Progress! I just posted Day 7. It is 1:30pm on Nov. 11 and after Massage ( deep tissue) and Facial (my first ever, i dozed off) we had a hard Yoga class taught by surfer Jose, video review, lunch and off to beach at 2pm. I did not take many photos yesterday so this post should be quick to do.
Very sunny Thursday morning and I saw this beauty on way to breakfast.I went with the traditional CR breakfast today. Muy Deliciosa.
We had a coffee lesson and tasting. Coffee cultivation was what made CR a prosperous country. I had toured a coffee plantation in Tanzania so knew most of the facts but still fun.
Coffee plants do best at over 1000 feet elevation and not too far from Equator.
Coffee bushCoffee cherries, bean inside, a very oily fruit.We sampled 3 different coffees and then the best one brewed 3 different ways.We had relaxing Yoga and then review session.Me on earlier day catching whitewaterMe catching a green waveAnd finishing ride at shore (in about 2 feet water now). I usually just do break fall off back of board at this point, not safe to jump onto beach, can hurt ankle.Here i am checking out the surf on a sunny morning. Won’t be wearing this rash guard surfing, it is too nice.Soft taco Thursday lunch.At Dominicalito again, very windy so waves not very pretty. I didn’t have a lot of great rides but did a lot of pop up practice in the whitewater.Cy broke open a coconut by smashing it on a rock after making a small cut in it.
I only surfed for a little over an hour. By then I was feeling i was at the point of diminishing returns.
When I got out I met this cutie. She was Irina the photographer’s dog. She licked all the salt off my face just like Fifa likes to do.Finally got a Pacific sunset.Beautiful. It starting drizzling as we loaded cars and poured on drive home.
Just time for a quick shower and then dinner at 6:15 as always.
Awesome Caribbean coast CR style chicken with caramelized coating and crispy plantain bread.
I headed up to bed early. A few people stayed up later and saw a frog hunting a butterfly.
Big guy.Friday schedule has a little more free time although I do have massage scheduled for 9am.
It is 1:30pm on Thursday so almost caught up on blog. It will be a lot easier when head to the eco-lodge north of San Jose on Saturday. We leave for beach at 2pm. It was really sunny this morning but now windy and cloud layer dropping. Surfing in rain is fine but wind makes the surface choppy and unclean and more rough out past lineup.
Nice sun Wednesday morning. Good news since heading out for a long boat ride. I took a Dramamine2 and put on a Scopolamine patch and wrist SeaBand acupressure bands. I get only mildly seasick but worried about thunderstorms. Travel tip, don’t put Scop patch behind ear for water sports. I noticed it gone when I got home, probably pulled off by swim mask straps.Said goodbye to the chef before heading to my taxi (pickup truck). I ate a banana and a bar for breakfast and packed some diet cokes and food in my waterproof backpack (from Xterra for SUP or kayaking) which I was very glad I brought with me to keep some post snorkel dry clothes and my phone in.It was about a 40” drive to Uvita which is south of Dominical and next to the huge maritime national park. Uvita was full of surf and adventure sports shops and restaurants and bars. We passed one serious road cyclist on the way, i told the driver the man was very brave. This mountain bike seems more the way to go, you can divert into dirt or grass if any issues with traffic.I love the eco details. Like at our lodge there is not paper or plastic cups or bottles. There was a coffee cup and a juice cup with my name for before and after.This was to remind me to mention that the tap water in Costa Rica is safe to drink and tastes good. Their sewer systems are inadequate for all the tourism so they ask to please put toilet paper in the can and not flush it.It would be a 30 mile boat ride to Cano Island.Not my photo but I saw two of these in the morning. Very big.I remembered that in Nabokov’s “Lolita” the blue butterflys are mentioned and that they are rare. I checked and it was not this species he discusses but a smaller one.
Good morning. It is 5:43am on Friday. I went to sleep at 8am yesterday. Was totally wiped out mentally and physically. Did not surf as well as on Tuesday. I good a bunch of short rides on the whitewater practicing my pop ups, but blew all my attempts at green waves (which were a little smaller). I have a massage at 9am and yoga at 11am and will give it my best shot today but my hips and quads are so tight and sore that make pop ups hard work, I may just try some knee board rides or just flat on board which are are really just as fun, like sledding versus skiing. I was up a bit at midnight and shot a brief night video of the rain. It started raining just after sunset as we were loading up the gear (by we, I mean the instructors). I also loaded all the following photos then. If there was a way to automatically load a folder full of photos and then just edit blog around them that would be a time saver for me.
The Sea Bands i wore in addition to the meds I took. I ended up giving one to a French guy after he puked most of the ride out and the other to a German woman who was nervous about the ride back.I was given a wet suit to try on. Of course as a triathlete/surfer I put it on backwards with the zipper in back, divers wetsuits have the zipper in front for easier use, no issue of lying on it 🙂 Was also fitted for fins. Masks most have been all one size as one just appeared in my dive bag on the boat.We walked the few hundred yards down the dirt road to the entrance to the national park. There is no dock in the town or park so it is a beach entry to boats. The French couple is just behind me. He was Mr. Puke 🙂I was tempted to swim across the river and back for the photo op but… safety first.I walked with the dive leader for a while and he said he liked my tattoo but had only done shorter triathlons. I must say that the Costa Ricans were the most knowledgeable about both my IM and Krav tattoos. The whole instructor crew had fun when they asked about my back tattoos and I told them it was a geography quiz. They got Kilimanjaro and Galapagos but closest guess for Iceland was New Zealand. It is weird that they show a manatee on the sign since they are found on the Caribbean coast in a river that empty’s there. But maybe the Marine National park covers both coasts. Snorkeling with the Manatees in the spring waters north of Tampa, FL is on my bucket list.
The tidal swings here are huge (and why we can only surf at high tide). We got to the beach at low tide and it is hundreds of yards from the jungle to the water but when we got back at high tide 6 hours later the water reached all the way to the jungle . The tree with the lifevests on it to the right was in the water. So…don’t fall asleep on the beach at night at low tide.
