Valentine's Day 2012

Hello!

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I have to admit it’s really nice not to be inundated with all the commercialism of the holiday that you experience in the U.S.  There has been some mention of it here, but nothing like what we’d get at home.  Of course it helps that we’re not watching TV, don’t listen to the radio, and aren’t doing a lot of shopping.  For those who choose to celebrate it, have a nice one.  We are going out to dinner at La Luna which is a Mediterranean restaurant right on the beach at Playa Pelada. 

The big news for our weekend was that we moved.  We gave up our house, Casamistad, after 30 nights and moved to Villas Canadiense, just down the road and around the corner.  We are now in a one-bedroom condo, which is part of a complex of four.  There are beautiful gardens with flowering trees and shrubs, a pretty little pool, and a ranchito, which is a thatched shelter with a peaked roof to provide shade in the common area.  There are nice lounge chairs by the pool, as well as a table and chairs under the ranchito.  Our condo has high ceilings, a white painted interior, and a covered porch with a table and chairs.  All in all, I think we did quite well for a last minute booking.  It’s also just a short walk down a jungle path to the beach.  What we will miss about the house is the extremely well stocked kitchen, the privacy of the backyard, and the rocking chairs on our porch.  Though there are enough knives in the new kitchen, they are all dangerously dull!  We are muddling through on the cooking.  We also do not have WiFi at the condo, so I will be writing when it’s convenient and then taking the laptop to a café to post and check email etc.  There are several options for this so it shouldn’t be a problem, just a new routine. 

The move itself was a bit of an adventure.  We moved by bicycle!  It took several trips for both of us but we managed it.  It was definitely better than trying to drag everything down a dusty dirt road!  We don’t have that much stuff, but when you factor in two surfboards and a bunch of groceries to move, it adds up.

Sunday we surfed from our new location on the beach.  There were some little jellyfish in the water, but we tried not to let them bother us.   I stayed on the inside again and practiced in the whitewater.  In the afternoon we went over and rented Michael a bicycle since he had to leave his at the house.  We also put some air in the rear tire of mine because it keeps getting soft every few days.  We went to the French bakery and had a treat and ran into our friend Jessica there.  I stopped in at Coconut Harry’s and booked a surf lesson for Monday morning.  Then, after some lounging at our pool, we went to the beach for sunset and chatted with three nice young men who are visiting from various parts of the U.S. and are here to surf.  We did not see the green flash, though we hope to someday. 

In the evening we decided to go over to Casa Tucan for dinner and then go to the Harbor Reef where “Tico Hendrix” was playing.  His real name is Navil Garcia and he’s a guitarist that Michael remembered from a previous visit to Nosara.  There wasn’t much of a crowd, but he did his best to get everyone involved and it was pleasant to listen to some music.  Unfortunately my rear tire went completely flat while we were at dinner, so we left it locked up behind the rental shop for the night.  Mike doubled me on his bike down the road a bit which I haven’t done since I was a teenager! 

Monday morning I had my surf lesson with Oscar.  I wanted to try going to the outside and riding green waves.  The waves were supposed to be a little smaller and they were, but it was still a big challenge.  Oscar was very patient as I struggled to stand up.  One of the hardest parts is getting back outside after you’ve fallen down trying to ride a wave.  You can get caught in the wrong spot and spend a lot of time and energy dodging waves.  The waves seemed to get bigger as my lesson went on.  Probably it was mostly the tide dropping, which makes them appear bigger because they break a little steeper.  In any case, I was pretty worn out by the end and it’s clear, I need a lot more practice!  Michael met me on the beach and we went up to retrieve my bike, which I had stopped in to explain about before my lesson.  They gave me a different bike to use since they weren’t done fixing the other one.  Then, the produce truck was in town, so we went and bought some fruits and veggies there.  You literally get into the back of the truck and pick out what you want.  There was quite a mob when we went.  I only found one banana left!  After a stop at the bakery for bread, we headed home to jump in the pool and cool off. 

