More from El Tigre

Housekeeper Janet smiles at prospect of getting out of here for a much needed vacation!
I’m writing this from TexMex over my first glass of wine. No Wi-Fi at Tigre yet but coming soon – 6 months some say, which really means 2 years, but soon-ish. Then I can catch up on my correspondence. I’m really sorry for not writing personally to you, but only have a chance to check my Gmail account once a week or so. Luckily, Gerry deals with all the business-related stuff a bit more frequently. He’s been great about running all the admin and construction-related trips outside of the Finca, and that’s when he can catch up with emails over a coffee or something stronger.

Actually, GRAK is glad to get away from El Tigre for pretty much any excuse. He’s got a big smile on his face today because he needs to fly back to New Orleans for some finishing items for the house. He‘s planning the trip now but I’m not going.

I’m not budging from Costa Rica until the house is finished - Punto! I have now committed the end-date to paper. We will throw a party for construction and household staff on March 14th and move our container of furniture out of storage and into the house on March 15th. The inauguration for all our friends will be soon afterwards - before we go back to New Orleans in April. But in order to make this happen, we are on the move all day long and exhausted at night...

…and missing the holiday parties and opportunities to see some very dear friends living here in Costa Rica. Happy New Year everyone!

It’s especially hectic now in January because all the employees want to take vacation and we have to work double time to keep the place running smoothly. Armando is off this week, and next week Janet is taking the kids and heading to the Manuel Antonio beaches for a little R&R. She has been running both the household and construction support-tasks for almost two years now, including during all our months in New Orleans, and she is, therefore, SO out of here.

Now I know that my family and northern friends are just crying – buckets, I’m sure - over the fact that I now have to clean my own toilets for a week while the housekeeper is on vacation.
Actually, I don’t mind house-cleaning because it gives me a chance to get into the corners and discover things. I especially like cleaning the pool. You can dredge and skim up some really bizarre insects first thing in the morning after the battles from the night before. Some night, we shall have to take a flashlight down to the pool to really check out all the action!

So due to staffing issues, I have even less time for hiking out in the forest with friends. After vacations, I will plan a hike in February – will email details soon.
All botanical visits remain postponed until after Jazz Fest, 2008.

Rosemary, I love you for picking up that matted dog and taking him home. He is your Flopsy.
Jan, those were great pictures of that Boa constrictor living in your car – and Bless You for not killing him, but rather taking him out to mate with the female Boa living near your stables. You will never have a rat problem at your stable and you won’t need cats (much as you love them, but hey, you’ve got cats at your house in Barcelona). And anyway, as we know only too well, you can’t mix cats and/or small dogs with big Boas. Remember that Boa in Ciudad Colon that ate my favorite cat, Grisela?

I do plan to upload pictures sooner or later, but if you want to check out some gorgeous photography of Costa Rican trees and forests – some of which were taken here at Finca El Tigre, go to this website: www.Elmundoforestal.com It’s in Spanish but the pictures tell a large part of the story. If you want to ID something, go to InBio.co.cr (Instituto de Biodiversidad) in Costa Rica or for plants, try MOBOT.org (U.Missouri Bot.Gard.) and go into their incredible database of plants, many with pictures.

Horsey Friends – Fly Season is finally over! Come on over and ride with me. During the current construction period, I can only ride Mon-Wed-Fri at 7:30AM. Please call my cellular to confirm if you plan to ride over with your horse or need one of our horses. After construction has finished, my schedule will be more flexible but for now, once those horses stampede out to pasture, it’s adios until suppertime.


As all locals know, construction workers in Costa Rica usually sleep or play football during lunchtime. This has been the case with our guys, although they don’t play football so much anymore after losing a slew of soccer balls to the forest. Anyway, I walked up to the house during lunch hour and found our stone-man, Rayo, reading the Bible. Like an idiot with a big mouth (I know, Georgina, I am quite hopeless), I told him something like it was great to read the Bible, and recommended that he try Ecclesiastes for something really sublime. Next day, I arrive at lunchtime to see Rayo reading the Bible to all the construction workers. But they weren’t lapping it up - they just sat there with vacant expressions. As I walked past, the Maestro de Obras, Carlos, glanced up at me and his eyes told me what he was thinking, “We’re putting up with this because of you, but we don’t like it!” My eyes answered back, “Understood”.
That was the last Bible reading at El Tigre.

I’m on my second glass of wine. It’s time to eat else GRAK will have to carry me out again.