If You Love Somebody, Bring Them to Paradise

I’m lonely in paradise.

Naively, I thought 3 months in Costa Rica would be like Hemingway’s ‘A Movable Feast’ or like any of the Beat Generation writers living in Mexico City or Morocco. Instead it was like ‘Walden’ by Henry David Thoreau.

I’ve spent an incredible amount of time alone in communication with nature. Often I awake at sunrise or moments before, and always, without fail, I make sure I am outside during sunset.

I’ve never been an outdoorsy person and yet I love Costa Rica’s countryside. Everything is so beautiful here, the mountains, the jungles and the sky, sometimes I swear when I look up, the clouds are perfect, perfect sizes and perfect shapes, during the day when they’re white and puffy and at sunset when they reflect gold and pink.

Strangely, I grew up in Florida drinking orange juice and ice tea and yet, the best ice tea and orange juice I’ve ever had is in Costa Rica. Their milk shakes are great, too as is their ice cream. Coffee here is potent and delicious and their chocolate rivals the best in the world.

Like the quest of the Transcendentalist, I’ve ‘found myself’ in this beauty and solitude. I’m happy, and see my life with a newfound clarity. I’ve accepted every aspect of my past, happy with my present and have renewed enthusiasm for my future.

While here, I’ve meditated, I’ve prayed and I’ve written a novel. I’ve also lost weight and genuinely look the best I’ve looked in years.

Life is transformative in Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa and whatever it is that you are seeking, you will find in its natural beauty and pace of life. And I want you to come here and have the same experiences I have in regards to ‘finding yourself’ and being one with the world around you. (If that’s what you’re seeking.) (You can come here if you simply want to relax and have good time, too.)

However, there’s something I’ve lacked down here that I don’t want anyone to suffer from. Lack of companionship. All this beauty would be enhanced if I was here with somebody I love.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a great time here and have enjoyed my solitude but there have been so many moments that would’ve romantic with the right company.

A few nights ago, we had a full moon that hung over the villa, just a few clouds in the sky, even the dark, stone-filled dirt roads that are generally black as midnight by 7, were now illuminated by grey light bright enough to not use my flashlight, a necessity in a part of the country where there are very few street lights and the jungle’s protected by the government.

It felt like I was walking through a black & white movie. You can see everything clearly but it’s all dark and grey.

Walking into the beautiful night I thought first of Erskine Caldwell who once wrote, “At night, I saw how beautiful the day could never be,” and I thought about love.

I would’ve done anything to share that night with somebody I love.

To share the sunsets, the sunrise, the perfect clouds, the coffee, the chocolate, the food, the nearby beaches, the waterfall, and the multiple swimming pools here in the villas, with somebody you love, would make my here as romantic as it would be perfect.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy and think this time here has been exactly what the doctor ordered and I know you can have the same great, enriched, transformative experience that I have.

However, you can do one better than me by simply bringing somebody with you whom you love. And loves you back. Be it a spouse or a lover.

Come here alone, -I’m having a great time, or bring somebody you love and hold hands while walking during the full moon and pretend you’re in a black and white movie and kiss. Lay in the fresh cut fields pointing out which cloud is most perfect, admire the other’s skin when the sun sets, and open the bedroom windows, pull the curtains aside and snuggle when the sun rises.

My name is Ezekiel Tyrus. I am the gatekeeper to paradise. Contact me. Come down here. You’ll have an amazing time. Bring somebody you love and make it romantic.

Meet Francisco and Oscar!!

Meet Francisco and Oscar!

Two of my favorite persons since coming to Costa Rica are Francisco, ‘Fran’ and Oscar. These two dudes work as the groundskeepers of Paradise, also known as Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa.

When you visit this place you’ll be struck how lush, green and beautiful the property is here with a well-trimmed yard and great trees. No trash, nor debris. Every morning Monday through Friday, these two arrive around day-break and get to work. Often, I’m up stargazing, admiring the Costa Rican sunrises, and whenever they see me, they always greet me a smiling “Buenos dias.’

Usually I end up brewing some coffee, always more than I need, inviting them inside whatever place I’m staying at for a cup, an offer they always accept.

Frequently when I eat at a restaurant, step into an office, a retail store or even watch network news, I think I can tell whether the co-workers get along. Can’t you?

Fran and Oscar aren’t related, I’ve asked but they might as well be family. Watching them work together is a pleasure because it’s clear they are very good friends who get along exceptionally well. They don’t speak a lot of English and my Spanish isn’t as good as it should be but the two are always talking and laughing, seemingly enjoying their work and they do a great job. The yards are beautiful and they always seem happy and in a good mood.

