Quick Trip Recap - Sara and Ryan in Tamarindo

Despite have issues arrive and departing, I think Sara and Ryan enjoyed their trip to Tamarindo, Costa Rica.   I had afternoon classes all week, but we still planned morning and afternoon activities each day for them (and sometimes me).  We planned around my schedule, which allowed them to do some activities on their own, eat some meals without me 3rd-wheelin' it, and have a little 'we are finally vacationing without our kids' time!

I skipped class Monday afternoon when they got in (only Monday though).  We had some lunch, hit the beach, and explored the town in the evening.

Tuesday, we hiked over to another beach nearby, Playa Longosta (lobster beach-  although, I didn't see any).  There is only 1 resort down there, so it was nice and quiet.....at the beach, at least.  There were some pretty major waves in the water, but we enjoyed every bit of it, even the multiple underwater flips/tosses and turns.

Tuesday afternoon they zip-lined and loved, loved, LOVED it.

Wednesday morning, we went ATV-ing at another lovely beach nearby, Playa Flamingo.  We had a really swell guide, and he took us into the mountains, and then we got to ride along the beach.  It's another less populated beach, so you can get away with stuff  like that.  Being the dry season, the mountains were a bit.....dusty......so by the time we were done, we were covered in a thick layer of dirt.  It was kind of awesome....really awesome actually.

In all honesty, I had no interest in 4-wheeling, but Ryan wanted to do it, so we went.  Super glad I did!  Plus, another 'new thing' I got to try while on my travels.

Wednesday afternoon, Sara and Ryan surfed with my school peeps- both having some success too!

Wednesday night, we went for a big BBQ on the beach.  My best meal here yet!  We topped their last night off with some coconut pie and banana pie from Nogui's - best pie in town/in Costa Rica/in the world/EVER/I am being really dramatic about this/but it's true.

Thursday morning, before they hit the road, we hit an early morning boat ride/hike, up the river, on the hunt for crocodiles.   I even had a better time than expected, especially with Victor Huge (not the French writer, the Costa Rica boats captain/guide).   We saw Costa Rican 'swamps,' lots of animals, heard the 'clopping' sound of clams opening during low tide, and even howled at some howler monkeys. Lots of neat things to explore in CR.

Alas, Thursday at noonish, they headed back to the USA.
Adios amigos!

Ahhhh! They Made It!

Sara and Ryan (sister and hubs) finally arrived in Tamarindo, after a whole dang-a-lang mess in Houston and San Jose!  Regardless of their delays, I am super pumped that they made it.  Lots os activities and such planned for the next couple of days.

Sara and Ryan disembarking from the plane.

At the beach watching the sunset.

Me and sissy.  

P.S. only time in my 29 years, where I am more tan than she is.  

Mark the calendar!

Also, thanks to the whole Herbst and Bading clan for purchasing and brining me goodies!  Some surprise treats (Peeps and Girl Scout cookis), and other specifically requested items.  Not that shampoo, face wash, sunscreen and Cliff Bars are all that rare around here (although, I still have yet to see a Cliff Bar, actually),  these items cost about twice as much here.  You would think you were slathering on liquid gold, with what you pay for sunscreen in Tamarindo, so receiving a bottle of that is like hittin' the beach-town jackpot! Holla!

Lots of goodies.  Thanks, mi familia!

A Local Saturday

The last few weekends I have gone out of town, to explore other parts of CR, but this weekend, I stuck around.  My sister arrives this afternoon (Sunday), and I didn't want to miss her arrival, so I did some 'local' stuff with my neighbor-girls at school.

On saturday morning, we decided to take the public bus to a beach 20 minutes away, Playa Conchal.  After checking the bus schedule online half a dozen times to make sure we had the time correct, we headed out.  After an hour of waiting at the bus stop, 3 buses going by that weren't the one we needed, and each of the drivers from said buses giving us different information, we gave up and took a cab. . . .

Playa Conchal is a really unique beach.  The sand at the beach is made up of millions of tiny crushed shells (conchals!).   There are spots where the shells are big and thick, other spots where they are smaller and finer, but regardless of the particle size, all the shells are soft from the constant movement of the water, so they don't hurt your feet (my initial concern!).  It's really neato how nature works.  I think there are very few, if any, other beaches like this in the Americas.  Plus, the water is pretty clear, because there aren't as many fine sand particles churning in the water/waves.

Playa Conchal 

Playa Conchal 

The 'sand' at the beach.

The 'sand' at the beach. 

The shells are all shapes and sizes along different parts of the beach, and in the water.

While at the beach, we spotted a giant hive of some sort.  I have seen a lot of these in the trees, but never this close.  I still don't quite know what is inside, or what kind of bugs build them, but this one was the biggest one I have seen. And I made sure to get a person in the picture for scale!  

Large unidentified hive. 

Large unidentified hive.

After we hit the beach for a few hours, we walked up to the little town nearby, found a soda, and had a nice cheap lunch:  casado (my fave: fish, rice, beans, salad, and plantains) AND a drink, $5 (tax and tip included)!

The soda in Brasalito, yes that is a rooster; just hanging. . . 