In fact the dive master said that those rocks forming a natural break wall for this beach , so not a good place to surf but a great family beach, disappear when it is high tide!Each of these boats held about 20 people. A crew of 3, several dive/snorkel leaders and 12 tourists. Our boat had 5 scuba divers and 7 snorkelers. Looking at the water inside the break wall they looked great. Maybe ? 40 feet, they had twin 300hp outboards that tilt out of water for backing boats into 2 feet of water for walking up steps at back.Just off the beach we all look happy and calm as we are told to not standup, put hands over side, etc. We are to wave to captain if we need to pee off side or have problem on the hour and 20 minute ride out (would only be an hour on way back with the swells pushing us).Here they have cranked the engines up, my Garmin watch said 30mph. And it was very windy and bigger waves than expected based on previous surfing day. The boats bow would go way up in air and slam down. I had to hold a bart and my seat to avoid being tossed up and down. I was very glad for my triple sea sickness Rx. The French dude waved his arm after 30 minutes and was led to back of boat to puke and stay near the crew. We slowed down twice more for him to puke. He would stay at the ranger’s hut for our first snorkel trip but joined us for the second one.
It was a super fun boat ride but 30 minutes would have been better than over an hour. It was like splash mountain thrills for me until the pouring rain started and pelted us like hail at the boats high speed. I was glad i had my sunglasses. Also it would have been nicer to have actual seats and not just a bench facing sideways. We saw one dolphin keep us company for awhile and many brown boobies, they had yellow legs and are relatives of the blue footed ones I saw in the Galapagos 4 years ago .
As we approached Cano Island, it is a 1000 acres, it looked like the scene in King Kong where they arrive at skull island. Pristine jungle, the higher land shrouded in mist, this hut the only building on island, the one (or 2 if a couple) national park rangers live here. It is called Cano island because it has several fresh water springs that make small streams that cut through the sand on way to ocean and make small channels in the beach.
The “bathroom” is a rocky hilly trail into the jungle. I used a nearby tree. The island was never inhabited but the native people did use it for some ritual burials and it has several of the stone spheres these pre-Colombian peoples made. But only ones up to 2 or 3 feet in diameter. There are bigger ones on mainland of 6 feet in diameter but too big for the natives boats. Near the mainland there is a line of underwater spheres showing attempts to get a big one out to the island that was eventually abandoned.
It was nice to set our feet on land. At first it looked like parts of the sand were sliding somehow but on closer inspection there were thousands of hermits crabs on the beach in an infinite variety of homes, shells of many sizes and colors and shapes, few bigger than a golf ball though.
Some were just randomly wandering but groups were feeding on coconuts, unidentified dead things and in one case a sea turtle carcass. If you grab a shell they hide inside but if you wait a little they come out and scamper on your hand. WordPress doesn’t let me use “live” photos from iPhone but these are all cool on video.One of the guides took a coconut over to a metal spike and split it open and gave us small chunks of the meat after he drank the milk. I had my water proof backpack, Diet Coke, some power bars; the island had fresh springs and no mammals other than bats, no poisonous snakes , a few boa constrictors though. I could have camped over night and cooked some crabs over a fire. All i needed was a volleyball for company like Tom Hanks had.
WOW, already 7am and didn’t even finish this post. Part of the issue is that the WordPress app seems to get really slow and clunky once I have more than a few photos, I think it is an issue of too much data it is trying to constantly “save and upload”. Doesn’t happen on computer at home. I will play with it and Google some help but I think that after I head to Peace Lodge I will make an effort to make every entry short, and just do more of them.
Drift snorkeling, boat drops us and then we drift, kick in direction of current, boat follows at a distance and then collects us at end. I shot a lot of video and photos with my GoPro7. I just took screenshots of a few on the iPhone app. There were a few more really good ones that I didn’t come by in my quick review last night. Once home I will download it all and make a 20 or 30 minute iMovie and load to Vimeo to share. The guide told us the names of the larger fish. The turtle was a hawksbill. I’ll use the guide poster to make captions for video.
The first hour of snorkeling had better fish than the second. We were right around the larger rocks that protruded from water so the colorful fish were very close to surface. And i could put my face mask just inches from the coral to see the huge variety of smaller colorful species.
But it was choppy and every minute or 2 my snorkel would fill to water to the point that I had to surface and tip back my head to blow and clear. They didnt have the fancy valve snorkel that i own . After the hour I asked the Canadian couple if it was hard for them and they said, choked every few minutes. With the fish so close to surface on protruding reefs I started just not breathing when when viewing the fish or shooting video.The biggest fish I saw was this 3 foot long Blue Jack, the Stingray was longer but mostly tail and the shark only 2 feet.The afternoon session the water was deeper but it was less choppy so easier to snorkel . This one fish in the school electrified and I could see its skeleton, video is awesome..Our boat was called La Diabla, which means she devil (or whore) but refers in this case to the devil rays. We saw them jumping beyond the surf our first surf day .
The boat ride back was much easier and only an hour, I would have slept if in a real chair. When we got back I had to buy a rash guard from the shop because it has the same turtle i saw there.
My taxi was right there and I was back at the lodge by 4 giving me time to drink a Costa Rican beer in the hot shower and then get a 90 minute nap before dinner (my only nap of the week).
Contemplating tomorrow’s activities Amazing appetizer.Not sure if I saw this fish but it was delicious, very light lemon, dill sauce !Don’t move CY! Praying mantis!!!
Last 3 photos are of other people’s excursions on break day.
Well, I got one entry done and went down to breakfast at 7:45 and I was the first one for once. But by the time I was done eating and chatting with Bill and Anand who appeared soon after and straightened up room a little it is now 9:12am and will see if I can another entry done before 10am Yoga.
