Playa Tamarindo

After my adventures in Playa Brasilito I hopped on a bus to Playa Tamarindo. Tamarindo is blowing up with tourism, but the season hasn´t started yet so there was a fairly mellow vibe. Lots of surfers hit Tamarindo because it it consistent and is close to a few really famous breaks, Witches Rock, Ollies Point and Playa Grande. I rented a board and surfed around for a few days. On my birthday, I spent the whole day laying on the beach and surfing, not a bad way to go.

I met some people (Portia and Alexis) at the hostel and we went out for my birthday. Portia tried to teach me to dance Salsa and it ended up being a great birthday. My first birthday away from friends and family. A landmark of sorts.



A day later Portia and I decided to go on a turtle (maybe) viewing tour. Of course, my history of seeing these kinds of wild animals is pretty sad (remebering not getting to swim with the dolphins in Kaikoura, NZ; the first time the dolphins hadn´t shown in MONTHS!). We got picked up at the hostel around 9:30, and made it to the beach around 10pm. Then began the great search for the turtles... except for not. We didn´t really figure it out until it was too late, but our tour guides got to go out and search for the turtles, while we waited. When (=if) they find one, they´ll get us and take us to see it. Needless to say, they didn´t find any and although the beach was nice, sitting on it for 4 hours getting eaten alive by mosquitoes really put me in a foul mood. Maybe next time.

On the bus back to San Jose, I sat next to Roy, a Tamarindo local who makes necklaces and pendants to sell on the beach. We talked in Spanish for FIVE HOURS! It was awesome. Every conversation is an opportunity to learn more, and I´ve been taking full advantage of that. I think back on my years of doing language in High School and Middle School and I realize two things, a) I was doing it wrong, and b) I would do it again, even though I despised it. The reason I was doing it wrong was that I never had the right attitude on it. I did not see the potential to travel and use it, but rather viewed it as another compulsory piece of the academic puzzle. I am enjoying Spanish thoroughly, and will be spending the upcoming week in Spanish School in San Jose.