costarica11-08
On the ferry to Mal Pais, whoohoo!
Goodbye Puntarenas
hello Nicoya Peninsula
The front door of the aptly named Casa Azul
The back doors (we will stay here next time!)
What you see from the back doors
Pretty nice pool
I mean, really nice pool and really nice pool chairs
Of course there is a hammock
Decent view of the surf from the pool
Decent surf too...it's Playa Carmen
Our little room and our quiver
On the rocks at Montezuma
Off the rocks and into lunch
This lesser traveled road looks easy
Well, it looked easy
Like driving on the moon
Just your average river crossing
We made it through here too; thank heavens it wasn't raining
Pits big enough to swallow a car, or a girl
Sort of lonely out there too
We were a bit relieved to see the ocean again
Yeah, it's good to be at the ocean
Al and Bennie's dog was ripping it up
Hot doggin'
The twilight makes everyone look good
The new mini mall at Playa Carmen
A bank with ATM, pharmacy, surf shop, courtyard restaurant...what's not to like?
Party Pollo
Monkeys in the trees along the road
Mas monos
The beloved Point Break Cabinas are muertas
El Peňon
and what I suppose is El Peňonito
El Peňon es grande
The view south, into the rain
The view north towards Playa Hermosa
We love El Peňon
My new neighbor, in the hills above Playa Hermosa!
My neighbor's view of my property
Livestock in the road is very common
Our first night in at Casa Romantica in Nosara. The Ticos do strange things with the towels.
The food at Cafe de Paris is to die for
As are the umbrella drinks
We had room to stretch out at Casa Romantica
With handy towel drying hooks
and a temporary addition to our quiver
At Harbor Reef
Possibly the biggest umbrella drink ever
and one of the strongest margaritas
We splurged for our 18 month anniversary
I think Annette made the better choice
Another umbrella drink?
Raccoon in the pool!
Casa Romantica says it all
Awesome pool
Huge palapa with hammocks, should you ever need to get out of the sun
Quite an impressive structure
Did I mention hammocks?
No tan lines
Maybe a tan line...she isn't telling
Trying to break the hammock
Fantastic outdoor shower...One of four!
We LOVE free breakfast
It didn't last long with us around
especially since we usually weren't first at it
Really nicely landscaped grounds
Our little corner of paradise
The path to the path to the beach
The path to the beach
The gate to the beach
The other side of the path to the beach
Playa Pelada
Olga's at Playa Pelada. Annette likes her beer cold
Paul will drink anything
I smell pescado casado!
I think the pescado casado is up here
We only gave him a little, really.
More Playa Pelada
Even more Pelada
Back to Playa Guiones, a little bumpy but surfable
At high tide the longboarders come out
But it's still better on a shortboard
That drink won't last
Cafe de Paris is so Euro
We flew 3000 miles to watch Kraftwerk videos
After our morning session, Annette got a massage and I wandered back to the beach to take some photos.
It was, if anything, hollower than it had been in the morning
It was like this 5 out of our 7 days. Santa Teresa might have been bigger and hollower, ask AA
Sectiony you say? Well...
same wave
same wave
same wave
STILL the same wave
The Ticos were ripping it up
As they always do
Like I say, pretty hollow
Which led to some grief
Another Tico contemplates his future
It looks bleak
Nice wave though, if you're in the right spot
The wacked out Hotel Playas de Nosara
"The Winchester Mystery House of Costa Rica"
Lots of elaborate staircases
and peculiar interior spaces
which were (almost) wholly empty
The view north to Playa Pelada
Not sure if this spot is surfable
The real reason to stay at Hotel Playas de Nosara
Wake up and check the surf
Note the near total absence of surfers
Corduroy
We might stay there sometime.
The hills of Nosara are more populous than Santa Teresa
But the sunsets (and the waves) are comparable
This guy is missing a good sunset
So is this one
This one is taking a look
Here's Annette, clipped from a video I took...the only shot of either of us surfing
Surf fast while there's still light
What I usually saw just as I started paddling out
Blue sky was at a premium on this trip
But I'm not complaining
Off the Nicoya Peninsula and on the road to Arenal
Somewhere around Playa Naranjo...it rained a lot on this drive.
Livestock in the road II. The caballeros' efforts were not successful.
Somewhere near Lake Arenal
Feliz Navidad!
Paul contemplating strange things with the strange towel formations
Who knew there was a tiki bar in La Fortuna?
The Lava Lounge
If there is an umbrella drink to be had, Paul and Annette will sniff it out
Did I mention that we love free breakfast?
Paul with his morning libations
Breakfast wasn't too crowded
Sitting out the rain
The ducks liked it though
Send me your best "ducks in a row" line
A few more people show up for dinner
One even held the camera
Quick! Sun! Let's go for a canopy tour!
Uh...no. We're staying here.
This was "here"
We made good use of the pool bar
The pool felt awfully cold after the hot springs
It was really warm in La Fortuna, when the sun came out!
Fortunately, hot springs work in the rain
The lowest pool is also the biggest
The hot water cascades down a series of cataracts
You could sit in some of the waterfalls
We couldn't tell if the rocks were real or fake
We still can't
Arenal/La Fortuna is less crowded than I'd expected
The high rollers can stay near the top of the hill, by the hot tubs
There are orchids everywhere
I mean everywhere!
Plus some weird species I'd never seen before
such as this one
And some I had, like these types of ginger
and this one
and palms of every description
and heliconias
Annette was exhausted from Paul's botanical lesson
We didn't have enough time to hike to the river
Plus it was sort of muddy
The zipline we didn't do either
It looks like it could have been fun. Next time
Giant Pandanus near our cabina
Cabina 108 rocks!
Annette rockin' the cabina
Paul trying to see the volcano
It is right there
Time to pack it up
Inflatable Santas waiting for a bus
We got lost in Ciudad Quesada
But we eventually made it to the airport bar
and onto the plane
Can't wait to get back into cold water again!
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