I woke up at midnight to use bathroom and it was super bright outside, I went onto the deck and saw a huge full moon, Alex said it was a blood moon in USA. I also saw a big planet to the west halfway up the sky. I was pretty sure it was Jupiter who has been moving slowly from overhead to west all summer but used my GoSkyWatch app to confirm. Too overcast to see more than a few stars.My wake up view from bedBy the time i headed to breakfast the sun was bright.I took this photo to remind myself to mention that (like on our National Geographic Galapagos cruise) rooms are left unlocked (unless one really wants a key) so you never need to bring a key to pool, beach, etc. Really makes it feel like you are just staying at a (rich) friend’s house. I just walk downstairs to get coffee or tea, etc.My body was trashed yesterday and my hips, quads aching when I walked or bent. No massage or Yoga scheduled today so I went down to Yoga pavilion at 6am and did over an hour of Yoga, stretching and practicing my pop up technique. I realized after yesterday that between the short board, big waves, etc. I was rushing my pop up and not doing correct 1,2,3 technique. I thought i had a Yoga app on my iPad but it must just be on phone but I found an old Covid era FB video from my Yoga coach. It was only a 20” flow but I paused it and did extra things as well. At 80 degrees and 80% it was HOT yoga to me and I finished my water bottle half way through. After a shower and some self massage of quads and hips I felt much better by breakfast (oh yeah, pounding the naproxen and Tylenol also…).Warrior 2Musical selection for my Yoga to accompany the birds and frogs.Warrior 3, arms too high, i don’t have good body position sense, do better with mirror assistance.Breakfast was the BEST avocado taste I have ever had.Look at that BIRD, Aaron said. When it landed he thought it was part of the tree falling of it was so large. It was just 10 feet past the open doors at end of our table. It kept grabbing berries and tilting back head to swallow. I posted the video a few days ago, if you didn’t see it send me a note and I will forward you the link. Black Mandibled Toucan, largest of the 5 kinds in CR.Started to drizzleAnd then 10 minutes later sun again and I saw Jackie with a telephoto lens, I got a decent photo with my iPhone. A Laughing Falcon.Nice photo of lodge in Sun. Our pool session today was to practice relaxed breathing when trapped under big breaking waves. We each (with varying success) held end of pool and took a few deep breaths, then submerged and 5 seconds later coach tapped ones hand and had to swim to other end of pool and back under water and then stay under water until tapped again by coach. It was interesting that Bill (66) and i had no problem and some of the younger people didn’t make it. More mental than physical task really.I see tamales in my future….Cy knew I liked animals so when he spotted one of these guys while picking a surfboard for the day from the storage area he let me know. I found a second one also. Poison Dart Frog. Don’t touch! Cy said that they are actually popular pets now and that if they don’t eat some special jungle plant they aren’t poisonous. She let me get REALLY close with iPhone.Second video session (not a lot of good ones of me this time). Head coach liked that I knew what i had been doing wrong yesterday, not planting rear foot flat and 90degrees before trying to get left foot up between hands.Leo explaining how to decide whose wave it is. They also had a balance board/surfboard on which all tips were shown. A lot of the better surfers need to remember the basics and hand and body position if they want to get better and really carve the waves.Saw 2 of these guys by pool, not much luck identifying him my apps.
Only got this far before Yoga, now have 10” between video review (they showed my longest ride of Tuesday first. Everyone cheered and clapped. The better surfers are very supportive of us beginners. I am definitely at the point where i know WHAT to do but getting my incredibly still left hip and hamstring to do so today will a struggle, especially as didn’t really feel any better after Yoga. But I have a massage Friday morning so maybe that will be the key. Everyone commented how I am always smiling for photos and i said that is because anytime I am standing on board i am happy with that alone.
Second day at Dominicalito, correct board, waxed, ready to roll.It was actually sunny at times and rained at times. I surfed for a full hour before snack break and then about same after. I used the surfing app I had loaded onto my Garmin app. Cool but the watch as i was surfing showed number of waves, maximum speed (? 13mph) maximum ride length but all that downloaded to phone was time , distance and Heart rate.
I did a few attempts at pop ups on the white water in the shallows first. Once I did 3 (out of 6 attempts) I headed all the way to the lineup. The waves were a little smaller and more spaced out than the previous day and i had no problem getting all the way out and then just bobbing in the calm water beyond lineup for 5 minutes to get ready. I really found getting up on the green waves easier, less turbulent, faster so board more stable. I nose dived a few times but these 4 foot waves aren’t scary at all.
By the second surfing session I was totally comfortable heading out to the lineup and picking a wave. Out there a few of the coaches were on boards and helped us pick the best wave and told us when to start paddling at times but I most enjoyed picking my own and trying to time it right. Sometimes one wouldn’t break but I would just look back wait for another.
It starting raining as we got ready to leave and this was radar when we got back.
When I got back to room there was time for a hot shower and deleting 254 emails (not counting junk ones i need to review). Too long ago to remember and I took no food selfies (i told myself after first day to only take photos of the most impressive dishes). I am sure dinner was great. I do remember having a Diet Coke since didn’t want to drink wine night before my 6:20am taxi for snorkeling excursion to Cano Island maritime rese
Blue sky morning again. Today is Thursday Nov. 10, 6am. I woke up at 5:30 the gently early morning bird sounds. Because of high tide being later we won’t be surfing until 2pm today and tomorrow, I assume until it gets dark at 5pm.Put on some appropriate music to blog by after I went downstairs to grab some tea. I have some free time this morning to catch up on my blogging. I will try to do one day, take a break to read my Kindle, still working on the book I started on flight down, do another day, go eat breakfast and hopefully do yesterdays entry before 10am Yoga, 10:30 coffee tasting, 11:30 video review session, 12:30 lunch and then to beach.This came up when I opened IPad, i have all news notifications turned off on my phone but did hear that it was a red trickle rather than flood, otherwise not politics for me this trip. The second comment is the one i appreciate. PLEASE comment or like if you are reading the blog. Those of you have already done so, thx. Unless Jennifer Aniston is dead, I am not sure she is as important as the other topics 😉 Down here, us Ticos don’t care about such crap, it is all Pura Vida. For breakfast Monday I went with the Oatmeal/Chia fruit. Deliciosa!We had our first video analysis session. These each started out with an educational video on topics such as etiquette, rip tides, how to catch a “green” wave (one with a real face). Then the coaches would show clips of each of us and give tips. In this case at the end of one of my better day one rides (catching whitewater, not a green wave) my knowledge now says that i should be looking FORWARD, not at board and that my knees should be more bent. It was all very relaxed and everyone supportive. VERY different levels of surfing in group, with me least experienced.
That reminds me I never got a chance to mention the 2 campers who showed up after I went to sleep Saturday night. Courtney (socially responsible Hedge Fund) came from SF where she and her husband (tech) have a 2 year old daughter. She group up in Florida and was a real surfer then, has only been surfing occasionally since living in SF. Aaron is from SD and has been surfing ? 6 months but wanted to get real instruction so better prepared for a surfing trip to Mexico he and friends are doing this winter.
