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!!!

 

South Shore

Tamarindo is in a bay.  To the north is Playa Grande with it's smooth sand ideal for walking.  To the south is all together different.  The south end of Tamarindo Bay is defined by rocks and a high cliff.

There are two ways to get around the cliff.  You can wait for low tide and walk on the rocks.  But that is a little tricky.  Or, you can follow a trail and go over the top.

From the top of the hill you get a good view of the entire Tamarindo Bay.  Looking the other direction you have a totally different experience (this is a picture at low tide).

 

 

Instead of a nice smooth beach with solid sand there are rocks and the sand is very soft and consists mostly of ground up shells.   At high tide the waves are much bigger and this is where the better surfers tend to be.

 

You can walk on this beach for miles.

There are beautiful homes along the way.

And places to rest and relax.

We have Tamarindo Beach, Playa Grande, and Langosta Beach.  It is wonderful to have such different beaches to enjoy so close by.

Howlers

Just about every morning you can hear the Howler monkeys.  They live in groups of six to fifteen and the males make loud, deep guttural growls or "howls" that can be heard from as much as three miles away. 

 

They range in size from 56 to 92 cm (22 to 36 in), excluding their tails, which can easily be five feet long.

 The Howler monkey can smell out its food (primarily fruit and nuts) up to 2km away.  Their noses are usually roundish snout-type, and the nostrils have many sensory hairs growing from the interior. 

 Howlers eat mainly top canopy leaves together with fruit, buds, flowers, and nuts. They need to be careful not to eat too many leaves of certain species in one sitting, as some contain toxins that can poison them.  Howler monkeys are also known to occasionally raid birds' nests and chicken coops and consume the eggs.

  They can use their tails as well as their feet to pick their food.  They very seldom come to the ground except for water during the very dry season.  Otherwise they get all the water they need from the leaves in the trees.  The people here in Tamarindo have even built bridges so they can cross the roads without coming to the ground.

They are interesting and cute to watch.