Goofyfoot Paradise - Costa Rica Day 86

 

Here's our dinner guest...a lizard with a big white collar...it hung out with us all night long sitting on that leaf.

 

My pre-birthday celebration on the 22nd...rented this quad and took to the road going to a new surf spot 5 miles away...the tide was too low so we didn't surf, but it was a beautiful beach and a fun ride!

 

There was even a rope swing on the beach and we had fun with it...a little too much fun, we both felt nauseous the rest of the day from spinning so much on it!

 

The view from up on the hill...

 

At the beginning of our guided nature hike we were surprised by a group of squirrel monkeys, some carrying their babies and jumping great distances with them on their backs!  They are soooooo cute!!!!!

 

Our guide was amazing, she made us see through new eyes all the life in the forest and the interconnectedness of everything!

 

We were in delighted bliss during out 2 1/2 hour hike...

 

Our hike now over, we drove to the ocean to watch the sunset on this magnificent day!

The tide was super high! This is the same beach that has the rope swing and now it was completely covered by the water...

 

March 23rd 20011

I'm 29 today!!!!

Ben picked me these beautiful flower and foliage bouquets!

 

We also tried this really interesting seed pod for the first time! Inside the seeds are covered in fluffy white stuff, looks kind of like mold, by you put the whole thing in your mouth and just eat the fuzzy white part, it is sweet and juicy!

 

Finally!!!! Our first coconut of our trip.  The gardener cut these down for us and chopped them open with his machete.  So good!!!!

 

Pipa, its call here...

 

Our time here is almost done and we have had an amazing time.  The surf is some of the best in the world and we are lucky enough to have been able to take part in this awe inspiring experience.  Some of the best, most magical experiences of my life, riding these waves...I can't put it into words, though I have tried in my journal, truly out of this world!

 

Just had what was perhaps our last surf session here...the waves are getting smaller and we need so sell our boards...what a way to end it though...wave after wave riding it all the way in...paddling back out, our arms aching after 4 hours...not being able to stop because it is so much fun...We love these waves!!!!

 

Adios amigos!  We'll be back home in 5 days!!! We can't wait to surf at Pleasure Point, but we are definitely not looking forward to the cold water...84 degrees here, 54 degrees there!  Brrrrrrr!!!!!!! 

We will miss this place and will definitely be back!

Goofyfoot Paradise - Costa Rica Day 75

 

Welcome to our undisclosed secret surf spot...most of you know where we are, but we don't want to write the name here in case others that we don't know do an internet search and find our blog talking about how amazing it is here and come crowd it up!  So from now on we're in Goofyfoot Paradise :)  Ben took this pic of me from the dirt road that passes by the river on the way to the beach.  So beautiful here!  We don't have any good pics of the surf yet, we'll be working on that in the next couple weeks...we just haven't wanted to be encumbered with the GoPro, and whenever its good we're surfing, so its difficult to take pics.

 

Don't worry! There are no crocs here, this was taken on our drive down here from Avellanas.  We took this pic from on top of a bridge looking down.  This croc was huge!  There were lots of smaller ones too!  The first time we've seen crocs in the wild...just glad we don't have any here.

 

I finally learned how pineapples grow!  This one is so cute!

 

Walking in the jungle just up from the place we stayed at our first week here.

 

Ben really wanted to pick one of these totally unripe bananas in hopes that it would ripen...we've had it for 2 weeks and still as green as when he picked it!  Although, the woman who owns the place we stayed at for the first week gave us some small ripe bananas from her tree which is actually an apple banana.  Looks like a small banana but tastes like a banana mixed with an apple!  Absolutely delicious!!!

 

Just down the path from where we are staying is a beautiful river surrounded by jungle on its steep sides.  Great pools for dipping!

 

One of our first sunsets here...

 

Our new friend who is always on the beach.  She looks like a mix between a lab and golden retriever.  She's so playful.  The first time we met she brought me a rock to throw for her.  We played fetch until it looked as though she needed a little break...its pretty hot out here.

 

Sunset from where the river meets with the ocean...

 

Me after I caught the longest ride of my life!!!!!

 

So much yummy fruit here we've never had before!  This as you can see is a star fruit...

 

And this is a passion fruit.  I never new that the part you eat is the seeds which are coated in a gooey substance that is so sweet and yummy!  We also are eating chyote and yucca in our stir fries which is really good too!

 

The morning of the Japan earthquake...a tsunami warning in effect so we went on a super strenuous walk up a nearly vertical hill looking for a hotel above sea level, never found one, but we got panoramic views of the bay as well as this hot picture of Ben!

 

After that strenuous hike, we came back down to town and found this amazing villa to stay in, which is where we'll be staying for the rest of our trip. (Only two weeks left! :(