OUR RETIRED ADVENTURE
qUEREMOS VIVIR AL SOL
KSha
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
Costa Rica is amazing! Beauty abounds.
Panama is "home" for now. Loving life!
South America is next! Columbia here we come.
You don't have to be in Costa Rica long before you see or hear about the cool native animals that you will encounter. "Cruce de Fauna" signs are everywhere along the roads. Pictures of howler monkeys, iguanas and anteaters are rotated on the signs. (Haven't spotted an anteater yet...not yet.) We shared our pics of our first encounter with the Howler monkeys at Playa Hermosa on the beach at sunset. You also saw NGG's spotting of the Howler family at the muddy spot in the road a few days ago here at RIP Jack. On our last few morning walks we have heard a family of Howlers that we have tried to track down to see on the paths around our beach, with no luck. It appears like we were trying too hard...because our elusive Howler family actually came to us. Literally to the tree directly outside our room! Afternoon beers and cribbage were interrupted by rustling in the trees and we looked up from our patio--almost straight up. NGG was immediately up with her "telephoto lens" in overdrive as I navigated around the bamboo fence to get under the tree (this put me about 15 feet from our door). We came to realize that there was a "big poppa" and three "baby-mommas" that liked the leaves on the tree outside our room. Both of us think we got the same shot that should go on the cover of next month's NG. See if you can find the cover shot. Pick your favorite one and let us know. The wild kingdom right outside our door! We had a blast comparing photos we each took, then headed to our favorite brick-oven pizza joint for dinner, El Huerto's. You thought Chicago pizza was good...and the spicy oil and pepper flakes was a great topper! A short ride home, and a shorter attempt to stay up a while had us sawing logs before too long. I was only through about a half a cord, when the alarm clock started ringing. (Who in the hell set that thing for so early?) When Sharon didn't hit the snooze button I realized it wasn't coming from our room--but just outside it! After stepping onto our patio, and trying to see through my fogged up glasses, it was confirmed that "big poppa" was back and he wanted the neighborhood to know he was back. Time check came in at 4:15 AM as the first "howl" was being recognized. I was able to gather my senses to capture some of this morning's conversations.
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Playa Cabuyal, most beautiful beach so far... Sharon in La Ducha. Cliff diver tryouts! La Leona, worth the effort up, under, over and through the jungle. Loved this collection of shells on Playa Grande. North end of Playa Grande as the tide was coming in. Evening surf at Playa Grande. We walk down a 100 yard sand path from our room and this is the sight we see emerging from the trees. Caught a surfer dude with a nice ride as a bonus. Enjoying this with new friends!
Well, yesterday was a day of the birds. We had an invasion of white-throated magpie-jays by the hotel. Squawkers and talkers, they made their presence know for about 15 minutes in the morning. National Geographic girl spotted her red-headed vultures multiple times during the day floating on the air currents around the hotel and beach. (Not too easy to photograph on the move. Here a shot of a cooperative subject.) NGG did some research and found that there are 4 different species of vultures in CR. Batting only 25% on the vulture identification process, pushed us to be vigilant on bird day. But wait, it wasn't only bird day; there was another 'b' word for today--well aren't you the "retainer of information presented"-yep, beach was in there too! We bumped into the "NC royals" in the early afternoon and were comparing notes and adventures, when we realized they had been about 15 minutes behind us for breakfast and lunch at the same places. We had mentioned where we had walked that morning-- a hike up a gnarly dirt road to the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean, an awesome spot for a house; when they described a must-see beach that they took their super cool golf cart to see. We compared navigational landmarks until we felt like we could get there. We packed our suits and towels and took off for this new beach. Once again, if it's tough to get to, then it's worth the effort to see what's there. A 100 yards of "not quite a single lane, wet, dirt path" got us to a "parking area". Picking an opening, anywhere the SUV would fit and provide a reasonable opportunity to turn around, we landed. We could hear the surf and see the blue sky ahead. We spent about an hour walking this huge expanse of sand, not covering the whole area, but, sweating and smiling, needed the AC in the car. As we retraced our path back home, we doubled our vulture identification percentage! These two guys, black vultures, were enjoying a drink from the red-clay mud hole in the middle of the road.
