Sister Nani does Costa Rica

Sipping first at the Britt Coffee Plantation, Nani joined the guides on stage for a tasting demonstration of their CR coffees; here she stirs and slurps, and she did it quite well, I might add.

We drove down from Belen to Bejuco, stopping at the Tarcoles bridge to check out the crocodiles, and it must have been nap time because they were all lying still at the top of the river, alert but motionless. They looked almost innocent.

Yesterday we drove down to Manuel Antonio and took a steep, sweaty hike through the park but saw no animals to speak of other than several agoutis. As we left, it began to rain, but we drove up and up and up to Ronny's, a little restaurant overlooking the sea and the mountains and the world, where we then drank the most magnificent sangrias. Right in the midst of our savoring the splendor of our hibiscus decorated drinks, we felt the whole place begin to shake. There was a small commotion among the few people in the open dining room, and after the tremors stopped, we realized that it had been an earthquake. I think it was Nani's first, but I had so enhanced my experience with my overly fruity and sweet sangria that I didn't really notice the earthquake - 5.9 on the richter scale.

This was the view once the sun worked its way through the clouds...