The adventure continues....

We are really starting to relax now.  It's a whole new level of relaxation.  We're two weeks in, more actually, and the days flow by.  Sometimes it seems we don't do much, and other times it seems we've had lots of adventure.  All in all, it works out to a good pace and lots of time to just chill.

Friday morning I went out to surf again and caught a few waves, but spent a lot of time floundering around.  There are so many details one could be thinking about to do it correctly that I realized you really have to ignore most of that and just keep it simple in the beginning.  Afterwards, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that my ears were not clearing properly, despite taking a day off.  So later in the day I paid a visit to the local doctor.  I wanted to take care of any problems before they became a real nuisance as I really want to keep surfing.  Costa Rica has excellent medical care and there is a local medical clinic in Playa Guiones with two doctors.  Without an appointment, I walked in and waited about 10 minutes to see Dr. Alejandro (can't remember his last name).  He was a young man (30's?) wearing grey jeans and sneakers who spoke excellent english.  I really thought I just had too much wax in my ears and hoped he would just clean them out.  However, he took a look and said they looked pretty clear.  So after some questioning and poking (without pain), he concluded that it was possible my middle ear was a little congested.  He drew me a nice diagram to explain how the ear works.  Of course what we are trying to avoid is any sort of ear infection.  So he prescribed me a decongestant (& antihistamine?) and an anti-inflammatory as a precaution, and asked me to come back on Monday.  He also said I should stay out of the water until then.  Booooo!  Oh well.  I guess it was time for a few days off.  The local pharmacy is in Nosara central, and since we didn't have a car, he called the script in for delivery to our house.  Pretty neat!  And the doctors visit was only $50.  Imagine that in the U.S.!  The prescription showed up within the hour courtesy of a man on a motorcycle.  I think it's working as my ears are feeling better now, and I can't wait to get back in the water.

Saturday Michael surfed in the morning and I took a walk on the beach.  We laid low during the heat of the day and in late afternoon went out to make our way to Nosara central for the Fiesta and rodeo.  Our plan was to hitchhike to town and then maybe take a taxi home.  We got a ride fairly easily from a couple that I think were French.  We didn't talk much, but they very kindly dropped us as close to the Fiesta as they could.  People are very friendly here.

Family is very important to Costa Ricans and that was evident at the Fiestas de Nosara.  It is truly a community event where everyone turns out with their kids in tow.  There were young ladies in improbable high heeled boots and almost everyone was wearing jeans, the women very tight ones.  There were caballeros in boots and hats and people on horses wandering through the grounds.  It was a bit like a country fair or carnival mixed with a rodeo.  Think a handful of carnival rides for the kids, some games, greasy food, music, and bull riding.  It was quite a scene and a lot of fun to get a real glimpse of Tico culture.

The music we heard included two bands, one local and one from Mexico. There was a "shake your booty" contest for some handpicked ladies from the audience, as well as one for the men.  They kept promoting the dancing for later that would run until 4am!

Shake your booty!

We bought tickets for the bull ring and sat in the stands.  Many people sat around the edge of the ring on the railing or stood behind it.  Costa Rican bull riding is not like it is in America.  There is no "8 seconds".  A rider comes out on the bull and stays on  as long as he can.  Then when he falls off, others from the ringside (anyone who wants to) run around in the ring trying to entice the bull into chasing them, or try to touch the bull.  Some bulls have horns and some do not, but they are all pretty big.  It seemed that quite a few of them would rather be in their pastures as they literally "lay down" on the job.  In fact, the very first bull refused to come out of the chute and lay down in it.  This should not deceive anyone as to the dangers of the bull ring, however.  Even though at a rodeo in Costa Rica you can wander into the ring if you choose, you are still taking your health, and even life, into your hands when you do.

The bull ring before the action

 There were a few caballeros on horseback who helped corral the bull when it was time to move on.  They have beautiful horses here.  Not big, but fine boned with delicate features, and a lively gate.  The specialty is what I would call a high stepping "dancing" gate.  There was an exhibition of this in the middle of the bull riding event while we were at the Fiesta.  The horses raise their knees very high and do a two step gate sort of like a Saddlebred.  It is literally like a dance and we saw some caballeros practicing to the bands that played earlier.  The horses hold their heads with nose tucked in close and neck arching.  They are prancing with incredible energy and you can see the sweat pour off them.  The caballeros in the ring were skilled with their lassos and helped guide the bull to the exit.

Somewhere in the middle of the horse exhibition we got serenaded by a couple of young girls.  One was about 12 or 14 with an adult set of pipes.  She belted out a song on the microphone and sounded pretty good.  Then there was her little sister (?) who was maybe 5.  She sang a traditional song that the people around us seemed to recognize, and she did a good job!  All part of the fun I guess.

Not a quality pic, but you get the idea.

