Once again, breathtaking scenery, but this time – if possible – even more on steriods breathtakingwise. Google maps and Waze did not really agree on the choice of road, so we finally went with google. It took us up in the mountains, over unbelievable stretches of road – mind-blowing, rollercoaster-like, hairpin bend, steep in- and decline roads following Carretera Nacional route 702!

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Upon returning to civilization, our next stop was Uvita, a house with an even more remote location…

Upon leaving La Carolina Lodge, we knew we had a quite different experience coming, we just didn’t know how very different! We landed in the middle of a hotel village (Hotel Los Lagos cannot be described simply as a hotel, therefore the term village is a suitable description for what met us here)at the foot of Volcano Arenal. As you might gather from the map below, there are several housing units with several rooms in each. In addition to that it has its own crocodile- and butterfly farm, a tortoise pond, waterpark and horse ranch…. From the map everything seems to be close and easily accessible, but the first afternoon when we got there, Erik and I decided to go for a run. We might as well have brought climbing-gear, the incline was incredible! We’re talking getting close to Kitzbuehl-steepness! Anyway, we walked/ran/(I)threw an angry fit on the way up out of sheer frustration, but when we reached the observatory – it really was worth it. I mean – standing on the outskirts of the volcano (looking at the place where the previous hotel had once been before its last eruption in 2010…) looking up on this massive sight! Before getting back from the run, we did understand why, in addition to all the other things offered here, they of course have their own bus that drives around the premises on a time table – to bring the guests living further up towards the base of the volcano down to the pool and restaurant area- and up again without experiencing heart attacks or even altitude sickness:)

Volcano Arenal is a stratovolcano, and its most recent eruptive period began in 1968 with an explosion that buried 3 small adjacent villages and left short of 100 people dead (it had at that time been resting between years 1500-1900 leading the people to think it was dead). We were told that the people weren’t really killed by the lava, but by the lavafumes travelling faster with the winds than they could flee. In the days before, there were several little earthquakes, and the rivers and water around became so hot you cold cook food – quite amusing to the people living there. This, however, didn´t warn them off, simply because they didn’t know then what these signs were indicating. So when they did realize that an eruption was coming, it was too late, they couldn´t escape the fumes.. Up until July 2010 the eruptions were constant, although much less severe. You could see effusions of smoke and lava almost on a daily basis. Since 2010 the volcanos seismicity, explosions and lava flow have decreased significantly, it is however still alive, but resting.

Sky tram and trek with zip-lining through the canopy at the base of Volcano Arenal. We rode a tram up the Arenal mountain, and got off to ride all together 7 zip lines of up to 200m hight and 750m in length – height and speed up to 70km/h – just breathtaking, and sheer fear rapidly being exchanged for adrenaline rush and astonishment for the beauty surrounding us. The tour began with hearts pounding over fear and ended with our hearts pounding with complete excitement. Cooling off in the Los Lagos pools with shooting waterslides afterwards, made even the grownups childlike. But the day had just merely begun…

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We continued with horseback riding up to the observatory along Arenal base, through fields and forests and steep mountainsides – a real adventure! Luckily the Costa Rican horses are more sensible-sized than the big horses back home in Norway, so even though some of us (me) are scared of (huge size)horses, this 3 hr trip went quite well. Mama riding Rhumba, Noah Valentino.

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Mariposas (butterfly garden) at Los Lagos:

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After a long and adventurous day, a good nights sleep was so called for! I crashed around 8pm and the rest around 8.30… (yes, that’s how we live here, go to bed with the sun and get up with the sun – really good for the body and mind!). Anyway, I was probably in real deep sleep, therefore not quite knowing reality from dreams. I woke up, the whole room was shaking, the windows making a really weird clanging sound and it felt like being on a rollercoaster, only not moving forward. I somehow figured it must either be an earthquake or the start of an eruption (probably not a far fetched thought in half-dreamy state, since we were sleeping at a volcanos base). I tried to wake up Erik to get him and the kids under a table or in a doorway, as taught from other earthquakes. but couldnt wake him up. The movements must have stopped almost as fast as they begum, and I guess I must have fallen right back to sleep. The next morning, the experience was merely a faint dream, but still I remembered it as though it was real. Erik brushed it off as my imagination running wild (as often times) – however this time it wasn’t . … at 8.40 pm the night before an earthquake of 5,2 strength hit us,numbering up to the 3rd earthquake we’ve experienced so far here in CR.

Triple adventure day – Walk over hanging bridges meeting a yellow Viper face to face, swimming in La Fortuna waterfall and walking the 1968 trail along the Arenal base.

Lake areal is situated by the base of Arenal volcano, and its an artificial lake. The building of the dam making the lake started in 1974 and was completed in 1979. It is important for hydroelectric power production in the Guancaste region, and further down stream the water is used for fruit and vegetable production. The other means of power production in Guancaste region is geothermic power generated by the Miravalles volcano and wind power from the mills situated on the surrounding hills.

A guided tour the length of a little more then 3 km through the rainforest crossing 14 bridges – 8 stationary and 6 in suspension – happened in the pouring rain. The bridges ranging in 8-98 meters length and from 2-60 meters high – nevertheless, a really cool (on this particular day in all senses of the word) experience, especially due to our knowledgeable guide.

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Hiking up and down almost 500 stairs in the jungle to la Fortuna waterfall with a cooling swim in the middle as the reward. Central Costa Rica’s famous La Fortuna waterfall is located on the outskirts of La Fortunas Village in Arenal Volcano National park. Meaning ‘the fortune’ in Spanish, the waterfall and ecological reserve is the area’s best-kept secret. The crystalline water of the Arenal River tumbles from a height of 70–75 meters over the cliff to form this beautiful waterfall. Located on the slopes of the dormant Arenal volcano, La Fortuna carries waters from the rainforests of the Arenal Mountain ranges.

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Hiking round the 1968 trail in Arenal National park – a nice stroll through secondary rainforest (due to destruction by the lava in 1968) with a view of the primary rainforest (that wasn’t damaged by the lava) walking on volcanic grounds – giving the feel of being part of history. Lots of wildlife to see and hear – a really nice end to a long and adventuresome day. We came to see as much of this area as possible in 2-3 days, and that’s what we did!

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“And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling”.