Then we had our second pool session where we learned the techniques for getting through all the breaking waves whitewater out to where the green waves and lineup are. For a long board like I have one just turtles over while paddling, rotate to face away from wave and shove board back when wave reaches up, then you roll back onto the board and keep paddling. I am actually pretty good at this but it still gets exhausting after a while. For smaller waves one can just plank up and let water pass between you and board, but if miscalculate and try this on too big a wave it flips you back over. We all practiced this and then the better people who ride short boards (and carve the wave faces like the “surfing” one sees in movies, etc.) practiced duck diving where you shove the tip of board under and then pop back up.
I am going through the photos I previously selected and tagged as “for blog” because I definitely would not be able to recreate events from 3 days ago otherwise!
There is always a mid-morning snack and pitchers of fruit smoothies. I really felt the tropical sun for the first time during the pool session, i actually changed my lounge to one facing away from it. And …..Couldn’t decide which smoothie to have so…..Cy from SF had a surf cap he wore, I saw Jackie give one to Bill and said I would buy one also. The combo of sun from the sky and reflecting off ocean can be annoying as have to squint so much. The cap never came off all day but I didn’t like how it felt when turtleing and wiping out so didn’t wear it next day when cloudy.DE VENDE, for sale. At the bottom of the long road that goes up to resort, sure needs some work but only 5” drive to beach, although I checked my iPhone compass app and only at 52 feet above sea level seems a poor investment with global warming.We went to a different beach today. First day we had surfed at Playa Linda, with waves 4-6. I think they were a little too big for even the experienced surfers (none are experts) although the long whitewater rides into the sandy beach was perfect for beginners. It was more like a state park beach, not many people there. This is Dominicalito (little Dominical, just like the small tamales we had at snack time I correctly guessed were called Tamalitos). This beach had little shacks selling food and lots of “surf lessons” available signs. There were more people but not enough that it was ever too crowed to catch ones wave of choice. Again the dogs came with us!Ready to go! The green waves were smaller, probably 3-5 feet here. The beach was rocky though and the whitewater runs were only have the length of at other beach.One of the 2 Land Cruisers, we also had a RAV4. There is no way to leave the main highways in Costa Rica without 4WD.Playa Linda was a Looooong sandy beach going north and south as far as one could see. Dominicalito is a cove and has that REAL Costa Rica surf spot look to it. The lush mountains going right down to the high tide surf.To the south offshore there were some small rocky islands that seemed to have bigger breaks and some boats that were maybe taking surfers out there.
This was a challenging surf day for me. I had learned a lot the first day and done the video analysis. But once I got out there and tried to ride the whitewater I had a LOT of trouble with pop ups. And the whitewater was pretty rough so got exhausted fast. Just before lunch, Jainer after helping me with a few launches (I had been on myself at first) asked why I had a shorter board than yesterday. I said that I had asked a staff member which board was mine and he had given me this one. At my “skill” level an 8 foot (versus 8 1/2 and slightly wider) was a big difference.
After a refreshing lunch (chicken breast sub for me, others had some type of dead mammal) and lots of hydration I was stoked for session 2 but ….. I had waxed my morning board really well and when I was handed my afternoon board just headed out. Again I had a lot of trouble getting up and after I totally slipped off I thought “WAX”. Jainer then came over and pulled a block of it out of his rash guard and waxed up the board. After that I had a few decent pop ups and short rides. On my last one I made it all the way to shore and hopped off when I heard/felt the fin start to scrape the rocks. As we packed up to head home I told myself (and really believed it), that a “bad” surfing day is still better than any other. After my last ride I did my now traditional ocean swim. Diving under all the breakers and swimming all the way out to the lineup. I feel so effortless diving under the waves, doing a few breaststrokes under water and popping up in clean water and then swimming back in and body surfing. It is heaven for me.I spent 10 minutes beachcombing after lunch.I was totally wiped out after fighting all that whitewater and my challenging day. So nice to just get in car and be driven home after the staff load up the tent, boards, dogs.Banana grove, no wonder they are so fresh.
When we got back to lodge at around 3:45pm at first my thought was “great, a beer and a nap” but then i saw the nature trail sign and thought to myself “who knows if there will be another non-rainy free period to do it”.
There was just a huge Squawking flurry outside and I saw 4 big parrots fly over the jungle a few hundred yards away, green and yellow with long tails.
It was High intensity. Cy came with me. If it was just a flat dirt trail would have been easy 15 minute loop but it was 12 inch square pavers set in the mud and they were all wet and slippery. With the 85% humidity the uphill parts got me winded. We heard a zillion birds but saw none, I guess a bird guide would have know the calls and which type of tree to find them in.After getting lost in jungle in Africa I am getting smarter, don’t hike alone, etc. … It is interesting, there are ZERO mosquitos despite there being insect repellant in all bathrooms, i need to ask about that, especially as this is the rainy season still.Cy spotted these. Each leaf is being carried by a much smaller Leafcutter Ant. There were hundreds across path and going up tree. Only other animal we saw was boring 2 inch lizard like they have in Florida.Needless to say the hike did not help my already aching right hip and quads but a hot shower and a reds wine were the correct treatment. Behind me are left to right; Bill, Jenni, Anand and Courtney.I don’t often regret not eating mammals but the sight and smell of the pork ribs was tantalizing, my chicken breasts were fine but… Someone asked why I dont eat mammals and i gave my ethical argument that we are mammals and I dont eat dogs or cats or horses (or in Ecuador GUINEA PIGS). The corn relish with carmalized brûlée was amazing.
Dinner conversation was as always excellent. Group of intelligent people discussing everything EXCEPT politics. Tech, relationships, travel, family histories, etc. I am definitely less “sharey” about my childhood, mental health challenges, etc. than other people.
After 2 glasses of good Chilean red wine I don’t think I blogged after dinner Monday night but I really can’t remember.
