Last day in Nosara

It's my last day in Nosara today. So sad to leave this paradise, but I'm ready to be home. We were able to schedule a later van ride back to San Jose (a 5 hour ride) at 10am instead of 8am. After a great breakfast at the Harmony Hotel (where I stayed with Melody and Carmel), we said our last goodbye's to our instructors Meli and Christi and loaded into the van. After a long bumpy ride across the country, we were 5 minutes from San Jose and our van suddenly broke down. It was the one place in the road that was wide enough for the van to break down. Perfect. No biggie. Our driver just called another van and 30 minutes later we were back in San Jose at the Hampton Inn. We were in no rush to get back to San Jose.

So, here I am, at the hotel, just chillin' and thinking back on my time in Nosara, the beach at Playa Guiones. I had such a fantastic time. I learned to surf with a great group of girls, got a tan, enjoyed the relaxation and quiet time, the animals and picturesque scenery and experiences. I am a happy girl. I guess I've always been a happy girl, but truly, truly content. I'm an accomplished independent woman in my prime. I'm healthy. I get to see my family over Christmas. I live without worries or sorrow. Life is good. Truly perfect. Pura Vida.

Last day surfing in Nosara...

Early this morning, we had our last surf sesh. I decided to switch to a shorter epoxy board to see what it was like. I loved it! After surfing the white wash for a while I ventured out into the "outside" and sat in the sun for a while and then rode a few waves in to finish the day. What a great feeling of accomplishment.





Breakfast followed our morning surf as usual, and then a lazy afternoon of lounging by the pool. Cocktails with the girls and watching Iguana's mate up in the palms. Yes, it was an odd site.

Anyways, at 4 this afternoon, Lauren and Sara and I had scheduled a sunset horseback ride. It was the icing on this cake! A father and daughter who hardly spoke a lick of English came by to pick us up. No intruction, just an introduction to faces and names and then "get on"! Thank God, the horses were very well trained. We rode along the beach and then past the "Taj Mahal" or so we called it this whole trip. 

We rode through the little side streets of Nosara and saw all sorts of different colors of hybiscus flowers along the way. We rode through the jungle and into the National Biological Preserve which was swampy and Everglade-like, but beautiful. There were a couple of parts of the ride where it was a bit sketchy, going down steep paths with one side covered in concrete (shod horses hooves do not do well on steep concrete) and narrow openings between rocky ocean tide pools and dead trees. Sara almost got scraped off her horse by a dead branch. A couple of times my horse and Lauren's horse liked to gallop ahead of the group. We galloped through the jungle and then on the way home we were able to gallop down the beach for a while.

All throughout the 2 hour ride, our guide would yell these wonderfully passionate howls into the sky, I think to scare off predators or weird people in the jungle. Who knows. It was fun though, and I got a chance to use my little jungle call I reserve for times such as these. ;) I felt so free again. It took me back to my love for horses that I had as a little girl. This was a momentous occasion for me because I used to love horses so much. I have been thrown, bitten, kicked, stepped on and I haven't been back on a horse for about 10 years I think. Tonight was the perfect end to a perfect vacation. I was so incredibly happy to be riding in the jungle, on a beach, at sunset...accomplished in a new sport, traveling by myself and also the joy of meeting new people and missing home.

Costa Rica was truly cleansing. It took me back to the simple passion that I've always had for life and beauty that I've lost in the muck of the last 5 years. All the dust, all the dirt got washed away in the surf. I can see the life I've always wanted so clearly now. I'm ready to get back up on the horse of passion, of love, of adventure, of dreams, of life.

Finding time to write, finding time to relax...

So, I'm sitting by the pool, passion fruit daquiri in hand, sweat and salt water from the pool dripping down my poor Irish skin and my red nose. It's hot out here, 9 degrees from the equator. This morning I wore my new short sleeve rash guard to hopefully get some sun on my arms at least. Well, I did and I think I may have burned a bit. It's such a surreal experience to see everyone putting up Christmas decorations now. I have forgotten that it's that time of the year being surrounded by heat, jungle and the ocean.

I saw Tom Green this morning after our morning surf lesson! He was sitting in the Harbor Reef hotel restaurant where we meet every morning for brunch after surfing. I had to do a couple takes to make sure it was him and didn't want to stare. Yep, it was Tom Green, with a beard.