Fran is the older one and at 58 he’s in better physical shape than most men half his age. He took me and regularly takes other tourists on tours through the mountainside jungle to admire waterfalls, the whole time he’s leading the way cutting a path with a machete like a whip, his loyal dog Tito strutting behind him.

Some American gringo tourists recently nicknamed him the Latin Indiana Jones and it definitely fits right down to the hat he usually wears. Like that character, he is a ruggedly handsome guy, with his silver trimmed mustache like an Old School movie star in his winter years.

Oscar is the younger, probably in his late 30s, early 40s, I’ve never asked. He’s been known to take people on tours as well to see monkey’s that also live and howl nearby. An exceptional nice, friendly guy who also always seems to be smiling and laughing. Months ago, the water pump in the property broke, it has since gotten fixed but there was Oscar dropping off several gallons of bottled water for me. (Water got fixed before I used it all but it showed how much these guys cared.)

Fran is a neighbor and lives nearby with his wife but Oscar lives further away but not too far. Both men have arrived at night and on days off when I’ve needed something fixed or help for something or other.

Another reasons to adore these guys is the fact that both are dog lovers. They always arrive with several dogs in tow who have the time of their lives while their daddies work; running around the property, knocking each other over, playing, eating lunch with their daddies, napping in the shade.

Sometimes if I have my door open, the dogs come and hang out with me while I write. I love them. They each have several dogs but just like whenever you’ve got a smattering of dogs, there’s always a dominant one, both Fran and Oscar have an Alpha Dog.

Fran’s is a funny, silly, warm-hearted little brown boy scamp named Tito and Oscar’s is beautiful brown Labrador-sized older momma-queen dog named Monica. The other dogs, Milo and Kaiser are sweet and nice but definitely live to follow Tito and Monica who get along as well as Fran and Oscar do.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again, the happiest dogs in the world are in Costa RIca and Tito, Monica, Kaiser and Milo are no exception.

Staying at Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa is a community. It’s life, it’s happiness. I consider Fran and Oscar my friends. Their dogs never fail to make me smile. These men work on the property all year long, keeping it beautiful and bring life and community of what could somewhere else be just a job.

I am Ezekiel Tyrus, the gatekeeper of Paradise. Come see me, and while here, meet the guys that keep Paradise so beautiful and full of life.
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#‎EzekielTyrusCostaRica‬
‪#‎LasVillasdeSanBuenasdeOsa‬.

Eat at El Jardin

Walking distance from Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa is a wonderful restaurant called El Jardin. It’s a seafood restaurant but it doesn’t just have seafood. Seafood is simply their specialty and their seafood is rather outstanding.

Their cerviche is to die-for. (Cerviche is a Latin American dish is typically made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices, such as lemon or lime, and spiced with chili peppers and

other seasonings, such as chopped onions, salt, and cilantro.) The ones I’ve had at El Jardin’s is some of the best I’ve had in Costa Rica.

However, I want to focus on my two favorite dishes at this restaurant;

Casado a la Campesina, translates to Casado Country Style. Casado is a Costa Rican meal using rice, black beans, plantains, salad, a tortilla, and an optional entrée that may include chicken, beef, pork, fish and so on Casado a la Campesina is typically served as a brunch or breakfast, incl. eggs over medium and fired cheese (queso frito.) Though I’m not a vegetarian I typically get this without meat because quite frankly, it’s enough food. You also get a small salad on the side with cabbage, lettuce and a pico de gallo top of topping with diced tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro and other seasonings. A lot of flavors are coexisting and it’s heavenly, not to mention high-protein, low-fat.

A very close second favorite, and I typically get this when I get there later in the day, is Arroz con Camarones, a classic Latin American dish consisting of rice cooked in a shrimp broth and mixed with shrimp, sautéed onions, peppers, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, achiote and parsley.

At El Jardin, his Arroz con Camarones includes the same small side salad and believe it or not, thin, crispy french fries. You can get this dish ‘medios’ which is a half-order but still plenty, or ‘enteros’ which is a full order. The food is so good and inexpensive, you almost always get the full order. Both dishes come out to about 4 to 6 U.S. dollars. (Keep in mind, I’ve spent the last 20 years living in San Francisco where depending on the what size you got, these meals would go for between 16 to 20 bucks.)

Frederico is the owner and main chef. Friendly, cheerful and bilingual, speaking perfect English which is convenient. A family affair, often his wife and son are also there serving food, taking orders, always cheerful, smiling, happy to see you. El Jardin is always neat and clean, you can eat outside on the patio or inside where the decor is cute with lots of vibrant colors.

