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| Tom before his haircut on Friday. |
“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”
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| Yesterday, this pair of Inca Doves landed on the veranda railing and posed for our liking. These pretty birds mate for life and spending considerable time preening one another’s gorgeous feathers that appear to be small scales. |
Tom often calculates when he’ll need his next haircut based on the date of the following cruise rather than the length of his hair. It makes me laugh. Of course, he prefers to look “tidy” when we are around other people. In the same way, I always do my nails and pedicure before cruising.
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| He was seated in a chair moments after we arrived. |
In this particular case, with slightly over six weeks until we board the ship, his timing may have been off slightly. He won’t need another haircut for another three months. His haircut in Costa Rica was a paltry US $6.97 (CRC 4000), including a 25% tip.
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| In Spanish, we explained what number adapter to use on the electric clippers. |
As we’ve traveled the world over this past five years (anniversary upcoming on October 31st), we’ve found his haircut appointment to be a thing of great amusement for us anyway. From his first haircut in Placencia Belize in early 2013, where he sat under a tree, as shown in the photo below:
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| In Placencia Belize, the barbershop was outdoors when Tom had his first haircut outside the US in 2013. The cost of this haircut was US $12.50 (CRC 7172). See the full story here. |
Another haircut we easily recall was in November 2015 in Savusavu, Fiji, as shown in this photo below, including the cost:
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| In Savusavu Fiji, Tom explained his haircut preference to Kumar, who listened intently to ensure he got it right. The cost of this haircut excluding the tip was US $1.85 (CRC 1061.41), but Tom added an almost 50% tip at US $.93 (CRC 533.59) for a total of US $2.78 (CRC 1505). Tipping is not expected or required in Fiji, but Kumar was thrilled over the tiny tip. Click here for this post. |
From time to time, I look down at my toes and long for a professional pedicure. However, I’ve found bending and stretching to do my own is not only cost-effective but also good for one’s flexibility. Hopefully, I’ll be able to continue to do my own pedicures for a very long time.
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| The stylist used scissors to fine-tune the cut. |
While in Kauai, Hawaii, in 2015, I tried cutting Tom’s hair with the electric trimmer, but he wasn’t thrilled with the result. We laughed through the entire process, which undoubtedly contributed to my not-so-steady hand. I’m good at cutting my own hair but not so much for him. Based on the low cost in most countries, it makes no sense for him to have a botched job like my feeble attempt.
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| In no time at all, he was done, happy with the result. She used a #6 adapter. |
Yesterday, for the first time in many days, we could get some sun and tentatively use the pool. When there’s a power outage, the timer for the pool shuts off and comes back on when the power is restored. In this case, it was off for ten hours resulting in the most ice-cold pool we’ve ever used.
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| There was a steady stream of customers while we were there. |
Tom dove into the pool while I walked in. The ice-cold water was too much for him, and he got out immediately. I walked in staying for only five minutes when a cloud cover made me shiver all the more. A short time later, Marian showed up with the maintenance guy, Julio, who reset the pool’s heating system so it would run during the day.
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| The salon is Aberto Pase Adelante, located next door to the Macrobiotica (health food) store. It’s owned by a Columbian family, many of whom work on-site. |
Marian was here to go over some maintenance with Julio and to inspect the tree trimming process. It’s always amazing to us to the high-level maintenance for this lovely property to keep it in pristine condition. We don’t have a complaint in the world.
We hope you have a complaint-free day!
Photo from one year ago today, October 8, 2016:
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| While in Sumbersari Bali, one year ago, at that point, we hadn’t seen such flooding since we lived in Minnesota many moons ago. We took this shot from the front of the villa. For more photos, please click here. |