Well I've been home 2 weeks and tomorrow I'm flying to Memphis to meet my brother then we're driving to Minnesota, then I fly back from Minnesota. He wants me to help him with something.
At the farm I've been catching up on the farm duties, mowing, fixing fences, cutting brush. Had some friends over who have two girls, 7 and 15 years old. They rode the horses and I took them on a ATV ride behind the creek, on boy, and they learned to drive the tractor. They had a blast.
Till Next time, Take Care, Jorge
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Costa Rica Wrap Up.
Costa Rica is like the real Disney World. Where Dreams (of adventure do) Come True. Again the people are extrememly nice, friendly, helpful, and smile at you all the time. This is true even if the encounter involves no money. They always say "Con mucho gusto", which means gladly or they were very happy to assist you. I use to say that the people from the Cayman Islands were the friendlyest people I had ever met but now I am going to have to change this to Costa Ricans.
Visiters should not exchange any money. They except Dollars as well as the Colon (their money). Both currencies are used as if they were one. There is an exchange rate. The locals it seems wake up at 5 am as the sun rises and go to sleep at 7 pm. Sun sets about 6 pm and the rains start about 4 pm. We got to see the beach where they filmed the movie Christopher Colon.
Everyone in Costa Rica has insect bite marks on their body and we both got around 10 each. Alicia got a weird one on her leg but we are watching it closely. Alicia made all the arrangements for the trip and she did an outstanding job.
Pura Vida, Till Next Time, Take Care, Jorge
Visiters should not exchange any money. They except Dollars as well as the Colon (their money). Both currencies are used as if they were one. There is an exchange rate. The locals it seems wake up at 5 am as the sun rises and go to sleep at 7 pm. Sun sets about 6 pm and the rains start about 4 pm. We got to see the beach where they filmed the movie Christopher Colon.
Everyone in Costa Rica has insect bite marks on their body and we both got around 10 each. Alicia got a weird one on her leg but we are watching it closely. Alicia made all the arrangements for the trip and she did an outstanding job.
Pura Vida, Till Next Time, Take Care, Jorge
Monday, August 13, 2007
We Have To Say Goodbye!
Well we have finished our time in paradise. Today we thought we would plan our day so we would not get wet, but we missed it by 10 min. and in those 10 min. we got shoaked. C´est la vie.
The closest town not counting the samll area we are in with all the resort places is aout 5 blocks by 5 blocks, and this is a big town. It is about a 15 min car or bus trip down the mountain and away from the resort area. Our resort is 535 feet above the beach on a hill and we have a beautiful view of the beach and ocean.
I found out that the yearly average rainfall here is 14 feet, that is right 14 feet. I also found out that the one lane bridges were built by the Chiquita company 100 years ago to transport the banana crop by rail. So the one lane bridges were train bridges at one time, that is why they are one lane. The banana plantations are gone cause of the banana blight of 1940 and were replaced by the African Palms for palm oil which they transport by truck.
I can see why so many Americans have come to settle here, the beauty, the adventure, the people, and the opportunities. I feal sorry for the locals cause it seems like all the property and businesses are owned by out siders. The population of the whole country is about 3.8 million (the size of Houston), about 500,000 from Nicaragua. Costa Rica is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire in land. The Land prices are way up there above what the average person can pay. You can probably buy some cheap land in the jungle though.
Costa Rica literally means "Rich Coast" and their motto is "Pura Vida" which literally means "Pure Life" but they mean "The way Life should be lived".
The Costa Ricans are wonderful, extremely nice people.
This is Pura Vida, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
The closest town not counting the samll area we are in with all the resort places is aout 5 blocks by 5 blocks, and this is a big town. It is about a 15 min car or bus trip down the mountain and away from the resort area. Our resort is 535 feet above the beach on a hill and we have a beautiful view of the beach and ocean.
I found out that the yearly average rainfall here is 14 feet, that is right 14 feet. I also found out that the one lane bridges were built by the Chiquita company 100 years ago to transport the banana crop by rail. So the one lane bridges were train bridges at one time, that is why they are one lane. The banana plantations are gone cause of the banana blight of 1940 and were replaced by the African Palms for palm oil which they transport by truck.