Our butts got sore from sitting on the wooden stands and we needed to move, so we got up from the bull ring after the horse exhibition and went back out to the fiesta.  There were lots of people, both local and gringo.  Clearly it was a good party.  After wandering around for a bit we decided it was time to head home.  I think it was maybe 9pm.  Early by many people's standards, but we seem to be getting into an early to bed, early to rise rhythm here.  When we left the Fiesta, we didn't see any taxis, so we started walking toward town.  Pretty soon a car came by and we stuck our thumb out.  We got a ride home from a couple of Tico boys (early 20's maybe?) who were out having a good time.  They were friendly and one of them practiced his limited english on us.  We gave them a few colones for gas.  Back in Playa Guiones, we decided to stop at the Gilded Iguana for a drink before heading home and ran into an English couple we'd seen before.  By the time we got to bed it was 11pm, which is late for us here!

This morning we saw the English couple again and they told us that shortly after we left, they met up with others who came back from the Fiesta because one of their friends had been gored by a bull.  Pretty scary.  The man in question was in the ring after a bull rider fell off and the bull circled the ring and he didn't get out of the way fast enough.  They said he was gored in the neck and stomach and required 3 hours of surgery and 22 stitches and was recovering in the hospital in Nicoya.  They say it was close and the bull almost nicked an artery, which might have been fatal.  Yikes!  I'm just as glad we weren't there to see that.  I'm glad the man will recover, but what a way to spend your vacation.  Anyhow, I guess it just goes to show that even if some of the bulls look like "Ferdinand" (remember the children's book?), you shouldn't take their docile nature for granted.  They're still huge, and probably mad!

Michael surfed today and I went for an extra long walk on the beach, since I can't go in the water yet.  We rode over to the other side of town on our bikes and I got some air in my back tire since it was getting low. We also stopped in to see Jessica at Mandala, the jewelry shop.  She is so lovely and gave us some advice on what to see in Monteverde.  We are thinking of going there a little later on our trip and she used to live there.  We also got an ice cream at Robin's.  Yummy!  On the way back we took a little detour and rode down a path through the jungle in another part of town.  After we got back we went to the beach so Michael could surf and for the usual sunset ritual.  Our friend from our night out at Cafe de Paris turned up having completed her Yoga retreat and we had a nice chat.  It's nice to be recognizing people and making friends.

Tomorrow I will see if I can get the go ahead from the doc and start surfing again.  My ears feel good now and I will be more mindful of them in the future.  The weather continues to be perfect: sunshine, not really too humid, and beautiful sunsets.

Pura Vida,

Sarah

No Pain, no gain...

At least that's what they say.   I've had two surf lessons now and been in the water surfing the last five days.  Today I'm taking a day off.  Not to complain but my knees hurt, my arms and shoulders are sore, and I have a couple of new bruises, not to mention my ears need to dry out a little.  Still, I'm having a blast and can't wait to get back to it!

My surf instructor, Nelson, has been great.  He works at Coconut Harry's Surf Shop and is a 25 year old Tico (Costa Rican) who started surfing at age 12.  He speaks quite good english, is friendly and patient, and tries to make sure you are having fun.  That's what it's all about, right?  My first lesson with him on Monday there were two others in our group - a couple from Vancouver, Canada.  We started with some stretching and a talk on the beach before hitting the water.  All of us stood up and I found that all the things Michael had taught me served me well.  In a sense I already had a leg up!  I signed up for another lesson the next day and this time there wasn't anyone else, so I got a one on one lesson.  I used a different board and it was harder, but Nelson was very patient and was able to tell me every time where things went wrong and what I needed to focus on.  Now I just need to practice a bunch and then I'll go back for another lesson.  The surf is still very small here which is a bit disappointing for Michael.  However, any day surfing, no matter how small the waves, is better than not!  Here I am making an attempt!

Michael took some photos during my second lesson.









This weekend is the Fiesta de Nosara.  It starts tonight actually and goes until Monday.  There will be bull riding, concerts, and a big parade of horses and riders in finery.  It's a big local event held in the town of Nosara and lots of people are expected.  We plan to go probably on Saturday for the parade, which is called a Tope.  I'll let you know what we see!

Pura Vida,

Sojourner Sarah

And the beat goes on...

Hola,

Surfing really wears you out!  At least it did that to me the first time I tried it.  Friday was a somewhat lazy day.  Michael surfed in the morning and I went to boogie board but found the waves and tide to be not quite right for me.  Plus, I was tired from the day before.  So I went back to the house and read in the hammock.  We often spend some quiet time at the house in the late morning.