Jungle paradise on earth – La Carolina Lodge (March 3rd-5th), on the eastern slopes of Volcano Tenorio. In leaving Funky Monkey Lodge and running into a road jam on the mountain pass (!) we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of the jungle after a 4 hr (rather bumpy and dusty) ride. The temperature had dropped about 10 degrees, so to about 25 degrees celsius – actually felt cool on the skin compared to (the lovely)burning CR sun on the beach! Upon our arrival, getting out of the car was like entering a sound-machine on full power. The sound of the jungle with birds, insects and animals making so much noise together with the close by river – and it is never-ending! We went to bed to the sounds and woke up to them, it just felt like our senses were on high alert! The moist jungle scents, the coffee brewed the old fashioned way on a wood-fired stove, the smell of burning firewood from the wood fired hot tub and the 2 fireplaces lit morning and evening and home cooked food. There are just a few electric lights, otherwise the paths, eating areas, resting areas and hot tub are lit by wax candles every evening. No need to use the locks the doors but mosquito nets encasing our beds and the bedroom filled with jungle air at night through open window covered by nets. Just stopping by the lovely Tico ladies in the kitchen whenever there was want or need for fresh brewed coffee, tea, freshly pressed juices or hot chocolate. Set times for breakfast, lunch and dinner – together with the rest of the guests. But it never felt crowded – we just felt extremely taken care of and pampered in every possible way. The only way to make contact with the outside world (which we really didn’t feel the need or want for here) was to wander over to the main reception area, and sit down in one of the leather chairs (close by the Hummingbird garden where there was a miniature Hummingbird nest with 3 Hummingbird-babies).

Warm hearted – Costa Ricans are – just like most latinos – exceptionally good and welcoming with children. The staff at La Carolina Lodge were no exception to this – feeding the children hot chocolate, Alejandro taking them horseback riding, milking cows & petting little chicklets, handing them homemade cheese cut into cubes for fish bait to fish in the river and showing the kids Sloths, birds and telling them all about nature, animals and plants all around. The age limit to go horseback riding there is 10 years, so then Alejandro take the smaller kids for a short loop on horseback in the back yard instead, just so they can also get the experience. The 2 cute, young boxers that belong to the owners tag along for everything from milking, to horseback riding, to just cuddling up when evening comes by your leg by the fireplace.

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Earlybirds – walking up the pastures at 7 in the morning with home made hot chocolate to milk the cows, greet&cuddle the chickens and say hi to the pigs, followed by home made breakfast, best ever coffee served in metal cups and home made, wood fired stone oven baked bread. A time to teach the children where our food really comes from. Meat, eggs and milk here comes from the animals living here. The fruit, veggie, chocolate and coffee is from local farmers. Its a fact that a fair amount of Costa Ricans are self preserved when it comes to a lot of food like meat, fruit and vegetables. Many children nowadays grow up thinking meat arrives in the world vacuum packed… We met the sweetest boy, Ryder of about 12-13 y.o. who was at the lodge with his parents. The second morning he came along up to milk cows and say hi to the pigs together with Mille and the other kids. Mille had just gotten to know that all the meat we ate at lunch and dinnertime at the lodge came from the lodge`s own pigs, chickens and cows, and she was really bummed. Ryder caught on to that Mille was a little overwhelmed with the new information, and I overheard him trying to comfort her. Children are so insightful, and some children are especially gentle and kind; He told her that “I understand that you think that it feels sad that we eat these animals. But, you know, Alejandro and the other staff wash, feed and treat the pigs (and the other animals) here really well, and they live maybe 5-6 really good years, which is like a whole lifetime for a person. Then when the time comes, the animals give us meat so that we can grow and live and enjoy good food and lives. So, its like we give them a good life – and they give us something good and important back.” He chatted with her the whole way back to the lodge, and because of the way he explained things, not only did Mille understand it, but it left her with a greater acceptance of the inevitable circle of life. Here too we made friends for life, as Miss Garland and her 3 beautiful children of approximately the same age as Mille and Noah happened to arrive the same day as we came. So we all had someone to hang out with the days we spent there, which made the whole experience even more special.

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Rio Celeste waterfall – Rio celeste means heavenly river, the name reflecting the color of the rivers water. We went here taking part of the walk through Tenorio National park guided by Alejandro.We saw sloths and snakes and primary and secondary rain forest. Although the weathergods weren’t quite on our side this day – the rain pouring down for most the hike – we learnt so much about all the wild animals, the vegetation and all the natural medicines/household use you can make of the different plants found in the jungle. (I found this particular information quite amusing, being in the medical field, in western medicine; According to him, in CR there is a very high number of children with anemia, for some unknown reason. Cocolmeca is a plant, and there is a nature medicine that can be made from the cocolmeca plants leaves and root boiled together with 4 l of water, boils down to 1 liter of bloodcoloured liquid, and drinking a little glass of this every day for 3 months according to him corrects the anemia). Alejandro was like an encyclopedia on two legs, and knows the jungle with animals, serpents and plant like his back pockets. Several times on the walk the passing guides titulated him “Maestro”.

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Arriving at the waterfall – The waters colour is an astonishing deep turquoise, owing to a phenomenon known as Mie scattering; When the Buenavista river upstream with its aluminium and silicon particles meets the Sour Creek with its acidic waters, the resulting interaction causes the suspended particles in the Rio Celeste to scatter light, thus creating the turquoise colour. The walk goes further up the river, to the place where the two rivers meet and the color appear, but by then the children were wet and tired, and even though I really used all my convincing powers there was no way I was winning the battle of having them walk for another 2,5 hours in the pouring rain… Oh well, I guess that just means I have to go back, with the bonus of being able to once again stay at La Carolina Lodge!

On the way back, we swung by quite the celebre tree: an 8-900 year old tree with an immense diameter, and poisonous red/black and blue frogs in the vicinity.

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Horsebackriding around the lodges own path both days guided by Alejandro

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Cooling off in the lovely river right next to the lodge and warming up in the hot tub outside next to it:

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Fishing in the river with home-made cheese is a good a bate as any (at least when we’re not fishing to capture our own dinner, just catch and release):

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Disney-style evenings in moon-and candlelight:

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Bright early mornings, getting up with the sun and the rest of the animals of the jungle to world class coffee and logs on the fire..

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“Too much to do, too much to take in and too little time” (As this was written a couple of weeks before we knew we had to rush off home and leave our lifetime adventure, little did I know that this one sentence would turn out to be so very heartwrenchingly true in just around the next corner).

Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done, appreciated and experienced today – try to live life in the fullest way you can every day. This place is a definite Bucket-list item – PURA VIDA!

“When I fall in love, it will be forever” – We have fallen in love with Costa Rica and the people here. All the smiles, happy faces, the beautiful and diverse nature with jungel and beach, fresh fruit and veggies, the worlds best ceviche, loud animal and nature sounds and smells – all of it, we have never experienced anything alike.

But HMS on the road, however, oh well, thats different….
As an exchange student with YFU (youth for understanding) at high school back in Minnesota in 1998 (last century..), I was upon arrival told by one of the mentors that a lot there would probably differ a great deal from what I was used to back home. However, she emphasized that even though things are different, it doesn’t mean that they are stupid or bad – don’t judge, don’t insult, just state the fact that its different! So the phrase much used; “oh, that’s different!” I guess applies here, no judgement, just sheer fascination (and a little bit of braking on the non-existent brakes on the passenger side of our car once in a while and grabbing the dashboard to Eriks enormous frustration). Well, I tell you, the road and the driving here is different from “Lyckligagatan” at Eiksmarka (where the speed limit is 30km/hr and the grumpy neighbourlady sends out an email when the kids living there make a havoc riding their bikes or just play in the streets, in her opinion with the sole agenda of blocking her way to speed home to her driveway). I chuckle as I write this, a little because it feels exotic to be part of this here, and a little because I´m happy we survived so far…

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Ski-goggles on the motorcyclists, surfboards straddled across on mopeds/ATV, loose horses on the main roads, the list is endless – and so very exotic and fascinating.

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Oversized car&truckloads on stretches of roads that would even leave experienced truck drivers up north and west in Norway flabbergasted!

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Costa Rica – land of signs galore! The following pictures tells all. Imagine coming to a possible traffic junction and being met by about 20 signs, either right there at the junction, or during the last 20 meters coming up to it! I tell you, some hot headed yelling does happen in the (our) car when one of us is supposed to follow google maps and give the driver correct directions because the decision of turning off or not needs to be decided in an instant, but happens to be busy taking pictures of all the fascinating things in this country… And it is more than a little exotic with the road signs warning us to take care of the possible fauna that could cross, not being a regular cow or sheep like back home… And then there’s the Tsunami evacuation route sign…. And all the little supermercados are named: SuperCristian, SuperAlex and so on!

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Bus sheds – old and new, so fascinating.

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Law and order – Police patrol cars pop up everywhere and anywhere – a lot of times right out of the blue! They even pop out so abruptly of the blue (that is to say: the police officer jumps out into the road to stop a car) that sometimes they actually are run over! Fun(absurd) fact: in mid-2019 it was declared illegal til drive into a train… ($530 fine). I mean, if you live to pay the fine…

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Road hazards; I must admit that for being such a magnificent country, a lot of CRs roads are really a test of patience and a great way to test your nerves (and your marital relationship)! There are plenty of mighty fine asphalted long road stretches, but then again, on the dirt roads it feels like you’re driving on old fashioned washboards (tiresome when it last for hours on end) and lucky for us we didn’t go there in rainy season. There are several reasons for this; the riverbeds needed to be traversed are a lot deeper in rainy season, and word has it that on the roads that we saw as orange/brown and dusty now, act as mudslides in rainy season and the mud apparently has the same effect as water when going at some speed with the car – possibly ending with mud planing. They say that some sections of the route we took to Santa Theresa are impossible to drive in rainy season even with a Humvee – for the above reasons(I can just picture the 4 of us stuck in a river with the small wheeled, 7 seater Ertiga – wow – would be like 2 erupting volcanos in the front seat of the vehicle at least)! Anyways, with so many dirt roads and the effects of a hard rainy season, there is bound to be som maintenance issues. The ways Ticos warn other drivers of hazards in the roads like potholes and so on that are not yet taken care of by the state, are simple yet very effective; A stick or a branch stuck in the hole/hazard with a Coca Cola can or the likes stuck on top. (With bigger roadworks they have traffic controls just like we do).

Rain rain go away; In the period of time we were in Costa Rica, hardly any rain fell, but umbrellas are still a common sight as the sun is hammering down with exhausting 35+ degrees celsius – but as I always say: it can never be too hot! I was probably made for living somewhere other than beautiful, but cold, Norway…

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Old satellite dishes and car tires recycled for good use:

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“When I fall in love,
It will be forever!
Or I’ll never fall in love
In a restless world
Like this is
Love can end soon before it’s begun
And too many moonlight wishes
Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun..”

(Freely adjusted text by yours truly)

..and inevitably this has now caught up with us here in paradise too. We have been closely following the situation, and have gotten increasingly worried with the chaotic progression of Covid-19 both at home and world wide. With both of us being doctors, it additionally it is important to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with our colleagues back home. It is terrible to see the world as we know falling apart around us, and even though Costa Rica is not (yet) affected, it is probably just a question of time. UDI is urging all Norwegian citizens abroad to come home and we are in addition urged and wanted by our employers.

So with this, our family adventure and our dreams come to an end here, for now…

I´ve got 5 more posts already in the making with adventures from the past weeks, and will post them, because this blog was originally intended primarily for us to remember our wonderful family adventures, in addition to keep our loved ones up to date. But it is with a heavy, and a little bit broken heart I post them now.

We are so grateful for the time we got here together as a family and all the wonderful adventures we got to take part in. The memories will stay with us in our hearts forever, and has made an immensely positive change and good impact on our lives. The positive side is that now we get to see all our loved ones and our dear Sandie again.

I end this post with words from my favorite musical of all times (when the main character Maria is in great despair):

“When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window…”

PURA VIDA

The next main destination for Sirkussaeter after leaving Playa Negra 21st of February was Funky Monkey lodge, Santa Theresa (Thanks for the tip, Calle). Since it was a fair drive from our current location (google maps suggested 4 hrs), we thought taking a 2 day stop along the way was a good idea. But even though there is a scenic Oceanview route, it doesn’t mean its doable by car, so we worked our way around(see maps below) and made a stop at Hotel Leyenda “half” way, which ended up lengthening the trip a fair amount, as we had to backtrack 1/3 of the way after the 2 day stop.. Oh well, at least we got to see even more of this beautiful country!

