Birds, My guitar, Car Rentals and Our lives flashing before us.

Between the Merlin bird ID app and Myra's eagle-eyes, we've managed to see a number of exotic birds. Here are screenshots from the Merlin Bird ID of what we've seen so far.

Beautiful to see but, a squeaky-wheel call.







My Guitar
The humidity here (its been raining steady for four days now) is so high that my guitar is a soggy tooth pick. High-E buzzes regardless of where my fingers are. Oh well. Its a lovely rain when you can stay dry. Ok, its starting to grate. This video is loud...




Car Rentals
Our original appointment with one company was cancelled because they ran out of, what they called "well-loved" cars (a.k.a. very old). A man in the restaurant had over heard us talking and asked if he could provide us a car . As the conversation unfolded: he's from Quebec, nothing wrong with that; has a car coming out of the repair shop soon, all his offerings are very old - vintage  circa 2000; and he had no business license. Thank you, we'll keep you in mind (not to rent from you). 
The restaurant owner mentioned that another rental business had their card at the front.  Called them, they were expecting some cars back on Monday and would let us know. At the same time we found an online rental that would drop off and pick up here in Neuvo Arenal. The online quote wanted arms, legs and torsos etc. So, we waited for Monday. 
Its definitely a driving culture here. The company (from the business card) had a 2009 Mitsubishi SUV but only available for a week and we'd have to get half way around the lake to pick it up (and drop it off). After not hearing back from us, the online company came back to say we could keep our body parts and any miscellaneous progeny. It was then that I realized that they were offering a 2017 - way, way newer than anything else offered thus far and for a full 30 days. So even though it was the most expensive of the bunch it had everything we could ask for.  When they delivered the vehicle they were totally professional. Explained everything in detail, took photos all around the vehicle instead of marking a piece of paper with existing dings. Drove me around the block to verify the car was in good operating order. So far, very happy with our new found freedom machine.


Our lives flashing before us
Most of the roads around here are either 40 or 60 km/h and very twisty, hilly with lots of blind corners, bridges are one lane and parking on the road is apparently more common place than one might imagine. The tour buses, because of their length, steal a portion of your lane as they make these hairpin corners. On two occasions we narrowly missed them.  You know its a close call when Myra exclaims with an expletive. Going slow and never letting your eyes leave the road are two maxims I'm willing to live by as we roll forward. 

Comments

  1. Anonymous17 December 2023 at 22:20

    I like the red-ass teenager.
    Oh my that IS rain.
    You mean Myra's developing Costa Rican potty mouth?

    ReplyDelete
  2. T21 December 2023 at 08:44

    Keep the stories coming. It’s amazing how they do business there… and it just seems to work out. I think the driving will help keep you young.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous12 January 2024 at 13:49

      Agreed. Now that I'm used to driving here it's actually enjoyable.

      Delete

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