Befriending Strangers in Customs.

Dear Jen & Tom,

We went to Costa Rica expecting a relaxing honeymoon on the beautiful beaches. What we didn’t expect was the crazy adventure that actually happened. On the first day of our trip, we were invited by the cousin of a guy we met in the line at customs to go into a beautiful area of Costa Rica to visit some of the friends of his friend. It must have been the jet lag, because wandering off into the jungle to meet the friends of a friend of a cousin of a guy we just met sounded like a great idea.

At 5 am, Estefan and Dominga (the cousin and his wife) picked us up at our hotel the next morning. They were armed with machetes. Being in the jungle of Costa Rica, we weren’t phased when strangers came to pick us up wielding giant weapons. We stopped for breakfast at a little café around the entrance to the Braulio Carillo National Park. The views were amazing, but hard to enjoy when our hosts announced that “every day is a holiday” and chugged down four shots of guaro each…at 6:30 in the morning! Estefan brushed off our concerns by saying he would drive slowly, but we managed to wrestle the keys away from him.

The next stop was Guacimo, where they suggested we walk around and take in the sights while they “talked to some guys.” We wanted to follow them because the sights were not very promising but they were strangely persistent. We returned to the car just in time to see them stuff a old duffel bag in the trunk…..immediately we knew we were in the middle of a drug deal!!

It just got more disconcerting when they turned off the highway after Guacimo onto a tiny track through what seemed to be an endless banana plantation. We finally came to a river where a big man with a hollowed out canoe was waiting for us.

While thoughts of escape were racing through our heads, we followed Estefan’s and Dominga’s drunken tropical singing into the canoe. The big man exchanged greetings with the drunken drug dealers along with the suggestion they should sober up. As fans of Weeds, we knew that one should maintain their wits while carrying large amounts of drugs.

This became ever so present as Estefan accidentally fell on the duffle bag crushing…..our lunch? So it looks like we weren’t in the middle of a drug deal anyways. We had a fantastic lunch at the base of this amazing waterfall and made some great new friends. We won’t be forgetting Costa Rica anytime soon.

Love,
Jason & Bette

Dear Jason & Bette,

Somebody has been watching a little too much television. But have you seen 20/20? Bad things often befall people who get in cars with strangers. Props to you both for taking a chance and having a great adventure!

Love,
Jen & Tom

Beware of Wild Fruits

Dear Jen & Tom,
My wife and I just got back from an amazing honeymoon in Costa Rica. It was great but I can’t show off any of the pictures of me from the trip because I had a huge blister on my upper lip that looked like a herpes cold sore!!! I don’t have the virus, so I was a bit perplexed as to why it developed.

When Sue (my wife) and I were visiting the research station in Santa Rosa National Park, a biologist helped shed light on the matter. We were discussing rainforest fruits and I remembered eating a wild cashew.

The first day, Sue and I decided to bike from Naranjo to Santa Teresa. On the way, I spotted a cashew fruit. I had seen pictures of it before and I was taken by its unusual shap: egg sized smooth skinned orange lobe with what looks like a cashew nut sewn up in a dirty wrinkled leather pouch at the end. I picked one and wanted to break the leathery pouch to get to the nut….but it wouldn’t open! So, I decided to tear through the skin with my teeth, only to feel a searing pain on my lips and gums.

The biologist laughed at my story and told me I had bitten the wrong end. I should have eaten the warm orange fruit. The plant’s survival depends on the dispersal of the seed (in the leathery part). Therefore it is designed so animals to eat the fruit, then discard the seed. To make sure the animals don’t eat the seed, the leathery portion is coated in a cyanide solution!!! I was lucky just to get away with my blister!!

--Richard M.
Londonderry, NH

Dear Richard,
It sounds like someone never got past the oral stage of development. Do you always put everything in your mouth? But even a 2 year old would have realized the fleshy orange fruit was more appetizing than the seed!!! Actually, it doesn’t require human intelligence….a monkey knows the difference!! Next time, refrain from eating wild fruits in nature.

I’m glad you and your wife had an enjoyable stay in Costa Rica.

Love, Jen and Tom