joke. It will rain during the day, usually late afternoon and it will rain hard. Dinner was at the hotel which had fine food and super service. I had to order the “bagon” wrapped chicken to learn what “bagon” was and sure enough it tasted just like bacon!

The next morning was an early start as we wanted to get to the park as early as possible. After our included breakfast and a fun show put on by the hotel’s resident monkeys, we headed down the road for the short trip to the park. Upon arriving it was necessary to run a gauntlet of boisterous, official looking guys imploring you to park in their area. Like barkers in the old days of the circus, these guys use whistles, official looking badges and shoulder wear to fool you into spending more to park further away and use unofficial guides.

We were fortunate to meet Mario in the park’s main parking lot and with gentle persuasion and no nonsense negotiation skills he became our guide. We could not have done any better Mario was great, especially with the kids. Upon entering the park you are warned about the poisonous trees that are prevalent, especially near the park entrance. Also, there is a sign warning about swimming near the mouth of the nearby river as you could be eaten by a crocodile!

In the first 100 yards, we saw bats, an interesting rodent creature and a two-toed sloth! Later we walked beautiful beaches. The place is a photographer’s dream as everywhere I turned, there was another perfect place for pictures. Past the second beach we came to a pair of three-toed sloths high above the trail but unlike others we had seen, these two were active. It is quite rare to see these “Chewbacca” look-a-likes doing anything but lounging in a tree. Later along the same trail we saw three of the four monkey species that are endemic to Costa Rica, Squirrel, Howler and Capuchin. The Squirrel monkeys were specially active jumping from tree to tree like circus acrobats. They put on quite a show. We also found, with Mario’s, help two interesting species of frog. The park in indeed a must see for anyone visiting the country and though it is an almost 4 hour drive from San Jose, it is very much worth the effort.

Following our tour, we re-entered the park and went for a swim at Playa Espadilla Sur, one of the beautiful beaches within the park boundaries. It is very calm with warm water and small waves and is a true slice of heaven. The girls had a great time. We kept our backpacks guarded as we were warned about theft by both humans and monkeys! We departed the beach and headed back to the park entrance for a little shopping and some lunch. Giovanni was our chef at a beach side collection of picnic tables, lean-to tarp, coolers and a grill that makes up his “Soda el Mango” restaurant.

Back at the hotel we headed straight down to the private beach on the Tulemar property and grabbed some kayaks for a paddle across the bay to a near-by beach. Both Emma and Clare took singles while Tami and I doubled up. We swam at this beach for a while before the gathering grey of the afternoon rains compelled us to head back. Once back at Tulemar, the girls grabbed boogie boards and used them for some fun in the waves. Both had a great time while mom and dad had a blended beverage.

We completed our beach fun and headed back up the hill. The girls asked to walk on their own and that was going fine till a horse fly decided to take a bite out of Clare’s shin! Her only defense was a strawberry smoothie which proved enough to scare away the sky creature. We repaired to the pool where preparations were underway for a wedding reception in the adjacent restaurant. We felt a little underdressed but the servers ensured up that the pool was indeed open and that we were welcome. We were also treated that night to a fantastic sunset.

We went back to the room for a fall back and regroup maneuver. This was necessary after our very full day. Dinner was more like a grazing and snacking affair over several hours until we finally decided, just as the rain started, to venture out into the neighborhood. There are several dozen hotels in the area as well as the usual collection of eateries and taverns of all shapes and sizes. We selected El Avion as our stop. This is a bar and restaurant built around an unusual centerpiece- a defunct C-123 cargo plane once used by Oliver North‘s secret “FedEx” operation. His planes operated from a clandestine airfield on privately owned land in north west Costa Rica. This particular aircraft was the sister ship to the one crashed by Eugene Hassenfus ushering in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration. It had been abandoned in San Jose and after being purchased for $3000, it was taken apart to ship by road to Manual Antonio.

We returned to the hotel only to have the peace and quiet of the jungle shattered by the serene notes of “We are Family” and the thumping beat of dance music from the wedding party. This racket lasted till 10 PM and seemed very out of place in the Costa Rican rainforest!

The following morning we swam, headed into town for a little shopping then departed for home. Our route this time took us through downtown Jaco, a rapidly developing beach community with high rises, bars and restaurants. You get the feeling that in about 5 years, when the bridges and highway from San Jose are done this place will have gone from an active beach town like Ensenada in the 80’s to a Cabo San Lucas sister-city! There is money literally pouring into Jaco.

Our trip home was easy and we were home for dinner. Our car, a Daihatsu Terios, has proven itself again! We are paying the equivalent of $4.60 per gallon for gas here (the price is set by the government) but our car gets 30 mpg! And if you can believe it, we can go almost 9 hours on one tank of gas!

