I saw a satellite photo of California yesterday, it was apocolyptic.
Let's hope that they get things under control.

Got up early today (5:30) and went down for a surf (Steve) and run (Jocelyn & Caly). It is a
beautiful morning!! The air temperature felt cool, the water was a nearly perfect 80 degrees with a
light breeze blowing. Decent waves, felt great to be out in the water surfing for the first time in
over a week. Jocelyn had a great run on the deserted beach. Caly is Caly: any time at the beach is
time well spent in her book. I'd like to think she enjoys it more on pretty days than other days,
but truth be told I suspect that she is pretty close to maximum joy-capacity every time her toes hit
the sand.

We've both (us humans) been fighting a vicious head and chest cold. Mine seems just about gone,
Jocelyn is a day or three behind me, but improving rapidly. I'm feeling lucky that I've got a
fairly un-scheduled Sunday to spend around the yard and pool. It really is heart-breakingly
beautiful out there right now.

And since my coffee is done, I'm going to fill a cup and head out to read my new "Medicinal Plants
of Costa Rica" book and watch some birds.

Labels: california, garden, weather

Well, since Steve is blogging so much, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Actually, it just occurred to me that he was brilliant (this has occurred to me before, but not in accordance with this particular action) to post his six-day-tour reply. We get lots and lots of emails asking us for information, and we both often offer it up before people even ask. But low and behold, there is now the mighty blog, where we can put it online for everyone who cares (and doesn't) to see! (And really, for us to reference when we get asked again.)

Here's what I said about day-trips from Tamarindo, slightly modified to make more sense for the general public. These are specifically places that are all under an hour from Tam., making it an easy and enjoyable trip, while leaving you suitcases at your hotel.

1. Avellanas - about 20 minutes south of Tamarindo, there's a great restaurant called Lola's. Eat there, sit there, drink there.

2. Playa Grande - about 20 minutes north of Tamarindo. You can drive there, but you can also just cross Tamarindo's northern estuary - this is most easily done during low tide if you're on foot. If you're with board, it's a just a short paddle depending on tide.

3. Playa Langosta - The surfing is good by the rivermouth and just to the north and south of it. The beach is good at low tide for laying out, but surfing is better at mid-high tide. Low tide also opens up a very large, shallow, estuary where the water is often crystal clear and warmer. Especially beautiful early in the morning when it is empty. So, um, don't go there early in the morning or it won't be empty for us. Just kidding. Mostly.

4. Playa Negra - for advanced surfers only, but beautiful and a different looking beach than the others. Darker sand, more rocks, but you can lay out. It's just south of Avellanas.

5. Playa Junquillal - about 45 minutes south of Tamarindo. Decent surf, cute little town, couple of beach bars on the sand. Good laying out. Just a nice place to visit that's different from Tam.

6. Playa Conchal - Beautiful white sand beach, totally different from the other beaches mentioned above. Decent snorkeling, great swimming, laying out, picnicing, etc. Better to go during the weekdays, the place is PACKED on the weekends with locals and tourists alike.

7. Marbella - Further away than the rest, just over an hour on sometimes-dicey roads. But frequently deserted and very pretty. The "sand" here is pea-gravel on one beach and dark, sort of dirty, sand on the other beach.

8. Playa Hermosa - We would argue that the name is a bit of a misnomer. Playa Hermosa is about an hour's drive north from here, by Playa Coco. It isn't particularly beautiful with very organic-rich sand and water that tends to be tepid and greenish. The immobility of the water means no waves at all, which can be good for kids or anyone who is not confident in their water skills. There are some nice places to eat/drink there. Coco is a good spot to take off for Witch's Rock or to go diving.

Labels: beach, day trip, tamarindo

While it is certainly common for us to throw out some travel advice, I found it interesting that I got two requests for information in as many days. If not interesting, at least mildly notable to me. Ok, maybe not even that. But I'm trying to journal a little more often and I already took the time to type up a response regarding Guanacaste weather, so I thought I'd take advantage of it to fill some space. there, I admit it!

Here's my off the cuff guide to seasons in Tamarindo.

