Once we left, we found some flowers (2700 colones...about $4.50) and then drove to the trout farm. Jose Maria had sent us a message that he wouldn't be there, but his brother or daughter could give us the knife. So Cristina and Alex took the flowers while we waited in the car. Knife retrieved, mission accomplished.
Later on in the day, Jose Maria sent a picture of him holding the flowers with a big thank you.
The drive up Cerro de la Muerte was surprisingly easy. Warm, sunny, good roads. A few slow trucks, but not bad. When we went over the highest part, I didn't even recognize it, because I always remember it being so cold and foggy. Global warming? Or just luck? (The magic umbrellas?)
We got to Perez Zeledon (colloquially called Pay Zeta...as in P.Z.), the area just north of San Isidro, where our Airbnb is. We missed the turn the first time (Cristina forgot to put in the Airbnb address, so Waze just took us into town) but that allowed us to scout out some grocery stores. We got back to the vicinity of the Airbnb, but the directions were a little confusing. While we sat parked (about 100 meters from the Airbnb) trying to figure it out, Anna saw a sloth up on the electrical lines.
We met Lily, the caretaker, who showed us around the place. She brought her daughter, Ashley, to be her interpreter, in case none of us spoke Spanish. Lily also offered to wash clothes for us, for cheaper than the laundromat. We got unpacked and settled, then the rains started proper. Not little sprinkles or misty mountain rain, this was full-on Costa Rica June downpour, with thunder and lightning. Aguacero, except not the short-lived variety. This one stayed strong for hours. We drove into town to get groceries. Our friends from Gainesville, the Hines, were arriving today, and the plan was to make dinner for them so they could eat a home cooked meal after traveling for 24 hours.
We started cooking (pesto chicken pasta with a side of beets). The Hines had such a hard time driving in the rain and getting to their Airbnb, and being exhausted after being up since 4:30am, that they decided to stay in. We ate our pasta and beets while watching telenovelas (the cabin has cable TV). Later we switched it to a movie channel and watched Here Comes the Boom and No Escape. Alex did some business online with his college registration, and the older girls retired to their loft. Ramon rigged his hammock on the porch and slept out there (it has a mosquito net). We burned those plug-in bug things thru the night, and I didn't notice any mosquito bites.
This marks the end of our first week in Costa Rica. Five to go!
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