I was browsing the National Geographic map recently and came upon an interesting destination just a few kilometers from our Concepcion home. It is called Refugio Cerro Dantas and it turned out to be a wonderful overnight adventure for our family as well as an interesting introduction to another unique area of Costa Rica.  The Refugio is located directly north of the town of San Rafael at the end of a well worn trail in the middle of the forest. With much of CR rain forest, this cloud forest features quite different flora and fauna than we had so far experienced. But more on that later.

You may have heard the expression “getting there is half the fun.” In this case it really applies. Journey by car over a semi-passable “road” to the house just past the house with the sign that says “Se vende queso.” You can park inside the black gate of the small house where the owner will keep your car safe overnight for 2500 Colones (about $5.00). Then you walk about 700 meters over a hard packed road that is slightly uphill till you get to the sign pointing left that says “Refugio Cerro Dantas.”   From there, it is a 2.2 KM down hill hike over what might be considered a road somewhere on the planet. This rutted and rocky trail, once a main route for coffee on its way to the Limon port, winds down through forest canopy over three bridges in very sad states of repair to a small pedestrian hanging bridge and then on the refuge compound. Like a navigational beacon to a lost sailor, the red metal roofs of the camp appear through the trees. We have arrived!

The kids were great on the hike in and we were met at the trail head by Michael and Jessica who live on site and served quite ably as our hosts. A young married couple in their first year at the Refugio, Michael handles camp maintenance and serves as the hiking guide. Jessica is a fantastic cook in the rustic kitchen preparing wonderful meals. Jessica charged ahead to be sure lunch was ready for our arrival and Michael stayed with us pointing out interesting orchid varieties as well as troublesome plants we would want to avoid touching. He also showed us the safest paths over the bridges being slowly eaten by the hungry forest gods.  Camp proved to be very beautifully landscaped with a large clearing populated by pretty flowering plants as well as the prolific Mora berry plant. The wood slatted paths were edged in railings that had plants growing on the fence posts. This design element mimicked the fantastic array of Stag Horn ferns hanging from many of the trees at this 2300 meter elevation.

Anxious to see our surroundings, Michael led us on a short hike before lunch. Donning our rubber boots, we trekked west from camp into quickly rising terrain. We stopped at a small clearing to admire a brook that flowed past while Michael described the options for our later hike. We could take a one hour vertical trail from here to a large reservoir where we were sure to spot the elusive Quetzal bird or take another path east from camp to a really cool waterfall. We elected to avoid the difficult vertical climb to avoid problems not only for the kids but for Tami who on different occasions had broken each of her ankles.

After a filling pasta lunch we “booted up” again and left camp. The path to the water fall turned out to be quite an exciting hike with some near vertical drops where the exposed tree roots became stair steps on the way down and climbing hand holds on the way back up. The fruits of our labor proved to be a beautiful 60 foot water fall into a small cavern that opened at the east end to a gently flowing stream. The mist and the enclosing forest canopy provided one of the most beautiful sights we have enjoyed so far during our Costa Rican stay. I remarked to Tami that I felt if one wanted to see the “real” Costa Rica, this was a “must see” location.  The girls ate up the climbing and hiking in a way I did not expect. Both were sure footed and confident requiring only minimal assistance from Michael. Often following a difficult portion of the trail, the girls would scamper ahead as Tami and I carefully plotted our safe traverse of the mud, rock and roots. As parents, we could not have been prouder.

We sat out a late afternoon rainstorm playing cards and dominoes and plotted out sleeping arrangements. The room we had, one of six in the bunkhouse, featured three sets of bunk beds. We were warned that it would be cold so we each grabbed extra blankets from the unused beds. We even doubled up mattresses on two of our bunks to make up for the discomfort of thin bedding coupled with metal slatted bed frames. Night fell and following another comforting creation from Jessica, we repaired to our bunks for the night.   Evening in the forest is quite full of sounds and the “Cancion del Bosque” at Cerro Dantas is surely a highlight of the stay. Insects and birds sounded off as fire fly beetles dotted the ground and trees in the Refugio clearing. Clouds obscured the stars but the glow of the San Jose city lights could be clearly seen. Dominating a hill top south of us was a beacon in the night, an ICE cell tower. The occasional sound of trucks from the Limon road interrupt the frogs and crickets. Civilization was just not all that far away.

Morning begins very early with a 5 AM escape from the warm blankets to observe the local birds voracious visit with the late departing butterflies who spent the night perched on the sole light pole in the center of camp. Several butterflies escape into the dawn light but others become prey for the Yellow Thighed Finch and the Candelitas. By 6 or so, the sun is above the trees, the feeding frenzy has ended and it is warming up.   An early hike on the trail called Expedition was begun after we again “booted up.” Michael led us to the northwest side of the clearing and into the jungle trail where we spotted more beautiful and rare orchids as well as lots of interesting ferns and palms. Several small streams were crossed with glowing green moss covering the stones rounded by years of aquatic erosion.

