Constructing Life: Arriving in Tamarindo

We drove yesterday from Monteverde to the last locale of our trip, Tamarindo. It is another dramatically different environment within Costa Rica. We left 20C cloud forest in the mountains to arrive at a dry and hot coast. We found our hotel, checked out our room and buzzed off into town. The town is a peculiar mix mash of unkempt empty lots, and nice high end buildings. Half the roads are paved, half aren’t. We looked at all the shops in town and then met some people that we were introduced to from a friend back in Calgary. They bought the surf shop and hostel and moved down here 4 months ago. We learned a lot from them about local things and places to go. Then we booked a surf lesson! The town is chockablock with surf shops so I hope they do well.

This morning we got up and met with our surf instructor – Rudy. He’s another emigrant to Costa Rica – they all come on vacation and never leave. He came here from Peru 11 years ago. He got us out in the water and up on our boards in no time. He made it really fun. Brooke rode no end of good little waves. He could pick just the right ones for her and she honestly rode better than me. When I got the wave and got my balance, I could steer and turn and felt like a bit of a surfer. The boards they give you when you begin are huge, allowing you to ride smaller waves – it’s counter intuitive. It feels like we’ve done just about everything in Costa Rica you can do!