Jan 2
6:15 wakeup this morning because I thought I would like to shoot the sunrise on the beach. Problem is the weather is erratic and you never know what clouds you will get. As it turned out it was too cloudy and I didn't get anything worthwhile so I took the camera stuff back and headed off for my morning beach walk on Orient.
As soon as I got back to our condo there was a knock on the door and it was Steve, someone from South Dakota that I had met online and who answered some questions I had about safety on the island. He and his wife were also staying at the resort and so we planned to get together for a drink and meet in person.
We lamented our late start to the beach on our first day so after Steve left Paula and I had a breakfast of fresh fruit and a slice of toast before heading off to the beach by 10 o'clock. The mango here is much better than the mango flown in at home at this time of year.
Based on our scouting mission of the previous day we breezed by the heavy crowds on the main
beach and headed straight for the quieter, calmer south section. Of course we had to stop and pay Francois the $10 I owed from the previous day so while there I bought a pareo for myself in for $10. The south side has the added benefit of having security and a no vendor policy so you don't get bothered constantly by people trying to sell beads, shirts, hats, etc. We rented a couple of chairs and an umbrella for $20 for the day. On the busy main side you can get that for half the price and a good deal on beers to boot but you're elbow to elbow with your neighbours. I guess it just depends what you're into. The south side also has a couple of wooden rafts moored about 75 ft off the beach that you can swim out to and soak up some sun on. Paula and I swam out and thoroughly enjoyed it! I felt a little like Tom Hanks in Castaway as I laid on the raft getting sprinkled occasionally by spray from the gentle waves as they hit the raft. It was a great view from there too with the palm trees and water colour. Absolutely beautiful!
About 1 o'clock we headed down to the Perch bar for lunch. We had a couple of rum punches from the famous Willy (very popular, longtime bartender at Perch) and ordered a burger to share. Willy doesn't skimp on the rum and I'm ashamed to say I wish she'd added a little more mix to the 3/4 rum, 1/4 mix she poured us! Unlike Canada they don't load up the fries here which kind of surprised me, but then again, potatoes are heavy and if you're flying them in they won't be cheap.
Back to the beach chairs for some more R&R after lunch. Paula was so proud of me for being able to just sit in my chair and do nothing (I guess I have a bit of history for being stir crazy and needing to be doing something). She read her book and I just enjoyed the atmosphere. Every once in a while you'd see cruise shippers stroll the beach but nobody really seemed to care who was dressed or not. It was a real interesting environment.
Again, I didn't bring enough money and had to head back to the condo for more supplies! While in the condo a short rain started and as has been mentioned lasted about 10-15 minutes before giving us the sunshine back. Unfortunately for Paula she chose to just relax on the beach while I went for more cash and got caught in the shower! I headed back once the rain had stopped in time to get us to Perch bar in time for Happy Hour. This time we had Willy make us a couple of Guavaberry Coladas which were again pretty heavy on the rum. However, these were quite tasty and went down well! We met up with Steve again and met his wife Donna as well as a few others that were regular visitors to the island. A very nice and friendly bunch. By 5:30 I was getting hungry again and so we headed down to Papagayo restaurant for dinner (coincidentally it was happy hour there now). After a few beers there and some delicious (although somewhat pricey in our opinion) dinner we walked back to the condo to end the night. We haven't used the car since we first picked it up at the airport!
6:15 wakeup this morning because I thought I would like to shoot the sunrise on the beach. Problem is the weather is erratic and you never know what clouds you will get. As it turned out it was too cloudy and I didn't get anything worthwhile so I took the camera stuff back and headed off for my morning beach walk on Orient.
As soon as I got back to our condo there was a knock on the door and it was Steve, someone from South Dakota that I had met online and who answered some questions I had about safety on the island. He and his wife were also staying at the resort and so we planned to get together for a drink and meet in person.
We lamented our late start to the beach on our first day so after Steve left Paula and I had a breakfast of fresh fruit and a slice of toast before heading off to the beach by 10 o'clock. The mango here is much better than the mango flown in at home at this time of year.
Based on our scouting mission of the previous day we breezed by the heavy crowds on the main
About 1 o'clock we headed down to the Perch bar for lunch. We had a couple of rum punches from the famous Willy (very popular, longtime bartender at Perch) and ordered a burger to share. Willy doesn't skimp on the rum and I'm ashamed to say I wish she'd added a little more mix to the 3/4 rum, 1/4 mix she poured us! Unlike Canada they don't load up the fries here which kind of surprised me, but then again, potatoes are heavy and if you're flying them in they won't be cheap.
Back to the beach chairs for some more R&R after lunch. Paula was so proud of me for being able to just sit in my chair and do nothing (I guess I have a bit of history for being stir crazy and needing to be doing something). She read her book and I just enjoyed the atmosphere. Every once in a while you'd see cruise shippers stroll the beach but nobody really seemed to care who was dressed or not. It was a real interesting environment.
Again, I didn't bring enough money and had to head back to the condo for more supplies! While in the condo a short rain started and as has been mentioned lasted about 10-15 minutes before giving us the sunshine back. Unfortunately for Paula she chose to just relax on the beach while I went for more cash and got caught in the shower! I headed back once the rain had stopped in time to get us to Perch bar in time for Happy Hour. This time we had Willy make us a couple of Guavaberry Coladas which were again pretty heavy on the rum. However, these were quite tasty and went down well! We met up with Steve again and met his wife Donna as well as a few others that were regular visitors to the island. A very nice and friendly bunch. By 5:30 I was getting hungry again and so we headed down to Papagayo restaurant for dinner (coincidentally it was happy hour there now). After a few beers there and some delicious (although somewhat pricey in our opinion) dinner we walked back to the condo to end the night. We haven't used the car since we first picked it up at the airport!
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