Things that go bump in the night

Now that we are a family that surfs, we decided to rent a surfboard for the remainder of the time that we are in Osa. It is huge... honestly it is 9 feet 6 inches long and 2 1/2 feet wide, and covered in red foam so that you don't get hurt if you fall. It is very similar to the one I used in my lesson.  It has been so much fun, and the whole family has been able to surf.   I even surfed a wave all on my own, without a push.  I'm still feeling rather fantastic about it.

Ella's first time surfing...

This is how you smile after the first time you surf!

Violet likes the boogie board best. She calls it surfing.

This photo is just here to prove that mine are not the only naked babies on the beach. 

We've had some fun run-ins with animals this week. We found this group of Capuchins doing what Ella calls, "the epic jump".  We were driving and we saw one monkey jump from a tree on one side of the road, to a tiny little branch on a tree on the opposite side of the road.  The branch dipped frantically like it would break, but didn't, and the monkey went on his way. We stopped the car, and watched 10 or so more monkeys do the same jump.  We had a blast watching them. 

We stopped by Parrot Bay again and saw a few more crocodiles and Cayman.  The kids are honestly not scarred of them at all.  Their lack of fear is scary.

But the real scare came one night after we had put the kids to bed.  I was on the computer, uploading photos, and I heard a thump on the roof outside.  I didn't react at first, because, blogging is so important of course.  But I asked Chad to see what it was when he came up the stairs. 

 "So is there something out there?" 

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"You don't want to know."

"What?"

"No, you REALLY don't want to know."

"You're freaking me out!"

"It's a snake."

It must have fallen from the rafter above the window, right above Ella's bed.  I have been paranoid about snakes since we got here, because there are Fer de Lance snakes in this area, and I know some of the neighbors have spotted them.  Fer de Lance is the deadliest snake in Costa Rica.  Not because it is the most poisonous, although it is plenty poisonous, but because while other snakes will politely slither away if they hear you coming, the Fer de Lance is very territorial, and will go out of its way to attack someone that encroaches on what they consider to be their space.  I had read all that in my travel book, and on the web, and I had been told that by guides and locals, but when I went to the window to see the snake that was on my roof, a mere foot and a half away from my sleeping 5 year old, I realized that I had no idea what a Fer de Lance looked like. I had no idea if this 3 foot snake outside my window would kill me, and then come back to kill my children. So when Chad said, "Should we kill it?", of course I responded, "I think we have to".  

Well, it turns out that Chad and I are not very good at killing snakes.  If you are ready for a big laugh, watch this video of us freaking out as Chad tries to chop the snake with a machete.    http://youtu.be/Qyo3QZzH_xo   After quite a bit of chopping, the snake ended up angry, and farther down the roof where we couldn't reach it.  We decided to go for help.  Michael and I got in the car, and drove to plead for the help of Luke, our closest neighbor, and his girlfriend Becca. (Luke's house is maybe a 90 second walk from our front door, but there was no way we were going to walk anywhere.) They took one look at our snake, and said, "Oh, it's just a little Boa." Becca walked out on the roof with a broom, laid the handle across the snake's head, and then just picked the snake up in her hand.  The Boa tried it's hardest to strangle the life out of Becca's arm, but like a superhero, she didn't flinch.  We inspected the snake for injuries from Chad's chopping, and found a nice scratch, but nothing life threatening.  Luke and Becca assured us that they would find a home for the Boa somewhere far from our house. We eventually got to sleep that night... even though Chad wouldn't let me keep the light on, and we made cookies for Luke and Becca the next day in thanks.

I took this picture the next morning.  You can see Ella's head through the mosquito netting, very close to the same window where the snake had been hours before.  Ella slept through the whole thing!

The next morning we headed back to Bosque del Cabo for a little hiking.  It was hot, and the cicadas were very loud, but we were ready to be out of the house for a bit.  You'll never guess what we saw along the road....

Of all the animals we could have spotted, this 3 foot long Boa was uncanny!  The girls were excited to see it, since they had missed seeing the snake on our roof.  Chad didn't want to go anywhere near it.  I felt much less threatened by this snake who was not in my bedroom, and who I now knew was not a Fer de Lance.  In the daylight, it even looked pretty.  

It was so hot that the other animals we saw were pretty lazy.

Michael was fascinated and intimidated by this gigantic anthill.