Another spectacular sunset was the cherry on top of a great day, and enjoying it with our new friends only made it better! ![]() Well, I gotta say this Playa Grande area is really starting to grow on me. First couple of days the impression was; beautiful--of course--but there didn't appear to be a lot of visible amenities outside our hotel and a short walk to another beach restaurant. Further research has uncovered quite a few gems that just needed a turn down a road or a pull in and park to experience some cool places to eat, and even better beaches that are not easy to get to--but totally worth the little bit of extra effort. We drove by a bunch of places that were not easy to tell if it was a place of business or even open--now we know where they are and even when they're open. We have been very fortunate to have met a great couple from NC, Maghan and Charles and the last few days have had some great adventures with them. We spent an afternoon in Tamarindo together, about a half hour or so drive from Jack. We took the adventurer's path to Tamarindo, meaning one of those dirt roads that the normal person doesn't take...but you have to cuz its there! Met a cool customer on the road that I thought you'd like... He had a buddy that was perched next to him, but that one decided to fly to the next tree before the photographer was ready. The wing span on these things is enormous, 6 feet across, easy. Upon entering Tamarindo, our original assessment was confirmed immediately upon seeing in-person the congestion of things and people on top of each other. This was the most people we had seen in one place since arriving in CR. We slowly drove through the center area of town, caution was needed as walkers, parked cars/trucks and the narrow road required it. Nearing the "end" of town, we took a small street and found a parking spot like we were expected. The beach and waves were about a 30 yard walk and as we appreciated the ocean, and the multitude of boats anchored offshore, as well as the many groups of people enjoying the beach, we found a table on the sand for lunch. Sharing fish, pork and shrimp tacos with my love on the beach was awesome! I was shocked to see that I was witnessing the high tide starting to come in as we were finishing lunch. The exposed sand that was visible when we first arrived at the beach disappeared by the end of lunch and was just outside the seating area for our restaurant. We took some off-the-path roads and found another beach to enjoy with the "royal family" and investigated Playa Langosta just north of 'Tamagringo' before heading back home. We made plans with M & C to go to one of the local markets/restaurant that was having live music and BBQ. They offered to drive us all there; did I mention they had rented a super cool golf cart while they were here. Dinner and drinks at the roadside restaurant was awesome and the DJ cranked some great "live music."
Day 12 and Sharon's got me up at the crack of dawn and out the door for our morning walk. Not really, I just wanted to say that! The days do "seem" long, so we are not burning the midnight oil--usually I'm the one with the heavy eyes--I have generally set curfew at 9 PM (not that it is always observed). We set out today on a dirt road headed to the south of our hotel; again, jungle surrounded our path as we meandered along the road, avoiding depressions, washed out areas and rocks or puddles. I wasn't up to full operational status as back kink was hampering full speed attainment. Per standard operational procedure, I was sweating, so I was not the best equipped for visual recon of the natural beauty that we were walking in. Seeing a couple of cars/vans approaching us as we walked, had us thinking there was a hotel ahead, so we wanted to check it out. There came a bend in the road that was quite wet and muddy, so we ventured to the edge of the road to circumvent the obstacle--then seeing another long stretch of road ahead, I had to "cry uncle" and say time to turn back. While I was regrouping for the walk back; National Geographic girl went on high alert...she was shushing my labored breathing to concentrate on noises she was hearing just off the road in the trees to our left. Then I heard the sounds too, almost cooing-like. Sharon had her hand up a few seconds later as she spotted the first one. We found a path into the jungle and cautiously move into the trees. We realized that there was a family of about 7 or 8 monkeys in the trees just ahead of us. Waaay cool! They seemed to check us out watching them, as we tried to be unobtrusive. Back kink wasn't so bad on the way home as we marveled at how awesome it was to see nature in action that up close and personal. Another great day followed that unique experience, pool, some exploring and we were again looking forward to the opportunity to view the sun setting in the ocean. We were not disappointed...enjoy the time-lapse photos below. We understand it was cloudy at home and you missed the opportunity to see the Strawberry Supermoon on Thursday the 24th. It cleared up beautifully here for us to see it...thought we'd share...
We had clouds and light rain for our last breakfast in Playa Hermosa. We loaded the car and set out heading south, and we wanted to take the coastal "highway" to Playa Grande. Our usually reliable GG had us cussing her not far into the trip, as she was trying to send us down dirt roads to turn around. Taking our "we know what we are doing" stance, we told her to pound dirt for a stretch. We believed we were on the right road and we made the correct choices as we proceeded. We stopped at six beautiful beaches on our way...Playa La PencaPlaya FlamingoPlaya Brasilito Our first look at Playa Grande, 100 yards on a footpath through the jungle from our room.As Jerry Jerome used to say, "Red sky at night, sailors delight"; so we know we will have a great day tomorrow...thanks Dad! La luna...waiting for the Strawberry Supermoon on June 24th. Hoping to get some great pics. Be sure to look up on the night of the 24th.
At breakfast today we asked that question of each other. We weren't too sure, but knew that something would come to us. While we were enjoying the view and breakfast from the pool patio, our host Alberto came by and inquired about our plans for the day. Without established plans yet, he told us about some waterfalls that he had seen and we quickly asked some questions about where they were and how one might get there. He gave us great directions, including signs or businesses where turns were and we were sold. |
Kevin & Sharon SeibelBeginning our next big adventure! Archives
December 2023
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