Hola mi amigos y amigas. Sorry for the long time between postines, but internet has not been cheap for the past week. I’ve basically been hanging at the beaches for the last week.

Weather has been somewhat crappy, even for the rainy season here but it hasn’t prevented us from doing anything except sitting out. Last I posted Carol and I were in Monteverde. Next we went to Playa del Coco (Coconut Beach) and I went on a two tank dive there. I saw my first eagle ray…beautiful. For those non marine biology majors that is the ray that is Mr. Ray on Finding Nemo…you know the teacher. Del Coco wasn’t a very happening place so after a night in a beach front hotel for 35/night we headed out with a girl we met on the beach, Melanie to Tamarindo.

Tamarindo is definitely a touristy place. Lots of beach, tons of surfing and a lot of really expensive beachy shops. We settled in a hostel with air conditioning and a big screen TV for 10/night. We basically hung out on the beach for 3 nights and hung out with people in our hostel. There are lot of people from all other the world here. We shared a bedroom with a couple from Australia and a girl from Israel. There are also a lot of English folks here…I can’t get enough of their accent. The rain here has been pretty intense and turns the roads into a very muddy mess….pictures to come later .

After Tamarindo Carol and I braved the public bus to come to Samara Beach. We ended up have our 30 pound packs on a lap for the three bus rides here…fun. I got to see where carol went to language school and her host family. The second we arrived at her host families house we were greeted with a fresh papaya fruit drink and cookies…yumm. Then off to Samara beach where a person actually came on the bus with a live chicken tied in a plastic bag…I don’t know if it was much alive when we got off.

We are now settled in a little beach front bungalow of sorts for 30/night…what a bargain. There a lot of ants but there is a shower with hot water that you can control the temperature (that is rare in budget places). We’ve been hanging out at the beach with Melanie who is also here. We just got back from a walk to another beach where we saw baby howler monkeys in the trees and land crabs that have purple pinchers and orange legs with a black body. I have a marine biology degree and I had NO idea there were crabs that live on land. We finished the afternoon with margaritas at a nice hostel overlooking the bay at Playa Carillo. We are off to Mal Pais/Montezuma tomorrow so I’ll try and post pictures soon. Missing all of you back home and look forward to talking with you all soon.