Samara (12/16/10-12/19)

south of Junquillal

near Nosara

 It's a 2 hour drive over 36 miles of mostly good dirt road south from Junquillal. There are 6 short water crossings, probably only 2 of them in the 12-15" deep range. Still, I'm no expert, so, when in doubt, I wait to see what someone else does, and where they go, before driving forward. Once in, thou, it's great fun splashing across. Beats working.



prime real estate...for $5

Reaching Samara, I looked at a couple of camping spots, but nothing was too exciting, so I rented a $20 room for the night. Next morning I found Camping Coco, right on the beach with no one else there. And it was right in front of the Palo's Surf School, which must have been fate. This was my home for 3 nights. Palo, his wife Paula, Frank (and his hot German girlfriend) were all very nice in welcoming me to their little slice of heaven.

Frank and me in Samara

On my second day I took my very first surfing lesson, with Frank. He's a happy guy (he's 22, surfs and teaches for a living, plus the girlfriend...not bad) who speaks very good english from working with the tourists. The starter board must be at least 10' long, but it helps in just learning to stand up, even if only once in a while. This is, like, Reason #72 why I took this trip now: at 53 I can still jump up on a surfboard pretty easily (thanks to Kyle, and to the TRX). The next day I go out on my own and I think my falling technique has really improved! Still a lot of fun, though. I even bought a t-shirt with a surf  "motif" to comemorate. Hey, I earned it.

The beach at Samara is known as one of the best for learning to surf and for safe swimming. And the town is laid-back enough that relaxing is naturally part of your day. Another great hangout is the beautiful cresent beach of Carrillo, only an 8-10 minute drive south. Frank later shows me the best way to hack the husk off a coconut to drink the milk and get to the meat. I finally have a good reason to use the machete I bought some two months ago. Yum. I love coconut. Speaking of food, you can get a good $6 casado de pollo (or de whatever) at the Jardin Marino. It's a comida typica of beans, rice, salad and chicken that's tasty enough.

Samara at dusk

My last night it starts to rain around 6pm. This, I think, is my first real rain since back at Lago Atitlan, and it's a surprise to everyone. It continues on and off thruout the next day, but stops long enough to allow the tent to dry off, and so I decide to take off. Next stop is Santa Teresa way down in the southern corner of the Nicoya. A very interesting drive.