From Inland to the Beach

The last few days have been a whirlwind of traveling and fun outings. We did a chocolate tour in La Fortuna, watching and participating in the process of making cacao with our guide Carlos, as well as the cacao “drink of the gods” which we flavored on our own with ingredients such as vanilla, hibiscus, almond, cumin, coffee, orange, and others. Later on, after a simple lunch of typical plates, we spent the afternoon at beautiful Eco Thermales hot springs and were the only ones lounging in the warm water.

The next day, Wednesday, we slowly made our way out to the Pacific, stopping in Guaitil. Guatil is a small community where many indigenous family members work together with their kin to make a living out of creating pottery– all formed and painted by hand, baked in a wood-fired kiln– which they’ve learned from generations before them. The pottery is made from a certain clay soil found in the mountainside and the paint is all made from stones & Earth, simply mixed with water. We spoke with a very kind woman, Elma, who was so proud of her work and her family’s that Jason & I had to buy a bowl that we loved– our first “souvenir” purchase besides a t-shirt I bought the week before. Certainly a great gift to remind us of our travels!

We arrived in Tamarindo, situated along the Pacific Ocean, later in the day and went out for some delicious sushi as the rain came down heavily as the sun set. Thankfully, we woke up to a beautiful day with the sun shining and howler monkeys making all kinds of racket. We bummed around the pool at our rental all morning, ate a late lunch out in town, and explored the main street a bit. We came home later on and caught a beautiful sunset on the rooftop deck of the condo we’re staying, and Jason & I made one of the tastiest meals of our trip for Cyndie– fish tacos on homemade tortillas with plantain chips & a cilantro pineapple slaw. YUM!

This morning, we spoiled ourselves by spending the day at the Langosta Beach Club, Jason scoring us a deal with the owner. We treated ourselves with a great workout, swimming in the pool overlooking the beach, and fruity cocktails. We also had an amazing burger lunch there– so good that we had to go back for dinner too. The dinner was honestly the best meal Jason & I have had out in all of Costa Rica. I’m not a huge red meat fan, but we ordered steak stuffed with goat cheese and pesto, which was incredible. We also split mussels that were to-die-for. The food was so delicious that we couldn’t get over it!! It was a real treat to spend a fun day at the beach club– I’d highly recommend this place to anyone in the area!

Nov 1 2013 Emily Spaeth Category: Musings

Tags: , , , , ,

LEAVE A REPLY

standardPostTransition
Perhaps the network unstable, please click refresh page.