…..I’m making you wait. Sorry but already 5:50 Wednesday and and my taxi to Scuba shop collects me at 6:20. I will miss BREAKFAST 🙁 I had a protein bar and a plum and a glass of water which at home would be fine but after 3 amazing breakfasts and coffee….. I didn’t have any wine with dinner and headed up to room as soon as I gobbled down my chocolate cheesecake dessert, with passion fruit sauce and mango slices. Slept 9-4 but then couldn’t get back to sleep, just relaxed until 5. !!! A huge butterfly just banged into my screen door. I have seen a bunch of nice orange and blue/green ones but they don’t hang out on flowers as much as our monarchs and swallowtails back home so I only have one mediocre photo so far. Bluest skies of trip so far today which is good for my boat ride!
Didn’t have any time to blog about yesterday yet and … tomorrow leave for Snorkeling at 6am so…. Will try to catch you up soon. Here is video of the Black Mandibled Toucan who joined us for breakfast.
So despite having nothing other than breakfast on official schedule I managed to be so busy that it is 9:50 and video session 10, pool 11, lunch 12, to beach at one. So I will have to write tonight about yesterday or will fall behind! Hasta luego mis amigos. Y por favor! Like a photo or comment or ask a question, I feel like I am writing and throwing my travel journal into a canyon if don’t get some feedback, affirmation. ❤️🏄🏽♂️ 🦜
No surfing photos in this post. They have one or two people shooting video of surfing (for review next day with group) and photos. I will have access today or tomorrow to a share site and save my best (or funniest) ones.
It was already light out when I woke up at 5:30 to this view of the Pacific from my bed. The waves look ready. Breakfast is 7-9 so I had some time to read my Kindle and work on blog. Although it had rained most of night it was clear and perfect. It was weird to not be going for a bike or run or swim or ANYTHING first thing in morning. I thought about stretching but knew we had Yoga later.While I was blogging away, I got a text from Alex. They had gone rollerblading so had missed first half Chelsea game and wanted an update. I had totally forgotten about the game (maybe subconsciously blocked it out as expected a huge crushing by Arsenal, way at top of league this year). I was using iPad to blog so didn’t want to try to see if WiFi was fast enough to stream game on Peacock but instead got my iPhone to play the local Chelsea radio broadcasters who are tons of fun. They sound like to drunk fans in a bar discussing the game and are of course very Chelsea biased. Amazingly it was scoreless at 40 minutes and then into half.
I had planned to go down to breakfast at 7:30 and then come back up and finish unpacking, etc. until our 9am Intro session in lounge. Game didn’t end until 8:15 (Arsenal scored a goal at 60 minutes and last half hour didn’t result in any change, Alex and the radio broadcasters were upset at Refs and Chelsea play). This game made it almost 100% sure Chelsea can’t win Premier League but they will need to fight hard for another 5 months to their place in the Euro Champions league.
I had ordered the Yogurt/Granola/Fruit. It was much better than the Starbucks version! The cups are all wood or metal because the pool is so close to dining area, no glasses. I met the last 2 people who arrived late last night, also both super nice, will bio them later. After a relaxed breakfast with coffee and chatting I headed up to room with just enough time to brush teeth and be back down at 9 for the Intro meeting. Jackie had (gently but firmly) emphasized the importance of being on time for dinner and scheduled events and everyone so far has been respectful.Rincon and Fury were at bottom of stairs when I came down. Rincon is the most friendly, he followed group to activities, came in during lecture for some pets, circled outside Yoga platform and then had lain down by our shoes so we had to step over him to exit and of course he got a pet from everyone which is what he wanted. He is very soft and has such an emotive face.I shot a video as the instructor team introduced themselves to help remember their names. Far left guy is head instructor. 3 in middle are instructors and woman is videographer, photo editor and also Yoga instructor. Second from left is Jainer who would end up teaching me late.
They explained what plan was, how we would do pool work on certain skills, use video review daily to help us see exact things we needed to correct, they were all super friendly and supportive sounding. We went around group and introduced ourselves, our surfing history and what we hoped to get out of camp. I was least experienced by a lot, having surfed only a little, and never well, from 1990-1994. The most experienced had grown up surfing in Cape Canavaral Florida and now surfs a few times a year only, but in SF. She had actually done all the fancy wave face carving and even tubes that you see on TV. Bill was the next least experienced.
Wednesday would be rest day and Jackie explained the options for outings or just a trip into Dominical, surf town 20 minutes from here. Idea is to let bodies recover after the first 3 exhausting days so can have fresh try on Thur and Friday with new skills and strong arms. In my case my arms can paddle all day but my legs would need the rest. When reviewing those options on line a few weeks ago none looked that interesting as I will be doing all the waterfalls and horse riding, eco forest tours, and zip lines up at the Peace Lodge so I had emailed asking about snorkeling. It turns out Pacific coast not great for snorkeling because (like in California) the swells from west make the waves great but the water murky. But just like with Catalina in L.A. there is an Ecological National Park on Cano Island about 20km south of here where there is good snorkeling on the protected east coast. After intro we all headed to the Yoga Pavilion. It was optional but all 8 of us raised our hands when asked who would be interested. The 30 minute session focused on the stretching and core work that would help our surfing. The birds and insects and ? Frogs in the jungle around the screened in platform were joined about half way through by rain sounds. VERY relaxing. I am glad I knew Yoga well though (maybe it is assumed anyone who travels thousands of miles to surf has done Yoga). I sent a photo of studio to my instructor April in Buffalo.We then went to the pool and the rain didn’t matter since we were going to get wet. We were shown the basics of mounting the board in deep water, paddling (key is finding body position on board that keeps tip of long board about 3 inches out water), how to do quick turns by switching to sitting position and doing 180 degree turn. After a few of the experienced people went first I volunteered and did decently. Once we had all gone we had 20 minutes before our 11am departure to beach (each day we will leave one hour later to get the best 3 hour surf window). Depending on the tides some weeks it could be 6,7,8,9 AM or 1,2,3 PM. Since we were always going to be at beach midday we would have lunch there also.View of waves from the pool area. With binoculars you can really see the waves well. They were supposed to 3-5 feet today with a short interval of every 8 seconds. Ended up being more like 4-6 and the intervals even shorter.Cool insect on my door, haven’t seen a single mosquito yet though. I put my iPhone in the safe (you can bring it to phone and leave in car safely but didn’t see myself taking photos today).All i needed for beach was rash guard (protection for the rubbing against salty, sandy, waxy board, and UV protection) and my labeled cup.This is a stock photo of Dominical Beach which is exactly how it looked except sky was overcast. The rain had ended by time we got down there and during lunch break it was almost sunny, it started raining again on the 20 minute drive back up the hills. We parked between palm trees. The dogs came with us!!! The 2 big ones enjoyed playing with coconuts! The photographer quickly spotted a 2 toed sloth in a tree, it was gray vs the dark brown 3 toed one from yesterday. It was only about 30 feet up also so we got a great look. She took a lot of photos of it so will share later.
