includes
many coffee & sugar cane plantations, more teak as you get
closer to Tam. Saw first monkeys in trees about 1 hr. OS Tam.
Very dry around there, you could think you're in CA. 
Arrived
at Pasatiempo about 6. Can't believe Jorge was driving back to
Jaco that night. Board lost battle w/ ceiling fan straightaway,
that was stupid. I'm going with duct tape for duration. Walked
around for awhile, ate ceviche @ Zullymar restaurant. 
Went to
Monkey Bar, 
was quiet
at first but got happening. Met young Casey who was beautiful and
friendly. Met Barbara from Germany, very nice too. Also met Chad
who was staying @ Pasatiempo. Went home around midnight to surf
early.Woke up @7 for "dawn" patrol, got a couple decent waves @ Estero but it was closing out,
stayed
that way all day. Walked to Langosta, very beautiful 
but waves
blown 
and not
much better. Walking barefoot much of time 
&
feet got very tender, must watch that. Outdoor showers rock! Ate
@ Pasatiempo, met loco JJ the drummer who will be playing @ Pasa
on Tuesday. Spent PM not studying & getting sun. Waves still
not great. Funny coincidence, that girl Casey works at Pasatiempo
as a pizza delivery girl. So I talked to her for awhile longer.OK, a lot has happened since I wrote last. It's now Tuesday. Saturday PM I arrived back from town and Scott was there.
He had
cabbed from Tortuga. Too late to surf and he had no board. Spent
a lot of time trying to get money out of ATM. Scott repeatedly
can't figure out exchange rate, apparently missed that day in
school ha ha. We ate @ Copacabana and then hung out at the local
disco Mambo Bar. 
Not as
fun as the Monkey bar. Gasolina is
very popular song.Next morning went to airport to get Melanie.
Easy cab
ride, very nice cab driver waited for us. Lots of livestock next
door. 
Airplane
trip was apparently scary. Came back to town, long day at beach.
Not particularly good but fun. I had to rent board for Scott as
he did not have actual credit card, only debit. Ate @ Zullymar 
and then
hung out @ Pasa, I think!
Monday we slept late, had breakfast @ Pasa, very good. Then knocked around town, checking into tours etc. Tried to stay in shade as both M & I were feeling a bit torched. Power goes out a lot at Pasa. Very happy to figure out that electric gadgets work here without adapter. Scott left passport at Tortuga and had to walk all the way there and back.
3PM M & I went horseback riding,
quite fun
actually, saw lots of monkeys, 
cashew and
teak plantations, Guanacaste, Pochote and Matapalo
trees. 
Guide
Grady was extremely nice and had lived here all his life. 
Back in
town, ate at Dragonfly, excellent food (pork loin) but pricey and
sort of indifferent service. Then to worst live band ever,
gambling going on in back with bouncer keeping watch. Then to
Mambo, didn't last long, Scott disappeared and Melanie & I
went back to Pasa early.Tuesday slept a bit late again, joined Scott @ Tam. around 10. Waves sucked, onshore and small. Back at Pasa, Scott disappeared again so M. & I went to Fiesta de Mar,
very good
and authentic. Then walked to Langosta and back, 
swam in
rivermouth, saw monkeys, trees 
and birds
plus 1st iguana in drainage hole. Chilled at hotel in afternoon.
Went to Fiesta again in PM, then to Pasatiempo for big live band
with JJ and co. 
Pretty
fun scene 
even if
music selections are as predictable as sunrise. 
Very
late night. 
An
Australian guy has disappeared, that sucks. Oh boy, big gap here. Now in Nosara. Let's see, what's happened. I don't remember surfing Wednesday morning so either we didn't or it sucked, probably the latter. It rained like crazy Tuesday night, so our Wednesday moto plan got converted to ATVs. We rode up to Playa Grande
&
down to Avellanas & Negra. Grande 
was
firing head high barrels, 
easy
paddle, looked great. Avellanes looked good too but was blowing
out. 
Same with
Negra 
but you
could see what everyone is excited about. 
Deep
pothole between Avellanas & Negra could be interesting in
rainy season. ATVs were great fun and could go faster than cars
in many conditions.After that it was time to say goodbye to Melanie. Went with her to airport, sent her off to Ciudad Mexico. Met up with Scott and surfed Tam in PM. Still small and not very good. Went to place called La Conchella or something. Bummed I can't remember because it was great, probably best and most affordable we had in Tam. Owned by Brazilians. Also went to e-cafe where there was email from Leslie. Hung out at Mambo,
Gasolina
song is everywhere. Also met lovely Nicaraguan who spoke not
a word of English, yet were managing OK when Leslie showed up. 
Wound up
staying up late talking with her.Thursday surfed Tam in AM. Still small, getting tired of small waves even though there are always bigger sets sometimes they are very inconsistent and almost always walled. Crazy rain at breakfast. Spent afternoon shopping for rental cars, was looking grim but then Fernando at Budget
came
through with terrific deal. Ate at cool sandwich place where food
is named after surfers. 
In PM
went to Pedro's, great seafood restaurant right on beach. 
Hung out
at Mambo (yes, again) and met Britt, art student who might move
to SF. Said she might come to Nosara. Later met up with Leslie
again.Friday picked up rental car but numerous snafus (including scare about loss of room) prevented getting out of town until 10am. Went to Avellanas which would have been awesome two hours earlier, was still pretty damn good, two way reef peaks and very friendly crowd. Drove past Negra to show Scott but it was really blown. Came back to town
and hung
out at Pasatiempo for much of afternoon. Much of this period is
not well remembered due to excessive alcohol consumption in
previous evenings. I do remember it rained occasionally 
and the
locals were startled each time. Ron at Pasa came through with
perfect rack pads, too good to be true. Left them at restaurant
but they put them in my room, very cool.Friday night in Tamarindo means Monkey Bar at Vista Villas and we hit it early after another great meal at nearby restaurant. It was if anything more crazy than last week but spring breakers are not all super friendly. Of course Leslie and her friend Rachael were there and it was pretty fun. Scott and I agreed that we would try to actually get drunk (difficult on Imperial) and I think we succeeded.