The trail is quite steep in some areas and becomes a narrow ledge in others but in these areas, ropes have been tied securely to anchoring trees to enable safe passage. These proved to be just challenging enough for my daughters to make them the most fun and exciting parts of the hike for them. Michael gave the girls each a beautiful heliconia cut right from the jungle with his machete. We spotted several sets of fresh Tapir tracks and even got the scent of the “Dantas Caca” but these shy creatures, able to sense a human at 1500 meters, proved elusive.

We returned to camp after just under two hours where Jessica had a great breakfast ready to recharge our batteries for the hike out. We ate and packed up allowing some time for our food to settle and then departed for the uphill hike home. Michael joined us for the jaunt. Though it had rained the night before, the morning sun had quickly dried out the trail quite a bit and it was easily passable. We shared the trail with a group of mountain bikers. Even the uphill nature of the hike was not daunting. At the head of the trail, Michael bid us farewell and began packing up a charcoal grill that he was lugging back to the refuge. Wow!

We have actually been home this week and spent a great weekend together here in San Jose. No traveling, no hotels and no planes. Well, the plane thing is not correct as I did some flying on Monday but at least we are hanging in the hood for a bit.

Last week started with a Tuesday return to school for the girls and a return to managing our business for Tami and me. Both Clare and Emma brought home great report cards and are doing well in school. We and they love their teachers and we are very happy with the Lincoln School.

Emma had a soccer game on Friday and Lincoln played to a 0-1 loss against arch rivals International Christian School. ICS played a couple of girls that had to be older than the grade 2-5 age class. In fact, Lincoln finished the game with 2 players on the bench from injuries. No matter, the girls had a great time and I think Emma is doing great though she is one of the youngest on the team. We have also made several friends through the team.

Friday night we went to a bingo fundraiser for the school. This was not your grand mothers bingo. It was a family event held at the Country Club for about 700 people. Prizes were flights, big screen TVs, I pods and other great electronics. Grand prize was an Aspen vacation including airfare. We might have won a prize but we would not have know it as we had a hard time keeping up with the all Spanish commentary! It was great practice for all our 40’s, 50’s 60’s and 70’s Spanish numbers!

There was commotion and excitement through out the evening and oh boy, do the CR families know how to have a good time! Calling the game was what had to be a professional bingo MC who I think doubles as a soccer commentator. My ears rang with the sound of BIIINNGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO for several hours after the event. Us Americans could take a cue from this fun family fundraiser.

Our Saturday was a lazy one. The girls got a dose of American television with a bunch kid shows in English on Saturday morning. We did the big family breakfast thing and that was nice as we had not done that in awhile. Swimming at the club and then steaks on the grill rounded out a great day.

Sunday we drove downtown to The Church of the Good Shepherd. This is a local Episcopal church that gives an 8:30 AM mass in English. We enjoyed the service though the “fire and brimstone” sermon was a little bigger than we are used to. We met some wonderful parishioners and even ran into some one whose house we had initially looked at to rent. I guess you are becoming a local when you begin running into people you know around town like at the market or a new church.

Following church, we enjoyed a short walk around a couple of blocks of downtown. I must admit we have been avoiding the downtown scene due to the stories of crime and traffic. Town was full of families strolling and the Sunday AM traffic scene was easy and our trusty GPS got us around the one way streets well. It even had the streets that have been recently made pedestrian-only walk ways. This was particularly helpful at there are lots of these.

San Jose currently is hosting the Cow Parade, which, if you don’t know is the painted cows done by local artists and sponsored by businesses. Sales of the these life size, painted cows generates money for charity. These cows are placed all over the central down town area and it was fun for us to check some of them out. We found the locals to be friendly and helpful. There were lots of parents with kids doing the Cow thing and across from the church, there was a lot of activity at the National Theater. It is on the same square as the Grand Costa Rican hotel which is an old school, formal hotel in the center of town. Many heads of state have visited there.

After our adventures downtown, we headed out to Santa Ana where Margarita Bernardi, a Brown family friend from Holtville, lives. She returned to CR following the death of her husband several years ago. We did make a pit stop at Bagelmans which is a Starbucks kind of place in Escazu, where all things gringo are, with good bagels, food and coffee. Margarita has a great house in a compound owned by her sister and brother in law.

On the grounds are several parrots, lots of peacocks and a beautiful Macaw. There are a couple of apartments there too and Margarita has a nice group of friends there. We visited for a good bit and met the “Lorro Loco”- the crazy parrot. Lunch was at a nice little Italian place not far from Margarita’s house and we had Pops ice cream for dessert. Pops, a local ice cream chain, has become one of our important stops around town and we are lucky to find it in some of the better markets.

This week started with a regular school day though Clare stayed home with a cough. I went flying at the request of CAVU, the environmental group. Using photography and video, CAVU is documenting the burning of vast swathes of forest in order to clear land for farming, in this case, pineapples. Not only is the smoke and pollution offensive but the deforestation coupled with the fact that some of this clearing is in a national park had gotten the attention some folks. Al Gore would be appalled!

