Friday, 30 September, Costa Rica

So we are not in Liberia.  That is where we flew into, and then we had that hour and a half van ride.  So, now we are on the coast and the nearest town, also a shuttle ride away is Tamarindo. It is very hot and humid here.  In the 90s I believe 

This pic was a screen shot off my computer

This one was a screen shot off my phone. Tamarindo doesn't seem to be showing on either of the pictures, it is North from us, also on the coast.

Our Hotel room is real nice, especially the bathroom! 

 It has sliding windows over the tub so you can soak in the tub and look out at the view I guess.
We do have a nice view and a nice balcony, but it is to bloody hot and humid to hang out there and enjoy it.

Our plan for the day was to indulge in the wonderful breakfast buffet, which is included with the room. Which we did and it was awesome.  It was in the same restaurant as the one we had dinner in last night.

We went back to our room and changed into our swim suits and, for me, a wrap and grabbed beach stuff.  Then we headed out to walk along the beach to the Beach Club.  I took more pictures of the grounds as we headed to the beach.

 The Beach Club is apparently private, but the hotel guests are welcome to use it.  They also have dinner there on certain nights and it is supposed to be real nice.  Additionally, they offer surf-board and boogie board rentals and offer surf lessons.  We thought maybe we would take surf lessons, or just rent some boogie boards.  We walked over there and were so hot by the time we got there we both went into the pool immediately. It was sooooo refreshing.  Then we decided to go swimming in the ocean.. We walked down the beach a ways to get away from the rocks and went in.  Rob wanted to go out to the waves to catch a couple for body surfing, but I started getting uncomfortable because I couldn't touch the bottom.  I was just starting to go back toward the shore when we heard a whistle and someone coming down the beach toward us.  It turned out to be a life guard and he told us the beach was closed to swimming, due to the rip currents, and that it was very dangerous.

Fine with me, I was perfectly happy in the 4' deep pools.  So, we went back to the pool.  We sat in the shade for a bit and then a couple families started playing Marco Polo.

I said to Rob, ya know, I'd rather be back at our hotel in our pool.  It is much larger, we have a view of the ocean directly from the pool, its prettier and they play really nice zen music. He said, I was thinking the same thing, I hate this stupid Marco Polo game.

So, we walked back.  The girls, Judy, Corin, and Laura, were all there by the pool as well as Chris, the First Officer.

The pool is huge.  I decided I was going to swim along the perimeter of it for exploring as well as exercise purposes.  It took forever.  I think it took at least 20 minutes to go all the way around.  

We totally enjoyed the day just swimming, sitting and reading and visiting. It was really nice.  I did break down and order a pool-side beverage.  It is called a Little Red Chick.  It is cucumber, mint and strawberries all chopped up with vodka and I think a splash of sprite or something.  It was so refreshing to drink, and then you had a nice little salad to eat after the beverage was gone.  It was so good I had two of them.  

Originally we were going to go to the beach and swim, then have lunch here at the hotel, then go in and change and around 4 pm take the shuttle in to Tamarindo to check out the city and have dinner and watch the sunset.

But, as the day wore on we were quite content to just remain by the pool.  We decided not to go into Tamarindo but rather stay here at the hotel and have dinner at it's steak house. So, we made reservations or 6 pm.

We went back to our room to shower and change for dinner. On the way there we encountered this critter.  It was very still.  No push-ups and it didn't even blink.  Very cool

Chris called our room.  He had gotten a bottle of Rum at the airport here. It is 20 years old and he told us we needed to try it, so he brought it over.  OMG it is delicious.  It is super smooth and has a hint of vanilla to it.  Quite yummy. We invited him to join us for dinner and he finally agreed.

Dinner was wonderful.  The people here are so nice and professional and efficient.  They gave us a sheet with all the local cuts of meat to include how them should be cooked, the marbling, etc.  They made recommendations of both wine, which they had from several countries, side dishes and meat.  

I had a filet, with a twice cooked potato stuffed with crab meat.  I shared half the potato with Rob.  He had some sort of a Tenderloin and a Cesar salad which he split with me.  It was all delicious.  Chris had the same meat as Rob with the potato and the salad.  And, we all shared a nice bottle of red wine.  For dessert we shared a Cheese cake.  

On the way back to our room we encountered this critter.  Sorry, it was already dark and our raccoon friend didn't show up as well as the Iguana.

Oh, I forgot to tell you.  Last night the clouds moved in and we got to witness an amazing thunder and lightning storm.  It was huge.  This morning it was all sunny and pretty, but this evening the clouds did move back in and it rained some. No show for us though.