The crew unloaded the 20 surfboards from the 2 Landcruisers and quickly set up a tented area with snacks and drinks and sunscreen and then the lesson began.
Hey guys. Really thought I would finally finish a post in one sitting and before breakfast but didn’t happen. It is now 5:42pm. I can write until 6:10 which is when dinner starts. I will definitely have wine and hope not to have work on this after. Tomorrow our video review is not until 10am so will finally have a brief “free period”.
Our lesson began with an instructor teaching us the preferred stand up technique they use. Rather than just a single hard push of hands on board and “pop up” to both feet they use a 1,2,3 method. First you do a half cobra arch of back and then bring your right foot up level with left knee and turn it 90 degrees for a plant then you push off with arms and bring left foot between your arms at 45 degrees. He spent a long time showing all the details of this and explaining why it was better and easier than the old pop up which is fine for experts but for beginners it is really hard to get both feet to land in middle line of board.
We did a 10 minute warmup session of stretching and then practiced getting up on the sand. Then into the water we went. My instructor Jainer was Very patient as I at first kept doing step 2 and 3 at same time and both badly. The white water us beginners were surfing was very rough and the frequency was every few seconds so as you paddled out and through one wave another often hit you before you had regained your good paddling position. Paddling fast was my ONLY talent thanks to my marathon swim experiences. My hip inflexibility which prevents me from kicking high at Krav Maga or doing advanced Yoga poses (from years of running and biking which shorten up the quads and hamstrings) was my biggest handicap. After many total flops I finally managed a few half decent pop ups and immediately then fell off board because standing too straight, need to bend at knees and point them inward at completely unnatural angle. By the time we broke for lunch though I had done about 3 good rides which I was very happy with.
Lunch was waiting under the tent for us , Ceviche was main course and then fruit, brownies, juices. I was exhausted from paddling through the white water and my hips and quads ached. I think the first session was about 45 minutes of actually surfing time, it took my Garmin watch a looooong time find GPS satellites since its last location used was Buffalo.
For the next session after lunch I asked Jainer if i could head out as some people still eating. He said sure and I assumed he would follow me out but once i was out i realized i was on my own. I guess the baby bird was ready to leave the nest. Jainer had been helping push my board through the whitewater (the instructors aren’t on boards , just swimming around at least for the beginners and intermediates). I got more tired fighting through every break. The waves were also coming even more frequently as tide was now going out and compressing the frequency somehow I guess. I did slightly better after lunch as I better understood what I was doing wrong even if not able to correct it yet. I had a great time even if most of my “surfing” was paddling, having the wave accelerate me and then quickly falling off when I tried to stand up. I definitely feel that a “bad” surfing day is better than any normal day.
The water was very warm, probably 80 just like air and I never got cold at all. We were done at about 3pm and when we got back at 3:30pm most people decided that beer/hot shower/nap would fill their time until dinner. I had a deep tissue massage Scheduled for 4 so I made a cup of coffee and drank it while I showered and dressed.
These are the eco friendly coffee makers. You put one scoop in the reusable/washable cotton bag and then pour hot water over it. I of course bought one of the wooden mugs (made locally) to bring home to my eco unfriendly Keurig.
One of the massage rooms, in the jungle, real bird, insect, frog sounds and soothing music. Today was a deep tissue massage. My quads and hips ached from the day in the waves. The masseuse was a small woman but her mastery of using knuckles and elbows was intense. After about 5 minutes on stomach and gritting my teeth I whimpered “poco menos, por favor” and she eased up a little. When I had first introduced myself I had spoken Spanish and she asked “habla espanol?”. I said “si, pero no muy bien” and said, great, my English is not that good. I understood about half what she said but just said “no entiendo” when i didn’t and she would repeat the phrase in flawless English. At one point she said “look out the door, there is a sloth in the tree” and it was so out of context regarding a massage that I was clueless. An hour of massage and then lying flat in my room and my legs felt great at dinner, and by following morning they felt normal.
These were in the bowl with bananas and I asked one of the chefs what it was and how to eat it. You make a small bite in skin and then peel it off to reach the tasty fruit (around a small hard pit). I forgot what it was called by later so took another one and used iNaturalist app to ID it.
I don’t think they have these at Wegmans, maybe they don’t travel well.Each building has a solar water heater on roof.I decided to only take photos of REALLY impressive dishes, not every one of our three course dinners, but Amand’s surprise Bday cake was very impressive.The TV in the lounge plays surf videos from around the world 24 hours a day, muted though with Sonos music in the lodge. You can stream stuff to it from ones own devices if wanted to watch a movie or sports event.It had rained during my massage but after dinner I looked outside and could see surf in the distance, iPhone night mode lit up what was complete dark.And the sky had cleared enough to see stars and the moon, which seemed almost full.Every night at dinner we order our breakfast for next day. I think I will try them all except the wrap and repeat my favorites the last days.I have to be careful not to brush my teeth before eating my nightly pillow treat.I slept great until 12:30 when some thunder and lightening and rain noise woke me. I fell back to sleep easily as the rain sounds were so relaxing. It rained all night but ended before breakfast.
Good morning. 6:45am here in Dominical. Clocks didn’t fall back here but you should all be well rested and able to see all the photos from Saturday. It rained almost all night but stopped at dawn and overcast but bright out. 80 degrees and 75% humidity which feels fine with fan. No A/C here to be eco-friendly but screened doors and window at top of roof makes nice air flow, I actually used comforter overnight and turned off fan this morning. Alex just texted me to say they had missed the first half of Chelsea-Arsenal. I totally forgot about game (partly i blocked it out as anticipating a huge defeat as Arsenal way at top of league and Chelsea has been weak lately). Decent Wi-Fi here but rather than trying to get on Peacock on iPad i am just listening to the local radio feed which is very lively and fun and lets me use iPad to blog.
