Heading for Home

Friday, January 3 was our last full day in Samara. We spent the morning lounging around, having coffee and just enjoying the yard.  For lunch, we went to a restaurant called Luv Burger which the girls have been wanting to visit since we got here.  It's a vegetarian establishment with burgers that could fool even a carnivore like myself.  After lunch we walked to the beach and Jenna and Allison spent the rest of the afternoon just playing in the surf while Ann and I found a shaded bed in a beach side lounge and I had a nap.

Jenna having a kale smoothie of some kind.  It looks disgusting to me but she seemed to like it

Once again, a dog joins us for lunch

Impressive non-meat burgers

We spent Friday evening packing our luggage before spending our last evening enjoying the sunset one last time.

My weak attempt at artistic expression

Incredible photo taken by Jenna

Saturday morning we drove back to the Liberia airport.  The curvy, narrow roads between Samara and Nicoya make for an interesting drive and there is a reason why the maximum speed limit is 60 km/hr in that area.  In fact, the fastest speed limit all the way back to Liberia is 80 km/hr.  Once again I appreciated my GPS while trying to drive through the town of Nicoya.  It saved me some grief.

Between Samara and Nicoya

One of many one lane bridges

No Hay Paso in Nicoya

At times, I am very grateful for my GPS

Harvesting sugarcane.  There are many sugarcane fields between Nicoya and Liberia

This turned out to be exactly the type of family Christmas vacation that I was hoping for.  I didn't want us running from one activity or location to another.  We did a few things but were often content to just hang out together at this very comfortable house with a pool and a great view and nothing but sunshine and warm temperatures for the entire 2 weeks.  

However, I would like to warn people that getting to Costa Rica from here is a journey in itself.  Its a long trip and it's something to consider.  Also, be warned that when you get to the airport to come home, you have to pay a $29 USD exit tax per person.  Once you pay, they give you each a form to fill out which then has to be inspected before checking in.  In Liberia, when flying with American Airlines, if you are as fortunate as us, you may have to stand in the hot check in line for an hour and a half.  Make sure to bring something with you to eat before going through security because there are only 2 places to eat past security and once you pay for your meal you will feel like you've just been mugged in a back alley in San Jose.  Had an inferior to McDonald's type of meal for 4 people for $106 USD.  You would think that those in charge of Costa Rican tourism would not want people to leave feeling violated by restaurant thugs and held hostage by a exit tax.  

Later that night we went out to the Love and War Restaurant in Dallas.  The contrast between what we received for our $100 in Texas and what our hunger pains forced us to pay earlier in the day was, to take the high road; amusing.

This photo is blurring because I was shaking with excitement at the sight of this perfectly roasted wild boar.

The waitress asked if we wanted the small or tall glass. We asked for the tall glass of beer and laughed when she returned with this.  She explained in her Texan accent that "these here are Texas sized!"

Early Sunday morning we had breakfast with Jenna at the hotel.  We said our teary goodbyes as we got into the airport shuttle knowing that Jenna was going to a different terminal than the 3 of us.  Jenna flew off to Toronto while we jetted back to Calgary. Jenna, it was such a pleasure hanging out with you over the holidays and I miss you already.  I love you!  Have a great term and I'll see you soon.

 Despite having my truck plugged in the whole time, I still had to get a boost before making the long drive home last night.  I know that Alberta has been having some really poor driving conditions and so I feel very lucky about the good roads coming home last night.   Tonight as I reflect on the last 18 days  with my family, I know that I am very blessed.  This has been a wonderful experience.  I have no regrets and I will cherish these memories forever.

Kevin Christensen

Samara Pacific Lodge

Last night for a treat, and to make sure that we actually get one chance to wear the dressier clothes that we packed with us, we went to a quaint little French restaurant at the Samara Pacific Lodge.  This is a hidden gem of a place beyond the village of Samara, down a gravel road and then onto a pot hole filled dirt road with more horse traffic than vehicle traffic.  I laughed when my Garmin GPS let me know that I was getting onto an unpaved road.  Having a GPS while driving in Costa Rica, especially in the dark, is a real asset.  However, the GPS does not tell you when there are pedestrians and horses on the road at night and so you really have to be careful.

This was one of the fancier restaurants in this area.  It has an actual French owner and cook, good service and comfortable surroundings.  I really felt like I was in Paris when a beautiful black lab dog came and sat on the floor next to me.  Later, he crawled under the table and snuggled up against my feet.  A Parisian experience for sure.  The food was a little more expensive than other places we have been to in Samara, but it was  definitely worth the reservation.  I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of the charming Perro Negro!

Escorting these lovely ladies to dinner is such a privelege

Mahi Mahi with an avocado sauce.  My hat is off to the chef!

What day is it?

