Butterfly Farm

A couple days ago we went to Mike's Butterfly Garden, in Bejuco which is about 10 k from our house. Unlike most butterfly gardens his is all outdoors which means we get to see more butterflies come and go with the seasons and we never know what we are going to get. We saw lots over butterflies and learned all about the different plants that they are attracted to and why, even how butterflies mimic each others coloring.

Interestingly enough, Mike used to be an entomologist in the army. Who knew that was even a unit?! They go into survey the area prior to war so they know what kind of insects they might be needing to deal with. Anyways, his true calling is bees and all of his knowledge is fascinating! He has a few different hives.He is currently working on replacing some hives by replacing the queens in some nests to change the type of bees they are. He has lots of honey and we got to try two different kinds.  I even tried pollen which was delicious and learned about how it can help with recovery time in endurance sports.

There was a tree down towards the front of the property called the bat tree. This tree is giant and the root system is all above ground. This is where the bats sleep under the roots in the tree. We also took a walk to go and look at his beehives from afar and he explained how he was in the process of trying to split the hives in half. Needless to say, it was a very fun and informational tour to go on and so many beautiful things to look at. We walked through some trees along a little river and even though it was 9 am it was still mosquito time, or some other little biting bug because I came out with a few fresh bites.

After the tour we got a ride back to the house. Mickle (our new volunteer from San Diego), Iona (one of our German volunteers), and Victor got out of the truck and opted to eat lunch at home. Courtney and I continued our way towards Coyote in the truck. We stopped off at Lotti's house and talked with her. We decided that our official end date will be December 5th.

After talking to Lotti, we continued up the road up to Coyote. We decided we really wanted to go to Loma Clara. Courtney went the week prior and had the steak, which she had said was fantastic. We both ordered the steak, which also comes with some shrimp. We got a choice between veggies or rice and both opted for fresh veggies instead of rice which we get plenty of all the time.

 While eating our food, a friend of Courtney's pulled up, he came by and talked to us. He said he was going to be making a real quick stop here but then had to go run some errands. We were kind of bummed hoping for a ride back to Costa de Oro, even though after eating so much steak we probably could have rolled back down the hill home. We finished our food and got a beer and he was still there so we decided to ask for  ride. And that's how we got our ride home. He asked if it was okay that he needed to make a few stops though and wanted to make sure we weren't in a hurry. When he found out we were going to walk he laughed and realized we weren't in any hurry at all. 

We stopped off at a supermarket and Courtney and I grabbed some ice cream. We were going to stop off at the market across the street to pick up a few more things. There is also a bar right next to the supermarket and we got distracted. It had looked like the bar had been redone recently and looked pretty nice. We grabbed another beer. before we ran to the market next door. We grabbed a few more items and then were off back home. It was a fun day away from the house for a little bit and to go hang out around Coyote.