Costa Rica – Coast to Coast June 2005 and August 2006

It was raining heavily when I woke up so I went down to the restaurant area and had some coffee (they put coffee out for guests at 7am) and read my book. Dave and Phadera were headed to Samara to see if they could get a bus up towards Playa Negra. We said our goodbyes and then headed to Blew Dogs for breakfast. We hung out there for a bit playing cards and scrabble. The rain finally let up, and the sun came out so we headed back to Guilded Iguana where Kat took a nap and I took a swim and hung out with Fred the bartender (very cool guy) at the pool bar. I decided to give the kitchen at Gilded Iguana another chance (after that plain breakfast) and ordered a hamburger and was really surprised how good it was! After a few too many margaritas with Fred and some other locals, I decided that I needed a nap myself and went back to our room and slept for a few hours.

After waking up we headed to Gardino Tropical for dinner but found it closed so we headed back to Gilded Iguana and had a really good grilled chicken casaso for dinner. Kat went to bed and I stayed up with the hotel owner and watched part of an NFL game on TV and then went to bed myself.

Woke up early to the sound of howler monkeys nearby. I went for another drive and ended up at Playa Pelada near Olga’s restaurant. I saw what I thought was a dead dog laying on the beach surrounded by vultures. When I approached the dog it suddenly jumped up and started walking around with me! I walked along the beach for a bit with my new friend but he seemed to get bored and went off towards a house. I then got back in the car and decided to see if I could make it up to Playa Ostenal. There is a bridge that goes over the Rio Nosara but the Rio Montana was not passable. I did see a foot bridge just north of the river crossing so you could probably get there by bicycle in the rainy season

After returning to Gilded Iguana Dave and Phadera were up and invited me to come to breakfast with them at Soda Tica with is located near Café de Paris and Marlin Bills. We walked up there and I had a really good $3 breakfast of gallo pinto, eggs, and coffee. We then walked to Coconut Harry’s so Dave could rent a surf board. We then walked back along the beach back to Gilded Iguana. The wife had finally woken up and was hungry for breakfast so we decided to head to Harbor Reef lodge. Harbor Reef looked like a really nice place to stay. Beautiful pool with swim up bar and wonderfully landscaped grounds.

After my wife ordered a huevos rancheros breakfast (excellent by the way) we discovered that her hand purse was missing (along with our passports inside) from my backpack. I went back to the hotel and couldn’t find it so I retraced our steps back to Blew Dogs where we had dinner the night before. Fortunately, the bartender from the night before found it and turned it in. Seeing that everything was still inside (some cash included) I offered a reward but was politely refused.

Since it was a beautiful day we got some drinks at the mini super and headed down to the beach for a few hours. The beach has a pretty good rip tide so swimmers need to be careful, especially at high hide.

After a dip in the pool at Gilded Iguana, we then took a drive up to Playa Pelada and had a late lunch/early dinner at Olga’s which is located right on the beach (the only bar/restaurant on the beach). Afterwards we hooked up with Dave and Phadera and went to have some really good ice cream at Robin’s located near Café de Paris. After a late night dip in the pool we hit the sack.

After waking up early, I read for a bit and then decided to take a drive around town and scout things out. The Nosara area is pretty spread out and the roads are like a maze. The town of Nosara ... [Continue reading this entry]

We took a somewhat better road out of Tamarindo to Santa Cruz where we headed south towards Nicoya. On the highway, I saw a speed limit sign just before a crest in the road and I checked my speedometer. The ... [Continue reading this entry]