Rodeo Country Inn San Antonio De Belen

... hearing from a highly educated well spoken English gent named Richard. So imagine the delight when the said speech comes out in the most beautiful Texan Cowboy style drawl, girls imagine Matthew McConaghey in a pilots outfit if you will..NUFF SAID!

The flight went without drama until we touched down 20 minutes late, which gave me 15 minutes to make it through immigration, passport control and security to get ...

... of the museaum which was gated so we thought it was closed. As it turned out, the other side was indeed open. We explored the circumfrence of the city block and eventually made our way in. There were exihibits of gold, and some naturual history about the development of Costa Rica. We attempted to see the butterfly garden but were unable to locate the access and everyone we spoke to seemed to be unaware of it even though we could see it ...

... I could tell you the rule about luggage being left unattended but it is bringing nightmares thinking of it. I{m on about three hours total sleep this past night and four the night before. Miami was cool. I am at a Hostel now that is a mini city. It has its own pool, restaurant, bar, t.v. room, billiard room and an outdoor second floor balcony that has a clear view of the volcano if it wasn{t so cloudy. I will be sleeping in, I hope and ...

... to do our own thing but meet up at night at our accomodations for dinner and such.) Our hosts at Villa Rica Our first night was at the Villa Rica Guesthouse (www.vrbo.com/160621 ) near the San Jose airport (in Alajeula). We were warmed up by the gracious hospitality Geni and her husband. Geni fixed us snacks and breakfast the next ...

... but probably sooner) succumb to the temptations of industrialization and free-market capitalism. I hope they're wrong, but even I haven't been here long enough, or read enough on the subject, to make a meaningful prediction one way or another. Okay, hands up if you thought that would stop me. Ha, ha! It's curious that Costa Rica is transitioning so quickly from an agrarian economy to a service economy, without having gone through an industrial manufacturing ...

... and the only spots we could have got in were too wet. In the end we parked on the paved road next to the owner's house, we can still get access to water and electric, but will have to move to empty our tanks not a big problem. We have decided to stay here for a week to have a bit of a rest and catch up on some chores. 1st- A bit of cleaning and shopping today. 2nd- Into San Jose on the moped to visit a couple of museums. The roads and drivers are not really any worst than ...

... and sand covered roads any material that kicked up under the vehicle had hardened like concrete. It was quite an effort to painstakingly chip away chunks of hardened sand, not to mention it was rough on the hands. Michael did a fantastic job and once completed, we took a few snapshots of our pretty girl as she sparkled in the early morning sun. While Michael was hard at work outside, Geraldine was busy inside 'Nilla burning all ...

... were a little more content in knowing that we did not miss any of the action along the beach the night before. With bellies full of breakfast, we fired 'Nilla up and set sail out of Gandoca. The grooved, potholed and puddle filled dirt road was slower going out than it was coming in. As we inched our way around the pits and rocks, we encountered a cow not 500 metres from where we started. This cow was intimidating with his all black body ...

... We particularly enjoyed quietly watching a pair of Motmots foraging for fruit, insects and worms, and then making frequent visits to their nesting burrow on the side of the road (which can apparently extend from 5 to 10 feet into the bank). These birds live up to their exotic reputations, and compare favourably with the tropical birds that we were familiar with during our four years working in Sri Lanka. There is also quite a variety of wildlife ...