Then a couple days later, CAROLINE’S FAMILY ARRIVED!! We were SO excited! Met them at the airport along with one of Mr.
Williams’ old friends, Ed, who is actually living in Costa Rica for a few
years, and he was kind enough to let us all spend the night at his house and
then take us around all day Saturday on a road trip through some of the famous
small towns in the mountains northwest of the Central Valley! We saw three towns especially known
throughout Costa Rica for their woodwork, dairy products, and coffee, as well
as a HUGE waterfall in the middle of nowhere!
Ed has the coolest toys of anyone I know, and Sam even got to take a
turn behind the wheel of Ed’s Kubota! We
finished off their first full day in Costa Rica with a delicious supper Silvie
cooked at their house!
 |
| Ed's house |
 |
| Ed's toy (one of them anyway) |
 |
| Bajos del Toro waterfall |
 |
| cute couple in the Zarcero topiary |
 |
| dinner time! |
 |
| Caroline's two families |
And then it was Easter!
Church was packed with a whole 25 people, and it was really special how
everyone (including Bishop Monterroso, who just happened to be at Cristo
Resucitado that Sunday) so heartily welcomed Caroline’s family. Then we made a spontaneous decision to travel
to the Heredia-Cartago soccer game in Cartago.
To give you some context, there are 12 teams in the top fútbol league in
Costa Rica, which is very competitive, and right now Cartago and
Heredia are the top two teams, so this was a big
game, and it was evident! From the moment we
got there, we wondered two things: 1) why there was a line of police officers right
down the middle of the stands in one place, decked out in nearly full riot
gear, and 2) why half of the Heredia fans were locked up in a metal cage. Well, we quickly learned about the police: after Cartago scored a goal, dozens of their fans came running right up to the
police line, shouting and gesturing all manner of rude and unspeakable things
to the Heredia fans. And sure enough,
when Heredia tied it up a few minutes later, dozens of Heredia fans did the same. As for the metal cage, we came to the
conclusion that it’s either a prison release program so inmates can still cheer
on their team, or simply where they put the rowdiest of the rowdy visiting fans
so no one gets hurt ;) Let’s just say
with Heredia down 2-1 with time running out, we decided it would be safer to
duck out early and head home… Enjoyed eating dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant
right in the Plaza de la Cultura in San José next to the Teatro Nacional, where
we had such a good time I'm proud to say the people at the neighboring table kept turning around
to stare at us :)
 |
| Cristo Resucitado |
 |
| toma chichi! |
 |
| Just like Sewanee, Cartago is known for its fog and clouds... |
Bright and early Monday morning we headed to perhaps the most
famous of the many volcanoes in Costa Rica, Arenal. Our first destination after dropping off our
stuff in the cabin was to Ecocentro Danaus, a small wildlife reserve/
reforestation project, but it quickly became our third stop instead, as our
unofficial taxi driver Randall took us first to see a water buffalo his brother
owns (it was huge), and then to look in a tree in which he had seen a sloth the
day before (it had moved on). But that
was no problem because at Danaus, it didn’t take Mrs. Williams long to find a
different sloth! In fact, we saw three
in total, which Caroline was not happy about because at that point she had been
in Costa Rica for two months without seeing a wild sloth! In addition to the sloths, we (with much help
from Sam’s sharp eyes) saw poison dart frogs, a chestnut-mandibled toucan, a boat-billed heron,
and many tanagers and other smaller birds!
 |
| Mrs. Williams spotted this sloth! Looks like Chewbacca from here! |
 |
| hey there little buddy! |
On Tuesday morning it was off to the canopy tour (aka ziplines)! After the
safety talk, they told us we were about to enjoy a Costa Rican “massage,” which
we were not amused to find out meant a half hour ride on hard seats on a 30-person
trailer pulled by a tractor on a terrible gravel road! But then after a good hike to the top of the
mountain/big hill, we were ready to zip!
The cables ranged from a couple hundred meters to a whole kilometer! Many of them cross valleys and so have pretty
good views, in particular the two nearest the 225-foot La Fortuna
waterfall. But my favorite was one of
the long lines that squeezed through a virtual tunnel of foliage – if you’ve
seen Return of the Jedi, it felt like being on one of those zippy flying bikes
the Stormtroopers use! Kapi kapi! Thank goodness on the way back to the
starting point we had signed up to ride horses instead of another dadgum
massage. Then after the best and
cheapest lunch in town at Soda Viquez, we kinda relaxed for the rest of the
afternoon, enjoying the normal pool as well as the volcanically-heated,
piped-in hot springs at the hotel. At
dinner, Sam ordered the finest assortment of meats I’ve ever seen on one plate
– AND it came with guacamole! I mean,
our garlic fish was nothing to scoff at, but Sam’s pieces of fried fish,
chicken, and beef were absolutely all that and a bag of chips… Mmmm.
 |
| there's a waterfall behind us I promise |
 |
| Mrs. Williams was all Smiley Miley the entire time! |
Wednesday before we had to leave, we squeezed in a very early guided birding tour at the Arenal Hanging Bridges with a
knowledgeable guide named Walter. It
became quite clear to us just how well trained his eyes were; at one point he
stopped us, pointed to a tree ten feet away, and told us there was a good-sized
lizard in plain sight. Well we stood
there for at least a minute searching fruitlessly until finally he showed it to
us, and it just seemed so obvious! I’ve
been very impressed not just with Walter’s but also with our other guides’
extraordinary ability to find things I wouldn’t be able to find if I stood in
the same place looking for an hour!
