Blogs from Samara, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 3

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 28th 2011

Geo: 9.87991, -85.5715Yes, Kate has finally made it to 16 and got to start the day with "panqueques." We bought three small packages of pancake mix at the store the other day and Dad prepared them complete with the "baila de los huevos" and presented them with a candle.We arranged with our property manager to send a taxi for us at 7:30 because we had been having bad luck with taxis here in Buena Vista. Alas, our streak continued. We walked down to the intersection of two dirt roads where there is a kind of mini mart and waited again. Once more, no taxi. We think the locals all must be laughing at the gringo family that comes down in the morning to stand around for 45 minutes for no apparent reason. Instead of hoofing it ... read more

Amberjacks in Gulf of Nicoya

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 27th 2011

Kate and Nicole play music

BRWesty

Geo: 9.87991, -85.5715First thing in the morning we headed next door to meet up with our neighbor, Christian, owner and operator of Buena Vista Sportfishing (http://www.pechesportivecostarica.com/index.html). He agreed to take us out for 6 hours of deep waterfishing in the Gulf of Nicoya. Since we don't have a car he drove us to the boat which gave us the opportunity to cross the river in a car. Fun!We arrived at a small beach south of Samara and met his first mate, Jason, and took a rowboat out to the fishing vessel, a 25' penga boat. He reported that he had been having very good luck this week, so we were optimistic for an excellent day of fishing.Christian is a French expat who is married to a Costa Rican woman named Clarisa. Christian's French is, of course, ... read more

Beans on surfboards

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 26th 2011

Kate on the waves

BRWesty

Geo: 9.88667, -85.5722Last night before we let the cab driver go we asked him to pick us up at 7:30 am to take us into Samara for Kate's surfing lesson at Choco's Surf School. By 8:30 he had not arrived and when I called the taxi I had a business card for, courtesy of the local house manager, the person who answered the phone let me know that "he's on a trip to Nicoya (in Spanish)." Hmmm. So we took the map with us this time and walked it. The correct route is a little over 3 miles and doesn't have the hills that we had to climb yesterday. It was, however, very muddy during parts. There is a reason why most cars don't use this route. My favorite part was when we followed the detour ... read more

Crabs in the morning/ Death march in the afternoon

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 25th 2011

Mike's other name is Wade

BRWesty

Geo: 9.88667, -85.5722The last 24 hours or so seem to have been devoted to reptiles: snakes, iguanas, lizards. This morning when we woke up there were a couple small crabs in the kitchen. Currently they are sitting in plastic cups on the sink while Mike evaluates their utility as bait. It sounds like they may get a pardon since they are small.I also attended a bird party a little after dawn. I got some nice shots of at least 4 or 5 different birds, including some parrots, and saw a few more. If anyone has IDs for these guys, that would be a big help. In a few minutes we are going to walk down to Samara. We think it's about 5K and includes a river crossing. Mike will probably ferry Alex over, but everyone else ... read more

Red snapper already

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 24th 2011

Fish on the fry

BRWesty

Geo: 9.88092, -85.5698We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise and Alex scampering toward the pool. We spent an hour or two watching the local wildlife and making a fruit salad with mangoes, tiny bananas and the world's best pineapple. After some pool antics we suited up for a walk to the beach.We had an entire cove to ourselves, with the exception of three Tico surfers who stayed well away from us. The waves were just right; not too large, not too small. We bounced around in them for a while. Alex mostly stayed where the waves rushed up on the beach, playing in the sand. After the first initial rush of excitement to be at the beach, Mike took off with the fishing pole he made with a couple pieces of wire and a stick and ... read more

Flower beauty shots for Elise

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 24th 2011

Blue ones by front fence

BRWesty

Geo: 9.74892, -83.7534Some photos of the local flora... read more

Travel Day 2 / arrival at Mystery Beach house

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 23rd 2011

Our snake

BRWesty

Geo: 9.88092, -85.5698We had more than enough time to get ready in the morning, so we ended up waiting around for a bit for Victor to pick us up. A couple quick "good-to-know" points about Costa Rica: Many places have only cold running water, but they have electric shower heads that will heat some of your water just before it hits you. We've heard them called "Costa Rican Suicide Showers." They are safe if you don't play around with them while they are running. The water is just fine for drinking from the tap. You can use dollars or colones just about anywhere most people don't bother to track exchange rates. For all practical purposes, $20= 10,000 colones. The only time any kind of official exchange rate comes into play is at the ATM (carjero automatico).After ... read more

Samara Beach Trip

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara July 11th 2011

zazaiza

So my first vacation day since march so Samara is suggested and since its only like three hours away by bus I hope on board awesome. So off we go the day comes I leave on a 6 am bus from my community to Nicoya and then a bus to Samara which has me there by 9 am. So I call the others and realize that they wont be here till like 11 or noon. So I head to the beach with all my stuff. I soon make friends with a nice group of seniors from Spain who sort of adopt me we have several short conversations and I come to realize that I hate “wow your Spanish is really good” just about as much as I hate your English is so good... our conversation continues ... read more

The Beach

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara April 21st 2011

Horse man and his posey

Kavecco

Samara is located in a bay surrounded by several other remote beaches. Samara beach has a lot going on with surfing, kayaking, snorkeling and a bunch of bars and restaurants. We spend a lot of time hanging out at the beach and here are some of our pics and vids.... read more

James' Birthday Festivities!

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Samara April 19th 2011

Happy Birthday James

Kavecco

For my Birthday Rebecca surprised me with a scooter rental for a family outing to visit some local beaches. Then over the weekend she planned a trip to Monteverde & Arenal to visit some hot springs and go zip lining! Unfortunately Bruno wasn't allowed on the zip line - Boo!... read more

Brief history of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a Central American success story: since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. Although still a largely agricultural country, it has expanded its economy to include strong techn...more history

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