Days 4-6

The bus rides from La Fortuna (through many stops) to Puerto Viejo took us 10 1/2 hours on Friday. While that probably sounds horrible, I really think it's the best way to travel through this country. We got to see the most beautiful farmland in the central valley. If I were ever to come back to CR, I would want to spend time near Zacaro and Naranja. I read that those areas are the center of the organic farming movement in CR, which is very strong. 

We are visiting a good friend from Eagle's Nest, who lives down here near the town of Puerto Viejo, on the Atlantic coast. We've had such fun soaking up the sun, reading on the beach, lingering over coffee (or lunch or dinner) and playing music. 

And we've had more delicious food. So far some of my favorites have been:
-Home made super crusty bread with a "smear" of tomato and olive oil (apparently this is a very typical Spanish way of serving bread, and the owner of Pan Pay is from Barcelona.)
-A dinner we all made of home made linguini with meat sauce, more delicious bread and salad. Our friend borrowed a pasta maker and made this beautiful linguini. Now Jonathan & I are inspired to make more pasta when we get home. I was in charge of the salad dressing, as I always am. We didn't have many spices or any vinegar, so I made my own version of a Thai peanut dressing with PB, oil, honey, curry, salt and a tiny bit of tomato paste that came out pretty well!
-The coffee, oh the coffee. So delicious. Cafe con leche is available everywhere & is so good - not bitter at all and very rich tasting. After bananas (which are also extra sweet and amazing here) coffee is Costa Rica's biggest export. 

There are dogs everywhere. And I'm very happy to see that almost all of them look healthy and well fed. Some of them do have owners that they go home to in the evenings and just wander around during the day. But most are not really owned by anyone. They just wander around and are happy to get food and affection from whomever. No food is wasted here, because the leftovers always go to the dog, and there is always a dog waiting. Of course I can't help but stop and pet every one of them, so I've already had 3 of them follow us around until they finally lost interest and went elsewhere in search of more food. Naturally none of them are spayed or neutered, which is why there are so many and will continue to be so many. But it's pretty amazing to watch tons of dogs get along so well and think of some Americans back home who can't possibly have their dog get along with one or two others in a dog park. I think the Costa Ricans would find the idea of a dog park pretty funny. 

We have a few more blissful, mostly unplanned days here before we depart for Panama.