Pet Sitting in Monteverde
Feb 6, 2020   Costa Rica
BLOG: Un-related thoughts and activites of the day . . . .

Great little place, amazing view, sweetest doggie.
Great little place, amazing view, sweetest doggie.
I slept most of the bus ride up to Monteverde. Yeah, those 4am nights are doing me in! But I loved the familiar drive up the hill, and even saw "the rock" where we watched the sunset with drinks one night with some friends. I'm in familiar territory now.

I got a taxi and somehow successfully told him where Robert's house was even though he absolutely did not believe me that I had any idea where I was going. He would tell me that there's an AirBnb off to the right. No, it's not an AirBnb I told him again. It's my friend's house. Casa Balbi? No! I stayed there before. Not Casa Balbi. LOL.

Made it to his house and was greeted with the wonderful smells of pasta dinner cooking. What a nice surprise! Even the canned mushroom sauce turned out to be a winner. I feel so badly for people who are so gracious to cook for me and are really stumped by the whole vegetarian thing. Vanessa, Sue, Robert, all say something about not knowing how to cook vegetarian food. It's funny because for me it seems like it's easy. Vegan on the other hand....

So anyway, he got me all set up with a borrowed mattress on the floor of his office and he gave me the rundown on how to care for the house, kitty Layla, and pup Dusty. Layla is a beautiful Bengal cat but is very sensitive and only feels comfortable with her kitty daddy so the best thing I needed to do for her was give her a wide berth. It was pretty easy because she spent most of the day under the covers of his bed. Yes, under the covers in a cute little kitty blob.
Layla - so funny - I rarely even saw her.
Layla - so funny - I rarely even saw her.
Dusty I was already friends with from when Robert would bring her down to Casa Balbi to use their WiFi. She's a super sweet little dog with floppy ears and really about as good as a dog can be.

His house, wow what a great spot he has! The next day after he left stealthily at 5am, I had the best day just enjoying the beauty and serenity and did absolutely nothing. He's up in the hills above Santa Elena, with a gorgeous view out over the jungle, hummingbirds in the feeders, other birds in the trees, gigantic trees, just OMG. Take a deep breath and soak it in.
Look at where this house is!! See that green roof? OMG
Look at where this house is!! See that green roof? OMG


Hummingbirds almost every day.
Hummingbirds almost every day.
He lives in a smaller house on the property of his landlords who have a bigger house that they stay in a few months out of the year. I actually met them when they came into town the night Robert got back and they invited us for drinks on their patio. More super nice people! So anyway, I enjoyed the view out the California room, I wandered around the property, I even like the laundry room that looks out over the trees. Love, love, love.

So do I rent a house and make myself a little nest? Or do I just backpack it for a few years? The idea of a nest is nice. I just have to be able to 1) have it maintained and secure and 2) be able to easily get back to whatever part of the world it's in.
It's pretty steep walking around here. Thank goodness for taxis.
It's pretty steep walking around here. Thank goodness for taxis.
Seriously I could just hang out in the laundry room and be happy!
Seriously I could just hang out in the laundry room and be happy!
Dusty and I went for a walk the next day. Up the hill, down the hill, back up the hill. Huff, puff. Geezus I'm out of shape and it's hot hot hot out. But soooo gorgeous. I have missed the cloud forest.

I figured I couldn't just stay at the house for my entire visit so I texted my young bartender friend. Sure enough he's working. Good, I have a "safe" place to go. I hate going out alone. I felt pretty self-sufficient since now that I have a local SIM card I was able to call a taxi AND successfully explain to them in Spanish where the hell this house was. LOL I mean this is just a pitted dirt road that might see only a few cars that time of night. The description was something like "You know Casa Balbi? Well past that on the road toward the big tour company. Turn before the pavement and you'll see me waiting on the road after that." I also felt pretty good knowing how much it was supposed to cost and just giving the driver the correct money like I knew what I was doing. ha ha.

Me and my friend just getting started for the night! Woohoo!
Me and my friend just getting started for the night! Woohoo!
So my usual discomfort being alone at a bar. I sat at the bar in hopes of talking to the one person I knew, but he was too busy to chat. I struck up conversation with a "kid" (30 years old) sitting next to me for a while. Taught him what chiliguaro was LOL. Eventually the bar died down and I had a chance to talk to my friend. I haven't mentioned yet what an incredibly kind and warm person this guy is. An old soul. We drank, talked, laughed, and even cried. The bar closed, the metal door was pulled down but we still hung out on the back patio enjoying a few more beers (and an unwelcome shot of rum that did not go down well). So, well, not even sure how this happened but all of a sudden it was after 5am and he missed his 4:20am bus to get home!!! WTF. He helped me get a cab home and I don't even know where he went since there was no way he could get home at that hour.

OMG I was still recovering when Robert came home the next evening. Together we figured out the best way to get me headed south the next day, we enjoyed the company of his neighbors, and I hit the little single mattress on the floor of his office for a few hours sleep before the taxi picked me up at 5am.

It was a short and rather uneventful visit to Monteverde, but I'm glad I came back to say goodbye.

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