The bigger challenge is motivating the government to stop this practice and at least keep the land owners recognizing the boundaries of the reserve. We did our shooting in the Cano Negro area, not far from the Nicaraguan border. On the way, I got some shots of both Arenal and Poas volcanoes. Please check out these photo albums.

It is nice to be around for a while and settled. We are now past the mid-point of our time here and are quite happy with our grove. We have a diverse group of friends and the girls are getting more and more independent every day. Tami and the girls are plotting our next adventure but we look forward to spending a good chunk of time at home in Coronado first!

Emma’s Class Trip

We ventured as a family along with 46 other children and parents to the central Pacific coast at Playa Ballena. It was a fun filled trip with boat rides, hiking, beach and pool time as well as lots of active second graders doing the usual kid things. Our very nice resort was called Cristal Ballena and provided wonderful accommodations and hospitality.

We began our trip on Saturday morning boarding the luxury bus provided by one of the class parents who just happened to own a bus company. We passed the 5 hour trip over the mountains as high at 3100 meters (about 9000 feet) with movies, songs and general mayhem with the kids taking over the back of the vehicle. Our route took us out the east end of San Jose and then south and up the hills to San Isidro de General which is also called Perez Zeledon. I am not sure why it has two names. We then went west and down the hills to Dominical, then south several more kms along some beautiful coastline, through Uvita and then on to the resort. Our first afternoon was spent in and around the pool.

That evening, we boarded the bus to head back to Uvita town for the premiere of a documentary film produced by David and Jordan Smith. Their US registered charity CAVU promotes the responsible use of natural resources through the mobilization of local Costa Rican citizens. Their Spanish language films feature many people from local communities highlighting problems in their area. The film screened was called “Nuestras Aguas; Nuestra Vida“, which means “Our Waters, Our Life”. It focused on water use issues that are currently facing several areas on the Pacific Coast where a finite water supply is being negatively impacted by residential and commercial development. Held in the Bahia Uvita Community Hall, the whole town was invited for music, food and imagery, all provided free.

The two most compelling scenes, for me at least, were the amazing number of home sites being scraped from the forests over looking the Pacific. From the air, the sheer number of these rust color scars is made much more visible. The aerial artistry is compelling making clear that this is a growing issue of great magnitude. Another moving moment in the film came during scenes shot at a municipal hearing where local citizens aired their grievances to the town council. One needs to understand few Spanish words to get the idea that these angry locals are aggrieved and bound together in the belief that their needs should come first and not be superseded by big money developers.

Day Two began with breakfast and a 10 minute bus ride to the beach where we met our boats for our marine excursion. The boat staff arranged for three ponga style launches which we boarded in the shallows and then were expertly maneuvered through the surf line. The kids had a blast and screamed with delight as the boats crashed through the waves. Our competent captain, “Pina”, did a great job of keeping us upright and dry. We were warned that we were too late in the season for the visiting whales from North America and too early for the arrival of the South American whales. Consequently, no whales were spotted but the frolicking dolphins proved wonderful entertainment for the children and adults alike.

We then headed over to a near by island and watched Frigate birds do their thing afterwards speeding over to the caverns and caves along the rugged coast. There was even a rock archway wide enough for two of our fleet to pass through. That was quite exciting for the kids aboard those boats. Skipper “Pina” got an earful from the kids on our larger vessel which due to its length could not make the harrowing passage. Finally, we headed over to the protected beach at Playa Ballena. In what has to be one of the most amazing natural beach formations on the planet, this two sided bay is formed by a sand and rock “whales tale” that is most easily viewed from the air. At low tide the “T” shaped formation can be accessed by land and during our stop, locals were fishing, mountain bikers were riding by and all the general beach activities you can imagine were ongoing. Our kids had fun in the warm water and gentle waves. Several dug a pit in the dark black sand becoming covered as you might guess in the same dark black sand!

Another afternoon at the pool was followed by dinner at the hotel. A word of advice: don’t order the chimmichuri steak!

Taking advantage of the three day weekend provided by Juan San Maria Day, Monday began with a nature hike attended by some of the group, the Sandke Family included. Mr. Gordon came along too helping us identify birds and other interesting things. We saw Toucans and several other birds including the elusive King Vulture. We also saw some interesting spiders and ants as big as I have ever seen! Several other members of the group hiked down to the beach and enjoyed more playtime in the surf. On our hike, I noted hearing gun shots and I remarked to our guide that I thought some one might be practicing some shooting. That turned out not to be the case.