By afternoon we were ready for another adventure, so we put some actual clothes on (as opposed to swim suits), and gathered a few things and set off for the metropolis of Nosara central.  The town of Nosara is about 5 km away and we planned to hitchhike there as it is anybody's guess when the bus will actually show up.  Now before any of you gasp at the thought of hitchhiking, keep in mind that there are a lot of expats who live around here and plenty of people, both Tico and expat, who travel the road on a regular basis.  If you are headed up the road to the north, chances are you are going to Nosara.  These are all dirt roads.  Michael has hitched up there before when he was here without incident, but he was a little concerned about me anyway.  I told him I was game for an adventure and we prepared for the possibility that it might take us a little while to accomplish our goal.  We didn't even make it to the main road on foot before we got picked up!  It was a nice couple from New York who have a house a few towns over and had been in Guiones for fun.  They were headed to Nosara to do their grocery shopping before heading back to their house.  Since we wanted to go to the Super Mercado in Nosara to do some grocery shopping, it was a perfect fit! In no time at all we were there.  We both went to a vegetable stand and then to the supermarket.  Nosara is not big.  It has some houses and a few shops and restaurants and a disco strung out along one or two roads, a tiny airport (airstrip really), and a soccer field.  After doing our shopping, we stood with our bags out on the road and thumbed another ride.  We knew there was a bus coming soon (theoretically) so we even had a backup plan.  After only about 10 minutes, 3 nice ladies in an SUV picked us up and dropped us practically back at our door.  They were down from the East Coast for a yoga retreat and we chatted all the way home about where they'd been and what places they liked.  Yoga retreats are big down here.  There is the Nosara Yoga Institute which does a lot of teacher trainings, but there are other retreat centers too.  These ladies said their place was all vegetarian and no oils or anything in the food, so after about 2 days of that, they decided they had to get out and visit a local restaurant!  Plus they wanted some tequila as their retreat only had beer and wine.  They were having a great time and leaving to go home the next day.  When we got home we realized it had only been a little over an hour since we left.  I was totally impressed that we managed to get to Nosara, shop and get back in that time.

We went down to the beach for sunset and then got ready to go out for the evening.  Over by Cafe de Paris I had seen a sign advertising Latin Jazz and percussion music, a drum circle, and the Grand Opening of the Fish Bar for that evening.  I thought it would be fun to check it out so we rode our bikes over with lights to go out to dinner.  When we got there, the restaurant had only a few tables occupied.  I asked about the music and the owner said, Oh yes, a little later it would start.  He said all the tables were reserved (!) but we could sit at the bar and eat if we wanted.  This is not the kind of place you expect to make a reservation, so we were a little surprised at this!  However I thought we should give it a try, so we went over to the bar which was by a lovely pool.  Tables had been set out around the pool too and a little band was setting up on the other side.  The "Fish Bar" turned out not to be sushi or anything to do with food.  It was a little bar with stools and a fish shaped sign behind it that read "Fish Bar"!  We got two seats and they turned out to be prime real estate for the evening.  Soon the place began filling up.  We spoke to at least 2 others who had been in several times on previous nights and they said they had never seen more than a few people there!  The cafe is owned by a frenchman and also has a hotel attached, and the bakery I've already mentioned.  Our bartender, Christophe, was french too and was planning to play in the drum circle later.  I think he was just helping his friend out and filling in behind the bar because he wasn't much of a bartender, though he was a nice guy.  Michael also recognized him as a good surfer he'd seen on previous trips.  There was a very international feel to the crowd with french being spoken as well as english and spanish.  We recognized a couple of artists from local shops.  Next to us was a woman from New York state who was down for a yoga retreat. Sound familiar?  Like I said, a lot of yoga retreats. There are also a lot of people here from the East coast.  Lots.  The band played and we ate dinner.  I had a steak sandwich and the steak was so tender.  The bread was good too, from the french bakery.  A little later, the drum circle began and Christophe abandoned the bar and went to play.  We joked about how perhaps one of us should hop back there and start serving drinks!  Eventually the owner himself came and did it.  He was having a good night with a successful event!  After a while we were ready to head home so we got on our bikes and had a little nighttime bike riding adventure on the dirt roads and trails.  The stars were so bright and there are so many of them.

Yesterday we got up and went to the beach where Michael gave me another surfing lesson.  It was a lot of fun and I practiced some new things and caught a few waves and stood up some more.  In the afternoon we went for a hike over to the Boca de Nosara.  North of Playa Guiones is Playa Pelada which we had walked to before.  North of that, over the next little headland, is the mouth of the Nosara River where it flows into the ocean.  It's a great fishing spot and there are stables there that do horse rides and a kayak tour outfit.  We have seen the horses on the beach almost every day.  The Nicoya Peninsula is actually cowboy country and there is a big tradition of cattle ranches and horse riding here.  This beach is perfect for horseback riding as at low tide there is so much flat, firm sand.

Anyway, we walked up the beach, over to Pelada and up that beach, and then followed a trail through the jungle toward the river mouth.  In the jungle it was a little hot, but we saw lots of butterflies and a different perspective on the landscape.  We took a little path to an overlook on the headland but discovered there were some prickly yuccas to get through.  Ouch!  Still, the view back to Playa Pelada was cool and we managed to retreat to the main path without getting stuck too many times.

Finally we came down from the headland to a little rocky beach at the very mouth of the river.  There were fisherman chest deep in the water throwing lines for fish and lots and lots of birds.  Lovely Egrets and Herons just hanging out on the rocks.  This is looking upriver at the mouth.

We decided to ford the river to the other side and managed to get across without getting too wet or falling in.  Going north on the other side of the river is a beautiful and deserted black sand beach that stretches on for miles.  There was a lot of driftwood and it looked very wild and remote.

After a bit we decided to head back and crossed the river again in a different place.  We also took a different trail back, the one the horses take, which was a little easier to negotiate.  By the time we got back to our part of the beach it was almost sunset, so we went home just long enough to get a cold beer and rode our bikes back to the beach to watch the big orange ball go down.

