May 2010 | Pura Vida - Our Costa Rican Adventure

The perfect beach, May 29, 2010

Filed Under : by Greg L. Miller

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Its Saturday and the cyclone is gone! I packed my camera, some water, got Kelly ready and it was time to find both monkeys and the mythical perfect beach. For any future travelers I found that if I put my wallet and camera in a Ziploc bag they will be protected from the environment. Seeing as how we are ten degrees south of the equator we applied much sun screen on and sprayed our bodies with insect repellent. The mosquitoes carry something bad that could cause Dengue Fever, something I don't want to experience. After walking down the beach towards the rocky outcropping that resembles a peninsula we found some trails that Kelly was nervous to approach for she was worried about the mosquitoes. I figured that within a couple of hundred yards we would reach the beach so much talked about. The other direction on the beach leads towards a estuary and a national park that is told to have the crocodiles and wildlife. We decided that it would be better to hire a boat taxi when the time comes instead of trekking that direction on foot. Not understanding the vast time differences between high tide and low tide we marveled how we were able to make good time down the beach. High tide occurs around 4 pm and most of the beach disappears before sunset. Low tide is around 10 pm and 10 am. On the way we found a big Iguana lizard eating lunch!

On the way we encountered many small crabs and millions of crab prints.

Finally we made it the end of the beach where the trail began.

My hunch was right and after a few hundred yards we made it to a hill that overlooked Playa Tamarindo. On the way we encountered Mag Pie Blue Jays and mutant squirrels that coasted in the the canopy. At this point I took off my shirt for in paradise nobody cares what you look like and shirts start feeling like dead weight from sweat.

After this was a clearing where we found a ruined pavilion that overlooked our town in the rain-forest.

We dauntingly had a water break and then continued on the journey to find the perfect beach. At this point I have to point out that I walked for a bit which I couldn't do six months ago. New Zealand was great in that it started conditioning me and I can now slowly walk for half the day. Its still a struggle to sit on hard wood anything but it is what it is. On the way down the hill towards the fabled beach we encountered a crab who was lost. These crabs are migrating to the beach to reproduce and there are many.

The crab was scared of us unlike future crabs we experiences later in the evening. These crabs are called Land Crabs. On the way we encountered some developing spots and Kelly found one of them having open house. We couldn't take pictures and they thought we were rich. We decided to not say any different and let them assume what they wanted. Needless to say we had a nice chat with a African dude who was very educated. The flats were selling for $900,000 and they were very impressive. We were then told that the fabled beach had a name! Its called Playa Langosta and here it is. I have to admit that in my book it is 10 out of 10 and I felt like I was in paradise. It is now our special place.

There were spots filled with clean black sand indeed! Needless to say high tide began and before we knew it waves bigger then five feet were crashing into us and we were soaked! It happened fast and the water felt as warm as a bath. Thankfully the camera was safe and we started our long trek back home.

After taking showers we were famished from the hike and heard rumors of a nacho place that advertised nachos bigger then your ass. You gotta love the sense of humor of Ticos!

The music was wonderful, cute cats and crabs jumped on your lap and played tag with your toes and the Nachos were the size of your ass! We ended up staying for drinks for it was the perfect way to end a tremendous day. As they say down here in Costa Rica, its the good life. Stay tuned for Mondays expedition into monkey land. Ciao- Greg and Kelly Carter Miller

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May 27th, 2010 or how the rest of the world says it 27-05-2010

Filed Under : by Greg L. Miller

The tropical cyclone has been ebbing and the sun has started to shine. There is a quiet murmur throughout the streets and shops that tomorrow will be sunny and hot. Since traveling with my wife we seem to coincidentally be ushered in with rain ever since we trekked in the Yucatan back in 2005 and visited the rain temple of the Mayans in Coba, Mexico. We were experiencing a cyclone passing through which poured forth rain with tremendous velocity. This did not make me falter for the power of the umbrella is great and we might as well live for today for we never know what tomorrow will bring. To be honest I figured it was normal because we are in a rain-forest and why wouldn't it not rain in a rain-forest? Thus my comments on crocodiles and the such. We are located on the Pacific coast in a rain-forest within the ring of fire. We are two hours away from the volcano's and border Nicaragua and Panama. It is a quaint town full of friendly folk, many of them Americans and Europeans who decided for whatever reason that Central America was going to be their next home. Many people think we are on island but we are not. Costa Rica is in Central America, or as they would say Centro Americano. We also have cloud forests, dry forests, coral reefs, mountains, and well just about everything else you could imagine. This place feels like something out of a book and movie and Jurassic Park was filmed here. Surprisingly there is little crime outside of petty theft and there is no military, just a whole bunch of cops. Revolution is not in the air for the locals coexist peacefully with both tourists and foreigners. We heard from the surfers and Rastafarian's that the beach past the peninsula was to die for and that it had fine black sand. Kelly started to spy this as she walked solo earlier this week which just added more weight on us having to see it. We decided that it would be nicer to experience this tomorrow in the sun so we ended up trekking down the main road and found a restaurant that sold pizzas called Pizzeria D'Oro. Sunset occurs at six in the evening.