In another interesting illustration of how small Costa Rica is, I spotted a Piper aircraft come in for a low pass over the hotel. Catching my eye was a tall Costa Rican gesturing to the passing aircraft. He turned out to be an instructor friend and charter pilot for the same operation from which I fly from at Pavas. I said hello and asked what he was doing in the area. He introduced me to his charter customer and related that they had landed at the near by private airstrip to view some property being considered for purchase. On returning to the aircraft, all three tires were flat having been shot out from under the plane as it waited their return. That must have been the gunshots I heard while on the hike! As I said, the field is privately owned and apparently unless you have permission to land, you are not at all welcome. The Piper I had spotted earlier was bringing three new tires and a mechanic from Pavas.  On passing the field during our departure later that day, I noticed both aircraft had departed so I guess the rescue mission was a success.

Of note during our 6 hour ride home was our stop for late lunch. We had our first American style fast food so far during our Costa Rica adventure. We went to McDonalds!?!

Flight Training In CR

I now have had two training flights and logged 3.2 hours at ECDEA, a flight school at Pavas airport in San Jose, Costa Rica. On the cusp of my private rating in the US, I have decided to at least stay current during my 6 month stay in CR and perhaps work up to my check ride here. I very much enjoy flying with Juan Carlos, my instructor and I am flying Grumman Tigers of which the school has two in perpetual motion. Their fleet also includes a Cessna 177 and 210, several other Pipers singles used for IFR training and several twins, including a King Air. They also operate an active charter operation. The international student body includes Germans, French, Chinese and local Costa Ricans as well as an American (me) and a nice guy from India. Everyone speaks Spanish, but not everyone speaks English.

Air traffic control is almost exclusively in Spanish so it is a bit difficult to keep up with calls to other aircraft. But if you make your initial call in English, it is the controllers responsibility to use English from then on with you and to keep you informed, in English, of traffic that may be a factor. There are published procedures for the Charlie Victor airways that are used to get to and from Pavas and similar radio structure to the US as far as who you are to speak with at any given time. The only thing is that once away from Pavas, they are all called “Coco” so it got a little confusing, especially when during one of our outbound leg controller hand-offs, we were given to the wrong “Coco”. After takeoff from Pavas, you get switched to Coco Tower which is the tower frequency for Juan Santa Maria, the main international airport serving San Jose. It is about 20-40 minutes by car depending upon traffic but in the air, it is pretty much right there, just 5 KM to the north west. I am not sure how Juan Santa Maria became “Coco” but that might make for an interesting story.

Anyway, once clear of the tower air space, you are handed off to Coco Control who handles traffic from 3000 to 8000 feet within 10 miles of Juan San Maria. After you leave that airspace, You are in the hands of Coco Radio. They then have you out to 30 miles or till you can no longer reach them on the frequency due to distance or mountainous terrain of which there is plenty here in Costa Rica. I found Coco Radio the most difficult due to the limited ability to hear and understand both ends of my calls. There is lots of static and combined with a vintage radio in my Tiger, Alpha Lima Zulu, I needed two and sometimes three repeats of each call. This seemed to be the case for others on the freq. too so maybe it was not just my radio.

The flying here has been quite different from the tranquil state of affairs in my native San Diego, CA. My initial pattern work flight was in 30 knots of wind which happened to be right down the 090 or it would have been a show stopper. The runway at Pavas is quite long but very narrow. The Grumman Tiger at 150 hp is underpowered and when full of gas simply a pig getting off the runway. I was lucky to make 500 feet per minute climbing and in the hot air and high elevation (MRPV is 3161 ft msl) area here, performance is an issue. In fact, the most common single engine planes here are at least 180 hp, many with turbo chargers.

My second flight was a 10:30 AM liftoff from Pavas, then a Charlie Victor Charlie departure to the west coast followed by a short over water leg to the south end of the Nicoya Peninsula. We flew directly over Isla Tortuga which is absolutely beautiful and accessible by charter boats from Punta Arenas (Now on my to-do-list) and then into Tambor. The approach to the generally favored 030, set perpendicular to the coast line, is right over the sand to a narrow but plenty long runway, at least for my Tiger and the Sansa Caravan that had landed just prior to our arrival. The approach and landing were so fun that after a 180 degree turn at the end of the runway, I departed 210 and shot an additional 030 approach and landing. What fun!

On the return leg to Pavas we were treated to more typical central valley summer weather. The Charlie Victor Charlie arrival calls for 5500 feet where now clumps of puffy, thick cumulous clouds now stood in our path. My instructor had me fly around to the south of most of these and by the time we called Coco control we were several miles south of the airway. I got a semi-urgent call asking if I had an instructor aboard and as Juan Carlos was in the right seat, I had him take over the radios. In rapid fire Spanish that I got very little of, he negotiated a route back to the airway on which we had intended to fly. Juan Carlos advised me that calling for a lower altitude is an poor option due to the heights of the surrounding mountains. We were able to stay VFR and completed the Charlie arrival which included communicating with the several varieties of “Coco” folks and then an over flight at 5000 feet over the VOR at Juan San. They must use a different VOR vendor down here because the high-speed, low-drag configuration of the antenna coupled with its difficult to see urban placement proved to be a challenge.