This morning I surfed on my own while Michael caught his own waves.  They were small enough that I paddled out to the outside and practiced sitting on the board.  It was fun playing around and trying to catch waves.  The surf has been a bit small for Michael's taste, but there is always hope for tomorrow.  While we were lounging at the house afterwards, an iguana decided to climb up on our roof and hang out on the skylight!  We could see his belly against the glass, and his head and claws.

There was also a big stick bug hanging out on our hammock.  He's been there all day!  He looked like he was doing yoga poses upside down.  We met our neighbors in the driveway and showed them the stick bug too and chatted for a while.

This afternoon we rode over to Coconut Harry's and I signed up for a surf lesson for tomorrow.  We also traded my bike out for one with a basket.  At Robin's we had an ice cream.  I had Passion fruit sorbet and Coconut ice cream.  Delicious. We also met a lovely woman named Jessica who was tending a shop with jewelry made by her partner, an Argentinian.  They also had things made by artist friends of theirs from Monteverde, where they used to live.

Now it is time to head to the beach for sunset, so that's all for now.

Pura Vida,

Sarah

New link to pictures

I guess the link to the pictures didn't work.  So here is another to try:

The Sojourner

I think I may be goofy footed....

Today was another great day in paradise.  Surprise!  I'm sure it's becoming monotonous for you, but not for us.  We are becoming more and more relaxed as we forget what day it is and forget to care about what time it is.  Michael surfed this morning and I went for a nice long walk on the beach.  It's really nice being so close to the beach because you can just run down there to see what the conditions are like, and it takes 2 minutes on the bike, if that.  The maid was at the house cleaning when I got back from my walk, so I took my bicycle and rode over to the french bakery at Cafe de Paris.  Yes, they have a french bakery here and it's great!  The cookies and pastries and tarts are to die for - very authentic.  The bread and croissants are good too, but a shade off.   Don't get me wrong, it's still better than anything in Durango, but perhaps not quite up to Paris itself.  I'm splitting hairs.  I'm sure it's not easy to duplicate the conditions of a Paris bakery in the tropics at sea level.  I have a feeling I will be visiting them anytime I want to indulge in something sweet, which didn't used to be that often.  However, I'm on vacation and their confections could make it worth it!

This afternoon we went back to the beach and Michael gave me a surfing lesson.  The plan has been and still is that I will take lessons from someone else, a professional instructor here at one of the schools.  We agreed before we came that ultimately it will be better for someone else to teach me.  This was not just a cliche, but sound common sense regarding relationships.  However, there was no harm in fooling around in the whitewater and having him tell me about some of the basics and help me get a feel for being in the water with the board.  It was good fun and he was patient and helped me catch some little waves on the board.  First I stayed on my belly.   Then I tried kneeling and standing up.  In surfing you are either regular footed or goofy footed.  I am learning all this terminology!  Regular footed means that your right foot is back and your left foot forward when you stand on the board.  This is most common for right handed people, of which there are many in this world.  Goofy footed is just the opposite; right foot forward, left foot back.  Well I am most definitely right handed, however I seem to be more comfortable trying to stand up on the board with my right foot forward, i.e. goofy footed.  Go figure!  Anyway, I did eventually manage to actually stand for a bit while riding a little whitewater wave into the beach.  It was great!  I definitely want to try that again.

This evening I made my own attempt at the local dish gallo pinto (rice and beans).  I realized I had never actually cooked beans from scratch before; i.e. from a dried state.  We soaked them last night and simmered them today.  Then tonight I cooked rice and onions and added cilantro and lime and chile etc.  It came out pretty good!  I'm lovin' the gallo pinto!  Michael cooked some more snapper and we had beautiful french green beans from the Farmer's Market too.  The fruit and vegetables have been great down here.  So, so fresh.  And everything we got at the Farmer's Market was organic too.  I'm also finding that things cook so much faster here.  We are used to Durango at 6500 ft.  Rice cooks in no time at sea level!  So far the food has been great and we are enjoying all the fresh, natural ingredients that are easy to come by here.

We'll get some more pictures up soon.  Hope all is well back in the U.S.

Pura vida,

Sojourner Sarah

I've stopped wearing my watch.....

Hidy Ho,


All is well in this little corner of Central America.  Sorry it's been a few days since I posted, but time seems to just slip by and I only want to spend so much time in my day doing computer stuff.  I did spend a bunch of time trying to figure out the photo thing, with some accompanying frustration.  However I have succeeded in putting together an album of photos that should be linked to the photo in this post.  Please let me know if it's not working!  I will keep adding to this album or create a new one as we get more photos.  Michael took some of the monkeys but we haven't uploaded them yet, so more to come.


So where was I?  Oh yeah, Sunday afternoon.  We went over to Nosara Paradise Rentals in the central part of Playa Guiones to get a second bicycle.  I rode our 1 bike and Mike walked.  They have the best price in town but were out of bicycles that day.  They told us to come back the next day.  So we had an ice cream from the mini super and walked/rode back.  That evening Michael surfed and we watched the sunset with the usual ritual.  


