WanderingFoxFarm

So I was gifted a really cute addition to the Fox family, please meet Fiber Fox. As you can see this foxy lady has come prepared to travel. I thought I would try and see how well she behaves in company so I took her to the Spring Fling at our Needlepoint guild on the Saturday.

It was such a fun day and we were all starting on a little Xmas tree project with some help from Colleen. Just what I needed, another project! Yet another addition to my WIP. As you can see she behaved well and is now ready for even more adventures. She did express a preference to come to all my Fiber events so that she can check out what I am doing and try and keep me on track to finish a few things and also curb my spending. Let’s see how that works out😀

Hey Fiber Foxy here, Sunday Lynne to me to Callenwolde in Atlanta to watch her finish her color weaving sample. Its a lovely building and they have all sorts of arts and crafts classes there. Lynne finished the weaving and cut if off the loom to bring home. I wonder what she is going to make with it? Tomorrow is going to be really exciting , I hear that we are going to Ireland. My first trip abroad. Lynne is looking forward to it as next weekend she is going to see a friend that she has not seen for too many years.

A real cultural experience today. Lynne and I roamed the narrow back streets of Bangalore to find the huge commodities market. We were kind of unique in the crowd and treated with wonderment and kindness in equal measure. Until FB embraces “scratch and sniff” technology I’m afraid the photos don’t really do it justice.

It’s been a hot day to start the adventure. A walkabout day in the center of Bangalore

Here are a few of the pictures from Miss Lynne’s first week in Bengaluru, India.

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We slowed down on the organised trips on Wednesday and Thursday, by now we had a good understanding of the general area and where we wanted to go. We took a leisurely stroll down to the beach and I sat in the shade knitting while Rob read. There was a lovely gentle breeze coming off the sea.​

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After lunch we went looking for Iguanas, we have yet to see the really big green ones but these will do for now 

When we get back Rob will post his pictures which given the quality of the lens will be much better than my iPhone snaps

Another stroll around the property and we found a troop of Howler monkeys, mostly just lazing in the sun. 

But I was lucky enough to get this small video of a baby and it’s mama, how cute is this? 

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In the afternoon we visited the Ara Project it is managed by a Brit, Tom is from Reading not far from where my daughter lives.

They are located in grounds owned and supported by the hotel and their mission is to rescue, breed and rehabilitate the native Scarlet Macaw and the even more at risk Green Macaw. They have successfully released many breeding pairs, it’s a long and complex process that is articulated on their website, link is above. Again only an iPhone snap but you get the idea.

That evening we walked to local restaurant about a  5 minute walk from the hotel. A great margarita (using fresh juice and not that chemical tasting mix you can buy) plus house special rice for me and red snapper for Rob. The rice had half a langoustine, shrimp, conch, calamari and  lobster. Rob’s fish was caught off the beach this morning, yum.

Thursday was pretty much a repeat of Wednesday with the main highlight being a hike up the mountain at 4.30 so we could catch the sunset. This is a view looking back at our cove from the top of the hill 

The sunset was well worth the hike but again Rob’s camera did it far more justice, but for now, here is my best shots 

Oh I nearly forgot, we also walked into the nearest village yesterday, it only consists of some 30 houses, church, school and soccer field. But again with some help from the hotel they are establishing themselves as an arts and crafts village, with the emphasis on either depicting local animals and scenes or using reclaimed materials. Sorry no pictures to share yet but all the buildings were also painted with elaborate murals.

Last but not least this is the most dangerous animal we have seen so far…..

We have been warned that to touch any of the hairy caterpillars will result is so much pain that in the words of our guide ” will even make a big man cry ” 

Leisurely start to the day, breakfast at 7 am. We had the typical fresh fruit plate but followed it with Costa Rica style hueveros rancheros. I now understand why people from this part of the world get so excited by our eggs. The eggs here are clearly fresh and have that beautiful orange yolk. We were also treated to a fly-by by numerous pairs of Macaws

At 10am I had signed up for beach painting, painting at the beach and not actually painting the beach, although I would probably have been better at that. I assumed we would be given instruction but no, I was given blank card, pencil and four paint brushes and let loose to do what I wanted.

I think the expression “don’t give up the day job ” adequately covers my artistic skills. We had lunch up at the hotel and I requested coconut water, the waiter said they only have it down the beach club and so I insisted that water would be fine. Clearly not good enough for him as 10 minutes later they had shuttled up a coconut from the club. It’s nice to be spoilt occasionally. 

At 2pm we attended a cookery demo and were shown how to make cerviche, we then plated it up and ate it, the sea bass was delicious.

