In their defense, Sunil and I had most of the wine while in the hot springs. They just finished it off 🙂

Learnt something new from our local friend Jorge. We were driving thru dirt roads into the countryside where we saw cantaloupe farming. First time in my life. But the more interesting part was how they were harvesting their sugarcane.

The simply set the fields on fire!!! Evidently the leaves of sugarcane are very sharp. Making it difficult to harvest by hand. And sugarcane fields have a lot of rats. Which invariably brings a lot of snakes. So, they just go ahead and set their sugarcane fields on fire!

What I did not know is that while everything else gets burnt, the sugarcane bark is thick enough that nothing happens to the sugarcane itself!!!

But now the sugarcane has to be transported and processed within 24 hours. The sugarcane is unharmed but very warm which will set in motion the fermentation process soon.

So, I asked Jorge “what happens if the farmer gets delayed, for whatever reason”
Jorge: “Oh! They make alcohol”

That was a simple solution!!! 🙂

I am quite sure in India though, I have seen farmers harvesting sugarcane with sharp sickles in their hands. I think Costa Rican farmers are too lazy 🙂

Maiden adventure in ATV!!! After all the rain and slippery slopes, these vehicles grew a mind of their own 🙂 Half the time we drove them, the other half of the time , they drove by themselves 🙂

Early morning coffee time with the Roys. Endless number of coffee cups are being downed…. together with a long “adda” session. Just like those Sunday mornings in our apartments…. or our Coppell houses…

These bamboo like trees are unique. The shoot starts from the ground green in color. At some point of time – and this differs from shoot to shoot – it decides “naaah, I am going to be red”!!

With two families from Dallas – dinner and drinks to celebrate Sharmila’s birthday…

In the hot springs…

Almost two hours of stalking those dratted fast moving humming birds….

I guess vacation brings the best out of everyone! Not sure what got into 15 year old Natasha. The rest of the gang took the bus back to the hotel. She offered to hang back if I wanted to. So, here I am – at the bar by the river chatting with the same teenager who usually barely acknowledges my presence…. Next bus is in 30 mins. We might miss that too 🙂