Seasons are changing in Costa Rica

With the start of April, the weather is noticeably warm. The afternoon winds have shifted direction and the humidity is trending up. At the marina we have daily temperatures consistently in the 90's and we are sweating by 9 am. We do our best to either be at the pool and the rest of the time in the shade, or in the comfort of AC -- wherever we can find it -- including on the boat. Its hard to believe that it was already a year ago we were taking the boat out of the water in Puerto Penasco Mexico!

Hotel Claro de Luna in Santa Elena

This week we were fortunate to 'escape' inland and up into the mountains to the village of Santa Elena in the Monteverde region. It was so pleasant there with temps in the 70-80's and no AC needed at night.

Dan checking out a tree house at one of our hotels

We even got out our sweatshirts! We were there for only 2 days, and already I'm wishing we could go back! This cute little town was full of hostels and backpackers. We found the food to be excellent. All the restaurants seemed to be trying out to do everyone else with their unique, inspired and 'interesting' combinations.

Good food in Santa Elena

One meal that I particularly enjoyed was a steak that I ordered where I misread how big it was -- it was just shy of 1/2 a kilo (so maybe 3/4 pound?). It was delicious and I think I ate most of it. But I wasn't hungry much for the next few days.

Cool lizard in the Monteverde cloud forest

The strangest presentation for a cocktail we've ever seen!

We soaked up the green colors and fresh air for the entire time. We were slightly disappointed that on our guided night walk we didn't see anything bigger than a tarantula. However, we did see some pretty cool birds during the day, including the Mott mott that posed for us as we played cribbage in the garden at one of our hotels. The vistas over the cloud forest were beautiful and the hiking fun.

Motmot bird

Back at the marina the mega-yachts are steadily coming and going. In the late afternoons, when the sun hides behind the building surrounding the pool we are entertained by the ever changing crew members that hang out there to enjoy their afternoons off. It is like watching the reality show 'below deck'. Every once in awhile, we share provisioning tips with the chef, or compare stories -- but usually they stick to themselves. At this time of year, many boats are either doing charters, or heading north to Alaska. One boat that is moored just off our bow, has a crew of at least 9 + captain and charters for $250,000 US per week. We are always curious who gets on and off -- but so far we've not seen anyone famous. It does keep us entertained.

The big ficus on the Valle Escondido Reserve

For the next couple of weeks we have friends and family coming to Costa Rica, then following that we are in the US for 6 weeks, so we may take a short break in our blog writing. We are planning to depart Costa Rica for Panama in July so will bring you along on that trip. We expect a fair amount of rain.

Onward!