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Anyway, despite it being a longer drive, the 2 day stay at Hotel Leyenda in Puerto Camarrillo was nice. We got to test the car on more dirt roads with steep in- and declines (not knowing that that was going to get us ready for the unknown roadchallenges that lay ahead…).

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Puerto Camarrillo – Nice swimming and boogie boarding in the waves on Playa Camarrillo, one of the long stretches of beach in Puerto Camarrillo. Enjoying beachside pipa fria (coconut water served from a freshly opened, chilled coconut with straw) and a delicious ceviche meal again IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE up in the hills of Puerto Camarrillo. We went to a renowned surfbeach/nature reserve beach (also located in the middle of NOWHERE), Playa Silvestre Camaronal, with hatched Turtle nests and stunning views. Erik played in the waves with his surfboard for a while (and to this day he claims that this beach is the one with #1 waves). Not a beach good to swim/bodyboard on due to the size of the waves, rip current and waves breaking fairly close to the pebbled beachshore, but cool to watch Erik mastering the waves and just take in the breathtaking scenery around with the nice ocean breeze in the (continuous and lovely) 35 degree celsius weather.

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Hotel Leyenda (21 st-23rd of February) is also located in kind of a remote place , however, of course the little hill-village has a world class Argentinian restaurant, “El Colibri”, where we enjoyed our until now best carnivorous meal, and of course overate! (on this trip fish and vegetables have been our main food source, which is good for us, but there’s nothing like a good beef once in a while).

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Pack&travel – Many people that we befriended along the way ask “So, how do you pack for a 6 month travel?” The answer isn’t straight forward, and we must admit that 2 FTB (full to busting) bags are left at Uncle Inigo and Auntie Marians place in Ft Lauderdale to be sent home… Learn as you go I guess.. Now we have 3 big Northface bags and 4 rucksacks, which covers most of what we need for all places we go. When traveling for a longer period of time, short term stays in hotels can feel more stressful than relaxing, and also puts a strain on the family spirit. You need to organize your packing (I mean; I organize the packing, Erik carries everything in and out of the car with the kids help) according to what you need at the certain place you’re staying; Snorkelling gear&swimwear? Rain coats? Mosquitonets for the beds? Trousers and long sleeves or shorts and t-shirts? Flop-flops or closed-toe shoes? Washing clothes in the bathroom sink is a must, and a piece of thin rope found somewhere along the route of our travels works as a dryingline. We’ve stocked up on rubber-covered metal clothespegs, a wine opener and luckily our own “bob the builder” (my dad), hooked Erik up with a Leatherman for xmas, which has been in good use the whole way. And of course mum&dad stacked us with colourcoded vacuum clothes bags (according to the color of our rucksacks), electric toothbrushes (all the same, therefore all named) and headlamps (a must here where it gets pitch black at 6 pm and there are poisonous serpents to step on…). Lets not forget all our computer devices for homework and medical studies with all the chargingcables and adapters needed, the kids schoolbooks, card games (svarteper has been a huge winner – thank you Farmor!) and a medical survival pack. Wet packs, watershoes and yoga mat are a must too! And luckily I have a dear friend that knows me(us) so well by now, that she sent with us a little survival pack of her own, that has come in real handy: earplugs (already use on the first plane ride with a howling baby in front and 15 hrs to go..), waterproof cards(perfect for humid conditions as well as sailboating), foldable shopping bag, band aids(yes we are doctors so yes we packed adrenalin and the works, but no we didn’t think of bringing band aids, and yet yes, we have almost used up these ones..), Norwegian chocolate bars (that are being carefully distributed, we still have 3 left), book for memories and so on – thank you, Mette!

Funky Monkey Lodge (23 rd of February – 3rd of March) – After a somewhat stressful, yet scenic, last leg on the trip to Santa Theresa, we arrived in the surf village of Santa Theresa and to Funky Monkey Lodge, our home for the following 9 days. This is a chill place situated up along the hillside from the main street of Santa Theresa with really nice people, on site dogs & cats (to the kids joy) and delicious breakfasts(Acai/smoothie bowls, Gallo Pinto, omelets, breakfast burritos). Sushinights Wednesdays and Saturdays add to the healthy feeling. Of course they offer yoga and artesian silk classes as well as bodywork-out on the pavilion, surf lessons with Nacho and SUP-yoga in the mornings/at sunset. Photocred to @elianamartinezphotos for beautiful pics of Mille&Noah from the photoshoot and surf photos of Noah and Erik from their 6am surf lessons!

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Santa Theresa is a more busy place than Playa Negra, and it took some time to get into the more busy way of living again(=more sounds, more traffic and more people around). Erik suffered another round of cuts and bruises surfing, and had a(n agonizing few days) time-out from surfing, but the days flew by with swimming in the sea, hiking up the incredible steep trails of Montezuma waterfalls, good dining and relaxation by the pool. The Main Streets hustel&bustel with numerous restaurants, dogs and monkeys all around and people transporting surfboards (longboards and shorter trickboards) alongside or more often straddled across (!) ATVs or their motorcycles on a road where 2 cars can barely pass each other. There are trucks and cars speeding along and whole families(=mother, father, a couple of kids and a dog) crammed on a moped or an ATV. Having worked so many years in a trauma hospital, it makes my stomach flip several times during one day, but then I realize, this is how things are here, and it often goes well – PURA VIDA!

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Surf lessons at 6 am – Noah and Erik with Nacho – and they were both caught on film by Eliana! photocred @elianamartinezphotos.

Montezuma Waterfalls – a spectacular hike!

Because of the natural geography of the Nicoya peninsula, the rainwater that falls naturally flows toward the Montezuma side, that again leads to the presence of many waterfalls with water in them year around. All rivers in Costa Rica are considered public if they have water in them year round. At the Montezuma falls (3 separate falls) there are swim holes, ropes to swing you out in to the water or you can even cliff dive (into the lowermost and uppermost one). People do die there, due to falling off the slippery cliffs on to the rocks at the bottom and so on, so unless you’re confident of the depth at any place or ascend with great caution, its best to just enjoy a nice and cooling swim and watch the local boys who grew up here entertain with daring jumps and dives. There are some things to be ware of, though: flash floods! If a heavy rainfall occurs upriver and the water in the fall turns brown, you need to exit immediately! A 20 minute walk up the riverside took us to the lowermost waterfall, with the reward of enjoying a nice, cooling swim (the water felt cold, but truth to be told it was probably the same temperature as on a supernice summer day mid-august in Norway. Its just that the air temp is a roaring 35 degrees here, so everything below bathwatertemp feels cold 🙂 A steep climb holding on to roots and ropes, followed by a less steep incline through the jungle with the grand finale of straight downward rapel lead us to waterfall 2+3 (nerve-racking for mum to see Mille and Noah go down that last stretch). Mille, Noah and I jumped off the cliffs here, Erik in swimming-quaranteen due to the surfboard cut on the forehead remained on the dry side of the cliffs and served as a photographer eternalizing the trio jumping on film…

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Sunsets at Playa Santa Theresa – Sunsets are – as always here in Costa Rica – breathtaking! And again the green glimpse as the sun plunged down behind the horizon appeared!