At night, we decided to go out to the town next door, Villareal.   The area's rodeo is about to begin, and one of the bars in town was hosting the 'King and Queen of the Rodeo Peagant,' which this year, was abuelos- grandmas and grandpas.  It was really fun and adorable.  They paraded all the contestants into the bar , they all danced with their peagant partners, and at one point, after a full minute or two of complete silence in the bar (?), all the contestants took a shot of alcohol in unison.  I am still not sure what this was all about, but I liked it.

Contestants lining up for the grand entrance.

The lady in the brown was crowned Queen, and the guy in the blue hat (kind of blocked in the back), was the King!

Shot time!

After the pageant, there was a band, dancing and drinking. I was asked to dance twice, and I very reluctantly went,, both times. The first time was with this super drunk guy, and it easily showed  everyone in the bar, that I have no rhythm.  There are no tourists in this town, so my friends and I stuck out like sore thumbs to begin with, then add in me being the ONLY person in the room who can't dance (especially bc I am fairly certain that rhythm is part of Latino DNA), so, it was NOT pretty.   I think the second guy asked me to dance because he thought he could teach me, after seeing the disaster that was my dancing with the first guy, but I quickly proved him wrong too.  I prewarned both guys that I was really really bad, and I actually tried to not dance at all with either (the 'thanks, but no' line), but they were super persistent, and I thought, 'what the heck- who do I know here?'

My first (and really drunk) dance partner.....not looking good.

Maybe looking a little better, but still not pretty.

One of my teachers was there too (her grandma was a peagant contestant), and I told her earlier in the night that I can't dance. After my two epic fails on the dance floor, I said 'I told you.' Her eyes got really big, like she was almost frightened,  and she said 'NO! You can't.'  She then tried to teach me too, but to no avail.  However, she WAS the best partner I had that night :)

After a couple hours there, we headed home.  Sadly, after we left and went looking for a cab, I was even stopped in the street by a random guy who told me he saw me dancing in thebar, and that I was a horrible dancer. He even told me in broken English.  Sad, huh?  I am glad I provided some entertainment for the locals though.  :(     YIKES!

Leaving the bar through the pageant entrance with my 3 neighbor-girls! 

Extreme (non) Couponing

Before I left Texas, I watched an 'Extreme Couponing' marathon on TV (don't judge me!).   One of the self-proclaimed couponers liked to carefully arrange the goods from her 'haul,' once she got home and then take photographs of the items for a scrap book.  Totally weird; however, on one particular episode, this chick built a tower of food the size of a small car on her kitchen table, and only paid about $8 for everything.

Well, Monday, I hit up the grocery store, and had what I might call the 'opposite' experience-  I spent $30 on practically nothing (probably about $18 of food in Texas).  Astonished at the price I paid, I too arranged my haul once i got home and took a photo, and now I am scrap booking it online, for your viewing pleasure.  Ladies and gents- my haul:

Meanwhile, my 'not-really-worthy-of-calling-it-a-haul' haul tower was only 

about the size of a small cat. I am not necessarily complaining about the prices, I just find the drastic price difference interesting.*

P.S. Nana, don't worry, I have plenty of money.  $30 of fruit, cereal, peanuts, cheese and a box(?) of milk doesn't scare me. I am doing A-ok.   :)

*Disclaimer: food in Tamarindo is particularly pricey because of all the tourists. I don't think these prices are indicative of the rest of Costa Rica.

Dinners by the beach

In Tamarindo, most restaurants are located right on the beach.  You enter the restaurants from the street, and walk towards the beach for seating.  Where their seating ends, the beach begins.

Most evenings, there are different types of entertainment wandering along the beach, in front of the seating at the restaurants. The entertainers work for tips, and tourists are happy to keep them employed.  The tourists eats this stuff up (pun intended)!  I don't necessarily consider myself a tourist, since I am here for 2 months, but I totally eat this stuff up too.  I would be a big fat liar if I said otherwise.  Here are some of the 'acts' that I have crossed paths with in the last couple of weeks:

Fire show (old school boom box playing his show's soundtrack- very Matrix-esque).

A different fire show (this one also had live music that went along with the show - a lady drummer/singer).

Makeshift band: melodica, mini guitar, cheese grater, and a bass (a wooden box + a 2x4 + a telephone cord).

Darin Talbot with me and my friends.  He only entertains at one joint in town.  He performs 'interactive entertainment' 3 nights a week (Vegas-lounge-ish show, but with a beach flare).  His show: PuraVidaVille. (see below for Pura Vida reference). 

Mariachi

Service at restaurants is usually pretty slow...but for good reason.  1. Who visits Tamarindo to hurry though a meal?  2. Everything is made fresh.  If you order a salad, they are cutting up the head of lettuce just before it reaches your table.  No pre-made anything.  Plus, the Costa Rican lifestyle (Pura Vida: Pura life or full life) keeps things moving at an enjoyably relaxed pace.

My fave meal thus far is a typical Costa Rica lunch, although they serve it all the time.  I also eat it all the time! It's called 'casado' (which interestingly, also means 'married' in Spanish). Anywho, it's fish (or chicken or beef), served with rice, beans, a salad, veggies and plantains (the plantains are my most favorite part of the meal. I  always save them for the end.

