Costa Rica Days 6-10

On Saturday morning we got picked up at our hotel and driven to Tamarindo, which was about four hours away. This drive was very beautiful at the start as we were winding around Lake Arenal and the volcano but once we got out of the mountains and headed west, it got flat and pretty dry. As soon as we got there, Emma and Brandon and I changed into our suits and headed on the shuttle to the beach. Our hotel was up on a hill so it had an amazing view of the ocean but we had to take a shuttle to get down to it. We had access to this nice beach club that had chairs and a restaurant and towels and a pool so that was awesome. We went and played at the beach while Josh, Lily and Curtis went and took a surfing lesson. The waves were pretty lame but they still had a good time and then they walked down the beach and found us and we all had dinner watching the sunset on the beach. It was really beautiful.

Sunday was Easter and we had wanted to go to our church but the nearest one was over an hour away and we had no way to get there. I was really disappointed because it would have been so awesome to go to church in another country but there wasn't even a little Catholic church in the beach town we were in so we had our own church. We each shared something about Easter and listened to a talk by President Hinckley and it was nice. Then we went to the beach for the day. We had perfect weather and it was a lovely day. The water was nice and clear and the sand was super soft. It was definitely the most pleasant experience I've had in the Pacific ocean. Once the sun had set we walked down the road a bit to a food truck place that had lots of picnic tables and live music and it was cool, although that was definitely my least favorite dinner. We also got churros though and those were delicious.

Monday Josh and Curtis went surfing at 6am and then came back and joined the rest of us for breakfast and then we went for an estuary tour. There is a river that comes out into the ocean right there and so we took a boat ride up the river and it was really cool. We saw lots of herons and a few crocodiles, spider monkeys, a raccoon, sanderlings, and bats (although I also didn't search too hard for those even though people were pointing to where they were). Our guide was super nice and funny and they also served us fresh fruit. My favorite moment was when we were cruising along but Curtis and I saw a heron tucked into the mangrove roots and it was one I had been hoping to see but we just kept going and Luis said, sorry, no brakes on boats. :) He also had us lick some leaves from a particular tree because it captures the salt somehow on the leaves and is fun to lick off, which Brandon especially thought was hilarious. I loved being out on a boat and seeing animals and it was a great morning.

Then we went into town and did our souvenir shopping and got milkshakes and then we walked down to the beach club and changed for our last afternoon at the beach. Josh took Lily out surfing but they didn't have much luck with the waves; I know Josh was disappointed but what can you do. Emma and Brandon and Curtis played on the rocks for awhile that were exposed while the tide was out and I wish I had gotten a picture but I was in the water watching them down the beach and didn't get one. It was cool though and they had fun for at least an hour just climbing around. It was another great day at the beach and we stayed until sunset, which was so beautiful. Then we walked down to a food court kind of area (where we had gotten the milkshakes) and had awesome Mexican food before we caught the shuttle back to the hotel.

Everyone was so nice to us and helpful and just seemed to really want us to have a great time in their country. The guy that handed out the towels took such a liking to Josh that he didn't charge us the deposit fee to use the towels and he gave Josh a big hug when he found out we were leaving the next day. I really enjoyed how courteous the drivers were too and patient and willing to stop and let others through. Everyone was just so polite and calm and welcoming and genuinely nice and I really appreciated that feeling the whole time we were there.

Tuesday morning we had a lovely breakfast and Josh and Curtis went surfing again and then the rest of us went swimming in the hotel pool before we got picked up by our driver to head back to San Jose. It was a long drive for some reason; lots of traffic on one way roads and then at one point there was a huge boulder in the lane of this mountain road and even though it isn't that far, it took a long time. We made one quick stop but mostly just tried to keep going. It was so nice and relaxing through to be driven around. We got to our hotel by the airport at dinner time (saw two palm trees filled with noisy parrots!) and grabbed a quick dinner right there at a Denny's (which was so expensive!) and then we got to bed by 8:30 because we had to get up at 3:30 am to get to the airport. It was kind of painful but we did it and had no problem getting through security so then we looked around the gift shop and rested a bit. Our flights both went smoothly except this time the TVs were on the short flight and not the long one so that was disappointing. We were all pretty tired but the food was good again and we made it back to Baltimore despite the stormy weather. It was so gray and cold and different from Costa Rica that we weren't sure we wanted to get off of the plane. It also took 45 minutes for baggage so we finally left the airport at 4:45pm and then we decided to go to Friendly's for dinner. There is only one or two even still open but it is where Josh and I went on our first date so that was fun and it kept the vacation vibe going for a bit longer. We made it home by 8pm and I immediately started laundry and everyone took a shower and we got everyone in bed as soon as we could since we had been up for so long and we had to get right back into real life early the next morning.