This morning Michael went to surf and I enjoyed a peaceful cup of coffee and my book.  I was still feeling pretty tired from my surfing adventures of yesterday.  At 10:30 we both had massages scheduled.  Aaaah!  This afternoon we played some cribbage and now we are at the Guilded Iguana using their WiFi.  We discovered we had no water at the condo before we left.  Apparently the whole town is out.  Michael says this happened fairly frequently when he was here before because there is water rationing later in the year, but I think this one came as a surprise to everyone.  Oh well, it won't last forever.

Pura Vida,

Sojourner Sarah

Turtles!

Howdy,


We've had some nice adventures in the last few days.  Sunday we had decided it was time to go on an excursion, so we made a car reservation online for the local National office.  We couldn't seem to find the local phone number anywhere.  Our plan was to go to Samara to the south or perhaps drive north and do a little exploring.  On Monday Michael went over to the office to pick up the car but they didn't have one.  They said it takes 2 days for the online reservations to get to them, so maybe we'd have something the next day.  Consequently we decided to spend the afternoon on a different part of our beach.  After packing some towels and water, a beach umbrella we found in the house, and some fishing gear, we bicycled down to the south end of the beach, picking up a rented beach chair along the way.  We walked down the beach a ways to where Michael wanted to fish and found a spot to set up our umbrella and chair.  With the tide pretty high, the beach was narrower and we had the illusion that we were the only ones on the beach.

Sitting in my chair I could look out at the waves and ocean and see no one but Michael.  Down that end of the beach there are a lot fewer people and we only saw a few passersby.  It was as if we were on a totally different beach!  Michael did some surf casting and I watched.  After a while I started a new book, The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola.  Michael gave it to me for Christmas and I'm really enjoying it.  It is set in Les Halles, in Paris, around the mid 19th century.  The descriptions of the markets and the food are fabulous.

Monday night Michael got out the charcoal and fired up the built-in grill on our porch.  He barbecued a whole chicken he had marinated in jerk seasoning.  It was so delicious!  The charcoal really gave it great flavor.  Later we went down to the beach for a walk in the moonlight.  The moon was almost full and the tide was as low as I've seen it.  There was that eerie half light when you can see a lot once your eyes adjust, but everything is still sort of greyed out.  Michael brought his camera and we tried to take some shots with the tripod.

On Tuesday we called the car rental place with the number Michael had gotten when he went the day before.  They still didn't have any record of our reservation since their system had been down for two days.  I don't think they even had internet.  The rate they quoted for a car they had was exorbitant as they don't like to rent them for less than three days and we only wanted it for one.  Online they had no problem with one day.  They did tell us if we brought in a printout of our reservation they might be able to help.  So I went to the Frogpad and used their computer to print out a copy.  Then we rode over on our bikes to see what we could do.  We had also made reservations for a trip to Monteverde in the future and our drive back to San Jose and wanted to make sure those were going to work.  With a little coaxing and explanation we basically got what we wanted.  They had a car which they let us have for one day for, more or less, the rate we were quoted online.  Hurrah!  Success.  I think it just works better here if you do things in person, not on the phone.  The clerk was very chatty and asked a lot of questions about Colorado.  So once the paperwork was done, we went back to the house, packed up some gear, and off we went.


