Shrimp Fishing on the Rio Sierpe

Pura Vida in Costa Rica, July - September 2017

It came time to move on to our next house sit in Costa Rica.  There were to be no animals to look after at this one and we knew we would miss the fur babies we were leaving behind.  However, all was not to be lost.  We were to going to be staying in a house about 10 mins from the town of Sierpe, up the Sierpe River with only a boat as transport.  We were really excited about this unique opportunity to "get away from it all" ... and we were not disappointed.

Coco's boat landing

We had visited the house already on our way down to Panama and knew what to expect.  But the reality of living here for a while has surpassed all our expectations.  The two bed/two bathroom house is set on a wonderful acre of trees - many fruiting and lawn with a path down to the boat ramp.  The house is really comfortable and pretty with all mod cons including hot running water which we rarely used and we are on the town water supply (which has only cut off once so far!).  We set up the double lounger in front of the double doors and watch the bird and wildlife all day.  Bliss!

Our vista from the lounger

There is a road you can drive in but apparently it is not very good and we didn't intend to use it at all.  The boat was more than convenient.  Definitely more fun. 

The yard work is also our responsibility while here.   Upon arrival we quickly decided to take advantage of the local lawn man, Jorge, to come by once a month and cut the vast lawn for us.  It is approximately 14 hours work in all and we decided for $50 a pop, life is too short and the weather too hot!  However, there was plenty more to do.  Most mornings we rise around 6am to get a couple of hours work in before it got too hot to be outside .... around 8am!  There was a lot of trimming, leaf scooping and collection of debris onto the burn piles.

Burn off after a clean up

We really enjoy the exercise and the treats to look forward to upon completion of our daily task made it well worth the effort .... a cold shower and a fresh fruit smoothie.

Mamon chino (rambutan), guava and coconut
water ... all from our lovely garden

Sierpe is a sleepy little riverside town where tourists only really venture to gain access to the popular Drakes Bay resort.  The few local shops have most things you need to live, but everything is cheaper, with a wider variety, in Palmar Norte.  Palmar is on the Pan American Highway, with no redeeming features as far as a tourist would be concerned, but for us there are a couple of supermarkets and an amazing fruit and veg store.  The butchers are all very good too.

The sleepy town of Sierpe in the distance

Our fortnightly grocery runs to Palmar Norte start with an 8.30 am boat ride to town, catch the 9am bus (approx a half hour ride depending on how many pickups and drop offs) .... shop till we drop .... catch the 11.30 bus back to Sierpe, boat ride home arriving around 12.30pm.  We usually take a load of mamon chinos (and anything else that is ripe) for a few people in Sierpe.  Day to day living expenses are much greater in Costa Rica than Panama.  As an example, to fill a gas bottle in Panama was around US$5 but in Costa Rica this grew to US$16 for the same size bottle!  As mentioned previously, much is subsidised by the government in Panama due to the  revenue made from the Canal.  However, food choices are greater here in Costa Rica, easier to source and better quality.

Chicken bus to Palmar

Rainy season reigns - Central America

A couple of posts back we said we would reveal the benefits of visiting Central America in the rainy season .... May to September.  And there are many, mostly in the form of tropical fruit and vegetables.  This is the season when the mangoes, coconuts, papayas, pineapples, rambutans, bananas, plantains, avocados and many more fruit and vegetables thrive.  And boy, did we enjoy the benefits.

When we first arrived in Panama we collected lots of mangoes and coconuts from the roadside and the beach and made the most amazing breakfast smoothies by just adding frozen bananas.

This lovely bunch of bananas we purchased from a roadside
stall for 5c per banana

Banana tree on our yard in Costa Rica.  They
typically produce 50+ bananas per bunch
then that plant dies and another takes its place

Talk about keeping us 'regular'!

 James made tostones out of some plantains - double fried and flattened fritters

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/17492/tostones-fried-plantains/

Plantains look just like bananas, especially the plants
but the fruit are much bigger and fatter

Astrid and Pete's avocado tree was so abundant that we nearly got sick of eating them .... well, not quite but we did enjoy them with every meal for a time there.  We also discovered they kept there flavour frozen - mash and add some lemon juice then freeze.  Simple as that!

Mantequilla (spanish for butter) Avocados

One day we were walking around to get some avos from Astrid and found a tree overhanging the road so stopped to pick one up.  The lady of the house came running out with a plastic bag encouraging us to take as many as we wanted.  Don't think she could understand why we didn't take her up on the offer.

The fruit we were especially delighted to discover was the Rambutan (Maman Chino).  Our property in Costa Rica was covered in these trees and they were all coming ripe just as we arrived.  James had a fortuitous conversation with the local gardener taking care of the next door neighbour's yard and learned how to get the really high ones out of the tree using a very long bamboo pole.  Worked a treat!  We set about 'filleting' them on a regular basis and using them in smoothies or just eating a bowl for desert.  They release tons of really flavoursome juice.  

This Rambutan (Mamon Chino) tree outside our door provided hours of
entertainment watching and listening to the birds get busy
with them.  They seemed much more proficient at
harvesting than us

Rambutan and coconut water

 Papayas are not our favourite fruit, but we were surprised by a visual feast one day in the papaya tree on the edge of our deck in Costa Rica.  We had been waiting for the first one to ripen and had just been saying to each other that it was surprising none of the birds had shown interest.  Next minute .....

Two Fiery Billed Aracari helping
themselves!!!

Papaya from our tree in Panama.  We learnt that if you pick
them unripe (often necessary to get to them before the birds)
then you should slit the skin to release the milk/sap.

We had Pineapples growing in both Panama
and Costa Rica

A fruit bowl of Pineapple, rambutans and guava

Food glorious food ......

Clare got really good at making bread.  A necessary skill if you want to eat it in Central America.  The local bread is only passable.

Tuna steaks with pasta salad - avodaco dressing

Smoked chicken and salad - avocado dressing

Marmite all the way from NZ

And NZ chocolate

Homemade empanadas

Wild coriander growing in the lawn
perfect for curries