I can see why so many Americans have come to settle here, the beauty, the adventure, the people, and the opportunities. I feal sorry for the locals cause it seems like all the property and businesses are owned by out siders. The population of the whole country is about 3.8 million (the size of Houston), about 500,000 from Nicaragua. Costa Rica is about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire in land. The Land prices are way up there above what the average person can pay. You can probably buy some cheap land in the jungle though.
Costa Rica literally means "Rich Coast" and their motto is "Pura Vida" which literally means "Pure Life" but they mean "The way Life should be lived".
The Costa Ricans are wonderful, extremely nice people.
This is Pura Vida, Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Pura Vida!
It didn't rain today but we had an earthquake. A small one (nobody knows how big it was cause they do not have TV) right as we were going to sleep that woke us up cause the room and windows were shaking. First one for both of us. I thought the wind was blowing extremely hard like a hurricane but the wind was calm as the morning day. It seemed like it lasted 5 min but it was probably 1 min.
Alicia decided to get certified in scuba diving and she did. PADI certified in scuba diving. Alicia was a bit scared at the site where we first went into the ocean cause the conditions were real bad, visibility about 1 foot and real rough waves. I would have to say that the conditions were extreme. Visibility was 2 feet and the waters were real rough at the second site we tried. Worst I have ever seen. But she did really good but the other student kept getting lost cause of the visibility. The instructor was excellent. I was also in the water plus a Dive Master and another diver. The third and fourth dives the next day were a bit better. Visibility was about 15 feet and rough waves which is poor. We got to see a lot of fish, lobsters, rays, octopus, star fish, coral, and other things.
Well we got shoaked again today cause of the rains. We always get caught in the rain. We did bring ponchos but it doesn't help.
Another day in paradise, Pura Vida, as they say here,
These are the nicest people,
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
Alicia decided to get certified in scuba diving and she did. PADI certified in scuba diving. Alicia was a bit scared at the site where we first went into the ocean cause the conditions were real bad, visibility about 1 foot and real rough waves. I would have to say that the conditions were extreme. Visibility was 2 feet and the waters were real rough at the second site we tried. Worst I have ever seen. But she did really good but the other student kept getting lost cause of the visibility. The instructor was excellent. I was also in the water plus a Dive Master and another diver. The third and fourth dives the next day were a bit better. Visibility was about 15 feet and rough waves which is poor. We got to see a lot of fish, lobsters, rays, octopus, star fish, coral, and other things.
Well we got shoaked again today cause of the rains. We always get caught in the rain. We did bring ponchos but it doesn't help.
Another day in paradise, Pura Vida, as they say here,
These are the nicest people,
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Zipping Along the Tree Canopy
After another 1 1/2 ride into the jungle and up the mountains we arrived at the canopy place. Not as bad, but again very bad roads, one lane bridges, side of cliffs, and animals. This was a very good experience.
We zipped over twenty times along the tree canopies over the jungle, tree platform to tree platform, repelled down 80 to 100 feet a couple of times, and swung from tree to tree on a rope. The longest zip was about 300 ft. A lot of up hill walking was also involved in getting to the starting point. Good day but again we got shoaked when the rains came. Everything starts really early about 7 am cause of the 4 pm rains. Even if you finish by 4 you get wet with any evening activities.
Sloths are everywhere and so are monkeys. We have also seen jesus christ lizards (they walk on water), whistling ducks, howler monkeys, and caphucin monkeys amongest other animals I do not remember. Also now know where teak wood comes from and what the tree looks like, and what palm oil is, (used for sun tan lotion, cooking, and cosmetics). Also seen many beautiful flowers and that there is a cure for every sickness in the world in the jungle. Also saw a walking tree. Also learned other survivor things like what to eat in the jungle, like termites (taste like peanuts).
Great place to come to if you can leave the luxuries of life behind. Our room does have a/c but no TV. Almost everything is outdoors, even kitchens and bathrooms. It seeems like only bedrooms are indoors but no a/c.
