Cloud forest

Cloud forest

After several months in the beach town of Uvita my eyes got all moist as the truck pulled out onto the costal highway to make the move to the cloud forest.  I wiped those sweat drops and drove south for half an hour.  It was 9 pm, I had been packing most afternoon and this was the second trip, I was soaked from a mix of sweat and rain water as it had been raining for the last 6 hours lightly.  Audrey had been my sidekick on this second trip and had fallen asleep upon contact with her car-seat after an afternoon of helping dad and playing with the scattered remains that get left behind when moving.  I said a prayer of gratitude for Anna, our cleaner, in whom I have complete confidence... She also cared at times for the kiddos and we will truly miss her. I turned off the costal highway  after 30 minutes and carefully and started the climb... 7km of dirt road lay ahead that nestle us up and away from traffic, theft, mosquitoes, heat and the grocery store. The clouds had rolled in as the Isuzu scratched and clawed slowly up the steep inclined road which by US standards would never be allowed to be built, clearly  near or above 30 degrees inclined in places.  We will spend the next 6 weeks here, at OSA Mountain Village at about 2000 ft elevation and a little slice of heaven. As I unpacked the rain increased, the last five loads were cut short at two and left for morning as the clouds opened up a deluge... A downpour that continued until about 2am at which point it rained even harder for another hour.  The hustle and bustle of beach town life that never really stops was replaced by rain, the hum of crickets, insects, chirping of tree frogs, and a melodious silence.  We have been here a week now and that silence has been both welcomed and not.  The cell phones occasionally work here, not in the house, but 100 or 200m up the hill, the Internet is spotty on the corner of the deck but does exist, thank goodness.  The temperature is chilly at night, the days are temperate with the clouds rolling in for afternoons and looking like a day at the bay in San Francisco.  We are clearly deeper in the jungle, the foliage in impenetrable unless cleared, and the sounds of the jungle are enveloping.  We watched Earth, the DVD about animals and earth climates and saw some views that could have been shot from our deck or bedroom windows... The adventure continues.