One of the numerous benefits of El Jardin is the free WiFi, I’ve done a lot of writing at this place and have enjoyed their strong, tasty Costa Rican coffee but on the subjects of drinks, I’ve got to mention Batidos en Leche, which is essentially, a Latin American milk shake. While it does come in vanilla and chocolate, it also has exotic fruit flavors like melon, mango, papaya, and my all-time favorite, pineapple. Oh, when it is hot outside and you’re sweating till your clothes are stuck to your body, there’s nothing in this world better than a pineapple flavored batidos en leche at El jardin’s. Try all the flavors and decide which is favorite.

While staying at Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa, it’s good to know such a great restaurant is literally around the corner, walking distance from where you’ll be staying. Come see Frederico at El Jardin and try everything, I recommend it all, then decide which are your favorites.

My name is Ezekiel Tyrus. I am the gatekeeper of Paradise. Contact me.

zeke@villassanbuenas.com

#EzekeilTyrusCostaRica

#VillasdeSanBuenasdeOsa

The Spanish Word for Smile Sounds Like Sunrise

The Spanish word for smile is sonrisa, a word I love because it reminds me of sunrise, an incredible metaphor for both.

Is a smile like a sunrise or is a sunrise like a smile? (That’s a simile, I know.) (A word I also love because it looks similar to smile.)

I awoke a few mornings ago at 4:30 and stepped outside. Imagine what the sky must look like on another planet. Closest to Earth, along the mountains there’s bright light, atop that is a prism of blue in varying shades, from soft to dark, dark blue-black.

Again, like during the Costa Rican sunsets, the colors embrace and absorb you. Looking up, a single twinkled above me. It appeared to be floating and winking above my head like an incandescent flying spaceship.

Turning my head, a 3-quarters moon sat big and within reach, appearing more like an oddly-shaped neighboring planet.

No wonder primitive persons thought they could see bodies of water on the moon, giving them romantic names like, Sea of Tranquility.

Standing in the field in Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa, time has a way of slowing down. You’re out in the country, the sticks, the boonies, but you’re inside this incredible prism of light under a staggering star and a lifelike moon, and you genuinely feel like you’re living under the sky of another galaxy, standing on the field of another universe.

I stood outside and watched the day arrive, the prism of colors evaporating into a single sky-blue and I’m so grateful that I had the experience of what life on another planet would be like.

Dear Reader, this experience belongs to you. Imagine a sunrise so beautiful, it makes you believe you’re on another planet. You deserve that experience. Let’s make it happen. All you’ve got to do is come to Costa Rica, stay at Villas de San Buenas de Osa and wake up early or stay up all night. Let’s make it happen.

My name is Ezekiel Tyrus. I am the gatekeeper to paradise. Contact me.

zeke@villassanbuenas.com

Costa Rica – Away but With a Nice View of the Storm

“I awake every day, jump out of bed to view the mountainside and sigh. It’s so beautiful.”

“Been house sitting a large two-story house with a pool and jacuzzi high up a steep mountain with nothing but rocky dirt roads .”

“Today being Sunday in a Catholic country that takes its Sabbath seriously, meaning nobody works and few businesses are open.”

“Therefore, with no yardmen or pool guys coming, I said why not, -went swimming sans bathing suit that AM, stayed naked in the sun the rest of the day till around 4:30 PM when I observed storm clouds coming from behind the mountain. They arrived shortly thereafter and proceeded to fall allover paradise for about an hour or so.”

“After showering, putting on shorts and a t-shirt, I sipped coffee and scribbled in my journal from the second story balcony watching the storm as it crept out to the Pacific Ocean where the storm now resides. Too far to hear the thunder but every now and again, a lightening bolt will appear beautiful and crooked, illuminating the horizon, and that’s what I’m experiencing right now as I drop these words, 12/13/2015 – 8pm.”

This is an actual journal entry I wrote while house-sitting the mountain dream house earlier this month here at Las Villas de San Buenas de Osa.

My dear Reader, you understand this experience belongs to you. You may come here alone, with a significant other, or with your family, but you get the idea of the sort of privacy you can enjoy with the luxury to do whatever you desire.

Because Costa RIca is a nature-lovers paradise, from this view you get a mountainous jungle, a valley and a clear vision of the Pacific Ocean.

I swear on my life, watching the nighttime storm in the Pacific Ocean from a dry mountainside second story balcony, was more thrilling than any concert light-show I’ve ever seen. It was the perfect way to encapsulate one of the best and most relaxing days of my life.

Dear Reader, this experience belongs you. Let’s make it happen. This time nest year, it’s yours. Please, you deserve it. Reward yourself, experience it, then carry it with you always. My name is Ezekiel Tyrus. I’m the gatekeeper to paradise. Contact me.

Ezekiel Tyrus. 12/28/2015 zeke@villassanbuenas.com