We had decided to drive to Samara which is a larger town about 24 Km to the south.  It may not sound like much, but the dirt roads really slow you down.  There are two ways you can go and we tried to take the more coastal route.  We didn't quite manage to come out where we intended, but we got there and we saw some pretty countryside in the process.  We even forded a river!  There were beautiful Guanacaste trees with a thick trunk that rises up to branches and leaves in the shape of an umbrella.  We also saw what we think was a teak wood farm.  Samara has a paved road going into it from Nicoya, the bigger city inland.  It is a popular destination for Ticos on the weekends or for vacation, in addition to attracting international tourists.  There is a Spanish Language and Culture Institute where you can study spanish and take lodging with locals if you choose.  Michael had spent a month there when he was here before, so he was familiar with the town.  There are small hotels and bungalows, some right on the beach, and restaurants and bars and a few souvenir shops, a Farmacia, and the usual grocery stores.  I've heard that on the weekends it's a pretty happening place and the "discotheque" is full until the wee hours.  We stopped for lunch at a restaurant called Casa Esmeralda and I had fish with Avocado Sauce that Michael remembered was really good.  He was right!  It was delicious.  He had a whole fried fish, which is one of his favorites.  After lunch we drove a little further south to the next beach over, Playa Carillo.  This is a very picturesque half moon bay with a palm tree lined beach and a paved road running the length of the beach just behind the palms.  Apparently one of the Presidents of Costa Rica was fond of this spot and so he had a road paved there so he could visit easily.  It really is gorgeous and there weren't many people.  We found a place to park and settled in the shade of the palm trees, careful not to sit directly beneath any coconuts lest they fall on us!  Michael napped in the shade and I read some more.  After a while we went back to Samara and walked around a bit.  It is different from Playa Guiones because the waves are really small by comparison, the sand is more black, and there are businesses right on the beach.  In Guiones, there is a 200m buffer  of vegetation between the beach and any house or business.  It's protected so no one can build or develop there.  In Samara we enjoyed sitting at a beachside bar and having a cold drink and some nachos for sunset.  Not a very impressive sunset, but fun to be doing something different. Before heading back to Guiones we stopped in at the grocery store for a few supplies.  Earlier we had gone to the Farmacia to get some ibuprofen.  Having gone through the supply we brought with us, we discovered that if you want more than a single dose packet, you have to get it at a pharmacy.  Even so it was sold by the dose and we found it surprisingly expensive.  Next time we'll bring more from home.  We took the bigger road home, and even though it was dark, it wasn't too bad.


Wednesday morning after a surf and walk on the beach we used our rental car to run errands.  We didn't need to return it until 1pm.  After hitting up the ATM for some more cash, we bought bread at the bakery, veggies from the truck, and drove up to Nosara to go to the Super.  On the way back we gave a woman and her young daughter a ride up the road to their house.  We've had such good fortune with rides we knew we needed to pay it back a little.  The afternoon was deliciously lazy with lots of book reading and a little napping.  In the evening we went to the beach for the usual sunset.  After the sun had gone down but the light lingered, we noticed some people down the beach had gathered and we heard there was a turtle hatch.  So we strolled down the beach and got to see an incredible sight.  There were about 30 or 40 little baby turtles scrambling over the sand towards the water and waves.  People lined their path watching and taking pictures.  Alas, I did not have the camera, so no pics for us.  I moved up to where the nest was and saw about five baby turtles climbing over each other just erupting out of the sand like a spring welling up.  Soon five turned into thirty in another wave of babies.  They were so tiny; only about 2-3 inches long.  With great determination they made their way down the beach to the water.  When they were close enough, a wave washed up and, once in the water, they swam like mad.  You could see their little heads bobbing on the surface as they got washed out to deeper water.  I can't even imagine how they made it out past the waves.  


Today we had a great day.  I had a good surf session in the morning and we read books and went for a walk on the beach and took a nap etc.  The sunset was really pretty with light reflecting on the clouds afterwards.

Pura Vida!

Sojourner Sarah

Another day, another bruise...

Hola,

The waves have been a little bigger in the last few days which is great for Michael.  There was a bit of south swell that came through which is perhaps not the optimal direction for this beach, but it did increase the wave size.  This afternoon it looked as if we were getting a little northwest swell which is a better direction.  Although, when it mixed in with the leftover south swell, things got a little unpredictable.  Surfing is a hard sport to learn.  There are so many factors such as tide, wave size and direction, wind strength and direction, not to mention the skills and strength required by the surfer in order to paddle out, catch a wave, stand up, and turn etc.  It can be frustrating, scary, exhilarating, fun, difficult, and satisfying all in the same session.   It is physically demanding and, certainly for me, demanding in ways that neither I nor my body are used to.  It can also be rewarding.  I'm just hoping that with a little perseverance maybe I'll start to get the hang of it.  In any case, I'm having fun trying, and that is really the point I guess.  