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Playa Suecos – The Swedish beach. At low tide, large natural pools ideal for snorkeling appear amongst the volcanic rock/corals offering body temperature water.

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“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard“.

-Winnie the Pooh-

A dedication is in place – Last week one of my favorite artists in the world passed away, only 70 yrs old. He was Norwegian, he was short statured, but nonetheless full of life and definitely one of a kind. Unfortunately I never got to experience him live in concert, but I’ve always loved his music and lyrics, something that with ease has been passed down to Mille. Going down to our summerhouse in Portør Norway, we always listen to his songs. So this next post I will honour him in my own way, coupling some of my favorite song titles of his to our travel experiences. So this to Norways entertainer number 1 (who passed down the offer of being part of Genesis!) – Jahn Teigen – ingen over , ingen ved siden! Its not important to be like everybody else – be yourself, trust yourself, believe in yourself, live your dream, embrace life, it costs a lot but it pays off in the end – the best time of your life is NOW! Lines, wrinkles, bumps and scars are just a signature of a life well lived!

This year we as a family decided to make a huge change in our lives, to do something different and not be like everyone else. We are fortunate to have this opportunity, I am so grateful that Mille and Noah trusted Eriks and my decision of just ripping up the roots from everything safe and well known, and set out together on this adventure of a lifetime. It has given the 4 of us a lot of time to wonder about life, about what is important and not so important and most of all it has given us what most of us do have too little of; quality time together as a family with all its ups and downs. Its not always easy to go against the flow and be different, and its frightening to jump into the unknown! But we are loving every second of this adventure while at the same time missing all our loved ones – friends and family, and especially Sandie – back home. I guess there is a truth to the saying “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

“MIL ETTER MIL”(“Mile after mile”) – You might think Costa Rica is a small country, and numberwise it doesn´t supersede Norway with 4,5 million compared to our 6 million. but the stretches of road needed to travel to get from place to place is unbelievable! And the roads vary from rocks and cravices with small roadside restaurants and fruit stands to vast jungle to smooth asphalt for miles and miles either beachside or in the jungle. And if the hotel/airbnb/lodge/guidebook to different sightseeings says you need a 4×4 to get to their location, YOU NEED A 4X4!!!

And how totally in need we were of a 4×4 we were very soon to experience: – going through deep riverbeds on the way to the Montezuma waterfall. – going over the long and unbelievable dirtroadstretch from Hotel Leyenda in Puerto Carrillo to Santa Theresa. – going up the road to the zip lines in Arenal – and last but not least; getting up the Kitzbuehl-steep road to the stunning airbnb house “Morpho” we are renting in Uvita(to put it this way: today we have made a shopping list the length of my arm so we don’t need to go down and up the road again the next 9 days…).

Pictures of steep hills and plunging mountainsides that drop off the side of the road don’t really show in pictures, but even so I had to take the pictures to remember myself. As you can see some of the dirt roads are more orange/red, and in the rainy season this turns in to mud, and the cars just slide around, and you apparently have the same effect as water-planing on the mud… Thank goodness we are here in dry-season and therefore have not had the doubted pleasure of experiencing that! And in addition the riverbeds aren’t as deep now as in rainy season….And if I tell you they drive with bikes as well as American sized trucks on these roads, and these actually try to bypass each other uphill or downhill or around beds with the dust flying and blocking the view, you’ll probably think Im just exaggerating to make the story better, but in fact I’m just stating a fact. Thank goodness the passenger side of our car doesn’t have an extra break-pedal, because it would definitely be used super frequently (I do break all the time, but there is only the car floor to push)- and probably not only when needed- to Eriks huge annoyance!

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OPTIMIST, jeg vet det går bra til sist – back to the story about the rental-car… well, as we now know (and are utterly grateful for), Europcar Mexico finally did realize the knickers-in-twist we were stuck in at our arrival at Playa Negra, Santa Cruz, Guancaste with the wrong car, a Suzuki Ertiga (7 seater W/ 1 L engine and low set wheels), helped us! It took quite a lot of desperate emails/whatsapp msg / Skype-calls to fix it, but the result is that we LOVE our brand new Hyunday Tucson, bright white colour, with A/C an actual 4WD and easy connection with smartphone so that we can use Waze (the google map equivalent used here)! They even threw in a roof rack for Eriks surfboard and an extra week of use due to the inconvenience! What a lucky gang we are! Så lenge jeg lever her, er jeg en OPTIMIST!

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ADIEU…

Pura vida – The Costa Rican lifestyle!

Simply translated it means “simple life” or “pure life”. But in Costa Rica it is more than just a saying – its a way of life! Costa Ricans (Ticos) use this term to say hello, to say goodbye, to say everything´s great, to say everything´s cool! Costa Rica has been named one of the happiest countries in the world, mostly because its inhabitants don’t stress about things most foreigners do. They have a very relaxed, simple way of looking at life. No worries, no fuss, no stress – Pura Vida -be thankful for what you have and not dwell on the negative! Pura Vida – it´s an emotion, it´s an attitude, its happiness and its a way of life! No wonder Costa Ricans live long lives!

Landing at the airport in San Jose, Costa Ricas capital, we were taken to the Europcar office to pick up the 4WD we had rented (or as it said in the contract “Rav4 or similar”)… We ended up with a brand new, 7 seater, 1l Suzuki Ertiga, low set with really small tires – supposedly a 4WD(well, it had 4 wheels, and all of them were rolling round and round, but even to my limited car knowledge, this does not own up to a 4WD status). The grownups being overheated, the children hungry and cranky, we decided to give the car a go, despite knowing from research in advance what we really were going to need was a 4WD.. The traveltime ahead was 4-5 hrs in the pitch-black Costa Rican evening/night going out of San Jose at rush hour. To be able to pass other cars/bikes/motorbikes, we needed downhills and everyone in the car leaning fwd, to sum up in short (and definitely to be continued later…).

