Dining in Samara

Our house here in Samara has a nice kitchen and it was our intention to cook a few nights but there are so many wonderful restaurants in town to try that idea went out the window.
 The town is a small beach community with lots of restaurants, shops, bars, and hotels all either on the beach or within a short walk from the beach.
Having dinner on the beach with some live music is just my speed and we found many places to do just that.
 Gusto beach restaurant  has everything from sushi to pizza. It is a great spot to enjoy a drink, listen to music, and watch what's happening on the beach.

El Ancla is another beach restaurant with some great prices and happy hour specials. I just love the fresh fish Casado - the typical meal and for $6000 colones ($12.00) how can you go wrong.

La Vela Latina is another good choice on the beach for  burgers, nacho's, and seafood. The happy hour has the best prices. They just move very slow, slower then the average tico time. Here is where we finally learned the secret to La Cuenta por favor.

El Lagarto is not right on the beach but a wonderful place to eat. They have a large selection of meat, seafood, and vegetable all grilled on cedar wood. The bake potatoes are cooked in the flame oven and are the best.

I even tried the fresh grilled squid and it was very tasty.

Olive Ridley Turtle nesting on the beach in Costa Rica

 

Costa Rica beaches is the nesting ground for 5 different types of turtles, Leatherback, hawksbill sea turtles, the pacific green sea turtle, Atlantic green sea turtle, and the Olive Ridley. We are not here during nesting season but were told that the Olive Ridley can nest though out the year. It was something I really did want to see and there are a few beaches close to Samara that we just might get lucky.  

Right in the center of Samara is Samara Information Center which gives free information on tours and other events going on in the area. That seemed to be the place to check to see what is going on with the turtles this time of year. We were told that nothing had been happening the last couple of days but with a full moon coming later in the week there could be some coming to nest. They took our email and told us they let us know.

Sure enough as the moon got close to full we got an email that a few have been coming on shore and tonight would be a good night to go.

Playa Carrillo

Just a little south of Samara we discovered another of Costa Rica's little treasures, Carrillo Beach.
It is long white sand beach, lined with coconut palm tree, which gives you lots of shading options to sit and enjoy the beauty that surrounds you. Shade is a must, the sun is very strong. The sand gets very hot as the day goes on, so hot people run from the shade of the palm tree to the water. I tried to wear flip flops down but it still gets in between, running seems to work best.

Cuisine by Miguel in Samara, Costa Rica

The owner of the house suggested that we have dinner at Miguel's  one night. He usually cooks on Sunday evenings but when we called he was full but would be happy to cook for us on Monday. 

  Dinner was set for 6:00pm . We walked down the beach to his house where we were greeted by his wife Sarah welcoming us in. Miguel is a taxi driver from Berlin, Germany who came to Costa Rica 16 years ago. Sarah visited 4 years ago from Florida and the 2 meet on her first day in Samara. They live in a 4 bedroom house on the beach with her son and rent the other 2 bedrooms through Air B & B. Miguel loves to cook and hosts dinners for $10.00  per person for a 3 or 4 course meal for up to 20 people.

 

Laundry day in Samara

In picking a house there are a few things that are important to us. First of course is location, beach preferably but if there view of water that is just as good. The house has to have wifi. This allows us to work while being way for a long periods time plus  I like to be connected. I have had some pretty amazing office space views over the years. 

 Next is a washing machine. I love being able to do my wash.

 Most everything else I can make due with but being able to do wash is a must.  

 Today is wash day. There isn't a dryer but something even better a clothes line.

 

Hanging clothes out to dry is not something you see much of anymore. 

 

The man loves a clothes line.
He pretty much makes one everywhere we go using anything he can hung clothes on.
TV's included.

Clothes pins have become part of our travel essentials. 

We got it all here beach, wifi, view, & washer, Happy Day!! 

Playa Samara

The front yard

We picked Samara after reading it was a quiet, mostly undeveloped little beach town with a great swimming beach. This sounded just what we were looking to spend a week and explore the other beach towns to the north & south of Samara. 

 We rented a house on the beach in a mostly Tico neighborhood, walking distance to town. 

 The house was originally designed as 2 units a upper & lower house but the owner decided it was best to rent as one. It was a little funky as both downstairs & upstairs were pretty much the same, 1 bedroom, bathroom, living area with full kitchen, & porch. Both have their own entrance.