It is a tropical paradise, Till next time, take care, Jorge
We zipped over twenty times along the tree canopies over the jungle, tree platform to tree platform, repelled down 80 to 100 feet a couple of times, and swung from tree to tree on a rope. The longest zip was about 300 ft. A lot of up hill walking was also involved in getting to the starting point. Good day but again we got shoaked when the rains came. Everything starts really early about 7 am cause of the 4 pm rains. Even if you finish by 4 you get wet with any evening activities.
Sloths are everywhere and so are monkeys. We have also seen jesus christ lizards (they walk on water), whistling ducks, howler monkeys, and caphucin monkeys amongest other animals I do not remember. Also now know where teak wood comes from and what the tree looks like, and what palm oil is, (used for sun tan lotion, cooking, and cosmetics). Also seen many beautiful flowers and that there is a cure for every sickness in the world in the jungle. Also saw a walking tree. Also learned other survivor things like what to eat in the jungle, like termites (taste like peanuts).
Great place to come to if you can leave the luxuries of life behind. Our room does have a/c but no TV. Almost everything is outdoors, even kitchens and bathrooms. It seeems like only bedrooms are indoors but no a/c.
It is a tropical paradise, Till next time, take care, Jorge
Friday, August 10, 2007
White Water Rafting is the BEST!
White Water Rafting is all and more then I ever thought It would be. Our tour not only was white water rafting but I would also say a jungle tour as we had to go 1 1/2 deep into the jungle and up the mountains to get to the starting point. We were on a large open big military type 4x4 vehicle and it was slow going in some parts cause of the incline, the one lane road and bridges, cliffs, and the animals on the road. I think the roads really looked more like trails.
The back country is just amazing. I would think that this is how it was when the USA was being settled back in the 1800, relatively speaking. The Europeans would of probably thought of the USA as I see Costa Rica today. We have seen places that no human has probably walked on and some places that have no electricity and no phone lines. Three or four little shacks on the side of mountains and we saw 2 villages of 100 people that had to get to their village over the river in cable cars.
The tour guides worked really hard on this adventure plucking people and things out of the raging waters. The river we were on is rated a 3 or 4 out of 5. It depends on the amount of water in the river. For us they said it was close to a 4. There were 3 rafts on our trip down the river and our raft was the only one were nobody fell off. I say off cause you sit on the side of the raft not inside the raft. We lost some things from the raft like water bottles but that's all. Our raft was us and a family from Boston with two girls.
The rapids, rocks, and trees were something else. The other two rafts had people falling off and the guides worked really fast and extremely hard to pull them out and then they even retrieved the oars. That is, the guide from the raft that lost people or things was the guide that had to pick them up. The other guides did not help cause they were busy with their rafts. It seemed to me that the people on the other rafts did not know what to do or could not do it so the guide had to do all the work on retrieving what falls out. I think I would of been able to help if our raft had any people fall out. Like the head guide said "Do't worry if you fall off and we can't pick you up, just turn right when the river flows out into the ocean and you will get to your resort".
We all did get a safty and procedure talk at the beginning that I thought was really good. This is something that anybody that likes adventure has to do. Ofcourse here you have to also enjoy the primitive country. It also rained on us as we went down the river but it didn't mater as we were completely wet anyways from going in and out of the water and being hit by a wall of water in the rapids. We were wet, wet, and wet.
I can't say enough but we both looked at each other at the end and said WOW this is terrific and we would do it again and again.
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
The back country is just amazing. I would think that this is how it was when the USA was being settled back in the 1800, relatively speaking. The Europeans would of probably thought of the USA as I see Costa Rica today. We have seen places that no human has probably walked on and some places that have no electricity and no phone lines. Three or four little shacks on the side of mountains and we saw 2 villages of 100 people that had to get to their village over the river in cable cars.
The tour guides worked really hard on this adventure plucking people and things out of the raging waters. The river we were on is rated a 3 or 4 out of 5. It depends on the amount of water in the river. For us they said it was close to a 4. There were 3 rafts on our trip down the river and our raft was the only one were nobody fell off. I say off cause you sit on the side of the raft not inside the raft. We lost some things from the raft like water bottles but that's all. Our raft was us and a family from Boston with two girls.