Monday was a great day full of activity.  In the morning I took my coffee down to the beach and sat watching and enjoying the morning while Michael surfed.  You'd be surprised how many people are out and about at that time.  Of course it's sometimes the loveliest part of the day.  Back at the house afterwards we successfully tried out our Skype account and phoned family to check in.  We also called the bike place to see if they had bikes before going over there again.  They did.  So off we went, first to get a second bike and then to the Beach Dog cafe for breakfast.  The Beach Dog was a cute little place with smoothies, sandwiches, salads, breakfast etc.  We were hungry and it tasted good.  Almost all the restaurants and cafes here are open air.  Who needs walls when the weather is perfect?  I'm sure in the rainy season it's a little different!  

After breakfast we took a bike ride to explore the other end of Playa Guiones a little.  This is the area Michael has stayed in on past trips.  We rode past a house we almost rented and out to the beach.  It was low tide so it was easy to ride on the beach and we took off headed south.  We pretty much rode all the way to the end of the beach by the point.  There are some rocks and tide pools there and few people.  We rested in the shade for a bit and explored the tide pools.  It was pretty warm and I was getting thirsty, so Michael pulled a Robinson Crusoe move and knocked a coconut out of a tree.  Then he broke open the top and we drank the water inside.  Quite refreshing and good for you too!  We rode back along the beach and then back to the house.  There was an iguana sunning himself on top of a nearby roof.  We also continue to see the monkeys in the trees.

I worked on photos in the afternoon while Michael flew his kite.  Then later we went back to the beach for a boarding session.  The tide was good and the waves were a good size for me.  I am feeling more and more comfortable with the boogie board.  Michael surfed as usual.  At one point Michael had ridden a wave in and was paddling back out more or less in my vicinity.  He was looking around for me and I was thinking "good, we'll get a chance to chat".  Then a nice wave came along and I caught it just right.  There I was shooting along in front of the wave headed for Michael and he's still looking around for me not seeing me.  I yelled to him and he looked up and saw me just as I went by with a big grin on my face.  I had a lot of fun in the waves that evening and then we watched the sun go down.  I was a tired pup by the time we got home and showered!  That night we decided to go across the street to Kaya Sol for dinner and enjoyed not cooking or doing the dishes for ourselves.  The food was pretty good and we went to bed early after a hard day of play.

Tuesday we took it a little easy.  Oddly, in the night we kept hearing loud thumps on the roof.  We weren't sure exactly what it was.  Monkey poop? Iguanas? Animals throwing or dropping things out of the trees?  Who knows.  It sounded like they hit the roof with some force but since it's a metal roof, perhaps it sounds louder than it should.  In the morning we went to the Farmer's Market and bought fruits and vegetables - all organic.  There was also a young woman who came over from Samara to sell some jewelry she had made.  I stopped to look at her work and talk to her.  She combined macrame with stones and shells and made some pretty things.

Later we went to the beach to hang out and saw the coconut man along the path.  When we went to Nosara to get gas for the rental car we had seen him pushing his bicycle-cart up the hill headed toward Playa Guiones.  He sells chilled coconuts that he opens for you and puts a straw in for you to drink the water.  They are a different type of coconut from the one Michael knocked down, and the husks have been mostly removed and the bottom cut flat so it will stand up and not fall over.  He sits by the beach and sells coconuts to thirsty beach goers.  We bought one and it was super delicious.  Cool, sweet and refreshing.  After we drank the water, Michael broke open the coconut and we ate some of the jelly inside.

Michael flew his kite and I went for a beach walk.  There are some great shells on the beach so we are collecting a few nice ones.  I got to try the kite a little and it's pretty fun.  I can easily see how a full size kite would be extremely powerful so it would be really important to know what you're doing!  Michael's really getting the hang of it.  When we went to go back to the house we noticed the house bike had another flat tire.  This time Michael took it to the Frog Pad to be fixed.  The Frog Pad is a little place that rents surfboards and bikes, DVDs and books, has internet etc.  They are really nice and fixed the bike for practically nothing.  I would recommend them over El Punto surf shop at the end of our street any day.  They have better prices on everything.  While he was there, Michael decided to rent a longboard for a day or so.  The surf has been pretty small which has made it harder for him to surf with the board that he brought.  For you non-surfers, there are lots of different shapes and sizes of surfboards and they each have a purpose depending on the style of surfing you like to do, your size, and the size of the surf.  a longboard is a longer, bigger size surfboard which can make it easier to catch smaller waves and further out, even though it is less maneuverable.   I don't know much about surfing yet, so this is from a layman's point of view, but you get the idea.  Anyway, while he was doing all this I was struggling with the photo program and getting a little frustrated.  At the end of the afternoon Michael took the longboard down to surf and I went to sit and watch and enjoy the sunset as usual.  It was another good one.

Back at the house Michael made a scrumptious shrimp green curry with some of our fresh vegetables and the large salt water shrimp we had purchased from the fish man when we got here.  After dinner we went next door to the Gilded Iguana to check out the music.  It was a busy scene and kind of loud, but we stayed for a drink and took it all in.

