I woke around 7am to find Mickey already dressed and ready to roll. He has been up since 4am because of his throat infection from the day before. It has gotten worse so he hauled ass to the public clinic which was not yet open. So he went to a private clinic, saw a doc, got some meds and came back all while I slept. I heard nothing. Poor Mickey.

But we had places to go and people to see. I swear Mickey had a relations in every town, villa and city. We drove through a fairly flat and straight road until we didn’t. All the names of these towns we drove through escape me and all I know is we started with the up, up, up, down all over again. Mickey had planned to visit family and then find the waterfall and volcano at Poas national park. It just so happened we drove to it on our way to visit family. We stopped and took a quick pic of the waterfall. The flora surrounding it was as impressive as the blue water at Rio Celeste. Then we climbed more and passed walls of hedges topped with hydrangeas. In Spanish they are called Hortensia. Every time we see a great display of them we both chant Horrrrtennnzia! Unfortunately I seem to have deleted the video of said wall. Hopefully I can recover it. We climbed a little higher and twisted every which way on the mountain road and passed many dairy and strawberry farms. The view into the valley near the park is impressive. On the other side of the valley was another mountain range and on the other side of that range is Nicaragua. Many people were stopped on the side to take in the view and families were having picnics on the edge of the mountain. Incredible visage. We climbed once more to take view of the volcano Poas which has a lake but the lineup was incredibly long so we decided to postpone this tourist attraction. Down, down, down we spun, stopping to pick up some palmito queso (cheese). It was very similar to cheese curds only it is made into a ball of, wider than string but smaller than rope, ribbon of cheese and it not as salty as North American cheese. I almost bought some strawberry red wine but once I had a sample from the very helpful sample, I didn’t trust myself to not drink the entire bottle.

Down, down we drove on our way to San José now too visit an aunt, a brother, a cousin and two friends. It was a very misty and foggy drive from Poasito so it was slow going for once.

The aunt lived in a rather posh gated community in a very nice and bright apartment complex that she owns. She has two apartments she rents out. I have “an in” if I suddenly decide I have to move to San José!! Very nice people and the uncle spoke English and was excited to have someone to speak it with. I was grateful to have him to speak with too. He was kind and funny and smart. It was a quick visit but at all visits Mickey presented his family with Canadian gifts and the family loved it. And it was his uncles’ birthday so he was doubly happy to get a gift of good Canadian whiskey.

Next we tracked down his brother at his sister in law ‘s house because it was her birthday. More gifts and a birthday song and cake. His neice Daniela had just returned from a student exchange in Germany and she spoke English too. It was nice to her about her adventures abroad and after our coffee it was time to find the next gift receiver only this was one of Mickey’s close friends, Adriyana. She lived in a little sketchy looking neighborhood so we had to cover all our luggage with our coats in the car. Her apartment is adorable and so is she. They limed for a while so I edited photos and took a break from trying to follow the conversation. Big hugs and we were off to visit and stay with Mickey’s good friends Alan and Luis. Their friend Garry was visiting from Canada as well. Alan is from Ottawa and his partner Luis is from Costa Rica. They live in both countries. Gary is also from Ottawa.

Their home was incredible, right out of Unique Homes magazine. But I felt right at home and was instantly drawn to Alan who just celebrated his 80th birthday. Are we sensing a theme here yet? Duhhhh

Mickey had one more cousin to see and they had planned to go out for dinner and dancing but since Mickey was sick he opted for just dinner. I went to dinner with the other three boys and we had a blast. We went to a posh food court HA! I had ceviche, Gary had sushi, Luis had pasta and Alan had nachos! All was delicious!

Back to the palace we went for more vino and fantastic conversation. We stayed up rather late and I’m glad I met Mickey’s friends. I do hope to see them again in Otown.

What a great night.

Next morning Alan made breakfast and I did our laundry and then we were off to finally hit the beaches in Puntarenas and Paquera in the Nicola Penninsula.

That is where I am typing this travel log in a tiny beach cabin in Santa Teresa in the dark while my sick friend catches up on some much needed healing sleep. And tomorrow I will tell you all my first experience in the Atlantic Ocean in the dark.

Pura Vida