October is soaking wet, rains nearly every day. The occasional breaks are wonderful, but I wouldn't book a trip here during October unless you can sincerely attest to enjoying mud and damp clothes.

November is a great month to come down, usually. Temps aren't so high, things are very very green and as the month goes on, the rain gets less and less likely. Tamarindo is an excellent Thanksgiving destination.

By December, it is only raining once/week. Xmas is mayhem. Tradition in Costa Rica dictates that everyone go to the beach from December 22 through the end of the year. Madness. Don't come unless you like crowds at the beach. Now... on the other hand, you'll find mountain destinations to be fairly deserted, and the weather is usually excellent.

January is another very popular time to come. Right when North America is getting cold, it is getting sunnier and drier here. The winds do start to pick up in January, which is really refreshing and beautiful.
Jan/Feb/Mar is considered "high season" rates are a tad higher.
Feb... fantastic. Stuff is drying out just a little bit, turning brown, but some of the BIG trees are blooming. It is beautiful and amazing. Wind tends to be more reliable but that means that it is getting a little dustier.
March. The winds are in full tilt. Great for surfing. Great for laying by the pool with brilliant sun and a fresh breeze. Not as great for laying on the beach (your towel can literally fly away) but especially in the morning, the weather is wonderful. Also monkeys are starting to inch closer to towns so that they can munch on tasty garden shrubs instead of dry trees.
April... uh, oh, where did the wind go? Sometime around April/May the wind shuts off, the temps spike up to 100 and the humidity starts climbing. Things are generally dry and dusty. I quite like this time of year, but nobody can claim it is the most comfortable nor the most picturesque. If you don't have somewhere with AC at night, you are going to be sweaty.
May, the rains usually start. This year we had a solid week of rain at the end of May. If the rains don't start, it is stupefyingly hot and humid. Even with the rain, it is one of the least comfortable months here w/regards to temperature.
June is usually pretty nice- you'll get some rain, but also fantastic sunsets and everything is green again. The temps are usually dropping. At night, those of us who live here start donning long sleeves, maybe even a sweatshirt. Most visitors won't feel that need. Daytime temps are still hot and muggy.
July- if you are very lucky, you'll nail July during what we call "veranillo" which is "little summer". Veranillo lasts about a week. The rain stops cold. Everything is fresh, clean, in full leaf, and the weather is absolutely .... perfect. If you hit it wrong, well, it's going to be light rain with occasional thunderstorms. Not too muddy, not usually too buggy, but definitely 50/50 chance in any given hour of having sun or rain.
August. More like 40% sun/ 60% rain. Getting muddier. Still excellent sunsets.
September. 20/80? No, not that bad. But it can rain for four days straight. It has happened.
Then October again. Most likely going to rain on any given day. The sunny days are marvelous, but mostly in contrast to the rain. Buggiest time of the year (or rather, most mozzies.) And when I say rain, I mean... there are days in which we exceed the annual rainfall of San Diego county. A couple of feet per week is normal for October. I mean RAIN.

Now the disclaimer: all of the above is specific to Tamarindo. If you are in San Jose, or the Carib coast, then the weather is different. October is supposed to be a GREAT time of year in Cahuita (east coast).

The least-popular tourist months here are October and May. Either June or September comes next.

Highest "month" is Dec 15 through January 15.

Further disclaimer: In recent years, the "normal" weather patterns have gotten more blurry. Far more blurry. It rained really late/early this year. Last October the rain was relatively mild at times and we never got a solid veranillo, but rather two or three times when we all looked up and said "I guess this is veranillo?!?"

Labels: Costa Rica, tamarindo, vacation, weather

I just spent some time putting together thoughts re: a six day travel-intense trip to Costa Rica. The author specifically wanted to see Samara, Nosara and Montezuma as well as Rincon and Monteverde. He asked about a rental car vs. public transportation.

Here are some of my thoughts on that trip, for everyone to enjoy. Please keep in mind that these are just quick thoughts dashed out and that I reserve the right to rethink them without further notice.

As an aside: Do keep in mind that driving in Costa Rica takes more time/effort than in the States. 50 miles here isn't a quick jaunt. It'll take two hours or more. Four hours of driving here isn't just a morning drive, it is about as much driving as you are going to want to do in any given day.