So that brings me to today.  This morning we went for a morning session at the beach and I had a blast on the boogie board.  I'm making progress with my skills and catching more and better waves.  Soon I think I might need to try some surf lessons, especially since the surf is supposed to stay pretty small for the next few days.  We had a hearty breakfast with bacon and eggs and fresh fruit afterwards and Michael has been napping in the hammock while I write.  Here is the photo album link.  Let me know if you have comments or suggestions.  You can watch it as a slideshow with the slide show button in upper left corner of the page that opens.  It will give you controls so you can change the speed too.

We're lovin' the Pura Vida here in Costa Rica!

Nap anyone?

We just got back from a beach session; Michael on his surfboard and me on my boogie board.  It doesn't take long to get tired when you're playing around in the waves, but it sure is fun, and it sure doesn't feel like "exercise"!  Now I am writing and Michael is reading.  It's very peaceful.


We are discovering the rhythms that suit us best, trying out different activities at different times of day.  Yesterday when we got up Michael went down to check the surf and took the house bicycle to the surf shop next door to get the flat tire fixed.  He discovered that they had just put some molasses on the road.  Apparently they use a sugar mixture, diluted and spread with water, to keep the dust down.  It smells just like molasses!  And it wasn't as sticky as you might imagine.  I'm not sure how they manage that.  After coffee, Michael went to surf and I walked over to where I thought there was supposed to be a farmer's market on Saturday mornings.  It wasn't there.  I think it's moved and is now on Tuesdays because we saw a flier for a farmer's market when we were at breakfast the other day.  We just weren't sure if it replaced the one on Saturdays or was additional.  I'll try the other place on Tuesday.  The walk was still good, but I was a little warm when I got back to the house, so I went inside to cool down a bit instead of heading straight for the beach.  Then I decided to do some computer stuff in the cool of the house.  Before we came down here I put Aperture on the laptop so I would have a program to use for dealing with the photos.  I got the App version, not the full software version.  Yesterday I started playing around with it and importing some photos etc.  Of course there is a learning curve, so I went through some trial and error and had to read some tutorials, but I learned some things.  Thank goodness the wi-fi is working pretty well here.  I've had to restart the router a few times but it always seems to come back.  After a while, Michael returned from the beach and we had some lunch.

In the early afternoon we went down to the beach and Michael tried out his trainer kite.  He wants to learn kite boarding and the first thing you do is learn how to fly the kite really well.  So he got a trainer kite which is much smaller than the ones you would use to kite board, but it's set up the same way and allows you to learn the kite flying techniques.  It was low tide so there was plenty of room on the beach.  The tides here are about 8 or 9 feet so when it goes out there is a lot of sand and shallow water a ways out.  The wind wasn't quite consistent enough for good kite flying, but he gave it a good try for a while.  I went for a walk down the beach in the opposite direction from where we'd gone the other day.  Low tide is perfect beach walking time.  We always see dogs on the beach and around the neighborhood.  They look so happy here.  They hang out with their dog friends and their human friends and frolic in the surf just like we do.  We saw a dog come out of the woods from who knows where and make a bee line for the water.  He walked out into it until it was about 6 inches deep and lay down.  At low tide the waves were very gentle at that depth and it's flat so he just lay in the water and cooled off.  Another time I saw two dogs with smiles on their faces trotting down the road, side by side, looking for all the world like they were best friends on their way to find some special treat or perhaps a drink of water.  Most of them look cared for and wear collars or are hanging out with human counterparts.  There is a local vet not far away and I've heard that quite a few expats, who come for months at a time, bring their pets along.  

We returned to the house for a break and then in late afternoon we went back to the beach for a boarding session.  I have not done much boogie boarding so I am a total beginner.  Michael took his surf board and I had fins to help me catch the waves.  The tide was coming up so they were a little bigger than I might have chosen for my first time, but it was good practice to learn how to duck under a wave and other techniques for avoiding getting tumbled around.  After a bit of floundering I caught a couple of waves with Michael's help.  It really is good fun when you catch one!  I spent some time just catching small ones in the whitewater too.  The surf conditions weren't really the best but we had a good time and I came out tired and smiling.  We stayed around for sunset as the beach began to fill up and down with people coming out for the evening ritual.  We even had a couple of cold beers we had stashed in the bushes when we came down!  The sunset was not as spectacular as the night before, but still better than most.  

Back at the house I made a simple dinner of chicken and green beans.  We kept hearing a crowd cheering at odd intervals so Michael went to see what was going on while I was cooking.  It turns out one of the local bars had the NFL playoffs on the tele and there were a lot of people watching.  Funny, that is the last thing I had on my mind!  After dinner we watched an episode of a tv program I had downloaded to my laptop and went to bed early.  Beach life makes you tired in the best ways!

This morning we saw an iguana behind the house.  We have also seen hummingbirds, butterflies, and lots of other birds including vultures eating a fish on the beach, frigates, seagulls, pelicans, and many more I can't identify.  We've continued to hear the Howler monkeys but haven't been woken by them again.  You could call them Growler monkeys because the sound is also like a drawn out growl or roar.  Very odd but you get used to it.  

