A new month brings a new perspective...Hello October!



Cactus plants are scattered throughout Costa Rica growing
prolifically in the tropical climate.

"Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica"

Low-lying morning clouds as seen from the veranda.

It's hard to believe it's October 1st today.  Where did the time go?  On the last day of this month, we'll joyfully celebrate our five-year anniversary of traveling the world.  We left Minnesota on Halloween 2012.

In 53 days we'll sail away from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on a 30-night cruise to South America as we begin making our way toward Buenos Aires Argentina.  Then in 114 days from today, we're off toward Ushuaia Argentina to embark on the Antarctica cruise.

Costa Rica is clever in using waste products as an alternative to expensive resources.

We've hardly given much thought to the fact we'll be spending 30-nights in a lovely hotel in Buenos Aires beginning on December 23rd (Tom's 65th birthday).  In our old lives, that leg itself would have been considered the "trip of a lifetime." 

From there, in roughly 132 days from today, we'll arrive in the fairly remote area of Mpumalanga/Nelspruit to make our way to Marloth Park, South Africa, a 90-minute drive from the airport where we'll be renting a car for the many months we'll spend in the country. 

Old tires used as a retaining wall.

There are no words to express our enthusiasm for what is upcoming in the future.  It's hard, if not impossible to temper one's excitement when contemplating what the future holds.

It's not as if we constantly talk about these adventures.  We've always made a concerted effort to live in the moment, relishing in our current surroundings.  It's not hard to do in Costa Rica with the easy flow of life in this beautiful and friendly country.

Dirt covered road after a rainstorm.  The rain has been outrageous during the "green season" over these past months and is expected to continue through October.

There's no denying that we've limited ourselves by not having a full-time car rental while we're here.  Taxi fare is cheap in town but gets pricey when going sightseeing in distant locations. 

The cost of partial day tours in Costa generally run over US $100 (CRC 57,232) per person plus the cost of getting to and from the tour pickup and drop-off locations.  At this point, with a considerable outlay of funds for the upcoming adventures, we've had to curtail our spending.

An old shack along the mountain road.

Even the US $162.50 (CRC 93,001) for the five-day rental car is too expensive for us at this point in time.  The monthly cost, close to US $1,000 (CRC 572,315) simply doesn't fit into the budget.

The cost of clothing we'll need to buy for the Antarctica cruise (which we'll ship to our mailing service in Nevada to hold for us for our next "cold weather" expedition) is expensive.  We've considered renting the clothing but after considerable research, we've discovered its more cost-effective and time-saving to purchase the necessary items. 

We'll make the necessary purchases online and have all the items shipped to our mailing service and then shipped in one package to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale.  From there we'll board the 30-night South America cruise without any baggage constraints.  

A shriveled banana blossom, parts of which is used in cooking in certain parts of the world.

When the 30-night South America cruise ends in Buenos Aires, we'll begin our month-long stay at the hotel. When we fly to Ushuaia from Buenos Aires to board the cruise to Antarctica we'll leave most of our baggage behind at the Buenos Aires hotel which has agreed to hold until the Antarctica cruise ends.  There are strict baggage weight restriction on the flights to Ushuaia and back.

We'd decided to begin making the clothing purchases this month to ensure everything arrives on time and, to have the cumbersome task behind us.  At one time, shopping online would have been fun but I've lost interest in shopping altogether other than for groceries.  Tom never enjoyed shopping of any type, let alone online.  We'll get it done.

A cloudy mountain scene.

Today, after a hugely stormy night and equally cloudy day with rain on the horizon, we're hunkered down.  Soon, Tom will watch the Minnesota Vikings football game while I'll head to the kitchen to start preparing today's meal consisting of baby back ribs, an egg and  bacon quiche, roasted vegetables and salad, often checking back and forth to see how the game is going.

Have a happy day!

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Photo from one year ago today, October 1, 2016:

A man of the beach collecting miscellaneous items from the beach placing them in this cart attached to his motorbike.  For more Bali photos, please click here.