I just need some pure and simple Emily time. I'm skipping yoga now, taking the time to sit by the pool and enjoy my vacation. The passion fruit daquiri is killer and much needed. The pool is beautiful and refreshing. I'm the only one here now, besides a pair of green bellied robin-looking birds making pretty little cooing noises, occasionally skimming across the surface of the salt water pool every-once-in a while and the family of spider monkeys scrambling through the branches across the way.

After an amazing massage, in a Swiss family Robinson-like tree house, I just wanted to walk along the beach and watch the sun set... it was the perfect ending to a very, very relaxing day.


Playa Guiones to the North...

  







  
  










I usually take pictures of my feet wherever I travel, but they were lookin' pretty sorry by the end of the week, so foot prints did the trick!

The Taj Mahal...as we lovingly referred to it. It was an old abandoned hotel.

Costa Rican sunset...

A Tica wanna be...

December 2nd

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday even though it was our "free" day. We managed to jam it full of other activities besides surfing. We did have a surf sesh yesterday morning where we got more one on one teaching and observation. I ended up switching my pop-up from left to right sided. I was getting up left "goofy" footed because that's the way I wake-board, but found that getting up the regular way was actually a faster pop-up for me in the end. I guess I'm ambidextrous...and it made me feel even more confused yesterday. This morning's surf session was great though. I'm popping up faster and able to turn the board a bit too.

After our morning surf sesh, I did some jewelry shopping with Melody and Carmel (but didn't buy anything) and then we loaded up in a van again and headed for Miss Sky's zip line adventure.

It was a short drive, then we got all geared up in our safety harnesses and then loaded into a flat bed truck and drove another 25 min further up into the mountains. It was beautiful.

We saw a ton of monos (monkeys) that howled at us like lions (thus the name "howler monkeys"). They're these cute little tiny black monkeys with curly tails and white butt's that make these humongous growling sounds, kinda like lions.

Zip lining was sooo much fun. The guides were these overzealous Tico's that must love their job, chauffeuring beautiful women and tourists around and showing them their country.

We zip lined for about 2 hours I think, then loaded back onto the flat bed and drove back to Miss Sky's head quarters. We saw a huge Iguana sitting in one of the trees on our way home.

The view from the truck bed on the drive down the mountain...

I showered quickly, then met Melody and Carmel at our hotel bar for a quick drink (banana daiquiri...mucho delicioso), then ran over to The Tucan for drinks with the Norwegians, Sara and Sissel. We sat for a while and then all walked over to Marlin Bills for dinner with every one else. Dinner was pretty good and we, like usual, mingled and laughed about the days activities and we talked politics to end the dinner.

After that, Jenny, Joellen, Sara, Lynn, Carmel and I walked back to Harbor Reef to catch some live music. It was a trio of local American men who covered Sublime and 311 like crazy. It was pretty fun. We added "energy" to the small group of people that had gathered. Then it was off to bed. Needless to say, I slept like a rock...until a group of mono's came pouncing over my roof top around 3:30a.m. It was a rude but exciting awakening...

Third day in Nosara, second day of surf...

I woke up in my plush bed this morning, feeling every sinew, every strand of muscle in my body. The question at the breakfast table this morning was, "what muscles hurt the most?" My answer was, can I just tell you which ones don't hurt? Ummmm, my face?" Although, even that hurts because it's the only place I'm getting sun since I'm covered with a long-sleeve rash guard and long board shorts. I am definitely more sore today, but seemed to have more energy at the surfing sessions this morning and afternoon. It's really starting to click and we worked our way out to the bigger waves. I caught a very small face wave. So Fun!!! 

We had more free time this afternoon before and after yoga. I was able to sunbathe for a little while on my private, secluded back deck. It was so relaxing. 

Our afternoon sesh in the water was later than usual due to our instructor gauging the tides to get us optimum riding conditions. It was so beautiful and of course, I didn't bring my camera. The sun went down behind the ocean while we surfed the last bit of day light. Gorgeous. Then as we wrapped up our leashes and headed back to the shore, the moon was full in front of us.

Dinner at "Cafe Paris"

Tomorrow is a bit of a "free" day where we only have a short surf session in the morning and no yoga. We're doing a zip line canopy tour tomorrow afternoon and I'm getting a massage and doing a little shopping. It will be a much needed break for relaxation, and of course, shopping. :)