With that in mind and without further qualification, here is my response:

A decent 4wd car will run you about $75/day, taxes, insurance, included. A very small one can be had for slightly less. A Prado or 4runner (very nice) will cost around $100/day.

Sounds like you are thinking of spending 6 days here, so call it $450.

Taxi/shuttle/bus trips are often per-person and frequently over $25 for longer distance. So call it $300 for 6 transfers.

I'd pay the extra $ for the convenience of being under my own power and schedule.
If you where here for two weeks.... then I would suggest using public/taxi transport as it would save you a bundle and the time you spend organizing your trips wouldn't take away so much from enjoying your destination(s).

The roads in July will be rough, but not impassable.

If you are flying into Liberia, You could drive straight to Nosara on your first day, and get there with plenty of time for sunset.

From there, Samara is a very short drive (half hour? 1 hour? depends on roads, locals will tell you if the beach route is doable).

Samara to Montezuma is an moderate drive. 3 hours or so? I think.

From Montezuma to Monteverde isn't all that short. I've never tried it, but I would leave really early in the morning to do that one. It shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 hours, total. Six if you stop for lunch (not a bad idea).

I've never driven Monteverde to Rincon but imagine it'll take 4 or 5 hours. Rincon is about 2 hours from the Liberia airport.

If Samara has rental car agencies (I think that they do) you could land & take a shuttle/taxi to Samara. Then get your car the next day and set out on your trip. End up in Samara, drop off the car, and take a shuttle to the airport the next morning.

I think you could basically do the same using Nosara as your point of entry/departure. Not entirely sure about rentals down there.

Another alternative is to use Tamarindo as a jumping-off point. Shuttle from the airport to here is $40 for the two of you ($18/person plus tip. Includes cold water and/or cold beer). Spend the night on the 5th in Tamarindo. Get up early and see Nosara on the 6th. See Samara on the 7th. Montezuma on the 8th. On the 9th Monteverde, leaving late(ish) to arrive Tamarindo for sunset on the 10th. Catch shuttle on the 11th to airport ($40). this same plan works for Samara or Nosara, but I don't know shuttle info for either of those, nor car rental. If you choose Tamarindo, email me (steve [at] bbcostarica [dot] com) and I'll help you get a rental car and a nice place to spend the night(s).

This plan cuts out Rincon de la Vieja, but makes for fairly reasonable drives on the rest of the days. A 4 hour drive here takes a lot more toll on you than a 4 hour drive down the interstate in the USA.

You could do that plan in reverse, perfectly well, which would give you beach, mountain, beach beach beach. Whatever you do, definitely plan to get up very early in Monteverde to do a tour of the cloud forest. I think that the first tour leaves at 7am. That's the one you want. Less chance of heavy rain, more chance of animals, less crowded. Buy your ticket the night before at the gate to the cloud forest preserve. Get a guide. They are excellent and informative. Afternoon in Monteverde is a nice time to visit the butterfly garden if it isn't raining. If raining, go to a cafe and enjoy excellent coffee and some relaxation.

FWIW: you could spend 2 nights in either Samara or Nosara and just do a daytrip to the other town. It really isn't far and sometimes it is nice to drive around without all of your stuff because:

Whatever you do. Don't leave your bags in the rental car, unattended. Whenever your bags are in the car, it is the same as if they are sitting on the hood of the car. Seriously. Many of the thieves here have keys to the rental car fleets. It sucks, but it is true.

One option to mitigate the potential problem is to pack stuff in a hard-side case (pelican is excellent, but heavy) and then padlock the case closed with a chain/cable through the seat of the car. The thieves are usually grab n go, not going to take a long time to steal your stuff.... but a much better way is to not leave your gear in the car. Which makes daytrips a good alternative as you can leave your car and hit five or six beaches without worry.

Labels: 4wd, 4x4, Costa Rica, tamarindo, vacation

Some folks have asked us about the BVI trip, those boaters out there all said "What boat did you get?!?!"

We sorta scratched our virtual heads (or looked confused, if in person) and said "Um... It was about 42 feet. A cat."

