21 October, 2009| Whatever Blows Your Hole!

On Tuesday, October 20, Hayley, Cass, Braulio, and I left San Jose to meet up with Federico Grant (The walking discovery channel as he was described to me). Federico lives outside of Cartago in a small town called Birtisito, and so we left the hotel to find and catch a bus. We had a map…to the wrong bus station! We thought we needed to catch a bus to Cartago, when we actually needed the bus to Turillalba, duh! After walking around downtown aimlessly, we began to ask directions. Little to our knowledge it is a Costa Rican custom to never tell a foreigner you don’t know the answer to a questions, instead they just give you direction to where ever they feel like! YAY! After circling around the city again and again, we were running out of time. (Ding) the light comes on… why don’t we ask a cab driver? They also know where they are going. Sure enough, it was just around the corner and soon we had out tickets in hand, and were on our way to Birrisito.

After an hour and a half bus ride, we got off the bus at Birrisito. Federico was awaiting our arrival at Captain Morgan’s market on the main drag. We meet Morgan, a super nice older man, who was excited to show off his English skills…or lack thereof, but it was fun and endearing. At the market we picked up food for the next few days’ meals including, Spaghetti, Huevos Rancheros, Chicken Tacos, and more!

Next we drove a few minutes through the country past some dairy farms to Federico’s home, overlooking a beautiful rural Costa Rican valley. We spent the rest of the day relaxing around the house, playing cards (NERTS! It’s making a comeback, and Oh Hell), brushing up on our Foosball skills, lounging in hammocks, blasting all kinds of music, and soaking in the hot tub.

We awoke early Wednesday and the girls made us their signature chocolate chip banana pancakes…So good! We then hurried to get ready, and left for day in the country side with Federico as our guide. We started the tour at a scenic view area. It was actually closed, but Federico is quite persuasive and the presence of two cute girls didn’t seem to hurt. The view was great and the ants were plentiful. I did my best to avoid the ant piles, but eventually I got lost in the moment taking photos. I must have been standing on the fire ant pile for only a few seconds, but that’s all it took. I didn’t realize it until my foot and shin were covered and the biting had begun, and those quick tiny sons of blanks are very resilient. After I was done hopping around trying to rid my foot of the remaining ants, we moved ahead to the next stop.

Coffee is one of Costa Rica’s top cash crop exports, and we got to see and try it firsthand. Coffee plantations were everywhere in Cartago and the surrounding area, Federico even has a few plants on his property he sells to a local organic coffee maker (Café Christina). So, along the way we stop and tried on bean off the plant. You don’t really eat them (we found out the hard way), you just suck on them, and there is only a hint of coffee flavor. It isn’t until the beans are dried multiple times that the gourmet coffee flavor emerges.

Next, we stop in the small town of Orosi, and visited one of, if not the, oldest church still in use in Costa Rica. It was a simple building with great architecture and amazing hand carved wooden altar covered in with gold leaf. The church was cool, but across the road, was a soccer field! A few local kids were playing and it wasn’t long before we had a Costa Rica – USA match. We played for about an hour and had a great time. I of course got schooled by even the youngest of locals, but Hayley and Cass held their own and surprised everyone with their skills.

When we were all totally out of breath we decided to call it quits, and headed up the mountain. We pulled off the road near el Rio Macho, and followed Federico up a small trail. The trail wound through some small coffee plantations, along the river, and through some jungle until it open up to a small natural hot springs! I was so relaxing after our soccer match.

After the hot springs we ate lunch and a small local restaurant overlooking a river gorge. We ordered the mixed rice and beans plate (Marlin, Shrimp, and Chicken!)…So good!

The tour continued with a taste of fresh sock poured coffee and café flan at a nice restaurant in the valley and a walk around a small lagoon and though an oriental garden. On the way back to Federico's, we stopped at one last scenic observatory (that was again closed for renovations, but we somehow got in) A few last pictures of the valley and Lake Cachi and we were on our way.

P.S. At dinner one night we are discussing something, and I said “Whatever floats your boat,” you know like different strokes for different folks, and I guess Federico had never heard that, he thought it was pretty funny and replied laughing… “What did you say? Whatever blows your hole?” HAHAHA we all started laughing and it has become an ongoing joke!

Pictures!