The lady that I caught a ride with from El Coco, Karen, acted a little as a tour guide as we drove through. Since she had lived in Costa Rica for a year she knew about the area, the politics and how it had changed in the last couple of years. She also shared some of her stories about the people she had met here and things she had done. On her way to Playa Flamingo she had to stop in Playa Hermosa for a few hours for some meetings, so I decided to go check out the beach. Rental cars in Costa Rica apparently have different license plates than locals and are often targeted for theft so we left the car in a parking lot with security. I walked from the parking lot to the beach, taking a few wrong turns on my way there because I seem to have problems paying attention when people give me directions... The beach was nicer than Playa del Coco, and it turned out to be one of the nicer days since I've been here so it was a great day for just laying around.
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| Playa Hermosa |
I met up again with Karen around 2 and we took off to Playa Flamingo. She had been told of a short cut to Playa Flamingo that she had never used and wanted to try. However she did warn me that she didn't know exactly where she was going and we may get lost. We did, but it turned out to be good because I saw a lot of small Costa Rican towns that weren't full of hotels and gift shops. I found it interesting too that the soccer fields always seem to be the center of the towns (how it should be :P). We also passed one of the big fancy resorts going up. I don't remember the name of it but it looked like a cathedral and and was enormous. And we saw tons of monkeys in the trees as we drove by.
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| Tamarindo beach |
At around 4pm we arrived in Playa Flamingo. Karen dropped me off at the intersection where the road turns to Tamarindo where I could catch a bus. I waited around for an hour on the side of the road and no bus showed up. Finally I decided to grab a ride from a local with another couple who said he's drive us to our hotels for $2 per person.
Tamarindo is really touristy, more so than El Coco. It's also a surfer town. Although I know it's not rational, I felt apprehensive about being in another surfer town since my last experience in a surfer town (Saluyita) was not a pleasant one. Even the hostel I chose turned out the be a surfer hostel. It had surf boards for rent and private and group lessons. It wasn't nearly as nice as the one in El Coco but wasn't not bad.
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| Sunset at restaurant |
The first night I just grabbed some food from the grocery store and hung out at the hostel.
The second day I decided to give surfing a try. I went out for lessons in the morning for two hours. It was incredibly fun! The instruction was great and I was able to stand up after my second try! I also had my ass handed to me by a couple of big waves in a row where I was tossed around, but I survived. However it really tired me out. Surfing itself was also really tiring and I now understand why surfer tend to be so fit. After an hour and a half of surfing and getting beaten up I was totally exhausted and could barely get up on the board! But I'm really glad I tried it.
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| The beach |
That same evening I went to have dinner at a restaurant on the beach. I had some delicious squid with rice while watching a beautiful sunset. The picture couldn't quite capture the exact color though, but it's close.
The next day was the nicest day since I landed in Costa Rica. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was HOT. Perfect day for the beach! Which is exactly what I did, hung out at the beach and did absolutely nothing. It was wonderful.
Saturday morning I caught a shuttle early to go to Monteverde. Tamarindo was fun but I don't think I would go back. It was very touristy and Americanized, and personally I preferred El Coco. But I guess it's the place to be if you wanna learn surfing so I'm glad I tried it :).
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