The rapids, rocks, and trees were something else. The other two rafts had people falling off and the guides worked really fast and extremely hard to pull them out and then they even retrieved the oars. That is, the guide from the raft that lost people or things was the guide that had to pick them up. The other guides did not help cause they were busy with their rafts. It seemed to me that the people on the other rafts did not know what to do or could not do it so the guide had to do all the work on retrieving what falls out. I think I would of been able to help if our raft had any people fall out. Like the head guide said "Do't worry if you fall off and we can't pick you up, just turn right when the river flows out into the ocean and you will get to your resort".
We all did get a safty and procedure talk at the beginning that I thought was really good. This is something that anybody that likes adventure has to do. Ofcourse here you have to also enjoy the primitive country. It also rained on us as we went down the river but it didn't mater as we were completely wet anyways from going in and out of the water and being hit by a wall of water in the rapids. We were wet, wet, and wet.
I can't say enough but we both looked at each other at the end and said WOW this is terrific and we would do it again and again.
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Costa Rica is It!
Now I know why so many Americans talk about this place. It is beautiful. The people are extremely nice. I think that the locals are desendents of Germans, Italians, and some Spaniards.
This place is not for those that like the modern things in life.
The roads are bad and the one lane bridges are dangerous. It rains here about 4 pm every day. About 95 percent of the places here are open to the outside.
When we landed we got picked up by our personal driver and hotel rep that took us on the 3 1/2 hour trip to the resort. On the way the driver stopped on a bridge so we could see the huge crocodiles. 16 foot animals with about a 3 foot head.
On the first day our personal guide took us on a tour of the botanical jungle. We saw Sloths, 2 toe and 3 toe. Sloths are important to me cause I remember Alicia writing a paper when she was small about Sloths. We have talked about them every since and now we have seen them. We saw monkeys and many other animals and plants.
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
This place is not for those that like the modern things in life.
The roads are bad and the one lane bridges are dangerous. It rains here about 4 pm every day. About 95 percent of the places here are open to the outside.
When we landed we got picked up by our personal driver and hotel rep that took us on the 3 1/2 hour trip to the resort. On the way the driver stopped on a bridge so we could see the huge crocodiles. 16 foot animals with about a 3 foot head.
On the first day our personal guide took us on a tour of the botanical jungle. We saw Sloths, 2 toe and 3 toe. Sloths are important to me cause I remember Alicia writing a paper when she was small about Sloths. We have talked about them every since and now we have seen them. We saw monkeys and many other animals and plants.
Till next time, Take Care, Jorge
Monday, August 6, 2007
Off to Costa Rica
Well I've been home for a while and I have tried to catch up on chores. Spent a lot of time at the farm: shredding, cutting brush, clearing fence lines, burning brush, and taking care of the animals. It sure is nice to be working out at the farm and see wildlife as one works. The weather has been warm but I likes it hot. I threw a blade as I was shredding the other day, (it's kind of dangerous to have a 2 ft. 25 lb. chunk of steel come off rotating at 1500 rpm). This will give me something to do when I get back.
At the homestead the big project was installing new carpet. I had help picking out the color, and I would have to say it looks good. I was working ahead of the 2 guys installing, screwing down the entire second floor flooring. No more squeaking as you walk around on the second floor and stairs. What a job, we worked till 8 at night.
Well we're (Alicia and me) off to Costa Rica tomorrow. White water rafting, zip lining, and canopy watching. We'll get to see what everyone is talking about Costa Rica.
I would like to say thanks to everyone who has made a positive impact on my life before I leave on a trip. Love you all, till next time, you'll take care, Jorge
At the homestead the big project was installing new carpet. I had help picking out the color, and I would have to say it looks good. I was working ahead of the 2 guys installing, screwing down the entire second floor flooring. No more squeaking as you walk around on the second floor and stairs. What a job, we worked till 8 at night.
Well we're (Alicia and me) off to Costa Rica tomorrow. White water rafting, zip lining, and canopy watching. We'll get to see what everyone is talking about Costa Rica.
I would like to say thanks to everyone who has made a positive impact on my life before I leave on a trip. Love you all, till next time, you'll take care, Jorge
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