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However, we got to Playa Negra in the Guancaste province, Santa Cruz alive, and were able to settle into our hotel – our own bungalow with thatched roof, squeaking geckos inside and roaring monkeys in the distance – our own spot of heaven for the following 2 weeks!

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Playa Negra is home to surf breaks known worldwide(since being featured in Bruce Browns “endless summer II”). By many surfers its considered to be one of the top surf spots in Costa Rica. It has a rock reef bottom, and with good righthand barrels and a well defined channel for paddling out. A good tip is to check out the tide before you plan on going out, as high tide changes by a fair amount of time day by day! Theres a strong rip current that takes the surfers back through the impact zone. The 2012 Costa Rican earthquake lifted up the entire plate which caused the wave to have better form on higher tides in combination with smaller swells. The spot is definitely not for beginners – you need to know your rocks and the tide… Besides, its the local surfguys/chicks spot, so you don’t just show up and mess up their ride…. Which Erik of course had no clue about before going out the first day, when he got smacked in the face by his own surfboard and told by a local guy that he should probably head back in….

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Well; “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!” And so it went – with some local advice, a little practice at “kinder”, neighbouring Sandy Beach, Erik waited for the weekdays with less people in the sea so he got to catch a fair amount of really good waves on Playa Negra beach, rode in to shore and didn’t get injured by rocks or get in the way of the other surfers – him being thrilled to bits because of catching good waves, me just glad he was still alive and kicking(and of course happy for his wave conquering)! Sandy beach offers great body/boogieboardsurfing, so that’s how Noah, Mille and I spent our days. The last few days, however, Noah got on the board, and got Eriks knickers in a bit of a twist, when he mastered the wave surfing most elegantly almost right away….

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Costa Rica has so much to offer – beautiful smiling friendly people, slow pace, nice food, GREAT STRONG COFFEE, wildlife beyond your imagination. Everyone has beautiful and friendly dogs and cats that come and sneak cuddles(meaning all my frightening the children in advance with “no petting animals allowed – remember rabies vaccines doesn’t mean you’re completely safe” rapidly crumbled away as they befriended tenfolds of dogs and cats on the beach, the beach visitors dogs, the dogs and cats in every restaurant we went to and the dogs and cats that live at the hotel-owners pets and guests pets!). If you try the little Spanish that you know when talking to the Ticos, well then you receive a great big smile in return. A cat called “Tequila” sort of moved to stay by our Bungalow while we were there, living outside- (and a littlebit inside) – our entire stay. (The last night we did understand why the cat kept following the kids around when Erik got the scraps of Doritos left by the kids out, the cat came shooting out of nowhere to join in our little doritofeast). At night our own house skunk came out to hunt – being more than mildly fascinated (Ive never seen a real skunk anywhere but in Donald Duck comic books) I tried several times to take his picture, but he was shy, and then rude and turned his bottom at me, at which point I seemed to remember that that’s their “lock and load” positioning…

Wild life: Iguanas crawl around us in all sizes, shapes and colors. They sometimes sit and nod their heads, as if just re-confirming that “yes, you are in fact in paradise”, and Wild horses run on the beach whilst pelicans hunt along the crashing waves.

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Footprints in the sand have always fascinated me, how they in perfectly constituted sand make a perfect print of the foot just in the next moment to be washed away. However, even more fascinating, are perfect horse hoof prints in the sand, next to a little boys footprints.

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Ceviche, fresh fruits and juices are served everywhere – on the side of the road (small roads or motorway alike), in nice little hidden away beach shacks and in hotels of high end restaurants. And its actually in the little beachside-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-shacks we’ve had the best fish ceviche we ever tasted! (haven’t tried the roadside ceviche-in-a-plastic-bag yet, but we do have a fair amount of Costa Rican road to cover before we go on, so there’s plenty of chance still)!

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Playa Negra hotell deserves a little space of their own here. The owner, Lito, is a friendly very likable man who checks up on all his guests every day to see if there’s anything he can do to make their stay better. He has lunch and dinner in the hotel restaurant with his family and is a huge Real Madrid fan. So of course with soccer being the common denominator, he and Noah got along very well. Noah wanted to play soccer, and since his ball went missing in Miami, he was wondering if Lito had one in the hotel. He didn’t, but as a soccer fan, he wouldn’t be known as the hotel without a soccer ball, so the next morning that was fixed :O) The hotel grounds are spread out bungalows, small and a little bigger ones (without and with A/C). The space around the bungalows is big enough so even though the hotell might be fully booked, it doesn’t feel crowded at all. Nice food, roomcleaning every day, inside bathroom with shower, outside bamboo shower and short walk or drive to several good eating spots, beaches and 20 minute drive to the closest bigger town (Tamarindo).

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Playa negra is a great place to wave surf, boogie board and bodysurf, or just swim and play in the waves. The black sand (volcanic grounds) becomes burning hot like nowhere else in the day, so flip-flop or fast running down to the sea are a must. Playing in the pool or doing yoga is also great here. Yoga down by the sea on a pavilion of the hotel with the light seabreeze kissing your cheek is just a magnificent experience, the yoga teacher John will ask you at the beginning of the class “so, how do you feel today, do you feel like working in, or do you feel like working out” – and then customize the class from there. Other gorgeous beaches are a (very bumpy, maybe through riverbeds) car ride away, so you can check out different waves(Playa Junquillal – endless stretches of beach with hardly anyone else, playa Avellana with Lolas restaurant where you get Costa Ricas best French fries and so on).