My Pavas landing was on 270 for the first time and Juan Carlos made me aware of several hazards to using this particular runway. There are large electrical towers 1200 meters from the airport boundary and a little to the right of the approach. You would have to be really low to find them the wrong way but the terrain was the most interesting. The approach end of 270 is set down in a kind of trench-like revetment with rising terrain on both sides. There is a small grassy hill just prior to the threshold and once on the numbers, you begin an uphill trek until you have covered about ¾ of the runway length. It is sort of like a roller coaster. We stayed well above the grassy knoll and landed 150 feet past the numbers just a little off center line in the 15 knot breeze. Later, I watched a Nature Air Otter hit the numbers on the same runway and I think his passengers may have been able to reach out and grab a blade of grass on the way over the same knoll!

I have been told that if you can fly here, you can fly anywhere and I am beginning to believe the statement. Funny though, they say the same thing about driving a car here and I am beginning to see a trend. In my 3 months here, I have learned that general aviation can really cut this county down to size. Costa Rica has so much to offer an adventurous traveler but getting around on land is difficult and at times impossible. The use of private aircraft, charter operations or one of the two intra-country airlines, Sansa or Nature Air, is a great way to get more from your time in Costa Rica.

You never know how a day is going to turn out till it is over and last Sunday was just such a day. Our neighbors Pauline and Jack along with our friends from Lincoln, The Morrisons, contributed to a great day of “cosas nuevas.”

Our day started with an American style breakfast for all - all being our family, my wife’s sister and her two kids (4 and 7). Fed, rested and ready, we met Pauline and Jack at our gate and followed them over to Leslie’s house just a few minutes away.

Leslie’s house- wait, Leslie’s house is not really correct. It is really an aviary that she shares with her birds, lots of them. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors and they make all kinds of interesting sounds. From the honking geese to the laughing cockatoo, her property is a haven for neglected and mistreated fowl and her unofficial program is recognized by the government as an official refuge. These birds come from all over with many being confiscated by customs officials. Others are purchased from street vendors and brought to Leslie to be properly cared for.

The sad thing is that since most of these birds have never been in the wild, they are at Leslie’s for good since they do not possess the natural skills to survive if released back to nature. To be sure this not a “bird Jail”; its is a safe and caring place for them to live out their natural lives.

Recently added to the collection is a baby two toed baby sloth. This clinging creature was most interesting to the kids and seemed very at home in Leslie's arms. The sloth was brought to Valerie by a utility crew that had witnessed the animal fall from a tall tree in the arms of its mother. The older sloth was killed in the fall but her body cushioned the landing for the baby and the little one survived as an orphan. Without the care provided by Leslie, the creature would have certainly perished. Leslie’s true calling is caring for animals and the refuge she has created, just minutes from our home, is a wonderful place.

But that was just the start of our latest special Sunday in CR. We drove over to Ciaudad Colon where Bob Morrison and his family reside. The 40 minute drive passed quickly in the light Sunday traffic and soon we were enjoying the hospitality of the place. Bob’s house is a traditional Spanish hacienda layout with a center courtyard (filled untraditionally by a swimming pool) with a large veranda overlooking the open space, grass and trees that fill his large lot. The kids played on the trampoline and ran up and down the hills. Dogs (Bob has three and there was one extra) ran with the kids occasionally stealing a bite from the chorizo sandwiches held at convenient height by the children.

A fantastic BBQ was prepared on Bob’s custom Argentine style grill putting to shame the hamburger feast I had prepared for my daughter’s birthday party the day before. Also in attendance were two other couples linked by aviation and the philanthropic mission of protecting the natural resources of Costa Rica. David and Jordan have a US registered charity called CAVU that is creating Spanish language documentaries promoting the responsible care of what is left of Costa Rica’s unspoiled areas. David’s passion for preservation is very evident he describes his self imposed challenge to ignite in the younger generation of Costa Ricans a spirit to preserve their wilderness. David likened his mission to creating a “60’s Hippie spirit” of change where the next generation will ber making better choices about economic policy and land use decisions. The hope is to see through the glossy promise of tourism development in order to foster a more responsible approach to what is best for their country.

Most interestingly, we are invited to the premier of their next nature/preservation film which is about to take place in Playa Ballena and which by some unexpected coincidence is scheduled for the same time we will be in Playa Ballena on the Second grade class trip. When the stars align like this there is no way to miss it!

