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!
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