Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

The short:

Tamarindo is gorgeous. The beach is a cove encased by thick, plush, hillside greenery; it's like a slice of paradise in the middle of a jungle. We saw so many amazing birds and lizards of all shapes and sizes during our stay. However, the benefits of the "jungle vibe" do unavoidably bring the burden of mosquitos... of which I cannot complain, but unfortunately for him the same cannot be said for Michael! 

Tamarindo is truly an awesome town, but it was definitely built for visitors. Every shop, hotel and restaurant aims to please the tourist. The place is overflowing with shops selling surf rentals, adventure tours, and hippy-style clothing and trinkets. The sea was full of ambitious surfers trying to catch waves; so much so that we couldn't go out all that far for a dip for fear of being hit by a board. Sadly, the town itself was pretty subdued due to it being Costa Rica's rainy season, which is a shame as we’d been hoping to meet fellow travellers. Although it was nice to have such a beautiful place (almost) to ourselves, we both agree that it would be such a fun place to visit when the town is buzzing and the bars are packed (of which there is definitely no shortage!). The people that were there, however, definitely fit a stereotype; young; tanned; in great shape, and living what mum would describe as the “peace-out lifestyle”. Some very impressive dreadlocks could be seen and 9 out of 10 times they were either high as a kite or selling weed, or both. I don't know how better to describe Tamarindo than if you try to imagine "Surfville”, what you picture won't be far off.

It is the ultimate relaxation destination. I thoroughly enjoyed our time there and would go back in a heartbeat, but it is a commercialised slice of heaven and I am now ready for the culture that awaits the next part of our adventure!

The long:

Tuesday:

Rise and shine! We were up nice and early, and greeted by a beautiful blazing sun. Breakfast was swallowed rather than chewed so that we could hit the beach ASAP. We were still admiring our surroundings and the surfers, lapping up every moment, when the clouds started to block our wonderful sun and sent us headed back to the hotel around lunch time. Or, should I say, just in time, because a few minutes later the heavens opened and released a WATERFALL. So, instead, we snuggled up in our room and enjoyed the comforting sound of the rain drumming on our window for a few hours.

Once the rain subsided, we ventured out to explore the town in some SERIOUSLY sticky weather; humid, humid, humid! But we plowed on and walked the whole strip, taking in everything Tamarindo has to offer. Michael felt a bit peckish, so we headed toward a lady cooking meat skewers at the side of the road, on the premise that this would 1) be the cheapest option and 2) support the "true" locals. I suppose we were both slightly taken aback when she told us that 1 skewer cost $1, but all was not lost, as after a few minutes of (us thinking we were) haggling, we had negotiated her down to 3 skewers for $1. Yet, when it came to "the exchange" it very quickly became apparent that we had accomplished absolutely nothing, and she had simply been repeating that 1 skewer cost $1.1 skewer later and $1 down, we were feeling slightly cheated (and hungry!), although it is now very amusing.

Having picked out a yummy looking sushi place for dinner, we strolled back to our hotel to (re-)wash and make ourselves look purdy. After a few tasty cocktails we went to enjoy our delectable sushi, and were not disappointed! 

Wednesday:

Michael has 19 mosquito bites. I have 1. Needless to say, he is not impressed. He claims that it's because he's sweeter than me... in this particular context, I have no urge to argue with him; he can bear all the sweetness for the both of us!

Another glorious morning, and off to the beach we went. We got to enjoy a couple of hours of sunshine before the same ominous dark clouds began to make an appearance. In all fairness, they only blocked out the light to one side, and it was absolutely beautiful looking at the contrast of the sky; to our left, there was bright sunshine and light cloud cover and, to our right, the clouds were thick and black, with the main source of light coming from the white surf of the crashing waves. It was “an absolute picture", hence I got trigger-happy and took numerous! Right on cue, the downpour arrived, but was interspersed with some incredibly loud thunder and lightning, which, quite literally, lit up the sky. It really was beautiful. It seems that an afternoon heavy shower will be the norm during our stay but, to be honest, it clears up just as quickly as it comes, so is no biggie! Plus, since finding out that Tamarindo is in the middle of a water shortage and that the town is in desperate need of some rainfall, I have become (ever so slightly) more forgiving of the weather man.

