Indigenous pottery, Playa Pan de Azucar and scorpion visit

Playa Pan de Azucar

Since our last post, we have filled our week with school, homework, Spanish, Legos, feeding and cleaning up after 3 kids, plus a bit of local exploration.  Sullivan’s teacher told Nik last week about a sometime-island in Lago Arenal where there are many old indigenous pottery shards.  We wasted no time in going there to check it out.   Since we are now in the midst of the dry season, the lake is low, so there is a land bridge to the island.  It took a bit of exploring to find the correct road to access the island.  It so happened that a road crew was grading this road, so at first it looked impassible, due a huge mound of dirt and a bulldozer.  One of the workers assured us that we could pass.  Nothing is impossible in Costa Rica.  We made it past, and drove as far as we could, then walked onto the island.  The center of the island was tree- and grass-filled, and we did not want to venture there in our shorts and sandals.  We circumnavigated the island, finding many pottery shards, as well as lots of old horse poop.  Looks like many pottery hunters come on horseback.  Our little collectors filled their pockets and hats.  Of course we had some ethical concerns, but if Sullivan’s Kindergarten teacher told us we could collect things, we thought we were ok.  Also, the huge number made us feel ok about taking some with us.  Some of the pottery shards had simple designs, and Madeleine found one piece shaped like a monkey head.  Nik chatted again with the road crew on the way out, and one of our new friends said that a piece he found was 500 years old.  Seems like a reliable source!

Table for five

Sully's Lego land

Island collection trip

View from the "island"

Last week we also had the pleasure of hosting an overnight visit for the Kindergarten turtle pet, Princesa.  She was a very good guest and enjoyed wandering around our yard, cooling off with a hose bath on the driveway and eating lettuce and carrot.   Henry and Sullivan also collected some tiny fish from our local pond to keep for a while for observation.  

Princesa explores our yard

Sully admires our guest

This past weekend it was time to go on another weekend adventure, and we never seem to go wrong with the beach.  For out last beach day we attempted to go to Playa Pan de Azucar (sugar bread) but ended up at Zapotal.  This time we were armed with directions to the hotel on Playa Pan de Azucar, Hotel Sugar Beach, and we found it with no trouble.  On the way, we went past Brasilito and Playa Flamingo, where we stayed back in October.  Familiar sights, only drier this time of year.  We were completely delighted with Hotel Sugar Beach.  It is low key and gorgeous and reminded me of Asilomar in Monterey, CA, except with iguanas.  The beach is very secluded and quiet, with rocky areas for exploring at low tide.  We got our fill of playing in the surf, digging in the sand, corralling hermit crabs, dipping in the hotel’s pool and snorkeling at low tide Sunday morning.  Perfect.  

Beach crew

Boys at sunset 

Iguana on the hotel grounds

Hermit crab tracks

Tiniest crab

Lovely pool at Hotel Sugar Beach

Playa Pan de Azucar

Plenty of breathing room

After returning last evening and de-sanding and getting kids to bed, I was displeased to discover a scorpion on our kitchen floor.  Ugh!  This is the first we have seen in our house, and hopefully this is not a trend.  Maybe now we will finally get in the habit of checking our shoes, clothes and beds before getting in.  Nik effortlessly captured our scorpion friend in our critter observation chamber, which will be his home until we decide his fate.  Tomorrow Sullivan plans to take him to school to show his friends (which his teacher agreed to, to my amazement).

So grateful for Costa Rica's biodiversity…