Pura Vida - Part 2

All Things Living - Part 2 of 6

You can't really talk about Costa Rica without a focus on the incredible plant and animal life. We were there during rainy season, which was perfect for me because rain is my absolute favorite weather. I long almost daily for the rain in my home state of Washington, so I was delighted to travel during the rainy season. As a result, the vegetation was beyond amazing, acres of lush, green plant life everywhere. Gerald said the huge leaves on the trees reminded him of a Jurassic Park movie. I agree.

Then there were the flowers. See this red flower? These were everywhere. So pretty! Now as you already know, my skill set is woefully limited. We've already established that I can't cook, sew, knit, do crafts, play musical instruments, sing, or play sports. Okay let's add gardening to that list. I have no clue about that either. I can identify exactly three flowers: a rose, a daisy, and a carnation. Oh wait...after living in the beautiful Skagit Valley for eleven years, I also recognize a tulip. That's it. So this pretty red flower is a total mystery to me. Come on you flower experts, help! Can you tell me what this is?

Animal life was also abundant in the rain forest. But DO NOT FEAR. You are all my friends, so I know you are worrying already about the possibility of those long, scary creatures of which I am horribly phobic. It's all good. We saw none of those awful things. We did see some of their relatives, small lizards and larger iguanas. One lizard even made its home attached to a wall of our hotel room (yes, on the inside!). We had an open air room, so he or she could come and go at will. Do I love these things? Ah....no. Can I tolerate them? Barely. There were also several different types of monkeys around, although except for one dead one (sad) by the side of the road, we didn't actually see any. But we heard them! Every morning, we awoke to the sound of the Howler Monkeys serenading us from the trees. But most beautiful of all were the colorful butterflies: positively radiant!

Lastly, I will discuss chickens and dogs. Now why would I do that? How exotic are chickens and dogs? Not very. However, to see free-range chickens wandering around town was, well, unusual? And the dogs? All I can say is "Trudy, you should never go to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica." To clarify, my friend Trudy hates dogs. With a passion. And they were everywhere in this town. Seriously, everyone owns a dog. All the restaurants are open air just like our hotel room, and literally every single one had a dog in it. And I'm pretty sure they were all on drugs. I mean really, what is the one thing constantly on all dogs' minds? Food. Am I right? So here were these dogs lying around in restaurants seeming to take no notice whatsoever that food was being cooked and served. They didn't beg. They didn't bark. They rarely even got up. Drugged dogs.

I left out just one animal because it warrants a post all its own. That one will come next.

All things living. There were most certainly other animals dwelling in the rain forest, whose sounds I did not recognize. I suspect that's just as well. Pura Vida!

....................to be continued.................................