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Making new friends –

Noah is a good mix of his two parents; his talkativeness is probably inherited down from his mothers side of the family and his socialization skills most probably from his dad. This is apparently a good combo when you add a big smile, English language and an American football in a pool. This is how we (well actually Noah) met Jeff and Ray from California. They saw Noah in the pool with his American football and started talking. It being a short time since Super bowl, the conversation naturally turned that way, and Noah couldn´t resist telling the two guys about his dads agony with not having been able to go see the Super Bowl at the stadium when he actually was in Miami. To make a long story short; turns out that Jeff is a former pro football player, and that he’s played for 2 different teams in 2 Super Bowls. Noah was completely starstruck. And it didn’t end there. We were invited out with Jeff, his Lorri and his friend Ray to dinner, and Noah got a signed team photo from Jeff from the Super Bowl final, Washington Redskins vs Miami dolphins 1972 and next day got to try on his super bowl ring! The two of them wandered off at the bbq the next night to play bongo drums with some locals, turns out Jeff is also a musician! With the curfew and quiet-time being 9pm at playa negra hotel, we (Lorri and I) had to wrench the two boys away from the gathering to get them to bed 🙂 Jeffs ancestors are from Norway, so connections are made, and hopefully we’ll see them in Norway already this coming summer! We got a few more days with Ray before we had to leave, and we`re hoping that he will join in on the Vikingtravels this summer too!

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Sunset-seekers paradise:

At sunset, at the last minute, the sun just seems to plunge down in the horizon. Hear-say has it that there is a green flash on the horizon as the sun disappears – and its true, I actually saw it myself, just as the sun dips below the horizon (probably a scientific explanation for it, but nonetheless cool). People from all around come to Playa Negra to watch the sunset and hang/surf/drink beers so the beach really fills up. Same people every day, no two sunsets being the same.

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Cake hat challenge:

On Christmas Eve, Auntie Zoe gave Mille and me a swim-hat with a christmascake print, with a challenge to take a picture with it on at every swim location. People do give us some strange looks, but we don’t really worry about that since both xmas trees and blinking decorations are still up all around the Caribbean! Thank you, GAZ – this challenge is really a fun one, and the hat is carried with us everywhere we go 🙂

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So, in between all the adventures there is always time to study medical articles, read books, being headmaster of “the travelling Sirkussaeter School of excellence”, or simply enjoying and appreciating life in a hammock gently rocked by the Pacific Ocean breeze –

PURA VIDA !

Miami; take 2(February 2nd-7th): Upon our arrival at terminal 5 at the cruise pier in Miami Feb. 2nd, having survived the Jamaica earthquake and luckily no following tsunami wave, Inigo picked us up and we went to pick up our car for the coming week, a smooth Ford Camaro convertible!

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Superbowl Feb. 2nd 2020 @ Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL; Kansas City chiefs vs San Francisco 49ers:

Well, needless to tell you, Erik of course wasn’t really going to settle for watching the Superbowl on TV: No, he was IN Miami, on the ACTUAL day of Superbowl, anything other than watching the game from the BLEACHERS @ Hard Rock Stadium was NOT an option, or at least that was until he found the ticket price starting at 4000 USD a piece… At this instant the old Seinfeld episode came to (my) mind: “When you’re on an airplane sitting in coach, they always have the stewardess close that stupid first class curtain, you know? They give you a look like: Maybe if you had worked a little harder..I wouldn’t have to do this…“

So, we ended up seeing the game on TV, invited to Marian and Nicks friends Os&Kathryns house. And it was superb! I mean, what’s there not to like? Friends getting together to watch the game, delicious food and beer and cookiecake, the coolest half time show with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez – and some of us even got to go out and celebrate into the early hours at the nightclub @ Hard Rock Hotel! The youngsters brought old Mama (me) out on the town, Mare&Lex served twerking that was up there with Shakiras&Jennifers – it was a blast!!!! And of course we had to swing by the casino @Hard Rock hotel before leaving for home@4am…

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Feb. 3rd: Miami South beach and followed by an NBA game:

Miami South Beach – well, you need to go there and see for yourself! I mean, people are walking around with hardly any clothes on, or just see-through pants & tops, superluxurycars are the rule, the regular cars the exception, and you bump into celebrities here, there and everywhere on the Miami strip(we oldies, E and I, didn’t really know the ones we saw, but Inigo could fill us in).

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Miami Heat vs Philadelphia 76ers in 14th row seats-our first NBA game ever! Rush-hour in Miami is not like rush-hour getting from Oslo to Eiksmarka… But in America they are blessed with valet parking everywhere, including American Airlines stadium downtown Miami, which meant we had time to get through the official Miami Heat store to get Heat-shirts, foamfingers, put on facepaint and get hotdogs, popcorn&sodas/beer in time for the pre-game performance with the dancers. Marian hooked hair extensions on Mille in the car on the way to the game (Mille biggest wish was to get the same length hair as Marian, which was then accomplished)! With all 6 satisfied with game-effects, food and drinks, all we had to do was cheer like mad – and so we did! Noah did such a good cheering job that he actually got on the big arena screens and national TV twice!!! So cool! And Miami heat won the basketball game by mind-blowing 137 to 106! What a blast!

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“Alligator, alligator – eat´em up, eat ´em up!” – Everglades was about a 1,5 hr drive from Ft.Lauderdale, and on the way there we ended up in the middle of a FBI search due to a grotesque murdercase in the area. It was really creepy with 10 folds of policecars by the side of the roads for miles and miles with FBI agents, Sheriffs and police officers in bulletproof vests searching the brush and channels on the roadside with sticks (in case of encounters with Alligators or python snakes). Reaching Wootens Everglade airboat tours spot, we spotted an alligator in the channel right next to us. (only later, at the alligator show following the airboat tour, were we told that the gators can jump 5 ft out of the water and up…). Carl, the airboat guide loaded a bunch of about 12 of us on the boat. The airboat has no keel, its bottom is completely flat, and the way it`s pushed forward is by a giant fan on the back that doesn’t touch the water. That way it`s not harmfull to any of the animals in the swamps, but it was really noisy, so wearing headphones were a must. Carl took us full speed sliding through the swamps with its twists and turns(and to those of you who know boats and are already thinking, well, what if the boat flips when he does a sudden 90 degree turn and hits a sandbank? we thought about that too…). Luckily that did not happen, Carl the gator guide got us safely though somewhat wet around the swamps and showed us the big gators and told us lots about the area.