We've run into a few characters in our daily meanderings around here.  For example, there is Rick and Joan from Florida who are here finishing up a condominium project that we pass every day on the way to the beach.  I think it's 4 units right now and there may be more in the works.  Rick is a contractor who couldn't wrap his head around quitting working, so he hasn't really retired.  They find projects that have stalled out in the middle (pretty common here) and finish them off.  Joan's job seems to be to pick out the paint colors.  She really takes it seriously.  For the past three weeks she's been dithering constantly about what colors to paint the building.  Every day she is standing out front holding up paint samples and the building has had a rainbow of paint swatches applied in different locations.  She saw a shirt I was wearing one day, and later said she wanted to match one of the colors in it, if I could just stop by the next time I'm wearing it, she could get out her fan of paint chips.  They have been to San Jose (a 6 hour trip) more than once to get paint.  She can't seem to make up her mind and is willing to change it at the drop of a hat.  Rick must have a lot of patience!  The building is now painted in places blue, yellow, terra-cotta, and green of varying shades.  It looks nice, but who's to say if it will stay that way!

Another character here is Robin.  She is an American woman who moved down her in 2006.  She has a delightful ice cream shop that also has yummy smoothies, wraps, salads etc.  Most of it is organic and there are also vegan and vegetarian options.  The ice creams and sorbets are homemade and scrumptious!  Michael met Robin the last time he was here when she had just opened her shop, which in those days was ice cream only.  It seems to be a very successful endeavor now.  Robin seems to know every dog in town.  A couple of them are usually lounging in the shade on the cool tile of her cafe.  She has a tiny dog herself named Betty.  We borrowed a book from a stack that Robin had out at the cafe and both read it.  It's called "Walking in Circles Before Lying Down" by Merrill Markoe.  I recommend it if you like dogs and like to laugh.  We were both laughing out loud while reading it.  

Well we're off to watch the Super Bowl at one of the local bars.  Not because we care greatly about the Super Bowl, but rather because several of the bars are offering specials and enticing people to come and watch and we expect quite a few people will.  Time for a little socializing!

Cheers,

Sojourner Sarah

P.S.  We'll get some fresh pictures up very soon.

Scorpions and Monkey poop...

Hola,

It's now been 3 weeks since we got here.  In many ways it seems longer, and yet it has also gone by quickly.  Time is such an illusory thing.  We pretty much only care about what time it is because of what that might mean for what tide it is, or how soon until the sun sets.  Since we are so close to the equator, the sun sets at almost the same time every night and comes up about 12 hours later.  It sets around 5:45pm right now.  Our house is a bit dark and certainly the bedroom doesn't get much morning light, so though we wake up early here, it's not at sunrise.  The early mornings are some of the nicest times here, especially at the beach.  If there is a breeze, it is usually offshore which is good for surfing.  The water is glassy and you don't have to squint into the sun to see the waves coming.  We enjoy sitting on the porch in the morning and drinking our coffee.  Then after a light snack we'll head to the beach to surf.  It is sometimes hard to get  my body going in the morning, but it feels so good afterwards.  I feel very alive and refreshed after surfing in the morning.  And ravenous.  So usually it's back to the house for a real breakfast.  This morning it was gallo pinto and eggs with bacon and a tomato and avocado garnish.  Yummy.  Now Michael has gone off to make a quick trip to Nosara (hitchhiking) to go to the grocery store and I am writing.  Later we may go down to the south end of the beach and out onto the point where Michael will try a little fishing.

