Yesterday marked two months since we arrived in Costa Rica. So far my insect encounters have been acceptable. Which means I haven’t seen many in my house. This week also was the first time we experienced rain in this country. We are, after all, in the dry season. After three consecutive nights of light rain, I have to admit I am now a bit nervous to see what the rainy season shall bring. There seems to be a direct correlation between rain and increased insect presence! It is like they are all trying to get out of the wetness as well.
Some of you may have seen the spider photo I posted on Facebook:
We’ve since seen another, albeit smaller one. This time in our bathroom sink. Yikes! That same night Clinton and I were sitting on the couch in the living room when all of a sudden a big crab comes crawling across the room in its sideways motion. We swiftly swept him outside!
The following day the kids found a big beetle and a grasshopper-like creature whose body mimics that of a leaf. They proudly carted the bugs around in their dump trucks. Kids have no fear!
Aside from the bugs, we’ve had a good week. Clinton and I work in the morning while Lineth plays with the boys. I usually set up some actwivities -painting, coloring, playdoh, or their latest favorite, gluing things to paper and creating art. The projects have become more involved whereby first we collect things from around the yard that might stick well to the pages. Fallen leaves and flowers, little berries, even smaller lighter rocks. We collect small seashells at the beach that would work equally well. Cut up cardboard. Popsicle sticks. In a developing country, you use what you can find! There are no quick trips to Walmart or Michaels or ordering from Amazon for supplies!
In the afternoons, we play! On Monday we went to the Halcon Hotel down the road to use their swimming pool. Tuesday, the beach and Wednesday we made a special trip into the jungle to swim in a river. We would have never found this secluded spot if it weren’t for our new friends Boris & Antje from Germany. I first met Antje and her 15 month old son Nolan at the family singing circle. She was very quiet and we did not speak that day. But then we ran into each other at the beach last week and turns out we all have a lot in common! Anyway, they picked us up in their 4×4- which by the way is absolutely essential to get to these parts. We had to cross over two streams, traverse big rocks and bumpy roads, through a bamboo forest to get there. It was only about 5 minutes from town but an adventurous one nonetheless!
It was a great spot to take the kids swimming. There were waterfalls, natural pools for the kids to swim in, tadpoles aplenty and even a nature made slide down the rocks into the water! We had a lovely afternoon with our new friends
You can see all the photos HERE!
I’m working on another post featuring our Tico style house. Stay tuned for some photos and details of our current abode describing exciting things such as our suicide shower, lavadora (washing machine) and other interesting features! Until then, y’all have a fantastic weekend!
Hasta Luego (See you later!)