Saturday, August 6
Spencer was excited to wake up and be able to choose his outfit!! I will say... I'm amazed at how easy going that boy is. Never once did I hear a complaint! We had a crazy first couple days with challenges and he just went with the flow. He was resilient and helpful. When I was told him we were renting a car and driving around... I said it was going to be like we are in "the amazing race" of Costa Rica. Little did I know... I wasn't joking!
We had the delicious breakfast again at the hotel. We were welcomed by many friends this morning... Hens, roosters, chickens, parrots, a dog and a super cute puppy that I literally wanted to put in my suitcase. I didn't get pics of all of them... But here are a few.
After breakfast... We were on the road for about 5-6 hours in the car, including a stop at a waterfall you can swim under. We made a few pit stops on the way:
The opposite side of Arenal lake.
And a few random stops to take some pictures and to do a little roadside shopping:
After only one wrong turn we found the somewhat hidden waterfall Llanos del Cortés. The pictures aren't great and I didn't get any with my good camera. It was way too wet with waterfall spray that I decided to leave it safly tucked away.
Not quite 3 more hours in the car and we finally made it to Esterillos where our Airbnb is. We were both ready to get out of the car for a couple days! However... due to GPS in Costa Rica... Or lack of it working... It's never quite that easy. Thankfully I printed out directions before leaving but it's interesting how that is not easy either. Even the Google map directions will tell you to turn by the church. Well witch one? Anyway... We knew we were in the right area, but we still couldn't find the surf shop we were to meet them at. So I stopped at one store where the man spoke zero English but when I showed him on my paper where I was looking for he talked very quickly for 2 minutes and drew me a map. It kind of made sense. It got me back to the road I came in on. There was a corner store there with the same name as the one the couple told me to look for. I walked in there and asked someone if she spoke English and she said no. A couple heard me and offered to try to help. They weren't exactly sure where the board shop was but told me they would be at the restaurant down a couple blocks and that the owner there would be able to help. Well, I found the board shop without needing her help so we got checked in to our next 3 nights. Jessica welcomed us. Her and her hubby Justin moved here about 3 years ago from Canada. What an amazing place they have!
We already feel like royalty. This place is beautiful!!
To top it off.... We are just a block off the beach. We found a diamond in the rough here!!
She got us all set up and recommended a place down the street for dinner which just happened to be the same one the couple at the store told me about... Los Alvendros.
Spencer and I went there for dinner and ended up sitting with the couple that I had met. We chatted for about 20 minutes before they left. They were from Vermont but the man had lived in Wisconsin for a few years. They were great people. After they left, the family behind them turned and started talking with us. They were from Chicago and had two boys. One a freshman and one a sophomore. We all decided we may hang out some over the next couple days. How fun!
Oh... And let's talk about the food! A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Let's start with the beer. I had a local hibiscus beer. Incredible. Spencer has shrimp and rice. I had the sea bass with mango salsa, coconut infused rice & beans, a salad that had shredded beets on it with a manderine lime served on the side. I'd never seen or even heard of manderine limes. So odd to see a green peel with an orange fruit. Delicious!! We already plan to eat there everyday but sadly, they are not open Sunday's, which sadly for us, they are not open tomorrow. We will be back on Monday though!
We then stopped at the board shop which happens to be Angie and Justin's home. We chatted with them and Brent, who is a surf instructor. Spencers contemplating trying it out!
We then took a walk to the beach.
Spencer was itching to jump in, but decided to wait until morning. So hard for him to be patient. We walked back into our place to be spooked by someone in the hammock. We knew there was one other gentleman there, but I still wasn't expecting it. We chatted with Daruis for awhile and we all became instant friends. He asked Spencer about sports and who his favorite team is. Spencer said Baylor. Wouldn't you know it... Darius went to and played for Baylor! He told us that he is going to try surfing tomorrow and I think that solidified it for Spencer that he's going to try too! Darius had a good encouraging way of enticing him. I'm so excited for the next few days. Spencer and I already are talking that 3 days wont be enough time here!
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