A Day In Costa Rica

Our view from the terrace

It is actually pretty boring here in Costa Rica. The Villa is at the top of a mountain, and the nearest town in 10 km down a dirt track that winds down the mountain. As a result there is not a lot to do up here.

We have had a problem adapting to Central time. Unlike traveling to Europe or Asia where the time is so different you need to force yourself onto the local time by fighting sleep for a day or two and adjust to local time, here it is only two hours different, so we have found that we are tired at 9:00 pm, and Regis falls asleep early. As a result, we get up early, usually at about 6:30. Normally I climb out of bed and immediately go out to my job as pool boy, and skim the pool, so her ladyship can have her first swim of the day without any dead insects or leaves in the pool. Often I do not even bother getting dressed since there is not another house in sight anywhere, and she insists on going swimming as soon as she gets up. Me, being a non-swimmer do not need to jump in the pool first thing in the morning.

Her Ladyship 

While Regis is swimming, I go in and make coffee and tea. Costa Rica has what is reputed to be one of the best coffees in the world, and from my experience so far I cannot disagree. When the early morning swim is finished, coffee and tea are served on the front terrace and we watch the sun slowly dissolve the shadows on the mountain across the valley from us, and as the mist clears, we check what is happening out in the Bahia Herradura, the bay leading out to the Pacific. It is about 20 km away, but on a clear day our binoculars let us see what is going on.

Once our coffee cups are emptied, it takes a while since hot drinks do not cool quickly in 24° C, so we get to relax for an hour or so, one of us goes in and makes breakfast, usually featuring some of the delicious fresh fruit available here. It is amazing how much better a simple banana tastes when it is allowed to ripen naturally instead of being picked early and shipped to the cold north.

Once breakfast dishes are cleaned up, I try to find a spot where I can sit in the sun and Regis has shade. If it gets too hot, the pool is right there to cool off before getting back to relaxing. Lots of time to read and get caught up on the books I brought, both old fashioned paper ones and copies downloaded on my phone.

The peace and quiet is occasionally disturbed by ATV's using the excuse for a road that winds down the mountain, but normally the only sounds are the birds and the waterfall somewhere below us.

Late in the morning one of us will try to decide what to throw on the barbecue out on the outdoor kitchen for lunch and then it is back into the pool to relax after the work preparing the meal. You could go down the mountain to the beaches and tourist attractions or Playa Herradura, but it is so

Costa Rican Sunset

pleasant here it is hard to pull yourself away. And so the day goes.

As the sun sets, it is nice to sit in the whirlpool and watch the sun sink below the mountain, turning the skies a brilliant red. Then after supper it is still warm enough to turn the lights on the pool and soak for another session perhaps with a glass of wine. Now the later evenings are a problem . . . . only Spanish TV, no internet. And we start getting tired with the stress of the day.

And that is our day here in Costa Rica.