Driving in Costa Rica is all part of the adventure

It was hard to leave this wonderful spot on top of the hill in Senderos De Paz, Manzanillo. We really enjoyed our stay here but it was time to move to the next location.

We are going just up the coast, 26 miles to Samara. Sounds easy right?

There are 3 kinds of roads in this area, paved (black) , unpaved (yellow)  which are gravel, dirt roads full of potholes, and trails (red) which is pretty much what you would think a trail is.

never know what is coming around the bend

 A trail is a single lane, unpaved road full of rocks and holes.  Both unpaved roads and trails can take you across rivers

Dining in Manzanillo, Costa Rica

On this trip since we are going to be away so long we cannot go out to eat all the time plus it is why we rent houses with kitchens. That being said we did end up going out all but one of the nights, which was one of the highlights of our week’s stay at Villa Cocobolo.

 Instead of going out to a restaurant we had a BBQ by the pool with Trey the owner, his girlfriend Jaclyn, along with Trey’s friend Kyle and his family who were also staying here. It was lot of fun  getting to know new people, listening to their stories, and sharing travel adventures.

All about surfing

Playa Hermosa

We are staying in the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula which is made up of small towns, plenty of beach, lots of wildlife, and plenty of activities.

The beaches are wild, long and you can walk for miles if you have the energy in the hot sun.
I believe it is possible to walk from Manzanillo all the way to Mal Pais.

 The beaches are beautiful but what draws most of the people here are the waves. Life in the towns of Santa Teresa, Mal Pais, and Manzanillo all revolves around surfing.

Everyone surfs or at least gives it a try. There are many surf camps plus lots of locals that give lessons.

I did not try to surf here but was just as happy watching from under a palm tree. Maybe I will get a board in the upcoming weeks I will give it a try again.

The beaches of Montezuma

A great place to spend a day is the small village of Montezuma. There is plenty to do here, you can climb a waterfall, do some shopping, get a bite to eat at a local soda, or just soak up some sun on the beach

The ocean is really calm making it great to swim.

 

Senderos De Paz, Manzanillo, Costa Rica

Which means Paths of Peace in Spanish

 

 

We are renting wonderful ocean view villa, villa Cocobolo within this 7 acre oasis of Senderos De Paz. 

The villa has 2 floors, living space on the lower floor, which opens to a nice patio and a pool. The upper floor is the bedroom which also has a nice porch. The villa is very comfortable and we are enjoying the views, nature, and the pool.

We have lots of visitors to the trees around the pool and above the house. I am enjoying seeing the howler monkeys everyday.

This is the perfect location to explore all the beaches and towns in the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Each night we are have fantastic sunsets.

    

The quest for Beach Chairs in Costa Rica

Growing up in the Northeast part of the United States, spending summers at New Jersey shore I have become used to a beach chair.  Everyone has a beach chair along with all sorts of other items people think they need for a day at the beach, umbrellas, beach toys, blankets, towels, food, drinks, tents, radio, boogie boards, now all loaded up in a beach cart to get all your stuff there.

   Traveling around the world I have noticed most places people come to the beach with very little & do not use chairs rather sit on a towel or sarong. Sure many are traveling so do not have all the items but even locals do not pack with them what we in New Jersey think we need for a day at the beach.

Howler Monkey Drama in Manzanillo

The house we are staying is on 7 acres and has a troop of resident howler monkeys that seem to stay right around the area. We saw them the first day we arrived in the trees right off the pool. There was 1 old male, 8 females, 3 of which were carrying a baby, and a single male that stayed apart from the troop.

 On the second day I noticed the male had split apart from the troop and was mostly staying in the trees by the right of the house. The troop went back and forth in the canopy in front of the house and to the left.

Ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera

After a couple days relaxing pool side in Los Suenos it was time to get the adventure started. We are going to spend the next month exploring the Nicoya Peninsula.

The best way to get there from Herradura is by ferry. The ferry leaves out of Puntarenas at 5:00am, 9:00am, 11:00am, 2:00pm, and 5:00pm. There are no reservations you just arrive and get in line. Not knowing how large the ferry is plus it is Saturday we thought best try for the 9:00am that way if we can not get on we have options.