We checked the tides and decided to try boogie boarding again in the morning when the tide was lower.  This time it was a little easer to get in the right position to catch the waves and they were smaller, so better for me.  Not so great for surfing maybe, but nothing to shake a stick at.  I had fun and will keep practicing so I can get the hang of it.  I think this afternoon we're going to get a second bicycle and do a little exploring on 2 wheels.  In the meantime, Michael's gone to try the kite again.  Aaaaah, this is the life!

Bye for now,

Sojourner Sarah

Starting to relax......slowly

Well it's been a nice day.  I looked over my post from last night and I can tell how tired I was.  Typos and choppy writing!  Michael is making me dinner right now so I'm  going to start this, but I may have to finish it later.  He's making fish tacos with the snapper we bought and his own version of a local specialty - gallo pinto, which is basically rice and beans.  We had some this morning at breakfast and it's great.  Simple but good food.  Dinner is starting to smell good and I can't wait!  We even have some music playing courtesy of the speaker system the owner of the house left for us and my laptop.  Dinner's on... gotta go.

Dinner was great!  First class.  Fresh salad with cucumber, carrot, tomato and avocado.  Fish, tortillas, gallo pinto, and lime.  Yummy.

This morning we were awakened by the sound of Howler Monkeys.  There is a family of them that lives in the trees above the house.  The sound they make is quite remarkable and a bit startling.  It is somewhere between a dog barking and a donkey braying!  It's loud too.  It does have a monkey sound quality to it like the "oooo, oooo" we did as kids.  I think it's purpose is to establish territorial boundaries or presence.  Anyway, this area is known for its Howler Monkeys, so I imagine we'll be hearing it a lot.   Later in the day we were able to actually see them in the trees above the house.  We'll try to get a picture when the light is better.  There was a mama carrying a wee baby monkey on her front and others, including at least one male.

After a cup of coffee at the house we took the rental car to the agency to return it.  We needed to add a little gas, so since they said we had time, we drove up to the nearest gas station which is on the way to Nosara town.  First we took an unintended detour up the wrong road, but we got some nice views in the process!  Next to the rental agency is Rosie's Soda.  A "Soda" is the Costa Rican term for a little restaurant or cafe.  They serve simple, local food.  We had breakfast there and it was delicious.  I had huevos fritos con gallo pinto, or fried eggs with a bean and rice mixture.  After breakfast we walked down past a clump of shops and real estate offices as well as a french bakery and a mini-super (mini market).  There was a man selling fruits and vegetables out of the back of his truck and we stopped to get some.  He was all set up with a couple of helpers, a scale, and upturned plastic crates that you climbed on to get into the truck to look for what you wanted.  He even had a line!  I bought a melon, a pineapple, some green beans, carrots, a cucumber, a head of lettuce and 2 mangos and the total came to a little over $8.  Pretty good!  The pineapple alone would have cost $3-5 in the states.  We walked back to the house via some roads and paths making a loop of it.  By the time we got back we were pretty hot and were glad to cool down inside with the fans and just chill out for a bit.  Once we'd recovered from our oh so strenuous morning, we put on swimsuits, gathered some stuff and headed out for a little exploring.  Down at the beach there was a little breeze and we walked along the beach to the north and walked on a path over the headland to the next beach.  Playa Pelada is smaller than Playa Guiones and has some tide pools and fewer waves.  The tide was pretty low so there was plenty of room on the beach to walk.   We saw a whole bunch of school kids all together in the water.  Later they were playing games on the beach.  Must have been a pretty good school day to spend it on the beach!  We walked down to the end and back before going into the ocean for a dip.  It was lovely!  The water was warm but still refreshing and the bottom was sandy.  Around here you have to shuffle your feet when you go in the water so as not to surprise any sting rays.  They aren't always there and will usually just swim away from you.  But if you stepped on one by accident it might zap you with its tail.  Apparently this is not deadly, but can be painful.  Best just to shuffle the feet just in case.  After lingering in the water for a while, we got out and walked back over the headland and along the beach to our area and the house.

We puttered about and then Michael got out his surfboard and went down to surf.  I took a shower and then wandered down to the beach to meet him for sunset.  As before, there were plenty of people strung out along the beach waiting for the main event.  There were dogs playing and kids frolicking in the surf, surfers out in the water, and a generally convivial atmosphere.  It was a spectacular sunset.  The sky glowed orange and red for quite a while after the sun went down and the light reflected beautifully off the water.  It was almost dark by the time we headed back to the house.

After our delicious fish dinner, we decided to go for a walk.  We stopped in at the Gilded Iguana to see what sort of music was playing, but decided that a walk to the beach for stargazing would be better.  The stars are amazing here.  Far fewer lights than at home so more stars and we're close to the equator so a different sky.  We did see Orion, the Pleiades, and some shooting stars, as well as many many more we don't know the names of.  The waves glowed white in the dark and we lay on the sand for a bit listening to the sound of them and gazing up at the stars.  A dreamy way to end a lovely day.

We made it!