When I thought about the swamps before we got there, I thought of big open areas with muddy waters and grasslands. When we got there, and were taken around in the swamps, we were driving around in muddy waters but were surrounded by red mangroves! When the huge highways were built years ago, they channeled the freshwater into dikes alongside the roads, and this led to drainage of the freshwater that used to be in the swamp area, in the grasslands of the Everglades. In the high tide season, saltwater would come and mix with the freshwater – making it brackish. However, when the freshwater was led away, the saltwater took over, red mangrove seeds were taken inn by the tide, and settled and started taking over the grasslands. And mangroves are protected by law, so you cannot take them down. With the mangroves the habitat has completely changed, because they make the water even salter due to their inbuilt filter function(the mangroves filter the salt out of the water that they drink, and the remains of the salt that comes into the tree it filters out through a few of their leaves that they simply drop to get rid of the salt). The grass of the grasslands can’t survive these salty waters, the Alligators need some freshwater to drink, so the ecosystem has dramatically changed and the grass is almost gone (except for a small area that you can see in the panoramic picture). Mangroves are protected by law, and for a good reason in most places. The mangroves in Everglades (and everywhere else) also had a really important function during the hurricanes because they do block the huge waves somewhat, and without them the area would be completely wiped out. Funny how nature can be so diverse and difficult and at the same time save us! In Bonaire, the mangroves serves as the nursery for the baby fish, turtles and so on, and also as a protection against tsunami waves and storms, whilst in the Everglades the mangroves have taken over and are not really wanted. So what they are going to do now is to try to channel the freshwater back to the swamps to restore the ecosystem as it was. The other interesting thing Carl told us, was that the Alligators – due to human interference – now have a competitor for food: The python snake! The python is introduced by humans into the the swamps (people who have had them at home and then released them into the wild), it didn’t use to be there. And the snakes are reproducing so fast, that there is a handful of people including Carl, who have hunting licenses for these, and kill them. Pretty awesome to think about being killed by either a python og an Alligator when you`re in a boat without a keel going full speed and doing 90 degree turns and the boat flips…. We made it safely back to the dock, swamped in swamp water, and a little wiser in respect of the Everglades and its diversity.

Need – to – know – facts upon an unexpected encounter with an Alligator:

It can run at a speed of 10-15miles/hr, swim at a speed of 10-12miles pr hour and your best bet to survive if chased by one is climb a tree or something other tall. And don’t run in a zigzag pattern, cause the gators eyes are on the side of the head, so he will then be able to see you and outrun you, but if you run in a straight line he might not see you and you might make it up into a tree! The alligator bite has a pressure of about 1,5 tons…. so there’s hardly any chance to wiggle your way out of their bite…. AND they can hold their breath for 2 hrs under water and their epiglottis shuts, so they easily drown their pray without drowning themselves… Mille and Noah got to hold a baby alligator, and when at that size, they are actually cute – ish.

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Key West: Key lime pie&conch fritters, Hemingways house, Southernmost point feb 5th-6th:The drive down to Key West from Miami took a good 4 hrs, but my, it was worth it! In less than 24hrs we rushed through what we thought was worth seeing in those hrs; the sunset with all the jugglers @ Mallory square where the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean meet. We had conch fritters and Key Lime pie @ Turtle Kraals by the marina, ate breakfast in a small French bakery in old town in one of the old wood houses, travelled down Duvall street to take in all the houses and sights, went to the southernmost point and saw the southernmost house and of course we stopped by Hemingways house. It is now home to appx 40-50 polydactyl (six toed) cats, one of which you can see in the pictures below. Hemingway was given a white six-toed cat by a ships captain, and some of the cats that live here now are descendants of that original cat named Snow White. The cats are taken care of by a trust, and live and wander around on the premises. Hemingway also installed the first private swimming pool in Key West. But Key West has so much more to offer, we definitely will have to come back here.. Had someone offered me a house in the old town, I´d move here in a heartbeat.

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Thank you ever so much, aunt Marian and uncle Inigo for the best week ever staying with you – we loved every second of it, thank you for all of it, you’re the best! And as you well know, Mille and Noah were more than prepared to exchange living with us to come live with the two of you instead – their new Hero and Heroinne!

We love you – hope to see you very soon in Norway!

Cruise without bruise – Cruising isn’t for beginners, you actually need a coach and hands on training in advance not to faceplant in the cruise boat jungle of diamonds and taxfree jewelry deals, raffles of all kinds, pool karaoke/disco in daytime, crowning the worlds sexiest man (on the ship…), spa and hair appointments, attending the family party at the board walk with carousels, rides of slides and ziplines, basketballcourt, minigolf, boogieboarding, surfboarding, casino/blackjack tournaments, outdoor cinemas, outdoor entertainment, Cats-the musical in the ships royal theatre or simply a stroll through the ships own Central Park……. and not to forget to mention getting the right drink packets the first day!

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The cruise went from Miami via Haiti to Falmouth (Jamaica), Cozumel (Mexico) and back to Miami. We (Erik&I..) spent the first 3 days adjusting to being cooped up together with so many people, feeling like being on a Granca trip by the pool, not being able to leave the “cruise villages” in port without paying a tremendous amount of money just to go snorkeling and so on… Well, it being the 4 of us against the world, we regrouped, and emerged stronger and mentally equipped for the rest of the cruise, booking theatre events aboard the ship, outdoor cinemas and actually STAYING ON THE SHIP when we came to port and the other 6000 people left -oh bliss! we were the only 4 people racing against each other on the supercool waterslides, no queues and best of all: quiet Caribbeanness in nice cabanas!

You need to learn how to cruise, and with us being used to make our own plan for excursions, this was a big change. Mille and Noah loved every minute of the cruise(except for the day 2 cruisemeltdown of their parents) – the thing is; you need to find your inner child and just GO for it, and then you need to leave your Scandinavian shyness at the port of embarkment and change into more of a playful and outgoing American – and you’ll have a blast! The last 5 days we had lots of fun. When we were on Bonaire, we started playing a game and the winner of each game got a “knips-bli blid” (“I snap my fingers and you instantly have to be in a good mood”) against the loser(in courtesy of two of Eriks friends and classmates from medschool, Nora and Georg). Every win/loss was written down in our Memorybook (in courtesy of Mette), for using whenever needed. Day 2 and 3 on the cruise we got some good use out of it!

We overslept on the morning we arrived back in Miami due to 1 hr time change overnight but had 15 mins to get off the ship and made it back to the safe haven of Inigos car.

Funny thing, though, as I started writing this post yesterday(feb.10th), the Norwegian newspaper VG just posted “Unngå disse cruisetabbene” (“How to avoid mistakes on a cruise”) – well, they could have saved themselves time and money, with a link here…. Or, they could have posted it 2 weeks ago, and we wouldn’t have been the cruiserookies we were…