For those of you who weren't satisfied with the answer, you can now proceed directly to Footloose Charters' web page and see the complete details of our vessel. It was a Moorings 4200.

Apparently it was 41 1/2 feet. For the record. And built in Capetown, South Africa.

Labels: sailing, vacation

More yard photography. Gardening in Costa Rica is more of a fight against invasion by your own plants than it is a struggle to keep things alive. The end result is that we feel like we don't have many resources online nor in print for tips and tricks for the tropical gardener. On the plus side, half of the time (or more) if we want a given plant, we can find it growing wild and just dig it up and stick it in the ground. If it doesn't grow wild nearby, often we can just cut some off of someone elses ornamental, stick it in the ground, and stand back. So it is a mixed bag. We are having fun with it, and it is labor that keeps on giving back as the yard gets prettier and prettier with each effort on our part.

Ok, sometimes we screw up, or prune too much, or let stuff go too long, then prune and it looks haggard- we aren't particularly *good* at this yet, just enthusiastic.

Locally called Avecilla. This is the prettiest coloration we've seen. We've got a stand of it by the front stairs now.	The Ylang ylang tree is sorta hiding behind the palm cluster. Small now, but only a month after transplanting it is looking healthy, we have big hopes for it.	We planted these Plumeria branches with the hopes that they'll bloom for us on the porch outside our bedroom. Eventually the porch will be covered (time and money permitting) by a roof, at which point we'll have to find somewhere else to put the plumeria. Assuming it takes. Local wisdom says to plant plumeria cuttings in the dry season as they don't like wet feet when they are freshly planted.
more pretty avecilla filling up empty space by the guest room door	This little iguana spends most of his time sitting on/around the compost pile. Not sure if he is dining on kitchen scraps, soldier fly larva, or both. He (she?) has gotten fairly tame and doesn't run away when I go out to add scraps.	Our baby banana trees. These are purported to be "manzana" banana trees. Which means "apple" in Spanish. I'm not sure what that is going to mean for the fruit that comes off of them, but I was told it would be delicious, which is fine with me.
Our vetiver champion. This was a plug about the diameter of a soup can and only knee-high tall just a few months ago	Lemongrass. It was even more pitiful looking last month, but seems to be coming back, we hope.

Labels: Costa Rica, garden, photo, weather

What a fun morning!

We've had some plants sitting in the yard, awaiting getting planted for about a week. Over a steaming cup of coffee we decided to take advantage of the cool weather (overcast/rainy = high 70's = "cool" here) to get those plants in the ground. We potted a couple as well to put upstairs in the bedroom.

While working on that little project, our gardener brought by some beautiful 'avecilla' plants. They are like a miniature bird of paradise, with multi-colored flowers. The most coincidentally wonderful thing about them is that Jocelyn had just seen this particular type for her first time on Sunday and was really excited about trying to get some. Then today (Tuesday), apropo of nothing, the gardener pops in with an armload. Fun! So we planted those as well, then moved on to some banana trees that he also brought. Steve has been itching to put some fruit trees into the ground for months. Bananas aren't really a tree, but they are big and pretty, and produce fruit. Close enough.

We also put a Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata) tree in the front yard about a month ago. It is really happy so far and has already sprouted some new growth. We are hoping that within another six months it should grow a few feet (green growth, not woody growth yet) and also start blooming. Ylang-ylang is the base of many perfumes, smells fantastic, blooms day and night and stays evergreen throughout the year. Both birds and monkeys are fond of eating it, which we hope will attract both.

I'll get some photos soon, not because I'm confused enough to think that readers are just dying to see my plants, but mostly because I think it'll be fun for us to go back and look at the pictures in a year or whatever to see just how much they've actually grown.

Next up projects include planting a border area in the front yard with these cute little groundcover plants we've found that have a huge variety of flower colors, as well as getting some jasmine started climbing up the living room wall (outside) to shade the room and add Steve's absolute favorite smell to our yard. Still haven't decided if the jasmine will get a trellis or if we'll use wires for it to climb up. Oh, decisions, decisions.

Labels: Costa Rica, garden

Lots of interesting things going on down here in beautiful Tamarindo.