Playa Panama - Part 2

Day 5 - Thursday started with our entire group heading down to meet Jose aboard his ponga “Albartes” for a morning of snorkeling. We headed across the gulf of Papagayo to a beach called Nococaches. It is on the same point as the Four Seasons resort but is a public beach. We could hear Howler Monkeys in the trees just off the beach so Jose suggested that we head inland to find them. Tromping through the forest we found some interesting plants and judging by the number of crab holes across the sand under the trees, it must be difficult to walk at night without stepping on one of the critters! As we trekked through the trees, it was hard to feel “In the jungle despite the interesting flora and fauna as just a little ways through the trees we could see one of the neatly manicured and irrigated fairways of the Four Seasons golf course. The monkeys, though we could hear them howling their eerie, “Sasquatch” like growl, proved elusive.

Into the water at the first reef and we were treated to lots of puffer and other tropical reef fish. The trumpet fish were plentiful too. It was cloudy so the colors were kind of muted but the water was warm and the kids had fun. Jose brought up a lobster and some kind of spiny sea star for us to see. Next we headed out to a small rocky island just off the point of land that forms the north part of Bahia Coco. This was a more exposed location and the surge made for a little more difficult swim but there were more cool fish and even a little colorful coral.

Back at the hotel we spent the remainder of the day at the beach and pool. The kids met a Costa Rican girl named Karin with whom they spent about an hour speaking Spanish and playing a restaurant game using all the words they are working on in their Spanish class at school. Karin’s dad Rafael introduced us to his wife Tania and their new son Sebastian. They are a nice family who live about 20 mins from us in San Jose. It is great to meet and get to know locals.

Day 6- Steve took advantage of a hall pass and went fishing with Jose on a full day ponga. Between hook ups, it was a cigar, Soduku and I pod adventure. No dinner was caught but he did say he had an good time and the Jack they boated but released is a beautiful fish as the photo attests. Me and the ladies and kids headed into Coco town to do a little sightseeing and get a feel for the place. It was windy and a dusty as we are at the end of the dry season and the town was just getting up when we arrived at 10:30. Shaved ice here is a little more expensive just like everything. We pay 300 colones (70 cents) at home but 700 colones ($1.50) in Coco. We met AJ, the time share sales man, who a little later we saw being verbally accosted by another time share sales man for encroaching on his territory. I guess time share sales is a little cut throat here. Leave it to the gringos to spoil the place…. It really is like Cabo San Lucas must have been 30 years ago.

In the small world category, how often do you walk down a main road in a small Central American town and run into a US congressman! That is just what happened on Friday. Brian Bilbray is a member of both congress and Coronado Yacht Club. His boat, “Barbarian” is moored in Coco Harbor waiting the installation of a replacement mast. Brian and his son Patrick are set to put the mast up later this week and get the boat down to Punta Arenas where he has arranged safe storage. They are in CR only until next Saturday. Local fabrication of a new deck mount for the mast looked quite professional and left to do was some internal wiring and working out the standing rigging, each of which looked to be going well.

On Saturday, I was able to get in morning of scuba dives through Blue Water Divers located in down town Coco. Run by transplanted Germans, the operation is very professional and they run certification classes as well as dives for experienced peeps like me. I met a wonderfully diverse group of people aboard the “Lady Blue.” The staff was great and very attentive. Along were lots of Germans taking advantage of the strong Euro. I met a guy from Holland who had sold what he could of his recording business (“no one is buying CD’s anymore”) and flew to Chile where he bought a motorcycle and is riding north- all the way to Los Angeles where he is meeting friends in mid April. I met “Brooklyn Girl” getting her basic certification after spending time with her family on vacation. She turned out to be a very vegetarian vegetarian- no fish in her Sushi!!! My favorite was the retired dive master from Switzerland on his way around the Carribean as well as Central and South America sampling all the dive sites. He had already been through the Caribbean and was going to end up in the Galapagos. Oh yeah- the dives. Visibility was not more than 30 feet on either dive but we did see some great big sting rays. Lots of fish with more kinds of puffer fish than I knew existed. I cut the second dive sort as my buddy was low on air and I was by that time in a state of teeth-chattering cold and decided that I had seen all the fish I needed to see for this trip. It was not the dive I was hoping for in the tropics but as I have come to understand - pretty typical. The Pacific is cold, even at 10 degrees latitude and the water is full of plankton and other nutrients that promote sea life but inhibit visibility. There are more exotic Costa Rican dive locations like the Catalina Islands or Coco Island but that was not for this trip. I was good to dive and good to meet the variety of peeps who came along.

Easter is upon us!!!! In the evening we organized a sunset Easter egg hunt that was rudely interrupted by the marauding ants (remember, this is a jungle!) much of the candy stayed edible and the kids were very happy. College basketball was in full swing with UCLA and Xavier both advancing. Hard to believe the Easter bunny could find us here but the kids each had baskets with goodies by their beds in the morning.

Adventure 4-Part ONE: Samana Santa a Playa Panama

We embarked on our fourth family adventure Sunday March 15^th beginning with a quick trip to Budget Car Rental where we traded in our frightful but small and underpowered Daihatsu Terio for a Toyota Rav-4. We then proceeded up the Pam American Highway another 4 hours to the beach town of Playa Panama and checked in to a 3 bedroom - 4 bath hillside condo. Later that evening Tami’s sister with her husband Steve and their kids (Ruby 7 and Bergen 4) made a quick 25 minute trip from Liberia airport where Continental Airlines had recently delivered them. The family vacation had begun.