We watched the pizza be made from scratch and it was delicious. During this time we had a few drinks that we mixed in orange juice for we wanted to wander the beach after dinner in between the short bursts of rain, before we experienced the reggae bar. After coming from New Zealand and its alcohol ban in regards to drinking in public places we thought it would be cute. To cut down on expenses we decided that it would be prudent to drink before going to the bars and to only go to bars that advertised ladies night. In other words Kelly drinks for free, entertainment is free, and we only pay 4 US dollars a night on me. Marquette Michigan can't beat this when it comes to night life. We decided that we wanted to experience local beverages so we bought a ten dollar fifth called Guaro which tastes like water. On the way we walked past giant frogs and small lizards.

We then made our way down to the beach but it was to dark to take pics.

After walking the beach we then headed to a world known bar called Babylon, note the hedonistic names and qualities for its a recurring theme.

There were many people from all walks of life having fun and dancing. There must have been around 100 people and you could tell that many man really wanted to hook up with females and to put it simply it was FUN! After Kelly had three free drinks and I had two Imperial beers it was midnight and ladies night was over. Saying goodnight to some locals we met we called it a night. Guess what we are doing every Thursday night? Stay tuned in for the perfect beach tomorrow.

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Costa Rica

Filed Under : by Greg L. Miller

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Made by Greg Miller: mid May through mid August, Costa Rica

Sun, rain, sun, rain, sun, and yet more rain. Oh look, its the sun. Life in Costa Rica. The people are very nice but almost all of them tell us in whispers not to trust people outside of them. I have to say they are what Kiwi's wanted to be but didn't know how to pull off which is laid back. Kiwis were lazy. Ticos remind me of busy ants. Wherever you go there are Tico's (Costa Ricans) and they are busy busy busy. They are a smart lot and seem to always have a smile and time to say hi. Its weird for even though I never accept it I'm offered both sex and pot whenever I walk down town to the beach. Its a hedonistic paradise and there is mud everywhere. The people are very clean and seem to have their shit together. My small cabana has no television but they do have all the modern marvels and toys mixed with extreme poverty. One block is colorful and vibrant and the next block has mud huts. Most of the people seem to know a little English and my lack of Spanish isn't getting in the way. I did have two years of Spanish at NMU but it doesn't do justice when it comes to communicating with the locals. I find myself resorting to pointing a lot.

I wake up around 10:00 AM and start my day walking to the beach. On the way I have to walk downtown and the same people ask the same questions every day such as, "Taxi?" "Smokes?" or simply "Hola!" Many times I sit back and watch tourists fall around the mud as they slip and slide. There are exotic animals and insects the size of your hands everywhere, including in our little apartment. I'm not sure who screams more when a big bug comes our way. The bugs and animals are smart. Crabs the size of a foot often play tag with you as they run up to you then run away. Its actually the same with all the critters. They are fast and they always have an eye out for what your doing. After chilling on the beach I then make my way back after a few hours and lounge in the house. I have to be careful to not walk to far down the beach for there are crocodiles which I haven't been able to take pictures of yet that hide in the trees. When I wander back I either make my self and Kelly lunch or we eat out. Its chicken and rice daily but I have been spying on some hamburger. Steaks and pork chops are to expensive for we are on a tight budget for another 4 weeks. We then go out together and wander around for a hour or two because its not healthy for Kelly to work non stop. The sun sets around 6:00 PM and we often go back out every other day at sunset to have a few drinks. Tonight we are going to a nightclub/bar that has live reggae. After 9:00 PM Kelly will be able to have alcohol drinks for free for two hours for its lady night. There are enough bars and nightlife to keep us busy as long as we want and when we scope out ladies night we cut our drinking bill in half. Its really cool. After that we are beat and go home to either relax at our pool or to watch instant streams on our computers via internet. This is truly what they refer to as pura vida or as we would refer to it as, "the good life."

The cops are a lot different then in New Zealand and America. They have a sharp predator behavior that Kelly refers to as creepy and they seem to like to play games with tourists. Thankfully we have not experienced this yet but we see they way they act and hear the stories. There are many Americans here and they give us good advice. We make sure to always have a copy of our passports on us that are stamped by immigrations. Apparently they enjoy rounding up immigrants and if you don't have your papers they will detain you for up to 12 hours as they try to get bribery money off of you. They have problems with Nicaraguans who do most of the petty theft and crime. The beach is nice but yet its muddy. The mud doesn't really come off your clothes but its still very nice. Surfers are everywhere. You can't really walk 20 feet on the beach without being offered something which was totally not like New Zealand. In retrospect I like the people here a lot but I enjoyed the beach in NZ more. On the other hand NZ didn't have all the exotic creatures and the music here rocks. I currently hear a life Latino band playing next door and it really reminds me of the bands you see on tv. Give and take in everything I suppose. This place definitely has vibration and character which is a total plus. Knowing my luck people will tell me I'm being negative but to be honest this is my way of analyzing and critiquing what I'm experiencing. In my world I'm being unbiased while I let my experiences and senses shape how I think and feel. The food here is egg free and is wonderful and has much color and taste. Surprisingly the fruit is not to good though and left me feeling not so good at times. America has the best food as far as I'm concerned. To take that point one step further I would have to say that America spoils its people through comfort but at the same time its something I appreciate when I'm in the States. I remember one week ago I went to the grocery store in Michigan and was able to buy fruit the size of your hand that had 100% taste and looked wonderful. Here in Costa Rica and in New Zealand the fruit is small, blotchy, and often is to expensive. I think America is onto something with our genetically engineered food and our fresh produce. Well, enough of this rant, its time to hit the bar! Ciao- Greg

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