We left our hotel in San Jose, heading west for Zoo Ave, a wildlife rescue center. At this facility, injured birds and other wildlife are rehabilitated so that they can be released back into the wild. The animals are caged, but the cages are not like those in zoos from my youth. The cages are huge, each containing not only the animals being rehabilitated, but lots of trees and plants of all kinds in which the animals could play and explore. The temperature was perfect at about 80 degrees, and there were no  insects of any kind.

I hope the animals find staying at the rehab facility as peaceful as we found walking through  it. It was fun to see that uncaged animals were often atop the cages, showing interest in animals of the same species as themselves, and especially, in their food.

Later, we headed north, to Sarchi, stopping at a facility where artisans were working on colorful oxcarts. The oxcarts reminded us of Italian donkey carts. Our family legend is that Nick’s grandfather was transported in a donkey cart from his home town in Calabria to Naples at the age of eight,  where he boarded the ship for America.

Leaving Sarchi the temperature rose as we continued going north to Fortuna. Our guide, Cinthia, was very excited about the hotel at which we would be staying. She explained that Caravan uses four hotels in Fortuna, and the one to which we were going, Arenal Springs, was the nicest. Our hotel  consisted of sets of  lovely semi-attached “bungalows.” I guess a combination of excitement and heat and exhaustion set in, because after a very early dinner, we fell asleep at 7 P.M. We awoke at 1 AM. Nick decided to use the Internet in the lobby, and I read my book (The Story of a New Name), absorbing my surroundings.

We walked about 7,000 steps that day.