Hello again,

This time I am actually connected to the internet!  This morning Michael and I got up and had breakfast at the hotel sitting in the courtyard by the fountain.  There was sun and blue skies so the day looked promising.  We decided to take a quick walk before taking the taxi to the car rental agency and this turned out to be a good idea.  On our walk we found a Radio Shack which was just opening as it was 8am.  They had the audio cord I wanted, which I hadn't thought about bringing until the wee hours of the morning already in Costa Rica.  We also picked up a bottle of water and a snack for our trip at a grocery store.  Back at the hotel our taxi was waiting and we started loading our luggage into it.  There was a momentary hiccup as we had to figure out how to transport the surfboard bag in what was a regular little car!  Fortunately Michael had thought to bring straps for this very purpose and we secured it on top of the car.  It was a short ride to the car rental agency and a pretty easy check in for the car.  They even charged us less than we anticipated!  We got directions to the highway and off we went.  The directions were excellent and  pretty soon we found ourselves at the on ramp.  The only problem was the on ramp was occupied by two semi trucks headed in opposite directions and not moving. It wasn't clear whether they had run into eachother, whether one had broken down, or they were just having a chat.  In any case, we weren't going anywhere up that ramp!  In front of us was a "Turismo" van and when he turned around, we followed.  It turned out to be only a short detour to another on ramp, but without the Turismo van leading the way we would not have had any idea where to go.  Score one for luck!  The drive to the Nicoya peninsula was pretty good.  The roads were definitely better than I'd heard about.  We had one stop for construction where they were shoring up a hillside, but otherwise, smooth sailing.  In the distance we saw mountains and closer up, rolling hills covered in jungle.  There were fences made of living trees.  I thought it quite clever.  Fast growing trees are planted close together and many of the trunks are cut down to fence height, but still living.  Some had new shoots coming out of their tops.  Wire is strung between them and presto, a living fence.  Some trees were allowed to grow tops so you got some shade out of it too.

When we got to the town of Nicoya, we stopped to get some money at the bank and do some grocery shopping.  I went into the store and Michael stayed with the car and all our stuff.  It was hot in the store and more disorienting than you would expect to have everything packaged differently and in spanish.  I had a list, but it took a while and I didn't find everything.  Still, we managed to get a good start on the groceries and loaded up the car and went on our way.  The potholes had become more numerous on the roads and eventually the pavement disappeared altogether.  You could sense the ocean wasn't too far away.  Just before we came into Playa Guiones, we stopped at a fish market and bought some fresh snapper and frozen  local shrimp.  Once in Playa Guiones, we made our way to the Guilded Iguana right on time for our rendezvous with the property manager.  The cold beer we had while waiting for her tasted really good!  It took us about 6 1/2 hours to make the trip including our stops for gas, bathroom and groceries.  The property manager took us to our house and we settled in.  Then it was time to walk down to the beach for sunset and to put our feet in the sand.  Michael went for a dip in the water and we sat and watched the sun sink into the Pacific.  There were quite a few other people up and down the beach doing exactly the same thing.  It's sort of a tradition here.  There were also a lot of surfers in the water, so it was a bit of a scene.  Afterwards, we decided we were hungry and tired so we went out to dinner.  Now we are getting ready to fall into bed and sleep soundly.

I will tell more about the house later but for now I'm exhausted and ready to call it a night.

Cheers,

Sojourner Sarah

……And we’re off!

Wed. January 11, 2012

Our first day of this journey has come off without any mishap.  At least not any that weren’t easily remedied.  Our ride to the airport this morning discovered that his truck wouldn’t start.  Fortunately we are blessed with wonderful friends and one of them stepped in to deliver us in plenty of time.  Next hurdle was the checking of our bags.  I wasn’t sure if the airline would allow me to check a boogie board as a second piece of baggage.  If you measured, it was a little too big for the maximum total dimensions.  However, they took it without even a blink and didn’t even charge Michael the full fare for his surfboard bag.  Gotta love small town airports!  So at this point we’re ahead of the game.  During our layover in Dallas I had assumed I could get WiFi and take care of a few things online.  Not so!  At least I wasn’t able to find a free WiFi network in the airport.  I really thought an airport as big as Dallas would have that!  I mean little old Durango has free WiFi and they only have 4 gates.  I’m a little new to this “find the WiFi” game as my laptop is new to me.  I am suspicious that perhaps I don’t know enough about the proper settings to make it work.  Hopefully the WiFi at the house in Nosara will be easy.  Right now I’m writing offline with the intention of posting tomorrow.

Arrival in San Jose was pretty easy.  We sailed through immigration and customs, picked up some Nicaraguan rum at the duty free, and were helped into a taxi.  10 minutes later we were dropped off at our B&B, Los Volcanes, in Alajuela.  The B&B has a nice little courtyard with a fountain where we’ll have breakfast in the morning.  Our room is simple but totally adequate.  A few slugs on the rum and a hot shower later, we are relaxing before an early bed.  Tomorrow morning we’ll take a taxi to the rental car company and start our drive to Nosara.  Hooray!  We are officially in Costa Rica.

Until later,

Sojourner Sarah