Hoffman's Earth Snake unearthed when levelling the dorm site
During our first week we also spotted this guy, a coati, below our casita. Very common in Cloudbridge and around, and in Costa Rica generally, related to raccoons and, like their relatives, very cheeky, inquisitive and destructive in their pursuit of food.
Calvin the coati
He visited us many times during our 2 months at Cloudbridge. Our favourite memory is his attempt to raid Frank the manager's bird feeder, laden with fruit, and intentionally well out of his reach. The branches of a nearby bush would not support his weight and we had great fun watching him climb to the top, stretch out a hopeful paw towards a juicy piece of fruit, then ....THUD as he hit the ground, shook himself off and repeated the process...
The hapless, ever-hopeful Calvin on yet another expedition to the bird-feeder
Arriving at the end of the rainy season, trees grown from seed needed to be planted out and young saplings maintained. This involved hiking up into the mountain with machetes and cardboard (saplings fare better when protected with cardboard around the base; it acts as a mulch, suppressing weeds and retaining moisture, plus the worms do good work on the earth underneath), carrying out the reforestation work, then hiking back down again. It was hard, sweaty work, but so satisfying to realise that we are part of Cloudbridge's legacy... And what a beautiful place to work!
Saplings in the vivero (nursery), ready for planting in their new homes on the mountain
View of Cloudbridge from the main trail, on the way to plant some trees
Captivating Cloudbridge
The dorm site, a couple of days into the project... 8 weeks till the students arrive. No pressure!
Alan on site, early days of the build
The little grocery store in San Gerardo is fine for basics, but for anything else we had to make the trip into San Isidro, a small, bustling town an hour away by bus, in addition to the hike or bumpy truck ride to San Gerardo to catch the bus.
Outing to San Isidro with the German volunteers on our first Saturday
Faux 'Crocs' piled up for sale near the bus station in San Isidro
San Gerardo de Rivas- The pulperia (grocery store) on the left and Rocadura (Hard Rock) bar and cafe, right
Kids' fun day in San Gerardo
Monday evening is pot luck at Cloudbridge: every volunteer and staff member brings a vegetarian dish to share. We were so lucky during our stay that there were so many foodies among the volunteers. Most afternoons the aroma of freshly baked bread wafted from the communal kitchen and it was great to see the bakers teaching others who'd never made bread before.
Amazing dishes week after week, despite queues for the cooker and dodgy oven temperature controls
Dr Bob, an emergency room doctor in Canada in his other life, and frequent visitor to Cloudbridge, arrived with a suitcase full of tools and a whole heap of useful skills, plus he tells great stories!
The indomitable Dr Bob... He knows no fear! He can cook a bit, too
Is that a floor?! Wow, we might make it after all
Lovely David outside the communal loos and showers.. He has an unerring knack of knowing when his photo is being taken
Feisty little gold capped tanager who attacked his own reflection in our casita window every day - we called him Gregory, (after Gregory Peck, one of my Mum's favourite actors... Peck... Geddit?)
Cloudbridge's upstanding and responsible manager, Frank, with stick insect
As tempus fugited and more volunteers arrived, it was all hands to the pump on the build. Cypress, a non-native tree growing in Cloudbridge, is used for timber... The 2 very slightly-built, but amazingly strong local men employed by Cloudbridge fell the trees and carry the enormous cut timbers down the mountain on their backs to be sanded and varnished by the volunteers, to be used in the construction of the dorm and 12 beds (Anna spent many hours sanding and varnishing and Alan building beds and constructing doorframes etc). Volunteers who'd never swung a hammer or used a chop- or table saw were blocking, cutting timbers to size, fixing on the metal mesh to which the sand and cement mix would be attached, sieving sand, mixing cement for the 'rapallo' (stucco) finish and a whole bunch of other construction skills.
More bedding will be needed for extra guests.... Anna and Linda wading among the sheets and pillowcases at a 'Ropa' store in San Isidro (preloved US clothing and bedding). That explains the Spider-Man pillowcase
Builds are always slow to start, then suddenly... Can you see what it is yet? (26th November, not even 4 weeks in...way to go Team!)
It seems strange that we would consider taking a 'holiday' from somewhere so idyllic, but we hadn't seen anywhere else in Costa Rica, so for Anna's birthday weekend we visited the Manuel Antonio area on the coast, home to a national park and beautiful beaches. We stayed in an Airbnb jungle lodge near the park.
Capuchin, on the way to the beach
On the beach on our first evening
And a great sunset - good omen for Anna's birthday the next day
Big birthday breakfast at 7am near the entrance to Manuel Antonio - yum - that'll set us up for the day
There are differing opinions about whether you need a guide to see the wildlife in Manuel Antonio, and many people say that it's too crowded and can be a bit of a bun-fight. We chose not to have a guide and still saw loads of animals and birds... 1 two-toed and 2 three-toed sloths, toucans, trogons, a grey deer, capuchin, squirrel- and spider monkeys galore, racoons with babies (they tried to nick our sandwiches from our backpack, which was hidden under branches) iguanas, crabs, scarlet macaws.... A fantastic day. We stopped at a beautiful beach for lunch and spotted a huge iguana, completely unfazed by people.
