Our New Office

OK, that’s not true. I can stand seeing the monkeys. In fact, I never get tired of seeing them or hearing them. I wonder if the novelty will ever wear off or if it’s like seeing a new puppy?

Our friend Alli would tell you that puppies never get old. No matter how many times you see them. Alli was here to visit us a little while back and she was enamored with all the dogs around here. Some, of course, are friendly pets and so many others of them are street dogs without a home, but yet somehow manage to get scraps and adopt owners when they can. Even if the owners don’t adopt them back:)

But anyway, back to those monkeys. While Alli was here we took a road trip to Quepos/Manuel Antonio by way of Jaco to really just see one thing:

Monkeys!

The national park, Manuel Antonio, is not very big, but it is known for all of its wildlife. We saw dozens of these white faced capuchins and then we saw an even more amazing monkey.

Squirrel monkey!

Apparently this type of squirrel monkey only resides in Manuel Antonio, so we were very lucky to see these chirping primates. They really are as big as squirrels and were not afraid of us at all.

We also saw a few howler monkeys, sloths, vultures, toucan impersonating sloths, Canadians, blue butterflies, and awesome beaches. The shopping in Jaco and the overall good company throughout the weekend was nice too.

Alli has gone back home now, but she is sorely missed. We had such a good time hanging around the beach, the volcanos, and the monkeys that we were sad to see her go.

A few weeks ago our friends Jake and Paige came down to the COSta Rica to tour the Coco Beach area. We were lucky enough to have them with us and had such a good time.

So much fun, in fact, that we developed a list of our top 10 conversations. Of course, I’ve lost that list by now, but I’m pretty sure on it we listed delicious ceviche, Jason’s misuse of the Spanish word, mejor, The Tabacon, and my overuse of the word p-o-o-p. (While this last one might seem strange, the sewage treatment in parts of Costa Rica is sub-par, and I just can’t help but talk about it sometimes.)

Anyway …

Since you may not know Jake and Paige that well, and I learned so much about them while they were here, I thought I’d take this chance to share with you some of the facts.

Fact #1 – They laugh in the face of danger. The helmet for the canopy tour was optional, but Paige did some tricks so she kept it on.

Fact #2 – Jake knows good literature. He even shared a few tips with us on how to best wear our shorts on our hips.

Fact #3 – They have mad photography skills. On a nature walk they were brave enough to get beneath this green lizard despite the risk of getting p-o-o-p on their camera.

Fact #4 – They’re willing to risk drowning for their friends. Without being prepared for how big the waves were really going to be, they listened to me when I told them to sit down and wait for the waves that would eventually come through these two caves, knock us all over, and make us giggle.

Fact #5 – They are photogenic. They were willing to walk and run up a couple of mountains just for for photo opps — and the nice scenery, of course.

Several weeks back Jason and I were standing out on our front porch looking at the stars and enjoying a cool Costa Rican evening. With his flashlight Jason caught a glimpse of something on the cement just a few feet away.

Upon closer inspection he realized that what he saw was a lizard — and it wasn’t moving. Was it dead? Was it Lanna the iguana back from the dead to haunt us?

The next day we took a closer look and indeed it was a lizard. Her tail was gone. She was clearly dead. Jason noted that she even had “blood in her eyes.”

Poor thing…she’s even missing a foot.

Days went by and the dead lizard just sat there. We thought it was strange that nothing moved it from that spot. Why hadn’t the dogs gotten to it? Was it decaying?

It wasn’t until our clever friends Ben and Cathie came to visit that the mystery was finally solved. Ben took a stick and poked the lizard. After his experiment he reported back to us that on the lizard’s belly it said: “Made in China.”

Turns out the lizard wasn’t Lanna reincarnate, but rather an old plastic toy probably left there as a joke.

This is Cathie, Ben, and Jason out to breakfast. You can tell by Ben’s shirt that he takes his lizard inspection seriously. Our home is certainly more secure now. Thanks Ben.