As the tide was out we decided to walk around the headland and see if we could make it to the next beach, just around the corner there was a cut out that was too wide to jump but we enjoyed the walk and seeing the many types of crabs lurking in the polls.​A little rest and relaxation back by the pool and then off for a 2 hour hike at 6pm (in the dark) with a guide looking for nocturnal animals. We saw so many different species it would be difficult to list them all, but here are the ones I remember,  Iguana,crickets millipeads, tarantula, small snake, fresh water shrimp, grey fox, kinkachu (looks like a cure possum) and there were two that I was able to photograph with my trustee iPhone, a scorpion using ultra violet light ( there is an enzyme in their shell that makes them glow) and a sugar cane toad that appeared to be doing yoga by the side of the pond.

Back to the hotel for a late dinner and after our main course they presented us with a complimentary tasting plate of the desserts, unfortunately Rob inhaled most of it before I could get my camera out 

Sunrise is at 5 am here and included in the cost of the room is the choice of a number of organised activities. We decided to start the day with a bird watching hike. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we were able to see some 20 species of the local flocks, including Chacahalaca , Tanger, Pelican and Fly catchers. 

Back to the hotel for breakfast, it has open sided views of the infinity pool and beach below that instantly melts any stress away. On top of that the food is pretty great, fresh fruit, squeezed to order Juice and a range of plated hot food.

A nice walk down to the beach with a sighting of a huge grey Iguana, we were not quick enough to photograph it but here is a Google Image 

There is a beach club belonging to the Hotel on the shoreline so after a brief walk along the edge of the ocean we settled ourselves into a cabana and were brought drinks, lunch and great conversation by the waiters.

At 2 pm we went and joined our guide, Eduardo, to go in search of monkeys. The most common monkey in the region is the Howler monkey. They live in troops of between 2 and 40 and sound like a very deep dog howl. Thanks to the amazing telescope the guide carries we were able to find some but they were too far away for a decent picture, so again, thank you Google.

We were also able to see a small male Iguana sitting in the tree and the level of detail you could see with the telescope was impressive, shame that they cost about 3.5k because I would have been tempted to purchase one, the telescope not the Iguana!

We did see a lot of Coatimundi which are part of the racoon family, not too scared of people and we have seen them all over the grounds of the hotel.

After a relaxing chill out in our own little jacuzzi, we headed back to the restaurant for and early dinner as we had also signed up for the turtle hike 🙂

7pm, note that sunset is 5pm, we set out in the van with Eduardo and 4 other guests over to the next beach along, the trip itself was an adventure as we drove over the hillside on another deeply rutted dirt track. No lights except red ones were allowed on the beach but with the moonlight it was surprising how much you could actually see. The plan was to just walk back and forth along the shoreline until we saw the tell tale drag marks of the turtle as she exits the sea and heads up the beach to lay her eggs. One sweep of the beach was about 30 minutes and on our 3rd trip halfway along we were lucky enough to see a young turtle actually laying her eggs. We stayed with her till she finished and then watched her fill in the hole and head  back out to sea. On the way back to the van we were able to see another turtle just starting the dig out process prior to laying her eggs. As flash would have disturbed them, once more thank you Google.

Wow and this was just day 1 

Last Tuesday my nephew arrived from the UK to apprentice as farm hand. He did a great job and picked it up like a natural. Friday my sister and brother in law arrived to help as well, all so that Rob and I could have a holiday together.

Sunday morning we flew from Atlanta to Liberia in Costa Rica. We had a little bit of a wait at the airport for the next flight to come in but it was no issue, we were sat outside watching the world go by and enjoying the view of the mountains in the distance.

The shuttle trip to the hotel was about 2 1/2 hours which helps describe the standard of the roads as it was only 57 miles. We passed through many small villages and they all had the same set up, in the middle there was a soccer field and around the field was the necessities of life, a church, a school and a bar!

The last 6 miles of the journey was a dirt track that followed along the steep hills and valleys, there were deep ruts in the track from the recently ended rainy season. The hotel is fabulous, a small boutique hotel on the top of the hillside. 

All the rooms are individual bungalows and we were upgraded to a stunning one with great views and our own outside jacuzzi.

On our way to dinner, Rob remarked that this would be the perfect location for a honeymoon, then we both stopped and looked at each other and had a light bulb moment. We were married on December 29th 2007 but the next day I had to leave for the US to start my new job. Rob had to go through the spouse visa process and also pack up the house so he did not come over to the US to mid February. Then like all expats, most of our vacations have been to see family or family coming to see us. Although we did manage a few hiking trips in the RV. Of course, when we moved to Georgia  and took on the farm, we traveled like royalty (separately).

Last April my sister offered to come look after the farm for us so that we could get away together. THANK YOU, we are now officially on Honeymoon!