Once beautified, we hit the streets early in search of an alcoholic beverage. After several and a "to-go cup" in hand we had the bright idea to play some mini golf. It was brilliant. The guy in charge couldn’t have been more “chilled”, with just a slight whiff of weed coming from his general direction. 

As for the golf itself, it started wonderfully for me; I even managed 3 hole-in-ones (seriously... what?). But half way through the game I started to feel sorry for MJ/(the alcohol hit me and I became more interested in taking pictures of me riding sharks) and my new-found talent was lost, "allowing" Michael to take the lead.

We headed back into town and chose a very cheap BBQ place for dinner, which seemed to be housing a fairly lively and young crowd. I searched out some other young tourist looking folks and it wasn’t long before we were all the bestest of fweeeends. After many a G&T for me and beer for dear sir we stumbled merrily home to bed.

Thursday:

My head hurts. Help. Beach therapy needed. It seems that we have fallen into a (very acceptable) routine and were out soaking up the rays by 10:30. Although, today we learnt the lesson of our increasing ambitiousness regarding our towel-laying and proximity to the sea and, within 15 minutes, a monster wave came out and tried to pull us and all of our belongings back in with it! This was obviously much to the amusement of some on-lookers and ourselves - it was bloody hilarious. I was on my feet faster than I even knew I was capable of. After resettling on our utterly drenched and sandy towels, it wasn’t long before I nodded off, leaving poor restless Micky to play in the waves all alone. I woke up to a rather bored boyfriend who was “just wiping something off my cheek” (in other words, wakey wakey time).

We went to watch the sunset on the beach at 5:45pm. It was so beautiful, the sky literally looked like it was on fire at one point. 

Once the sun disappeared from view, we headed to "Eat at Joe’s" for a bite to eat which, together with its sister bar/restaurant "El Vaquero", are fast becoming our favourite haunts. But then who can blame us when they serve "nachos the size of your ass" for £4.50… and the portion I received is meant for 1 person. I quickly stated “oh I won't be able to finish those” (I am a lady after all), but this resolve didn't last long once the crisp tortilla topped with fresh zingy guac and tomato salsa piled with marinated chicken and a few drops of hot sauce hit my taste buds. OH. MY. GOD. Too good to share and too good to waste. 10 minutes later I'd polished off the lot. Is it wrong that I am proud of this? Regardless, I have the excuse that it set me up nicely for the turtle adventure that we were about to embark on, which we had been told might involve “a bit of hiking”.

It was more like a hardcore workout. We set off at 7pm with an American family that were also hoping to catch site of a turtle perform the nesting process. After a half hour drive out of Tamarindo which, in the words of our driver, included a “5-minute free massage”/(very bumpy road), we arrived at our destination and began our search of the wondrous creatures. After trekking through jungle for 10 minutes and plodding through wet sand for another 15 with all but small, hand-held, infrared torches to aid us, our guide spotted a turtle and we all quickly fell silent to watch. But, sadly, I think our arrival disturbed her and it wasn't long before she headed back to the safety of the sea. You wouldn't believe how big a tracks the turtles leave though, and we walked past several in our search for the next turtle. 

After another tough 30-minute hike we came across another. Classic me I brought my hoodie! It's safe to say that it most definitely was not needed as we were all slick with sweat. This turtle had already begun digging her hole ready for the “drop”. It was honestly amazing to watch such a natural process and learn the surreal strength of their flippers. The hole they produce is really quite narrow but incredibly deep; they twist their hind flippers to a vertical position and then extend them downwards, scooping up and flicking out everything they find in their path. Our guide warned us that she may not make the “drop” in this particular spot since there was rock at the bottom of where she was digging. We heard her flippers start to scrape along the rock as no more sand was shovelled out. Nevertheless, she started laying her eggs, and at an immense speed at that. Our guide told us they lay between 60-80 eggs every 14 days around 7 times every 2-3 years… that’s a hell of a lot of eggs! After all getting a peek at the eggs we swiftly left to allow some conservationists to “work with the turtle”, who were going to collect and relocate the eggs to elsewhere on the beach. It was so refreshing and comforting to see the genuine care that the tour workers have for the turtles, and made me really happy. Unfortunately for you, however, the "no flash policy" (so as not to disturb the turtles) does of course mean that I wasn’t able to take any decent pictures, but that’s an incredibly small price to pay to experience such beauty first-hand.

