12/17/11: A Day of Rest at Playa Guionest

coconuts

                                      

             

We started the day with a walk through "town" eventually ending up at the bi-weekly "farmer's" market. Much of the rest of the day was spent relaxing in the tradition of Shabbat: swimming in one of the two pools, reading while lying in the hammocks, and then walking the other direction (Norte Playa Guiones) on the beach.  I decided that we needed to show all of you some photos from this locale, so I had fun taking pictures of a Hummingbird, flowers and various locales on the beach - rocks, waves, surfers, makeshift beach shelters, birds scurrying on the sand, the shorelines and the horizon. We took a path by a cemetery right before the beach and took some photos there. The camera ran out of juice right before a magnificent red sunset, so, instead of taking photos we just sat and immersed ourselves in it, watching surfers arrive to swim on their boards out to watch the sunset from the water and then to take that final surfing curve in with the waves as the light rapidly faded. (Not much twilight this close to the Equator.)  

              

                      solar-powered water heater

We all had delicious ginger coconut snapper for dinner at Beach Dog Cafe right down from Harbor Reef

Looking to the south where we snorkeled

 

Yehudah read the entire "A Blessing on the Moon" by Joseph Skibell  in one day and I am reading the lonely planet book on Nicaragua.  This afternoon I went through our Costa Rica book to plan what museums we will go to on Tuesday - at least I will go and we will see if Yehudah is up for going after his second round of oral surgery.  (The periodontist, who is the dentist's cousin, will be taking some tissue from the roof of his mouth and stitching it around his  lower tooth plus cementing in his new crown.)  Then he goes on Wed. for his final check-up, after which we head for a bus to Nicaragua and hopefully get on the first one we try for - hopefully before noon so we can cross the border while there is still daylight and find transportation at least to Rivas if not all the way to Granada.  That will be a very long day, but Yehudah will be able to rest in the cramped space of our bus seats.

View of the beach through the entrance of the cemetery

We will spend one more day here and are thinking about renting bikes tomorrow.  It was the first super hot, humid morning when we walked to the market but we will see about tomorrow.  Jumping in the pool at the beginning of the day is a good idea or taking a shower.  I remembered while walking in a sweat that it's important to: drink as much water as possible first thing in the morning and to take a shower, getting my hair wet, then putting it up so it stays wet and cools me for much of the day.

      

The young woman at the desk, who has been so helpful, has asked a taxi driver to get our tickets for the bus tomorrow morning so we are sure to get on Monday at noon.  At least today there were tickets available. Many people staying in these swanky places rent cars in San Jose and drive here. But there are also much lower cost digs if you walk around and check places out.

An unfinished hotel near the beach

We leave for San Jose on Monday at noon and will get back in San Jose hopefully by 6 p.m., just in time to go over to Shanthi and family's home.  Our plan is to ask the bus driver to let us off right near where they live, which is by the American Consulate.

     Time to go to bed!

Joanie & Yehudah