When you buy property in a foreign land everybody recommends that you hire a caretaker. With 117 acres we needed one for sure. We were very fortunate that our real estate agent had suggested Esteban. He and his family grew up and worked farms in Southern Costa Rica. His wife, Maria, is a saint as well. The boys, Eduardo and Esteban jr, are the most polite and friendly children we have met. I snapped this picture as they left for a Christmas break with relatives:
There are many organizations in Costa Rica that assist the numerous ecological needs. One in our region that inspired us is
Yaguarį - Wild Cats Conservation Program
They traipse across the Osa Peninsula with Game Cameras and a laptop. The goal is preservation of Costa Rica's big cats, specifically the Jaguar.
We got involved and were able to transport 5 cameras from Amazon.com for them and their work. The leader came to out farm and gave us a great presentation on the work they do.
We had won a game cam ourselves and we set it out on the property.
The first night we got an agouti:
The next night we moved the camera up onto a mountain trail behind the house. That was on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day I went up the hill to check the results. BINGO! We saw the bright eyes and dotted hide of our very own Ocelot:
We were very excited about the ocelot. As Christmas day wore on we awaited Esteban and family as we had left them a few presents.
About 2:15 pm we heard a horrible squawking coming from the forest just past where we dried the laundry. We ran down there an found feathers of one of the chickens. A few feet away we found the corpse of a hen with a neck wound.
When Esteban arrived home we told him of the hen's demise. He responded that it was a Gavilan and that it was normal. He took the refrigerated pollo back to his house for a nice chicken dinner. Life in the Jungle!
Near the pool was a tree that contained a humming bird nest. She was very feisty and one evening chased this red squirrel at me. The squirrel was more afraid of the hummer than me with my camera:
Pele is the farm horse. He often gave me a menacing stare:
But, Esteban said he was "tranquile"...and he was. The boys bathed him while Esteban saddled him up!
