Saturday, 2/19/05
our usual breakfast with Toukie the Toucan

still Sat, 2/19/05
On our way out of Bosques de Chacaqua, we stopped at a little finca at the foot of the eco-lodge's road to see some milking.

still Sat, 2/19/05
This morning we drove to La Fortuna, a town at the foot of the active Arenal Volcano. We wandered around town a bit - bought some postcards, a Costa Rican flag. The volcano wasn't visible at all because of the clouds. (It's really weird, you'd swear there was no volcano there at all, but then check out the photos from tomorrow's outing to La Fortuna. There is this huge volcano behind the church!)

still Sat, 2/19/05
We stopped for lunch at the finca of Don Juan Bautista, who used to be a teacher and principal, and now is happy running a model farm where he grows a little of everything: coffee, sugar cane, yucca, bananas, plantains, potatoes, achiote, pineapple, … you name it - he's got it! He showed us how he uses the juice from the fresh achiote pod to color cheeks and lips - using Martha as a model.

still Sat, 2/19/05
Don Juan also cut some sugar cane for us and we ground it in a small grinder, and he gave us a tast of the sugar cane, the extracted juice, and some distilled alcohol he made from the juice. WOW!

still Sat, 2/19/05
After sampling the sugarcane brew we had lunch at Don Juan's house - and it included tostones! (Here they are called patacones.) Don Juan sold me his machete, so I could have one to replace the one Papón gave me.

still Sat, 2/19/05
We drove to another eco-lodge: The Volcano Lodge near La Frotuna. Many went on a bridges and bird walk, but Arthur and I were too tired, so we napped. Luckily, Lynn took some good pictures on the bird walk.

still Sat, 2/19/05
Alejandro and Olman came back to the Volcano Lodge to get us so we could go to the hot spring. Yum!