Yummers!  Casado.  My fave!

Green Mountain Energy

Houston has an electric company called 'Green Mountain Energy'-  this weekend, I went to their motherland (per se): Monteverde (green mountain), Costa Rica.  Lots of great energies there.....or something like that.

I travelled with Stephanie and Amy (2 besties from New Mexico who are in my class, and staying about the same amount of time as me in Tamarindo) AND Katrin (a new student from Germany who lives in the same Costa Rican host-home with Steph and Amy).

We left right after school on Friday, and headed for the hills - literally.   Another crappy roadway, but this weekend, we had lovely scenery along the way, especially as we got into the mountains.  The ride was about 4 hours, and it got cooler and windier as we got higher and higher.

Estaban, our friendly Turismo driver.

Lucky us!  Gravel-dirt-rock roads for 2 hours of our trip!

View from one side of the car.

Very lovely view from the other side of the car.

Once we got in, we checking into our B&B.  1 room + 4 girls = no problem! Camino Verde was a funky little B&B run by 2 young brothers.

Camilo Verde B&B

Our little house/hotel room

Hotel room - I slept on a top bunk (interestingly, at 29, a first for me). 

We dropped our bags and hit the town.  Monteverde is a small town, so we conquered the entire town and ate dinner in about 2 hours.  After dinner, we rested a bit, then checked out Bar Amigos, the one happening night spot in town   Great live band-  salsa and meringue.

The town of Monteverde. 

Bar Amigos - always with my fave, Coke Light! 

The next day was chock full o' activity.  Seven am breakfast at the B&B, which included pancakes-  a major treat- not too common around these parts.  Then we went zip lining.  We drove even higher up into the mountains and zip lined over and around the mountain for nearly 2 hours.  A-MAZING views!  Some zip lines went through the trees, while others were high in the sky above the trees.  Zip lining Monteverde was one of the coolest things I have done- EVER! 

Getting ready to zip line (from the left: Katrin, me, Amy, Steph).

Each zip-line platform listed some stats about our current location.

 That's me, flying through the air. 

In the forest with our gear and giant Mickey-Mouse-hand-sized gloves. 

Zip lining also ended with a Tarzan Swing-  sort of like a small bungee jump!  We watched a couple other people do it first, and the guys working the lines would make sure the other visitors were all ready to go, double checked their comfort level and then counted off for them to jump.  We sort of made friends with the guys working the zip lines that day, so I guess they thought it would be funny if they pushed all 4 of us off the  edge.  Very funny!  NOT!  When each of us had our respective turns, they would have us get close to the edge, tell us to bend our knees, and as we bent, they just pushed. No, 'Are you ready?' No, 'One, two, three...' It was probably a little more fun that way anyway - in retrospect, not necessarily at the time.

The view from the top of the Tarzan Swing (that's me at the bottom). 

After that, we took a 2 hour hike around the mountain and across 8 different swinging bridges that went over, under, around, and through the rain forest.  Also SUPER way cool.

Swinging bridge through the trees. 

View from a swinging bridge above the trees. 

View from the longest swinging bridge in the park. 

After a packed morning, we went back to the B&B, and hit up a local soda for a late lunch.  Costa Rican soda = a divey restaurant with cheap local eats.  After that, we did a guided night hike through the forest. 

All ready for the night hike- handy head lamp included.  

 P.S. fear not!  Clearly by the looks of me in this photo, I am just as cool as I was before I left Texas. 

Night hike=  really, really, really dark, even with flashlights (and/or head lamps, in my case), and kind of spooky, but it in a really neato way.  Sadly, not many pictures were taken on the hike.  Too dark.  However, here is a list of what we saw:

3 adult sloths and 1 (very cute) baby sloth- they usually hang high in the trees and only come down once a week to do their 'businees,' but we lucked out and caught a mama and baby only a few feet off the ground (and a few feet from where we were standing).  Not so luckily, we did see mama sloth do her business- must have been that time of the week. 
1 coati - sort of like a long-tailed raccoons
1 agouti- Costa Rica's second largest rodent
1 large tarantula 
1,000,000 ants - very hard at work transporting leaves, 4 times the size of their bodies, back to their ant hill.  Meanwhile, they make ant hills the size of human coffins, far bigger than those I have seen I TX. 
1 green toucan
1 brown jay
2 different grasshoppers
4 white faced monkeys
1 (boring old, regular) possum 
1000+ fireflies

The night hike was really cold and rainy (long-pants-long-sleeved-zip-up-hoodie-and-a-rain-coat cold), and that was the start of a very windy, chilly, and wet night in our area of Coasta Rica.  During the night, I woke up several times to what sounded like cat 5 hurricane winds and flickering power.  Along our ride home, we saw tons of down trees, down power lines, and fruit all over the place (high wind cleans the trees out lickity split).  Monteverde and the surrounding area gets frequent high winds, but last night was even a bit uncommon for them.  

Alas, back in Tamarindo.  I maybe even missed our little beach town a bit, and after some chilly weather, I was glad to get back to some sun!