Anyways, it rained off and on, but we still managed to get good views of
a chestnut-mandibled toucan (through a scope this time), a black-throated
trogon (my Mom’s favorite Costa-Rican bird I think), honeycreepers, tanagers,
lizards, and even a troupe of spider monkeys swinging through the trees! We also learned that the funny looking birds
we’d seen from the hot springs the day before were called chachalacas, also a
term used for people who talk too much (we all fondly thought of Omar from our hotel
in Heredia)! ;)
 |
| good camouflage |
We took the public bus home, which greatly surprised the
hotel staff (Fernando asked me several times, thinking he must have been hearing me
incorrectly). I get the feeling most
tourists pay a lot extra for private transportation, but they’re missing out on
Costa Rica’s phenomenal and cheap public transportation system (necessary because not everyone has a car
here), as well as the experience! Made
it in time to meet Caroline after class and get a tour of Heredia and her
university before a yummy dinner of hamburgers (alas, nothing like a good hamburger to humbly remind you of your Gringo-ness) and arepas.
The next morning we were up early again to head north to the
rainforest region of Sarapiquí! It was a
little stressful arriving late for our chartered wildlife cruise on the
Sarapiquí River (oops), but we eventually made it, and enjoyed relaxing for two hours
on a boat spotting all kinds of sweet wildlife - a keel-billed toucan, lots of
kingfishers and mangrove swallows and egrets and herons (including a bare-throated tiger heron), some sleeping bats,
turtles, basilisks (known here as Jesus Christ lizards because they can run
across water), iguanas, and most scarily, caimans, which are kin to
crocodiles! The tour was organized
through Selva Verde Lodge, where they have set up plantain feeding stations in
the trees right next to the dining area, and what a cool feeling it was to eat
lunch while watching all sorts of birds come land on the feeders – collared
aracaris, both species of oropendola, honeycreepers, etc.
 |
| Hi! I am a king, and I fish. That is why they call me a kingfisher! |
 |
| I walk on water. Just like Jesus. That is why they call me a Jesus Christ lizard! |
 |
| Eet mor froot loops |
 |
| one time, many people CAIM,AN not many people left because I ate em! That is why I am called a caiman. |
 |
| notice Erick in the back snoozin :) |
 |
| I am Carolina blue. But that is not why they call me a red-legged honeycreeper. |
 |
| what are you lookin at? |
 |
| Our moms make us wear collared shirts. That is why we are called collared aracaris. |
 |
| I have a big gizzard. That is what makes me a lizard. |
 |
| I like to do art. That's where I got the name dart! |
Thursday night, we all (Caroline’s two families and me) dined at a restaurant that’s famous for two things: 1) its traditional
Costa Rican folk dance show, and 2) its view - high up on one of the mountains
surrounding the Central Valley, it has a GORGEOUS view of San José,
Alajuela, and Heredia! Food was great,
drinks were great (we tried guaro for the first time, the national mixed drink,
and loved it! Don’t worry I was fine
this time), picture background was great, and they even sang happy birthday to
Mr. Williams, and perhaps more importantly to Sam and me, gave him a big ol hunk of birthday cake, which we selflessly offered to help him eat.
Friday was Mr. Williams’ actual birthday (29th if
you’re wondering), and sadly their last full day, but we used it well, rafting
the Pacuare River, which is widely considered one of the best rafting rivers in
the world! The 18 km stretch we rafted
was mostly class IV rapids, but the other reason the river is so renowned is the
scenery – rainforest on either side for most of the journey with a dozen gushing
waterfalls, and even a canyon at one point.
Saw so many egrets we stopped caring, and three toucans as well. And the day continued to get better as we had
a birthday dinner at a charming Italian restaurant to celebrate Mr. Williams' birthday and their last night in Heredia.
 |
| "would it be weird if I lay down on the floor for a few minutes in the middle of the restaurant?" |
 |
| getting ready to raft the Pacuare! |
 |
| a Cookie Monster birthday cupcake :) |
On Saturday morning, Omar was sad to his “family” go, and so
were we! But what a wonderful week! I think what I’ll miss most are the many
wonderful suppers together filled with laughter and stories. Life is never boring with the Williams family!
