Except for the fact that a neighborhood dog woke us up frequently and we were unable to sleep after 5:30, this was an bed with very soft sheets. and we woke up refreshed, just not long enough. Oh well.
David was happy to do some birding in the am, and said buenos dias a few times to a man who was bicycling. The man eventually stopped and chatted – I could hear from a distance and was so very proud of David! I heard the word toucan and as they walked slightly further down the road I assumed the man knew where to show David a toucan. No, he was inviting David to see his garden (growing pineapples, cacao, and guanabana – thats soursop) and even the inside of his house, which is built in toucan style, all soaring curves. He obviously was very proud of it. He is a retired teacher. Now David is friends with another Oscar!
for the daytime session of On the way we passed dozens and dozens of bicyclers preparing for some sort of outing. We were the only ones at the spa for a while. It was not crowded at all, but a delightful area of a series of pools, from hottest, with a waterfall that did a great job on my shoulders, to the farthest one which was just warm. One was deep and very hot. One was cold – filled directly from a mountain stream. There are quite a few of these things in the area, all taking advantage of the hot waters – but this was Matt & Emilys favorite, and it was indeed a Garden of Eden, shaded with lovely tall fern trees and other exotics. And birds! David was torn between enjoying the water and having his big lens at the ready.
Around 11:45 we stopped and walked to see a crocodile David and I had seen, but it had moved. When we were walking off to the restaurant it started pouring heavily. And then we found out that we had just run from the place we needed to be – so off we
The lunch was included in the admission, well except for the champagne and lovely anniversary chocolate cake at the end to celebrate Matt and Emilys special 23rd, with special candles that didnt blow out. It was the usual Casado: salad, black beans, rice, plantains, and choice of steak, chicken or tilapia.
We returned around 4 and were going to go out to wander the town, but the thunder and lightning returned (we dont think its the volcano!).
And by the way, just like last night, the big toads are hopping all over the patio – at least 3 in size.