Huge iguana sunbaking on the rocks
Alan had brought some special sandwiches all the way from Cloudbridge, filled with the artisan cheese from Canaan, a nearby little town, and made from Dr Bob's delicious homemade bread. Anna was just about to take her first bite when a capuchin descended at speed from a tree and grabbed it. Little bugger ate the bread, cucumber and tomato, but spat out the cheese and threw away the crusts!
You paid good money for this?
We were pleased with our decision not to hire a guide, as we still saw loads of animals and birds, walked at our own pace, could be on our own if we wanted and have lunch and a swim when and where we chose. Yes, there was a bit of noise when excited people crowded around the guide's scope to view a sloth, but overall it was a great experience, and a fantastic birthday. We arrived when the Park opened at 7am and left when it closed at 4pm. Our intention for the evening had been to have a shower then go out for dinner at a nice restaurant on the beach, instead we went to a falafel bar and enjoyed one of the best falafels ever, while watching the sunset over the bay. Perfecto.
Falafels and an amazing sunset.... perfect end to the day
Macho toucan
Next morning, enjoying breakfast outside our room, savouring the warm morning (mornings and evenings are chilly at Cloudbridge), we heard a loud tapping sound, which we traced to 2 toucans doing a 'Gregory'.. ie bashing their beaks against a window to warn off their 'rival'. All very well, except Gregory is the size of a sparrow and the toucans are huge by comparison... They ended up knocking down a big piece of metal from a window frame of a nearby apartment!
Fascinating fungi on the trail, called 'copitas' (little cups)
Alan and attentive guide, Suzi, at the top of the waterfall
It's possible to jump from the top of the waterfall and climb back up using a rope, but we didn't, alas, as we were going to lunch at the posh restaurant on the beach and didn't want to look any more scruffy than we already did (not an excuse, honest!). Plus Suzi had another tour group scheduled....
Jump!
Off we hiked to Arenas del Mar hotel/restaurant (www.arenasdelmar.com) for our posh late birthday lunch, spotting lots of these little guys on the way:
Squirrel monkey or 'titi', sadly endangered in this area to to inbreeding problems
Arriving at the entrance of Arenas del Mar, we descended a long, winding path, through beautiful gardens, until eventually reaching an open-air reception desk. Stating our wish to have lunch, a golf-cart was summoned and we were driven down to the restaurant, a platform over a golden private beach. We chose a table on the beach, among the trees.
View from our table
*Tamarind cheesecake and ice-cream.... Que rico! (See recipe below)
We chose this restaurant as we read that it has a varied and interesting vegetarian menu and we were not disappointed. Vegetarian hotel guests have a different choice daily, plus a specials and snack menu. We chatted to the friendly staff and they're really committed to providing good food for all tastes. They also have varied gluten free choices, use bamboo, not plastic straws and generally great eco-credentials and involvement in community projects. Most impressive... Shame we couldn't afford to stay there!
Chatting to the hotel's own lifeguard, he gave us tips on the best swimming beach and off we went, ending our day in the calm, bath-warm sea at little Playa Biesanz, just around the bay, until we pickled. Afterwards, winding up to the main road to catch the bus, we happened upon the falafel bar and it seemed silly to pass it by, plus there was another stunning sunset...
A wonderful few days away, some sun and swimming, then back to Cloudbridge. Waiting for the bus in San Isidro, we were thrilled to see that they had put up their classy Christmas decorations:
'WTF?'! Our sentiments exactly
Finally, this post's recipe, from the lovely people at Arenas Del Mar:
* Tamarind cheesecake (as received by email, with a flavour of Tico warmth)
Dear Anna,
We´re hppy to know you have enjoyed your meals while you stayed here. It´s a pleasure to us to share with you our Tamarind´s Cheesecake Recipe.
Cream Cheese (Philadelphia) | 125 grs |
Condensed Milk | 300 grs |
Eggs (yolks+whites) | 250 grs |
Tamarind | 75 grs |
Ingredients:
Unalted bbutter | 250 grs |
Flour | 500 grs |
Sugar | 125 grs |
Ingredientes for the butter cookie (base):
Preparation:
Step# 1: Whisk eggs and condensed milk in a bowl, mix well. Progressively add the cream cheese and the tamarind paste (reduction). When everything is homogeneous, reserve in the refrigerator.
Step # 2: To prepare the butter cookie: Mix with the blender the butter and the sugar. Put on a thin trail to bake and take to the oven at 300° F by 20 minutes (or until the surface is gold). Put apart to cool down.
Step # 3: When the butter cookie is cold crush it with your hands. Put on the bottom of a mold and pressure until the cookie is well compact. Pour the mix of the tamaring on the cookie mixture and put in to the oven by 18 minutes at 300° F.
Step # 4: Take out the mold of the oven, cold down, refrigerate and serve.
Please let know us how was your experience! Good luck!
Kind regards,
Next post: will we finish the dorm in time? Christmas at Cloudbridge and... Harrietgate
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