I slept well Friday night after all the traveling and the city tour. For me, going from 5am to 11pm without a nap is taxing. I set my alarm for 6 to be generous to myself but I still was up at 5 and read Kindle for a while before heading to gym to do an hour on the exercise bike. I listened to a DuoLingual Spanish podcast which is mostly in Spanish with occasional English comments to keep you up with story in case you start to get lost. I then did a 10 minute swim to cool off, used the Jacuzzi and stretched.
While i was reading and later packing I found some Spanish music to listen to.I was the only person in the huge pool or the Jacuzzi but a lot of people were already eating at the indoor/outdoor breakfast buffet. Because of it always getting light at 5am , Ticos (Costa Rican’s are called Ticos) tend to have early breakfasts compared to USA or Europe. The Jacuzzi was delightful, the waterfall was HOT and felt great on my neck and shoulders.Cacao tree by poolI decided this would be my BIG breakfast day. The variety of pastries was endless, i picked the ones i didn’t recognize. The Tamale was great and the fruit so fresh and flavorful. Coffee comes as dark roast, no decaf option…While i was eating it got brilliantly sunny and i took a photo since as this is still end of rainy season not sure if i will see it again.
The distance as bird flies from San Jose to Dominical is probably only 75 miles but the fastest way to drive is via Jaco and is 120 miles. That is the route on “highway” which once got 30” out of San Jose was only one lane each way but very well paved. But with curves and hills and going through many small farming towns it took almost 4 hours (including our 20 minute break at Crocodile bridge for photos, bathroom, snacks.
I was all packed up and waiting at lobby at 10:45. The driver, Ru, came in at 11:05 and we headed to a nearby hotel to get one other person who like me had come in night before. Ru spoke less English than i did Spanish but it was a good enough combo (especially as i could look up some words on phone while he drove, “bridge”, “Palm Oil”). My co-camper was Bill. A retired tech guy from Santa Cruz. I guess he is about 5 years older than me. He has surfed a little but not regularly, the water up there is too cold for him, another camper said if he goes up from a 3mm wetsuit (like we use in Triathlons) to a 6 mm one with a full hood and boots he will be warm enough to enjoy. Bill seemed very laid back and liberal, we discussed how we won’t be talking politics at camp. He spoke zero English so i tried my best to translate between him and Ru.
My morning portrait, 2 days since hair trim.My shirt choice. After the owner donated entire company to an environmental charity foundation I bought some shirts and surf shorts to support them. Costa Rica is VERY environmentally conscious.They have these separate containers near recycling bins just for bottle caps!Not sure why I have a frown here. I was totally content to have the premium front seat and be in the care of the KalonSurf team for the next 7 days.
DAMN ! Arsenal just scored, broadcasters and Alex upset at Refs.
About 30 minutes west of San Jose, highway down to just one lane. Gorgeous, it started raining, got hard for while but then barely a drizzle when we got to Crocodile Bridge.The area adjacent to bridge had many places selling food and souvenirs, there was a nice pedestrian path on both sides of bridge The Tarcoles River has a lot of Crocodiles up to 12 feet long. In dry season the river is small and their can be dozens of crocs on the sandy banks but the river was very swollen after 18 hours of rain the day before according to Ru (he asked how to say 18 in English 🙂These 2 were on a sandbar right at bridge center. I joked that they were plastic and just there to not disappoint tourists. Luckily for us it was barely drizzling as the walk out to middle of wide bridge would have been less fun in pouring rain. On way back to car Ru noticed my Krav Maga tattoo and said he does it also, I had seen a Krav Maga gym sign on the bus tour. We went into what looked like a small bodega to use the bathrooms but out back was this huge pavilion that must fill up in peak season. I bought some postcards and an awesome pineapple and mango smoothie since they let us use restrooms. Smoothy guy was chatty in English but the checkout clerk spoke only Spanish, which I enjoyed.As we headed south from Jaco it became flat and there was lot of pasture land. I kept seeing white animals that I wasn’t sure if were cattle or sheep or goats as all stayed quite far from road.Here i could see they were cattle and googled it.Interesting that the Spanish brought over African cattle as climate similar, just like the brought coffee to Central America and Chocolate/Cacao is now grown in Africa.And then it really started to rain. Glad I was not driving and that we were in an AWD Toyota Land Cruiser.
We then drove through a lot Palm Oil plantations.
When I saw them I remembered reading in the Lonely Planet guide that they were common in this area. The palm oil plantations here are mostly on former pasture land so not as bad as in Indonesia where they are cutting down the rain forests where the orangutans live but it is still unhealthy.A few KM before reaching Dominical we turned in from the coast and would climb 1300 feet in elevation over a winding road, lodge only 1km from Pacific as bird flies but windy road. Would be great mountain bike ascent.I didn’t get any good photos but as we went from sea level up the mountain the houses switched from little shacks without windows to bigger and bigger places with gates and satellite dishes and pools. Only the rich can afford views of Pacific.Electric Gate
Good spot to take a break from writing here, Chelsea game is almost over and I need to get down to eat breakfast, we got to order last night. I was going to eat at 7 (it is 7-9, they cook it whenever you arrive) but Chelsea..
Now 3:40 pm. I just have a few minutes to write before my 4PM massage. We got back from beach at 3 and i had a long hot shower and a cup of coffee. Rest of campers planned quick beer and long nap before our 6pm dinner.
Jackie, the resort head, spoke perfect English with minimal accent. She welcomed us and gave us orientation to where to find snacks, coffee, alcohol (not allowed before or during surf sessions) and gave us a rundown of the schedule. And…..there was a dog, actually 3 I would discover.A golden mix, German Shepard and a Weimeramer. I love them all.Busy schedule. No surfing on Wednesday to let bodies recover and give instructors a day off. Bill and I were the only ones there so far. After unpacking a little I wandered around compound for a while since I Knew it would be dark by 5. View of Pacific Ocean, 1300 feet below and a KM away, from my bed!I locked my passport and wallet in safe, shouldn’t need for a week, all inclusive here, leave one tip for whole staff last day.Some of the boardsThe Yoga pavilion 30 minute trail loop through jungle
5:10pm now. Deep tissue massage was intense. I will lie flat in bed for an hour until dinner. Back to yesterday….