With ants like this guy around, it's hard not to be intimidated. 

As the evening was winding down, and we were getting ready to go to bed, joking even, about how we hoped we would sleep better than the previous night, Michael went to plug in his tablet, and found this monster in the corner.  After looking at images online, I'm thinking it is in the cupiennius family... related to the Walking Spider, but I am hoping it is not the very poisonous one.  What I am sure of, is that it was as big as the cover on the electrical socket, and had spines on its legs. Chad did kill it.  I watched and I cheered.  And I have had nightmares about spiders in our house ever since.  Perhaps we have over stayed our welcome in Costa Rica, and nature is telling us to go back home. Or maybe I am just not supposed to sleep ever again. 

A less threatening bug in cheerful colors, found at midday. 

Although I am terrified at times by the Osa Peninsula at night, I am wooed by the Osa Peninsula during the day. It is beautiful and majestic.

I just need a little more of the beautiful and majestic, and a little less of the terrifying. 

Sugar cane from the front yard.  Because my kids don't have enough sugar in their diets.

By the way, my kids are amazing.  And beautiful. I have been posting so much about bugs and animals and beautiful places, but these guys are the greatest part about being in Costa Rica. I love seeing them discover new things, and accomplish new tasks. We have moved around so much these last few months, and yet they are laughing and having fun. 

 Ella has become such a good helper lately.  She wants to do what I'm doing, whether it is laundry or cooking dinner, or researching about an animal we have seen that day.  She has become able to be compassionate in ways that I didn't recognize in her before, and is good at consoling someone who has been hurt.  It is wonderful.  

Sometimes when we are driving, Violet looks out the window and says, "Look guys, see that black spot over there, that's a spider monkey!"  Of course, there is no spider monkey.  I think that must be the way she feels when we try to point out some of the wildlife to her.  She is probably too young to remember any of this trip, but I will remember her here, playing make-believe in the middle of the jungle, chopping coconuts with here balsa wood machete. 

Michael has had only 2 little girls to play with for almost 3 months, and he has kept a pretty good attitude about it.  At the same time, he craves attention from me and Chad.  He has been listening to a playlist that Chad made for him of songs that Chad thought he would like. His favorite is Cherry Pie by Warrant.  He wants to talk about music and bands with us, and he seems to very much want to be one of the adults. 

They are the best parts of me, my greatest achievements, and yet they are so much better than I will ever become. 

We, lovers of museums and animal reserves as we are, found a man near Carate who breeds endangered birds, and takes in rescue birds.  He and his wife moved to Costa Rica from Kauaii, where he helped run a zoo.  Here in Costa Rica, they have a small insect museum, and some really fun birds that the kids were able to look at and touch.

This Scarlet Tanger lost a wing, and has lived at the bird refuge for a few years.  We see this type of Tanger often, and it was fun to see him so close.  The kids all got to hold him, even though he bit a little when he hopped onto a new finger.  

A little baby boa.

This Chestnut Mandibled Toucan was nearly ready to try to release back into the wild.  He was shy with us, but he loved it when the owner rubbed his neck. He made a funny little noise of contentment.  It was fun to see this beautiful bird so close, and to be able to see his blue feet. 

A pair of hedgehogs.

The owner of the refuge had a very large collection of mounted insects and other weird things that he called "the museum". 

But these guys were the stars of the show. These are baby Hyacinth Macaws, 6 and 8 months old.  They are the real-life version of the bird Blue from the movie Rio. They are very rare, and in danger of extinction. These have been hand raised, so they are sweet and friendly.

As we were leaving the refuge, Michael asked when we were going to go back.  I guess he had a good time. 

We stopped to see the sunset before heading home.  

Playa Tamales

This beach is popular with the locals, especially on the weekend.  We came on a Friday night, and the "parking lot" was full and overflowing.  Many of the people were either fishing, or preparing fires to cook the fish once it was caught.  Some people use fishing poles, but many just use large spools of fishing line with a weight and hook at the end.  Others use nets, and seemed to be catching bait for the larger fish.

 

Vultures waiting for scraps. 

I think I will miss the beach very much when we go home. Whether we are surfing, or watching the fishermen, or splashing in the sparkly waves at night, it seems that so much of our day revolves around high or low tide. 

A hermit crab who came out of his shell.  We tried to pick a new one for him, but he didn't approve.