Surfing is going pretty well for me.  On Monday I went back to the doctor and got the all clear to go back in the water.  So in the afternoon I took Michael's rented longboard out and tried some more waves.  I also signed up for another lesson on Tuesday.  This time I had Oscar for my instructor as Nelson wasn't feeling well.  It was good to get another perspective and learn some more things.  Oscar taught me more about catching green waves (waves that haven't broken yet) and what to look for when you are watching the water for waves.  He also had some good insights into balance and technique for the pop up.  We tried for a lot of waves and by the time we were done, I was exhausted!

Tuesday night we went out for dinner because neither of us felt like cooking.  We went to Giardino Tropicale which is an italian place with a wood fired oven for pizza.  It is also a hotel.  We rode our bikes over with our lights in the dark and managed to avoid the potholes successfully.  Our pizza and caesar salad were good and the service was better than most.  They even had the local beer on tap.  Mostly we've just seen bottles and cans.  For desert we indulged in a banana cake with ice cream.  The banana cake was dark and dense and looked like a chocolate brownie.  It was delicious!

We have been talking about our plans for the rest of our time in Costa Rica and on Wednesday we made some decisions.  Originally we thought we'd go over to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica to Puerto Viejo to meet up with another couple.  As it turns out, it doesn't look like they'll both be there.  Michael didn't think the surf was going to be very consistent there and it is rainier on that side and would take us at least a day to get there, maybe more, depending on how we went.  I am also really enjoying learning to surf and Nosara is the perfect place to learn.  So we have decided to spend some more time here.  We will take a trip into the mountains in a few weeks to Monteverde to see the cloud forest.  This will be a nice change of pace and give me a chance to see another side of Costa Rica.  We'll also probably take a little trip to Samara which is a bigger town down the coast a little.  Since our house rental is ending Feb. 11 we had to find another place to stay and that was a bit of a challenge as it is high season here.  But we managed to find something that I think will be just great and got a discount for the last minute booking.  It will be in a little different part of Playa Guiones, so it will be fun to get to know a new part of the beach on a regular basis.  We'll be closer to some of the places we like and get to know a different set of people.  And if anything, it is even closer to the beach.

The Farmer's Market on Tuesday never happened and we needed some stuff, so yesterday we bought some more vegetables and fruit from the guy with the truck.   It is incredibly inexpensive and so fresh.  Things ripen quickly here, so we buy tomatoes that aren't quite ripe and in a day or so, they are.  Since avocados are easy to find and cheap, we've been enjoying a lot of them.  Yesterday we also rented me my own surfboard.  Michael had returned the longboard he rented and I wanted a board to use that would be just right for me.  It's 9'2", fairly wide and stable, and has some rocker in the nose.  See?  I'm learning the lingo!  I've used it twice now and I think it's a great board to learn on.

So maybe you're wondering about the title of this post.  Michael killed a scorpion yesterday that was lurking in the closet.  That was the third one we've seen.  The first was on our first night here.  I killed that one in the bathroom.  The second was a corpse we found in the bedroom kind of behind the desk.  Neither one of us likes killing critters, but we like scorpions even less.  We had to dispose of a rather large spider one day in the bedroom too.  I got that one with a broom.  Some of the spiders here are really fast so you can't dither about them, you just have to do, or you might find it leaping at you.  Eeeeek!

As for monkey poop, we have determined that the loud thunks on the roof at night have got to be the result of monkeys in the trees doing some business in the middle of the night.  It's really loud!  But fortunately it usually doesn't last too long.  The Howler monkeys continue to make regular visits to the trees above the house and obviously on some nights, they sleep there.  It is fun to see the troop moving through the trees or lounging overhead.  I saw a mama with a little baby on her back yesterday.  Very cute.  There is also a pretty good sized black iguana that likes to take naps in the trees behind the house.  We see him climbing the tree from our porch.  In Monteverde we hope to see more birds and butterflies.

I hope you are all enjoying winter back home.  I can't say I miss the snow or cold right now.

Hasta luego,

Sojourner Sarah

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