Noah Has Got Nothing On This Place!

Casitas Tenorio B&B has a working farm aspect to it - cows for milk (eventually beef for the boy calf), chickens for eggs, and vegetable gardens. The rabbits, we were assured, were just pets. All 25 of them! Except, there aren't 25 anymore. There had been 25 rabbits, but Costa Rica has snakes and various other predators, and now Casitas Tenorio has two rabbits. In one incident, a boa slipped into the rabbit pen (thin snake easily fitting through the gaps in the wire) but then was stuck inside once it had swallowed a mother rabbit and five babies.

The manager - Nana - suspects that their cat was eaten by an ocelot, and she expects one day that their adorable 3-month old puppy (Lauren's favourite part of Casitas Tenorio, hands down), may simply not return from the jungle. However, "this is beautiful" as she puts it, because it is nature. 

Our pre-breakfast farm tour this morning wasn't all gloom about animals, however! We tasted spinach off the plant (more would be served sauteed at breakfast), as well as their "coyote culantro" (like cilantro...but not).

We were especially nice to this cow, knowing that it will be someone's dinner one day.

Everest and Lauren even had the chance to milk a cow! (A chance that Lauren didn't take.)

The cow's back legs are tied during the milking process for safety whether or not amateurs are at that stool as she stomped on her first calf when it was nursing. She was getting so many good things to eat that she didn't seem to mind.

Did you know that pineapples, naturally, take two years to grow and produce one fruit per plant? (Apparently modern farming can increase that productivity...if you don't mind a side of chemicals.)

Was breakfast tastier because we were so close to the production? I don't know...I tried the milk for coffee knowing where it had come from! (I don't enjoy cow's milk under any circumstances, so this more about the experience. It...tasted like milk!) In any case, breakfast was delicious and powered us for a day in the heat exploring this region.

We drove through Tenorio Volcano National Park to enjoy the majestic landscapes and incredible views. There is a beautiful waterfall to see in the park...but it's a 3km hike each way and it was hot. Not sure how Everest would handle an aggressive ("moderate difficulty" according to the guidebooks) trek in the heat, and there's only so far that I can carry Lauren! Maybe next time!

The kids had plenty of energy for the hyacinth labyrinth! (Laberinto Río Celeste)

...until, actually, they didn't. Everest and I tackled (and solved!) the second rectangular labyrinth after we cheated to find the centre of the more challenging round one, but by then Lauren was cooking in the heat so Mindy took her into the car to cool off!

From there, a proper cool-off in the turquoise waters of the Rio Celeste - the colour resulting from the mixing of minerals and compounds in the water.

True to expectations, we were briefly caught in a rainstorm in this tropical rainforest! Not too bad when we were already in bathing suits...

Back to the village of Bijagua de Upala for a late lunch and cafecito at Cafe la Semilla (recommended by Nana at Casitas Tenorio) and then back to the casitas. A full day and time to relax, right? We did not expect what greeted us upon our return - howler monkeys!

A mature grey sloth high up in a tree!

Toucans (not captured) and - I am told - parrots that flew high overhead but didn't stop here. Wow!!

Jeff, one of the staff here at Casita Tenorio, introduced us to granadillas 

and mamoncillos 

- tropical fruits that were popular when he was young but aren't commercially viable and so have largely been replaced by the more popular mangoes, watermelon, pineapples (conventionally grown!) and papayas that accompany every breakfast here. Both are delicious, and I wish these were available back home!

We spent much of the evening in the rancho, enjoying the jungle sounds around us, the good company of our hosts and fellow travellers, making crafts... 

(This collection is largely Lauren's handiwork, including "painted" paper towels when she made paint out of markers and water, using Q-tips as paintbrushes - clever girl!)

...and learning en masse with Duolingo!

Our last treat of the evening was the seldom seen kinkajou, or "honey bear", what looks sort of like a cat with an exceptionally long tongue.