For starters, we've finally posted a bunch of our photos from the British Virgin Islands trip we did earlier this month. We have more (obviously) and might put a few more up online, but these are a good cross-section of the journey.

Our friend Jen Gebbie is visiting right now. We've been having a great time hanging out with her. Last Saturday we all threw a little party to belatedly celebrate Jocelyn's birthday. The weather cooperated and we had a nice bbq with plenty of delicious food, friendly faces, and libations. Steve ignored the early signs of a head cold, had a great time, and has been paying double for it all day Sunday :(.

Regardless of the head cold (and hangover) we did a little road trip to Junquillal to look at some property and see a different beach. Caly was apparently delighted to visit the beach three times in one day (three different beaches, no less). The rest of us enjoyed ourselves too!

Speaking of property- we've finally decided to sell our vacant lot in Tamarindo. We really like it and would enjoy building something on it, but now that we've got a lovely house of our own, the idea of building another one just seems excessive. If you know anyone who would like to get a great deal on a beautiful home lot in Tamarindo, send them our way! The lot is 1/8 acre and has a little bit of an ocean view from the 2nd floor (ok, it has a tiny ocean view from the 1st floor, but to enjoy the view you would want to build a 2nd or even 3rd story patio). We're asking $135,000 but will consider offers. The lot is surrounded by single family homes and is an easy walk to the beach (about 3/4 mile).

Labels: photo, sailing, vacation

Several people have asked "Where did you go in the islands?" and since we did take our own gps along on the ride, I threw together a quick google earth track of our route.

It isn't perfect. That would have required that Steve was on the ball enough to turn the gps on every day before we started sailing and also remember to save our track at the end of the day. But at least we've got a rough indication of where we sailed, which is more fun than trying to describe it.

We do still have pictures on the way. Be patient.

ps: you may or may not have noticed that there are now google adsense links on the left column. If you think that online journals are cheapened by the inclusion of advertising (we do, sorta) then you can block the ads by using Firefox and installing the "Adblock" extension. It is fantastic. With a little training, you can make your browser remove just about every advertisement. Great stuff. Alternately, you may see something that you like on that sidebar, and click through to shopping bliss. Which is profitable to us, which has obvious upsides.

Labels: sailing, vacation

We took a vacation. A real, live, no-computers, no-phone vacation. And we took it in the tropics. The real, warm-water, blue-skies, wear-your-bathing-suit-all-day tropics. "Don't you live in the tropics?", You ask. "Why, yes, now that you mention it, we do.", We reply. "So why on earth would you go on vacation in the tropics?", You ask? And that would be a very good question, and one we asked ourselves countless times as we bloodied our heads banging them against the wall of airline routes out of Costa Rica to other tropical vacation destinations.

We don't live in a place conducive to airport hubs and direct flights to out-of-the-way islands, and this fact was never more apparent than when desiring to travel east a couple thousand miles and having instead to travel north, then south, then east over two days to do so. But, the good news is that we would gladly do it all again to see what we now firmly believe is the most beautiful water in the entire world. Now, we should probably cut the water in the Meditteranean and the water off the coast of Africa, and probably the water somewhere off the coast of South America some slack, as we've never seen it, so we are more than likely under informed judges, but be that as it may, we're in love with the British Virgin Islands (and the American, French and Dutch ones, since really, as far as the islands are concerned, it's really all the same thing.)

We bareboat chartered a 42' Catamaran to more fully indulge in our love affair and spent our days, well, sailing. And eating. And wearing our bathing suits all day. And drinking - rum being the beverage of the BVIs et. al. And really, that's about all I have to tell of our days spent on the boat. We carelessly (and I mean this in the frivolous, worry-free sense, not the thoughtless, mean-spirited sense) whiled away our days with the concerns of sailing, snorkeling, eating and rum drinking. And within that carelessness does not lie much of a story. Which, I suppose is the mark of a truly, deeply and well spent vacation. So I will let our photos tell you what we did. I'm posting only a few here today. As time permits, we will post more than you could possibly want to see!

on the way to Anegada Island

happy jocelyn

Virgin Gorda, The Baths

happy steve

Labels: sailing, vacation