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Published: December 2nd 2012
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Monkey troop
Zoom in on the lowest monkey. He was watching us and his troop! Karen and I decided that 4 by 4'ing without a 4 X 4 is not the right way to see the less traveled sections of the Nicoya Peninsula so we rented a little Suzuki and headed up to Santa Cruz and then down to Nicoya. The town of Nicoya is smack dab in the center of the peninsula, from there we headed west towards all the "Playas" (beaches). The road is paved all the way to Samara. Quite a curving, narrow, hilly road through farm lands, plantations and jungles. The road is the main thorough-fair for every little town and village and as you go through each town you must NOT hit the small children, bikes, chickens, dogs, cattle or motorcycles that are in your path - Keep in mind that some farm vehicle loaded with produce is tail gating right behind you, pushing you to go faster and faster and will probably pass you on the next blind corner. "Solo bieno,! Pura vida" (only good, pure life).
Samara is what I can imagine Tamarindo looked like 15 or 20 years ago. Forty one restaurants (42 the day before but one just closed), surf shops, vendors on the beach and
plenty of hostels, B&B's, hotels, yoga studios and higher end places. The beach is enclosed in a large bay with a natural break water reef that encloses most of it. I liked the feel of the town and its beach, very laid back. We didn't linger long as we wanted to head further south along the coast road.
Now this is where the road starts to get a little rough as it turns into a dirt road with one lane bridges and mountain climbing hair pin, shear drop, nail biting scenic vistas. Mind blowing really. And then, in the middle of no where an "All inclusive" resort or golf course rears it's ugly head and the road is paved for 100 meters or so before it becomes a goat trail again. Some of the nicer "Playas" have been and are being developed with land, lots and houses for sale everywhere. More sellers than buyers it looks like to me. I can only imagine what it will look like in 20 years from now.
As we were driving down this road we spotted a troop of monkeys crossing the road above us using the telephone wires. We stopped and
The wire crossing
One by one they came down the line. We were right under them. watched them for about 15 minutes. We see monkeys often in Costa Rica but we never tire of watching them. We were about 10 feet away from them and they were not being disturbed by us or making their "monster" noises. I didn't think they traveled in such large numbers as there were as many as 30 of them all crossing the road single file down the telephone line.
(see video below)
The further south we went the rougher the road and the later the day got. Remember, we could only travel around 20 or 30 k/hr max and slowing to a crawl going through river, ditches and car eating potholes. Our turn back point was a beautiful beach that was part of a protected park. The local "Ticos" could camp or picnic just above the high tide line. The tourist industry had yet to lay claim to this little piece of paradise but there was lots of signs down to the beach area of property for sale. The beach was gorgeous except that there was the odd piece of plastic washed up on the beach. We were told that garbage washes down the rivers and out to
Playa below
We stopped at the top of a mountain to look back at the last beach we just passed. It was straight down and Karen was not happy riding shotgun so close to the edge. sea and then is washed up on the beaches. We plan on taking some garbage bags with us in our next road trip so we can do our part in cleaning things up. Anyways, Karen points something out to me on the beach - what looks like disintegrating golf balls! Oh for Pete's sake! We did pass by a golf course about an hour before, this must be from these rich buggers shooting golf balls into the Pacific and them washing up on shore where the UV rays are breaking them down. Unfreaking believable! We are working ourselves into a lather. Then we take a closer look. Hmmmm, kind of look a little like an egg shell, but who would leave egg shells on the beach? The light when on in both our brains at the same time! On further inspection, posted pretty well everywhere are signs in Spanish about not disturbing the turtle eggs, that this was a protected beach. I guess we just missed some being hatched as these shells looked very fresh indeed! Can't say we had egg on our face but it felt like it.
That night we stayed in a hotel in Samara where
Near the top
I have been on many a logging road and this road would put them to shame. a local musician sang and played guitar for us. His wife painted while he sang and his three children frollicked. (see video below)As I said, a laid back little town made up of all kinds of rat race escapees. Ticos and Gringos.
The next morning we headed north to Nosara. We finally got to use "four low" as we headed across the little river. I guess the water was up to the bottoms of our doors but no water entered the car.(see video below) There was a tense moment when the car was looking for purchase on the river bed but giving it gas solved that problem and up we went to the road beyond. PS...this is when the battery died in the camera when Karen was taking the video. So...what happened next really was....this huge flash flood came raging around the corner, caught us up in it, so that we were washed down stream. Karen was reaching out the window, trying to grab onto a vine, while I was desperatly fighting the tide and trying to gain some control of the vehicle, when a 15' foot Croc came racing down the bank to slide into the water, towards
The last Playa
This is where we stopped for a walk along this deserted beach. our out of control vehicle...when suddenly....ok ok, back to reality ...
Nosara is bigger than Samara but we didn't get a chance to really explore the town in detail as we needed to get a move on back to Nicoya. We wanted to take a back road to Nicoya which is clearly marked on all our maps but for all the love and money we couldn't find that stupid road. Finally, I stopped and asked for help (yes, men can ask for directions!). Luckily the guy I asked spoke perfect english otherwise we may still be looking for our way back. He told us that that road was a "little rough. Do you have a four by four? Yes! Good! Except it's not very well marked, you could get lost up there." Better sense prevailed and we went back the way we came.
By going back the road we drove in on gave us some extra day light and we were able to go to Playa Flamingo, which is north of Tamarindo. Playa Flamingo could have been Malibu Beach, California. Mansions, yachts, resorts and money, money, money! The location is stunning and we could see why the rich
Golf ball beach
See the salt spray? like it there. They can have it as long as they stay there and don't move down the coast too far.
Two day road trip but when we returned it seemed like we were gone for at least a week.
Pura vida! Ian
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deejrandom
Warren C. Bennett
Nothing like Golf Balls everywhere!
My guitar is back in Arizona. I want to play it now after watching that last video, heh. Ah well. Look forward to your next entry.