I'm starting to lose track of the days.  Ok, I checked and it is Thursday.  I can't believe that we left home over 2 weeks ago.  I know we have to leave in a couple days but I will try not to think about that today.

After Craig left yesterday, we all went to Samara and had lunch at a little place away from the beach. One thing that you have to understand about Samara is that this is where Costa Ricans come for their holidays.   At this time of the year, the vast majority of people in town and on the beach are Spanish speaking folks. When you get away from the beach there is no guarantee that you will get service in English and I observed that there were no English speaking people in this little restaurant.    I could tell the waiters were a little timid when coming to serve us but we managed to get our food and it was all good.  They were taking a long time to bring me the bill and so I told the girls to go ahead and do some shopping and that I'd catch up with them.  I waited and waited and then it occurred to me that I was observing a classic case of the human condition and that these two young waiters felt uncomfortable dealing with my poor Spanish and their lack of English.  Obviously they were as shy about their poor English as a person might be about their poor Spanish.  I'm not sure, but I think they were negotiating between themselves about who was going to deal with me.  I finally laughed to myself, walked over to them, asked for la cuenta, paid the bill and put an end to their suffering.

After doing some beach shopping we parked ourselves in the coolest beach side lounge where I secured a table right next to a modified fishing boat, set on its side with comfortable pillows for us to lounge on.  We had a light snack and then Jenna fell asleep in the boat for awhile.  Eventually she woke up and she and Ann went for a swim while Allison and I practiced our Spanish people watching skills while sipping tall cool ones.

On the walk back to the house, just as we were leaving the beach, a 70ish year old man who we noticed waving to us on our street a few times, stopped his truck so he could chat with us.  He lives in the beautiful Samara Reefs complex a short distance down the hill from our rental home.  He told us that there are 7 units within Samara Reefs and that he is the only Tico who owns one.  The rest of them are all owned by Canadians.  He said that he has neighbors from Vancouver, Saskatchewan and Ontario.  He was holding up the traffic and so he had to go but I would have loved chatting with him some more.

Iggy the Iguana

This morning at 7:00 am Ann and I went down to the beach for a run.  I know that when we make it back to Canada, one of the things I will miss the most about being here will be those morning runs on the beach.  At low tide, the uncovered ocean bottom is solid here and it makes for a perfect running surface.  I really do love it.

While running on the beach this morning, I found what looks to me to be an actual shark tooth.  To those doubters, no it is not plastic.  The edges were made smooth by the surf  and its one of the coolest things that I've ever found on a beach.

 

Adios Craig

On the last day of 2013, Jenna spent her time working on some assignments that had to be submitted by the end of the day.  That morning, Craig and I drove Natalino to the bus stop for his ride back to San Jose.  Ann, Craig, Allison and I spent the whole afternoon just hanging out on Samara Beach.  We went back to the beach side restaurant where we had supper a couple nights ago and got a table on the sand in the shade of some palm trees where we spent at least a couple hour having lunch and drinks.

This beach has such a rustic quality to it.  It's fun to see people riding horses, dogs without leashes and people stacking up firewood for their evening bonfires.  I've certainly never seen this on any other beaches that I've been to.

From our vantage point up on this hill overlooking Samara beach, we were able to watch some pretty fabulous fireworks last night, all along the beach.  The sound travels very easily within this bay and the explosions seemed to be right over the house at times.  The fireworks, however were not the highlight of my New Years celebration.  For that I had to wait until 12:30 am when I was summoned to the girls' bedroom to kill a scorpion that was crawling on the curtains.  I grabbed a shoe from the entrance, knocked it to the floor and as it tried to scurry off I flattened it with a single blow.  Allison told me that I looked "really cool" doing that.  I went to sleep wondering if the dead scorpion's relatives might find me under the sheets tonight for some retribution.

High tide, Playa Samara.  I trail along the center part of the beach

3 fish tacos and a margarita:  what a beach lunch should be

Que pasa?

Less than 30,000 colones for this awesome lunch with drinks.  Not bad

Another stray horse

horses, unleashed dog and a happy Tico on a bike

Horse tracks

Paved section of Calle Santa Domingo near our house

Hace Calor...check out the sweat on my brow

Calle Santa Domingo

The waves are really small here. Great place for little ones to learn how to surf

Pink Belly

Allison buys a nice pearl bracelet 

A beautiful starlet and her new necklace

A section of main street

Woohoo!  A 5 dollar souvenir

Random pre pink belly photo from Craig

Another random pre pink belly photo from Craig

This morning at 10:00 am I had a shuttle come right to our house to pick up Craig and take him to the airport in Liberia.  I think it was Elizabeth Stone who was quoted as saying that when you have a child, you "decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  She hit the nail on the head with that statement.  I miss you already Craig and until we meet again, te quiero a mi hijo.

New Years morning breakfast

Craig tuning Ally's ukulele one last time before he leaves 

Hasta luego Craig