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Published: June 10th 2006
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Postcard Perfect
Playa Dona Ana five minutes south? of Puntarenas. We’ve been anxious to travel again as we haven’t since our car trouble a month ago. Normal life caught up with us and we’ve been busy taking care of dental work and moving forward with things on the property. With our daughter’s guest Sophia visiting we decided to have a day of adventure. Wednesday was a rainy day so the girls got reacquainted playing all day in Callista’s room. They had fun, but it wasn’t a Costa Rican adventure. We wanted more for our guest. The decision was made to go…somewhere, anywhere. As I had a caught a nasty cold and wasn’t up to hiking we decided a drive would be nice. The plan was to head to Zarcero and show her the topiaries. After some thought, we changed our minds and decided to go the other direction, to the beach. After all, the salt water would help my cold more than being in the clouds in Zarcero. We told Callista but kept it a surprise for Sofia.
To our surprise Sofia, an avid reader, never looked up from her book to suspect we were headed to the beach. It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking area that she
Arriving at the beach
We didn't tell Sofia we were headed to the beach. What a pleasant surprise for her. realized where we were. She said it was ok to miss out on the topiaries this trip as a slow happy grin came across her face. We’ve learned in Costa Rica to pack for all situations when we get in the car, jackets, swimsuits, pants, shorts, etc. as you never really know where you’ll end up. So when packing Sofia had no idea which climate we were headed to.
It was an absolutely awesome day for the beach. We went to a “new to us” beach as we like to experience new things when we have guests. It’s more exciting that way. We’d heard about Playa Dona Ana from friends with children and as it had shade figured it was the perfect place and only 47 kilometers from the house. No, that doesn’t mean a thirty minute drive. This IS Costa Rica. With the traffic we arrived in just about an hour. We headed to Puntarenas and turned towards Caldera Port. The entrance was only a few kilometers from the turn off the Puntarenas road. Keep your eyes out for the signs just after the Fiesta Resort.
It was your usual playing at the beach day without the
Sign for Playa Dona Ana
Don't know why it doesn't say "Playa Dona Ana" but this is where you turn. scorching sun. We had the beach practically to ourselves, until later in the afternoon when some locals came to boogie board. The girls explored and found some shells, not many, other beaches have more but for a beautiful location, excellent body surfing waves and covered picnic areas you can’t beat it. Bill was so excited catching wave he actually kept calling out to me, “Did you see that one, did you get a picture?” There is a restaurant and bathroom facilities but they were closed on Thursday. It was a benefit because as the facilities were closed we didn’t have to pay to get in. I don’t know what the usage fee is but it’s probably minimal.
The biggest treat for me was while playing in the water with the girls we looked up at the trees and saw something moving. We realized it was monkeys and ran up to the picnic area to catch a better look. YEP! Sure enough, there were three monkeys who seemed just as happy to watch us funny people as we were to watch them. Later a fourth, a big male came along. We spent thirty minutes watching the monkeys before the girls
Bill catching waves
Bill loves bodysurfing. He was so excited to catch good wave that he actually hollered at me to catch him on film. That's a first! got bored and headed back into the water. Bill and I stayed mesmerized for at least another twenty minutes or so. We had not expected to see monkeys or any other wildlife that day. Funny how we were so excited to get to the beach again that the thought of monkeys and sloth’s completely slipped our minds. Bear was absolutely dumbfounded by the monkeys. He couldn’t bark! It looked as though he was trying to figure out how those dogs got into the trees. They looked an awful lot like him and a couple seemed about his size. I’ve never seen him so amazed, he barks at squirrels, iguanas, cats, other dogs… NOT monkeys in trees!
We all had a great time at the beach. My cold improved during the day but as the afternoon wore on the symptoms returned and it was time to head home. We got back to San Ramon around 5pm. It was a full day of fun at the beach. We were all tired and ready for showers and bed shortly after arriving home.
Another beach explored and another animal to add to our list of animals seen in the wild. What a
life!
Pura Vida!
Jennifer, Bill, Callista and Bear
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Mom
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Beach
Looks like a great beach. So glad you had a good time. Glad Bear met h is relatives.