These were just 3 of the gorgeous plants i saw on the 30 foot walk to the Yoga Pavilion While i was wandering and stopped to meet the other dogs a staffer pointed out this 3 toed sloth. The dark thing below it is just a dead leaf. I read that they only come down trees every 2-3 days to poop and move to new tree with fresh leaves to eat. They are very vulnerable to carnivores on the ground. The Spanish word for them is perezoso. Oso i knew means bear and perezoso also means LAZY. I got better photos with my Panasonic LUMIX zoom camera. This is the little snack, coffee, tea area. Always fruit and trail mix and BROWNIES, seems like a test of self restraint.
Only 4 of us had arrived by dinner time.
The table seats 16 but not sure what max capacity of resort is. We are 8 for this non-peak season week.Appetizer was a Poke bowl, amazingMain course a delicious fish. They know I don’t eat red meat so on Carne Roja days they will give me alternative like pollo o pescado.Fresh meringue with caramelized sugar and an exotic fruit sauce, some one else said and i agree that it was nice the portions weren’t huge.I read the pertinent sections of Lonely Planet guide last week (VERY late for me, i would usually have read whole thing a month ago). The other book I will start once done with current Kindle one. I had told Bill on car a little of history of CR and told him he could borrow book , there is a nice 10 page section that covers pre-history to current time.
The other 2 people at dinner were Csy and Anand. Here are what i wrote down to remember them.
Csy: Half Chinese, Half Persian. He lives in SF and works in security division of google. He has been surfing the cold big waves of Ocean Beach there for 2 years but wants to get more skills and real lessons. His wife is home with their 6month old. She just got home from a vacation in Patagonia while he watched the kid. They both love to travel and felt it not worth them doing so with such a young child.
Anand. Half Indian and half Scottish.He works tech for Ally bank. Lives in Charlotte NC but just bought a place near Charleston, SC and wants to surf there like all the locals he sees from his apartment when there. Didn’t hear any mention of spouse.
Both of them were super smart, friendly, engaging.
As we were finishing dessert Pierre and Jenny arrived. I asked if their accents were French or Swiss but answer was Quebec. I said “bon soir, je parle au paus francais” which is really about all that is left as it has been 8 years since i was in France. They both speak perfect English but they have thick accents. They have been to KalonSurf before ,pre-covid and done some other surf learning trips , obviously no surfing in Montreal but they are avid snowboarders. I said goodnight and left group as it was almost 9pm and i was exhausted.
Done before dinner! Muy excelente. I can hang out a little longer tonight and maybe have more than one glass of wine. We head to beach tomorrow at 12 instead of eleven, one hour later every day to catch best tide for surfing. I have another massage in morning but this one a relax one rather than deep tissue one today. Buenas Noches. Hasta luesta.
Good morning! I thought I would have a half hour to write this morning by the pool but it is 10:45 and I have just settled in the lobby to be ready for my 11am car ride to Dominical on the southern Pacific coast of CR. Will write until car arrives, maybe some on highway but will see.
The first part of my tour of San Jose was to experience Friday afternoon traffic 🙂
A minibus picked up myself and a 30ish year old guy named Steve to take us to the first museum on tour where the double decker bus and guide and other tourists would be. Steve was here for a week on business. He is a computer engineer who specializes in electrical circuits used in cars and machinery. He got his masters at Univ. of Nebraska where he and his wife live but they are moving to Riverside, CA soon to be close to the headquarters of his company. He has traveled to Israel and Mexico for work and soon to Hamburg and Taiwan.
When we reached the museum the “rest” of the tour group was there. Gabriella, a middle aged Panamanian who spoke only Spanish. This was great for me because our great guide Jordan had to say everything in both languages. I was able to communicate pretty well with her with my intermediate Spanish. I told her in Spanish that when I had looked at the map of CR I had seen that her country had a city named after me. She said it is a big port and there is a ferry terminal there.
It seems like a nice place to visit and just for the name I have to add it to my wish list. Link below is about David the city.
Oh, on the minibus ride I saw this sharp looking building , US Embassy. The USA had a mixed relationship with CR over the years, but now great, if I have time later I will give a brief synopsis.
I am back again. It is 5:20 pm Tuesday and I have 40 minutes before heading down to dinner.
The first museum we saw was very interesting. It was the original airport for San Jose before the city outgrew it and a new one was built.
The highlight was the Golden Room which contains a mural made of plaster but meant to look like bronze. The artist portrays the whole history of CR from pre-Columbian times through the Spanish empire, independence and modernity. There was a woman practicing for a recital on the piano in the room.
The rest of the museum was not that interesting but there was a nice Sculpture garden.
While getting my obligatory sign photo I noticed across the plaza what looked like a Menorah. I asked the guide what it was and he said it was a Menorah. He explained that Costa Rica had a large community of Jews who fled there from the Nazis (as did other central and South American countries who were not allowed to enter the USA). We then crammed our whole tour group into the double decker bus. The central cemetery The center of city had tiny roads but broad sidewalks and main road was pedestrian only. The driver managed to squeeze the huge bus through very tight spots and always dropped us right at door and then was at our pickup spots like clockwork. The central market dates to 1880 and is a huge metal roofed warren of tiny shops and stalls. We stopped at a few places to sample ice cream, coffee and chocolate. Herbal remedies still very popular in CR according to Jordan but it also has one of the best public health systems in the Americas. Before going in market we were told to put our watches and jewelry away as occasional snatch and grab thefts (but overall city very safe for Central America). A $ per Tamale seems like a deal!And of course Chickens! For pets or eggs or meat 😉While in the Market we heard the rain on the metal roof and it was torrential when we got back to bus.
But as we continued our tour I noticed that crowds seemed just as big despite rain, everyone just had umbrellas.
This is only cathedral in the country, JP2 visited it once. The National TheatreI chatted with these policemen while Jordan got a Churro, I passed as too close to dinner time 🙂
They only spoke Spanish so I got to practice, I was curious why all the police in CR wore their pistols strapped to thighs rather than in belt holsters like in US. They said because they all wear bulky body armor and gets in way of pistol at waist.
The fanciest hotel in city where politicians and celebrities stay. Cool graffiti!Casada, traditional CR meal. Can get with various meat options or vegetarian.
Saw this bizarre cube like building while in bus.
It is the National Assembly building. It’s brutalist design was controversial. See link below if interested.