 

Aside from spending the evening on a "turtle hunt" as it were, the night was absolutely spectacular with continuous lightening illuminating the sky every few moments, like a flickering lightbulb. It reminded me once more of how truly amazing Mother Nature is.

Friday:

I'm officially concerned about my boyfriend. He has become a mosquito obsessed tyrant. Honestly, I think he may be possessed. Multiple times I have now found him windmilling a towel against the wall, standing on the bed throwing random items at the ceiling, and lying on the floor in wait for his prey. Despite being really rather comical I am starting to feel very sorry for him; he gets eaten whilst quite literally wearing a coat of deet whilst I wear none and get no bites.

Anyway, we decided to skip the beach today and lounge by the pool, which suited me fine after our soiled sand towel/body experience yesterday. 

After a couple of hours baking and a light afternoon rain shower, it was time to hit the toon. With my freshly painted nails; talk of Friday being "a big one”; and a letter from the hotel inconspicuously slid under the door informing us that Friday’s at the hotel bar offer "ladies night" (free drinks for me, thank you very much), and that “the event draws people from all over the town and as far away as San Jose”, the night held much promise. (Otherwise, if we did not wish to partake, we could choose to opt for the “complimentary earplugs” - very kind of you Best Western).

It was a wild night. Having headed to none other than our favourite El Vaquero bar during happy hour, we respectively sunk some beers and strawberry daiquiris before heading to Pangas Beach Club for some grub.

After ordering what most took our fancy; something “light and fresh” for me, and “meat and chips” for the man, we enjoyed our gorgeous elevated surroundings and awaited our nosh. I have apparently fallen into a head-over-heels relationship with ceviche; it was the second time I've had it this week and it is fast making its way on to my favourites list. It was served with plantain chips which, despite resembling the dreaded banana, I found to be really quite delicious.

Oh yes, Michael was not disappointed with his adventurous ribs either. 

Once our plates were licked clean we ordered the bill, and I (for once) left Michael in charge to check it and pay. Once sir had merrily tapped my pin code into the machine and trotted off to the toilet I thankfully decided to entertain myself with some light reading, only to find to my horror that the dear boy had paid for an entire main course and side… that we had not eaten!!! Thank god for women, eh. A £15 refund later and much tormenting on my behalf, we got on our way to hit the buzzing nightlife of Tamarindo. However, it wasn't long before we established that the only thing buzzing was the thriving insect population and, with a snickers gelato in hand, happily turned in and watched Delivery Man in bed/(on the bathroom floor since this is the only place that we get a constant wifi signal).

In the hotels defence, the Latino live band was really rather good and, had it been high season, I can imagine that the place would have been rammed and a great laugh. Oh well, I suppose we will just have to come back one day and see!

Saturday:

After a beautiful last day, which we once more opted to spend by the pool, it was time to pack up our belongings in preparation for our early Sunday morning start. Once completed, we headed out earlyish to watch a "fire dance show" that was recommended to us by the Americans with whom we did the turtle tour. Unfortunately, however, since the rain had not yet subsided by the shows usual start time it was cancelled, and we were left only with each other's fetching rain gear as entertainment.

(At this point I feel it necessary to state that Michael was wearing a see-through yellow poncho). Oh well, there is always a happy hour to be found in Tamarindo no matter what time of day it is and, of course, a happy hour we did find.

A couple of G&T's and beers down, we left the bar in search of something more wholesome. Michael kindly offered to take us to a restaurant named Patagonia that we had been eyeing up all week (otherwise known as Pandora/Pangea/Pantanas/Plaintain, and virtually every other word beginning with P in Michael's eyes) for dinner; another Argentinian. The compulsory Malbec and red meat combo order was placed and we lapped up every minute/(mouthful), whilst reminiscing about our favourite parts of our trip so far.

Tamarindo, you will be missed. Rincon de la Vieja, here we come.