San Gerrardo....

We explored the southern most town in our area last week, San Gerrardo. It took us three and a half hours to get there. The last 12 km were all in low gear (in and out) because of the steep decent into a cloud forest river valley where the settlement is. Pretty much every where we go is like driving in Jerome only on potholed pavement or rocky gravel. San Gerrardo is world famous with the serious bird watching folks. The most popular bird is the Quetzal but there are tons of other gorgeous birds to see. There are lots of humming birds in all sizes and colors. We were in awe of the beautiful views, so green and lush. We used to think that Hawaii had some of the most beautiful sights but we now think that Costa Rica is challenging our previous opinion.We stopped to look at some of the lodges. Each one of them was unique and had beautiful landscaping. If you look close, you can see hundreds of trout in the pond......We stopped for lunch and ordered fish plates. We assumed that the fish would be fresh but little did we know just how fresh. We placed our orders and noticed the owner walk in with a fish that he had just caught from the river in back of his property. They cooked it up and Mike had it on his plate in minutes. Very tasty! We later learned that Mario, the owner, supplies trout for restaurants all over Costa Rica. He also told us that when people order fish, he goes outside and gets a fish from the ponds with his net. Now, that is fresh!This is Mike and Mario, the owner. He is married to a woman from Canada and they have a nice cafe and bakery.