So we have a long series of posts to catch up on, but will take a few weeks to do this so as to allow you readers time to re-engage.
Starting our new posts is the flora and fauna one.
The first photo is of a termite nest not too very far from our house. This doesn't show perspective at all, my apology. The tree is about 10" in diameter. Because our climate is rainy most of the year, termites need to nest above ground or drown. So they Build their nests higher up with mud and leaves - and then travel to their "worksites". Since we've provided a lot of cuttings on the ground, I don't have too very much concern about them being in our house. Nonetheless, at our May 2010 trip I'll start treating the ground around our house to help discourage visits.
During our January 2010 trip, and while we had about 8 guys around either working on things, or just visiting with us; this sloth decided being close to us was what she wanted to do, and climbed the tree right next to our house. She was about 40" away from the edge of our upper veranda in this photo. She slowly climbed up to the trees above, and took her nap hanging from upper branches.
This was the first time I've seen a sloth on our property, but they are local wildlife, so I'm certain that when we begin to enjoy multiple weeks there, we'll enjoy a lot more wildlife. In previous visits we had a pesote hanging out nearby (they look sort of like a cat, sort of like an anteater).
January is then the gallinazo trees bloom - all those yellow blooms you see in the center of this photo. While not a long lived, nor a hardwood tree, gallinazo's are very tall (35 meters) and have these beautiful blooms in what us gringos call Winter (Costa Rican's call this time Summer).
We found on the January 2010 trip two trees loaded with limon mandrina's just downhill a little bit from our house. Dick happily used his machete (which Jim now can sharpen with the best of 'em) to clear bejuco vines to clear the way around these trees. They were loaded with ripe fruit, so we enjoyed them our entire trip.
Taste of a limon mandrina? Sort of a cross between a lime and an orange. Delicious in iced tea or other sweet drinks.
We had two favorite drinks. First Jim loves fresh brewed tea to make unsweetened iced tea. A couple of wedges of limon mandrina was a great alternative to lemons (which are not too common in Costa Rica). The other was made with "frutas mixtas" drink (pineapple, papaya, guava) and grapefruit soda. Adding limon mandrina to that mixture makes for a tastey drink!
You can also see eggs on the counter. In Costa Rica we buy these in flats or half flats and just leave them on the counter for the week. Jim finds it hard to resist putting them in the refrigerator, but we've managed to live. Taste of local eggs is amazing. We have not experienced that in the USA.
Look for another post in a few days.
Thanks for reading,
Jim and Dick
1 comment:
I notice your eggs come in packs of ten, just like here in Japan. Picture of the sloth is really cool, can't wait to get my own pics of the area!
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