Visitors From Afar

We got an email Sunday from Gail's cousin, Kathy, who lives in Germany telling us that her son, Kevin, and his girlfriend, Anna, would like to come for a visit on Monday.  They needed a place to spend the night and get a meal or two.  They are from Germany and had been traveling around Costa Rica for 3.5 weeks.  We knew they were coming to Costa Rica but didn't know if they would be in Tamarindo till Sunday! 

They walked from Playa Grande (3-4 miles), got here at noon.

 

They could only stay one day and would be leaving to catch a 6:00 bus in the morning.  It was so great they showed up when they did.  We were leaving to come home in a couple days and were not sure how we were going to eat all of the food we had in the refrigerator.  They helped us clean up many leftovers. I think we fed them well and now our cupboards are almost bare...yay!

 

 

We spent the afternoon around the pool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That evening we went to see the fire dance.

 

 

Small world...thank goodness for the internet or we would never gotten in touch! We had a wonderful visit with Kevin and Anna...very nice couple!

 

Wish they had been able to stay longer, but we got a lot of ground covered in the short time they were here. What a blessing it was that we were still here and that our paths could cross.  Thank goodness for the internet to be able to make the connection.

They left a few minutes ago to go catch the bus.

 

Maybe some day we can visit them in Germany--who knows!



Vendors

There is always something happening on the beach.  You can always find surfers, girls in bikinis, boats, people getting massages, sand sculptures, etc.  One more thing you can always find are the vendors.  The vendors are not "pushie" but they are always around. and selling all kinds of things.

JUICE

TRINKETS



PASTRIES

 

SUNGLASSES

BIKINIS

FRUIT

JEWELRY

COCONUTS

 

SHAVED ICE





And, of course, beer.





Miscellaneous

There is a water shortage in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.  The rainy season is normally four months long but this year they only got rain for about two months.  They do not have the infrastructure available to overcome this dilemma.  We have water in our condo only from 5 to 8 am, 11am to 1pm, and from 4 to 11 pm.    It took almost two weeks to actually get a schedule.  Before that, the water would go off at any time—without warning.

The most exasperating thing is that it seems we are the only ones suffering.  For example, the electrical wires here are not made of copper—people steal copper.  The wires are made of mostly aluminum!!  Aluminum needs to be clean in order to reliably transmit electricity.  So, the power company washes it--any time they want to.

 

Gail and Carol McDonald wanted to get a pedicure.  There are many option for that here but other ladies recommended Odry's.

Inside Odry's is decorated with seashells.

Gail and Carol settled in for an hour of pedicure

--for $20 they filed and trimmed and painted the nails, and took the callouses off, applied lotion, and massaged the feet and legs.

On the way to Odry's we saw some guys loading a 4-wheeler on to a moving van.

They made it!

Going from Odry's to the beach we walk through an alley.  They have a fence that has lots of local carvings on it.

At the beach they play Frisbee football.

It looks like lots of fun. 

There was also another sand sculpture of a turtle and an alligator.

And, by the way, most of the bars and restaurants have TVs and you can watch most of your favorite shows in English. 

 

Souvenirs and Services.

Tamarindo is a surf town.  Lots of "young adults" are here to enjoy the surfing.  The town's shops cater to the surfers and tourists.  There are dozens of surf shops with hundreds of surf boards for sale and for rent.

 

Everyone is anxious to give surfing lessons.

 

 

Ninety percent of the businesses are here to sell to and service the tourists.

 

There are souvenir shops everywhere. 

On many of the streets, that is all there is--mixed in with a restaurant or some other type of service.

 

 

After a while they all seem to have pretty much the same things.  It is just a matter of shopping for the best price.

 

 

You can find almost any souvenir imaginable--all with PURA VIDA on them!!!

Playa Grande

 

Playa Grande (Big Beach) is a beach just to the north of Tamarindo Beach and is separated by an estuary.  This is a picture I copied from an advertisement that shows Tamarindo Beach on the right and Playa Grande on the left separated by the estuary.

The estuary is where the fresh water from the mountains joins the salt water from the ocean.  At low tide you can cross this on foot but it is not recommended because the bottom is very uneven, the current is very strong, and there can be crocodiles in the water.   There are small boats that will take you across for $1 per person.

There are several different estimates but I think Playa Grande is a little over three miles long from the estuary to the "rock" on the far north end.

You are advised to not walk the beach at high tide because all of the sand you see in the picture is covered with water and it gets very soft up by where the beach meets the vegetation and that is where turtles lay their eggs.  Otherwise the beach is a fantastic place to walk--it is flat and the sand is solid, yet soft.

Gail and I leisurely walked Playa Grande the other day.  We left our house at about 7:30 and got back home about 11:30.  As we walked we found a lot of different kinds of shells.  One of the most abundant kinds of shells is what Gail and I call "cornucopia".

They vary in color from brown to bright white.  They are a couple inches long.  We have seen ear rings made from them.  

 

There are also a lot of sand dollars.  Most of them are still alive so we don't pick them up.  They make unique little marks in the sand.

When you turn the sand over they are a brown and burgundy color and have a lot of little "feet" all around the shell.

There are lots of little sand crabs too.

They make their holes in the sand and spread their designs across the beach.

 

As you approach the rock at the far end of Playa Grande you begin to think "Oh great, I can finally sit down and rest a while."

From three miles away the "rock" looks very big.  But it is not so intimidating when
 you finally arrive.









It is definitely a wonderful spot just to relax and enjoy the beauty of the ocean.

You might even find a bathing beauty some where on the rocks.

There was a family there who found that when the tide went out, it left them with their own private bath tub.

Beyond the "rock" is another beach (I am not sure what the name of it is).

As we head back home, we see our destination (Tamarindo) in the distance

OH MY!  Where's that taxi when you need it? 

By the time we get back our bodies certainly are aware that we have been on a long, long walk.   Just let me get my feet up!!!