It had been 14months since our last trip to the northern pacific coast and lots had changed. Prices had gone up for everything form real-estate to beer. Sorry but in this neck of the woods, you really have to seek out the good deals. The tico-to-gringo ratio up here is about 50/50 and the free market is hard at work as pricing is what ever the market will bear. Sadly, I had my first $4.00 beer today.

In Coco Beach, where we got take-out sushi our first night, things were hopping as usual at the Coco Palms. Great food but expensive. The dive bar across from Lizard Lounge (another dive bar) had been replaced by a cigar bar/internet café/restaurant/night club called Zook Santana. Very hip. The great Papagayo fish and steak places are till open upstairs across from the Coco Hotel and very busy. There is a Hot Dog stand that has quite a following. On the way into town there is a new martini bar that serves food till 2 am and offers free rides home- a good combination! There are still large condo projects all around town and all over the region for that matter. The $70,000, 2 bedroom unit we looked at 2 kms from the beach is now $90,000. From an investment standpoint, too bad we decided against living at the beach but coming back here made us really sure we made a good call to live in San Jose. The beach is a great place for a family to visit but not a great place for family life.

Day 2- Kids to the beach and although we used all the sunscreen possible, we still had a few burned backs and cheeks. We all swam to a small reef just off shore and met some local kids who are in school for Eco-tourism. Late lunch at the condo and a swim in the pool that belongs to our unit filled out the afternoon until a great dinner of bratwurst from the German Market and Bakery on the road to Liberia. In addition, they have great breads and also do a mean cappuccino.

Day 3 - Sausage and Pancakes for breakfast and then a walk south down the beach to the local town of Panama. The kids and dads had a fun ride on the banana shaped float that is pulled by a speed boat. All went well till the end of the ride where we were tipped off the float and Steve and I lost our sun glasses! The afternoon was filled a fishing trip. The ponga called “Albatres” picked up the kids and dads and ran out around the point and by Monkey Head rock which bears an uncanny resemblance to King-Kong! The next 90 minutes were filled with shouts of “I got one” and “More bait please.” We all caught fish but Clare was the big winner with lots of Red Snapper, Croaker (called frijoles here), a Sergeant fish and even a Trigger fish that put up a good fight. Emma caught a juvenile grouper along with several croakers that all went back in the sea but she did boat a half dozen snapper! Both Ruby and Bergen caught multiple fish as well. The dads did fine but spent lots of time assisting Jose and his son keeping the kid’s hooks baited. On the way back to the beach we stopped at Playa Huevos where we swan and checked out some cool caves. Dinner was snapper, filleted by the kitchen staff at the adjacent hotel and pasta!

Day 4- Road Trips. Bill and Tami borrowed Ruby to fill the middle seat in the back of the Rav-4 and we headed south to Guatile where we had read in a guide book that some cool pottery, in the ancient local Costa Rican tradition was made and sold. There is no real center of gravity to Guatile so we started at the church in the center of town and most of the 15 or so store fronts are the patios of the potter’s homes. It is indeed a family business for each and we met a great lady and her daughter. Mom did a short demo of the process and though she seemed to speak very little English, she had no problem with articulating the prices in dollars! It would not take too much marketing to make this quaint pueblo a must visit site in the area.

The Rav-4 then carried us to Portrero beach where we hooked up with another Lincoln family, the Seikerts, who had escaped San Jose for the beach as well. We met them and had lunch at Bahia del Sol, which was near their rented condo, and swam at both the beach and the pool. Very pricey place. On the way home we used the “Conga Trail”, a 12 km dirt road that is a real time saver to get from Portrero to the Coco area. This route is more commonly known as the Monkey Trail and we were not disappointed as we saw a large group of Spider Monkeys. We were warned that 4 wd was necessary but that turned out to be more for clearance in a couple of places than for any real off road necessity.

Trish and Steve along with Bergen headed south as well and ended up in Playa Conchal, one of the two white sand beaches in the entire country. A great lunch in Brasislito was followed but some shopping where Steve obtained a very cool hand painted parrot feather in a custom wood and glass case. Actually Tami finds it “…unique” and Trish doesn’t like it. Steve likes it because “only one guy was selling these!“ Trish got a teacup/strainer made from local wood.

We have run into several spellings and translations that I thought would be fun to share: Would you want to order the “Chicken Gordon Blue” or the “Beef Terderloin”. From our hotel lobby, you can arrange a sailing charter to a “Seduced Beach” and if you want to build a house, you can call a local “Arch Y Tech”. Should you want to invest, check in with the local “Reel State” office that we passed on our way from Guatile to Portrero.