Costa Rica - Day 7 and End of Trip

Rain!  We didn't let that stop us.  We got in the car and drove to another beach a little south, called Avellenos.  It was a little muddy off-roading adventure.  There was a small "lot" and this dude just sitting in a beach chair and collecting something like $2 to park.  He promised to watch the car and told us not to leave our bags by the mango trees because robbers hide and take your things when you go into the water.  I was pissed about having to pay this random dude who just decided this was his job, but there was really no choice in the matter.  David convinced me to just let it go and park the car.  There is a restaurant called Lola's right next to the lot and it came highly recommended but it was too early so we skipped it.  Looked like a pretty chill place to spend the afternoon though.

Petting a dog with my purse on the beach. 

It got a little nicer out and all we wanted to do was go surfing so we headed back to Mato's and rented a board.  We surfed until a beautiful sunset ended the day.  Almost five hours.  We met locals, travelers, tons of dogs, saw people surf upside down, kids surfing... Blissful would be a word that comes to mind.

We tried to go to a nicer place for dinner, via recommendation from our concierge but after a failed attempt at finding it and then finding out via some locals that it had closed for the season yesterday, we ended up back at Naugi's.  This was really the only hiccup we had due to "green season".  We went all out, ordering civeche and macadamia crusted talapia and surf & turf.  Whoaness.  We were almost sad to say goodbye to our waiter, he was just so nice.  We stopped at one of the shops to get some gifts and then walked back to the hotel in the pitch black one last time.  

The next morning we had our breakfast at the hotel and headed to the airport.  When we returned our car to Avis, the guy guessed exactly where we were based on the color of the mud!  Travel tip for Costa Rica: you have to pay a departure tax.  It takes about 10 minutes and is $28 per person.  If you have extra Calones, it's a good way to use them up.

Once inside, the airport has one generic gift shop (coffee and t-shirts) and an overpriced, busy sports bar with free wi-fi.  I'd recommend stocking up on the snacks before the airport if possible.

Hasta la vista Costa Rica!

Costa Rica - Day 5

Surfing Day!  We didn't even need to set an alarm because we were woken up by AN EARTHQUAKE.  Well, at least I was.  All our windows were open and when the bed started to shake for about 20 seconds, at first I thought it was just a really strong wind gust.  But then it happened again and I grabbed David and yelled "EARTHQUAKE!" and he told me to go back to bed.  But then we both woke up and went to breakfast at the hotel and I asked the waiter who confirmed it was indeed a kind od large shakefest.  It was super weird because it was exactly a year ago that they had their last major quake.   

I realized that the tide was low so I had a feeling our lesson was going to be pushed back.  Sure enough, when we got to the surf shop, we were told that around 2 would be a better time so we decided to come back later.  

We took advantage of the nice weather but didn't want exhaust ourselves so we relaxed by our beach & pool.  I made a dog friend who followed me around for a couple hours and then we had a light lunch at the hotel and saw the guy from the night before (who was surfing on the restaurant floor) hopping out of the ocean because he got stung by a stingray. I've never seen a grown man in so much visible pain.  They put his foot in a bucket of ice until he decided to go to the hospital.  

Playa Grande from Captain Suizo

My new buddy.

For our surf lesson at Tamarindo Beach, it was $45/person and lasted about 2 hours.  There was another couple from Switzerland who joined us. The guy was a writer and they just spent time in the Canary Islands and are now renting a house in Tamarindo for three months.  Can you imagine?!  But back to the surfing, the beach had a lot of surfers and everyone talks to each other while waiting for the waves.  I was nervous because in Hawaii, on the North Shore where we surfed, you couldn't really get off your board because the ocean floor was so rough so you were constantly paddling.  That killed my body but this beach was amazing.  You could walk out far enough so paddling was limited and we were able to sustain ourselves much better.  

We didn't want to stop surfing but also didn't want to push it so we went for a walk on the other side of the beach and watched the sun set.  We went out to "Nibbana, as seen on HGTV" for dinner.  Seriously, they didn't have a formal sign, just one promoting their future show appearance. As soon as i sat down, i felt sick so David hurried through dinner and i went to sleep. It wouldn't be a vacation if i didn't get proper sick at least once.

Costa Rica - Day 4

Travel time!  The plan - to go from Tabacon/Arenal (kind of the center of the country) to Tamarindo, on the west coast.  About a three and a half hour drive.  We weren't really looking forward to the road around the lake but it turned out to not be so bad.

We stopped at the German Bakery for breakfast and this part is a little blurry to me, as I was severely suffering from a sinus infection.  But there were pastries and coffee and I remember some cats roaming around.

Our final destination was Captain Suizo.  A beautiful beachside getaway at the far edge of town.  I felt like when we told people we were staying there, they seemed impressed and I couldn't have imagined a better place to stay.  I'm grateful for the recomendations from everyone who suggested it.  The rooms are airy, split-level, clean and sans TV.  The owners are Swedish and have a big ol' philosphy on why things are they way they are at the place.  Everyone was friendly and I am so happy we decided to stay here.

We headed to the beach and I was not expecting to water to be hot.  I got right in!  It was low tide so we got out pretty far too.  The beach is so big during low tide!   The sky got grey pretty fast and it was about dinner time so we walked over to where the restaurants in town were.  The road wasn't paved so it was a muddy, slippery walk and I kinda wish I had brought rain boots. We cut across to the beach and walked along there until we came closer to town.

A beachside restaurant was the first place we saw and there were a lot of people there.   Since we really didnt plan where we were going and the rain wasnt letting up, we settled into a patio seat at Naugi's and enjoyed watching our neighboring table get wasted and teach each other how to surf, on the floor of the restaurant.  (They had just met that day.)  After fish tacos and pork chops, we walked into town and these two dogs were kinda like, "Oh hey, follow us!" so we did and ended up in front of Mato's Surf Shop.  This surfer dude was out there and introduced himself as Eric.  Turns out Bon Ton the dog is Eric's.  The universe could not have been any more obvious to an animal lover looking for a surf lesson!  :)  We talked for a bit and Eric told us to come by at 9AM tomorrow for our lesson. We headed back on the beach in the pitch black and used my phone's flashlight app to guide the way.