As you know we are in our room at the Tamarindo Diria. We went out to a little store and bought some snacks and beers for our room and then sipped a pint on the balcony. We plan to just relax tonight and then start out early tomorrow morning exploring the town and getting our bearings.
Tonight for dinner we head down to the ocean side restaurant at the hotel. It is so beautiful. The sunset is almost complete so the air is a little bit cooler. And the breeze from the ocean and smells of the sand and water…I felt like I was in paradise and oh so very grateful. The food was delicious. The menu at the Diria has something for everyone and I would recommend you eat there at least once during your stay. We head back to sit on the balcony and have a drink and rest up.
We wake up early the next morning, make a coffee and wait for the sunrise…oh wait…its already up. I now know that the sun rises at 5 am in Costa Rica and sets at around 5:30 pm. This is due to their proximity to the equator. Now that we know we will plan our wake up time accordingly.
After coffee we head down to the buffet. It opens at 6:30 am for hotel guests, and those not staying here can pay a small price and come for breakfast after 7:00. The food choices are endless, the tables are mainly all on the edge of the open air space, with views of the ocean, the pool, the grounds and assorted birds, iguanas and squirrels. The birds fly through the restaurant and it seems to be part of the wait staffs job to gently shoo them back to the trees. Its amazing to sit amidst all of this and enjoy a great start to your day.
We head out to the main street and check out the shops, and vendors, locate the bars and restaurants and then we take a little side street. It begins to wind up a hill and it looks like it heads straight into the jungle…later we find out it does not…but since we weren’t quite ready for a jungle trek just yet, we turn around and head back down. It is then we discover a farmers market…This is the Saturday Feria…and it is such a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning. Feria does mean Fair in Spanish, but it is what we in Canada call a farmers market. The market has local Tico (Costa Ricans) farmers produce (fruits and vegetables), dry goods, health care products, hand crafts, clothing, jewelry and food carts. It is relaxed and easy going and such a nice way to begin to immerse yourself into speaking Spanish and meeting the local folks. My daughter wanted to buy me something for my birthday and when we happened on the booth of a jewelry craftsman we found something so special. He asked me to choose the colors and stones that I wanted in my piece and he would make it for me…just come back in an hour…and no…he would not take a payment…he wanted to be sure that I liked it when I returned. Wouldn’t happen like that in most places in the world. Mel ended up getting one made for herself as well. We continued walking around and bought a few more handmade pieces and each a kit of healing products made by a beautiful lady. Her company is called Cura Sana and she creates natural healing remedies and skin care products and let me say… that Melanie and I have never used better products for sunburns or bug bites…and the face creams…don’t even get me started. I highly recommend her products to everyone. http://www.curasana.shop. As a note, to purchase the awesome sample pack that we bought (bottom left in picture below), enter” love your skin/beauty kit” in the search bar on the Cura Sana website. Also, you can find all of Cura Sana’s products on Etsy. I am not sponsered by this company…I would love to be…but I love their all natural products and wouldn’t recommend them otherwise. Shop away!
We also purchased some amazing sunscreen, which you neeeeed here, and an after burn lotion. We tanned but never really burned. These products are made by a Costa Rican company called New Body Costa Rica…and do they ever work. They are all natural and a little goes along way so they will last quite a while. You can purchase these products online, @newbodycr.com or email them at art@newbodycr.com. Again, not sponsered….but would love to be.
Melanie and I head to find a place for lunch before returning to pick up our jewelry. We find a nice little place around the corner and settle in. What is wonderful about Tamarindo is that dogs and cats wander freely in and out of the restaurants. Many have homes and this is their daily routine, because many of the store owners, residents and restaurant owners leave out water and food for them. So as we are awaiting our food we are delighted to see assorted pups enter, get there grub, take a swig of water and head off to their next culinary stop. Many folks coming out to eat also bring their pups with them. Nice. Melanie and I are huge animal lovers so this just adds to the enjoyment of our day.
After lunch we head back to the feria, and our necklaces are ready….I cannot tell you how many compliments I get on mine whenever I where it out…I am sure Melanie’s has the same effect. Oh, and as a note, the partner of the jeweler has a scuba school. Melanie was interested in learning to scuba and to go on a dive. I wasn’t but this couple offered to take us both and I could stay on the boat with him and learn to make a necklace…Mel would scuba dive with his partner. She even offered to come and do the pool sessions at our hotel. We took their info and although it sounded like a great day, we ended up on other adventures and didn’t have the chance. If I can find the name I will share it because they certainly were accommodating and very kind…and experienced divers.
We wander back towards our room, checking out some shops on the way. We figure that we will change for dinner and then head down the beach to find a beach front restaurant. I am soooo happy we did.
The first place we stop is Walters, a restaurant/bar. There is a guy playing guitar and he is good so we sit down and in her best Spanish (and Mel is much better at it than I am), Mel orders us each a drink and some food. What we didn’t know is that Walters has a happy hour…and the drinks we ordered were huge…I mean three times the size of a regular drink in Canada…and way more potent. The staff and service are fantastic and the food was great. A great place to stop in to relax and watch the world go by. waltersplace.tamarindo@gmail.com.
We also watched the sunset for the very first time….you have never seen anything or any sunset like the ones in Costa Rica. The sun is huge and it glistens off of the ocean and slowly makes its way behind the horizon, leaving in its wake a sky that is orange, pink, blue and purple and just spectacular. It is so fantastic that many locals and pretty much all tourists head down to the beach every day at 5 pm to watch the sun say goodnight. I sure do not blame them….it is etched in my memory and I am so grateful to have experienced it.
Our next stop on our beach walk back to the Diria became our nightly favorite… El Be…Just Be. It is this amazing beach bar and restaurant with live music, a fire show, comfy loungers and bean bag chairs amid the regular tables and chairs, a boxer (dog) named Zeta, amazing, fun staff and two of the most hospitable and fun owners you will ever come to know. Never have I ever been made to feel more like family so quickly as we did there. We met all kinds of wonderful people there and danced and sang and drank…a little…and never have I felt so free to just be as I did there…trust me…you will too. The owners have a love story of an American girl falling in love with a Tico surfer boy….and together they make an huge impression on everyone they meet. It will be my first stop when I return to Tamarindo…I guarantee it. Be sure to check them out on their facebook page and of course, stop in when you are in Tamarindo…because I know you want to go to Costa Rica.
So ends our first full day in Costa Rica, and we are so happy to be here. Getting to sleep is hard, but we need rest because we have an adventure planned for tomorrow…it isn’t the adventure that I had booked…but as it turns out…it was far better and such a great experience. Lets just say…have you ever been on a real pirate ship?
See you next time.
Live your Life….Jan
Living With Jan 