Samara, Costa Rica - Days 6-7

Saturday, February 16

Our last morning in the Samara jungle house. I woke up around 4:30am and snuck into the kitchen to work on my computer while everyone else was still sleeping. I know it sounds like an ungodly hour to wake up on vacation, but we’re going to bed so early here that my body feels like I’m getting a full night’s rest. I also like watching the sun rise and listening to the sounds of the birds waking up outside, too. It’s so peaceful.

Aden woke up an hour later and immediately jumped into playing toys on the outdoor patio. Emphasis on the word “toys” because he’s using his imagination to make toys from things he’s found laying around the house. Currently, he’s playing with a bowl full of clothespins, a plastic zip tie, and an empty 6L water bottle which he’s set up as a shooting range. The zip tie is somehow propelling the clothespins through the air to hit the water bottle target. Just goes to show, kids don’t need a lot to entertain themselves!

Tory joined me in the kitchen and we heard Andi say from the bedroom, “Come quick! Monkeys!” The four of us rushed outside to see a troop of howler monkeys in the trees close to the pool. We sat on the patio and watched them climb. It was a “pinch me” moment. This is Costa Rica!

I made the kids Nutella toast for breakfast, and then Andi and I began packing up our things. It’s part of our plan to move to new spots every few days on this trip. Sometimes the greatest opportunities come along with flexibility and we’d like to see and experience as much as possible while we’re visiting, but packing and unpacking stinks! That’s one benefit of a sailboat or the RV - the house moves with you.

While we packed, the kids lounged around and watched iPads. One thing Andi and I have learned about traveling with kids is that everyone needs some downtime. Whether that’s bingeing on Puppy Dog Pals, heading out for a run, or waking up in the morning before the rest of the family; we all need quiet time alone to recharge our batteries.

Good-bye Jungle House! We drove down the bumpy dirt road toward town, driving through a shallow river to get there. Back home whenever we drive the Polaris Ranger through a puddle Andi shouts to the kids, “What do we do when we see a puddle?” And they shout back, “Drive through it!” So, of course today he shouts, “What do we do when we see a river?” And the kids shout back, “Drive through it!”

Samara is busy on Saturday mornings! As we entered into town, we passed people riding bikes and walking down the streets. Parked cars lined the streets and complicating matters, one of the main streets was closed for repairs. We parked our car near the Pali grocery store and decided it’d be easier to walk to where we wanted to go.

First stop: lunch. I selected Coco’s Mexican Restaurant which had quite a few reviews on Trip Advisor. It was 11:30am, and we were the only people there. It seems people eat much later in the afternoon here. Tory and Aden played on the hammocks in the restaurant which was fun until Aden fell out and skinned his elbow. We ate a quiet lunch outside on the covered patio. Andi ordered tacos, the kids split a popcorn chicken meal and I had a taco salad. The food was OK. Later, we heard Coco’s has a big beer selection so that’s the place to go if you’re into that.

We’d arranged to meet our next airbnb host at 1:00pm, so we used the opportunity while in town to buy supplies. But first: ice cream. We stopped at Mani’s Restaurant and enjoyed scoops of vanilla, chocolate and coconut ice cream treats. Then, Andi ran into the bank (which had a line of 20 people out the door), the meat store where we bought a pork tenderloin and hamburger meat, a new-to-us bakery called Roots where Andi tried the espresso and we bought an amazingly fresh loaf of French bread, the veggies store, and a ‘super’ convenience store where we bought a bar of soap. Five stops for 12 items.

After that, we followed directions outside of Samara proper to our new airbnb. This new place is a house about 10 minutes outside of town, up in the hills 1,000 ft. above sea level. We arrived to a beautiful compound which, coincidently, is owned by a cousin of Andi’s business partner. Chris is the host’s name, and he met us at the property to show us around and hand over the keys.

“I liked the other house, but this place is better!” Tory exclaimed as soon as Chris left. The difference: TOYS. Chris has 3 kids and a daughter who is about Tory’s age. We discovered a Barbie dream house in the storage room that Chris said our kids could play with, and both Tory and Aden are in heaven! We haven’t heard a peep out of them since we arrived.

The view!

The other “toy” at this airbnb? INTERNET. Chris has super fast internet here, and we’re all feeling the pull to be connected again. Regular Costa Rican internet takes me right back to dial-up days; waiting, waiting, waiting for it load. Nope! Someone else is on the line. Can’t use it. The internet at our new airbnb is fast and we can all use it at the same time. We’ve all fallen down a technology rabbit hole or two since we’ve been here.

Anyway, the kids and I swam in the pool for the rest of the afternoon while Andi did some trip planning. Then, the four of us walked up the hill to “the best spot to watch the sunset” as Chris advised, and WOW! The view was even more spectacular from up there!

This particular sunset was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen with shades of bright pink, orange, yellow, and red complimented by the green trees surrounding and blue and white clouds. The sky looked like a painting as we watched the big, round sun drop from behind the clouds and fall into the ocean.

After the sun set, we walked back to the house and Andi grilled us a pork tenderloin for dinner with sautéed brussels sprouts. We ate our first dinner here at the new house on the outdoor patio, watching giant toads leap closer and closer to our table.

Air-conditioning and nice, comfortable beds. We all slept great that night.

Sunday, February 17

Our first morning at the new airbnb started slow. The kids alternated between playing with the Barbie house and swimming in the pool while Andi and I did yoga on the patio together. We made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast with eggs, bacon and the best watermelon we have ever eaten. It cost 362 colonies which is equivalent to $0.52 - the fruit is so cheap and deliciously perfect here. Andi tried making fresh orange juice from some oranges he bought from a man selling them outside the market, but it was terribly tart. I’m not sure what the secret to making fresh orange juice is. Apparently, we haven’t learned it yet.

Around Noon, we went into town to have lunch with the Seattle family we met on the beach the other day. We enjoyed lunch at Hoppe’s Fast & Fresh on Playa Samara. The company was great! We had a fun time chatting with Katie and Mark while the kids played foosball together. The restaurant experience itself was a little strange. I’m fairly certain the cook and the waiter were on drugs because they were confused by so many of us (there were nine of us in total) all ordering food at the same time. I ordered a chicken burger which was actually very tasty, but Andi’s chicken casado was raw in the middle. When we finally asked for our check, the waiter didn’t know how to add up our bill. He apologized and said he didn’t realize he’d have to work so hard that day. Ha! Oh well, at least the company was good. The nine of us spend the rest of the afternoon at the beach, playing in the sand and surfing waves.  

We were all beat from the sun so we said good-bye to our friends from Washington around 4:00pm, and headed back to the airbnb to catch the sunset. As we turned off the blacktop highway onto the dirt road that leads up the mountain, we saw a local woman carrying her baby up the path. It is a LONG uphill walk (about 2 km or 1.2 miles) to the village that’s just past our airbnb, and Andi and I couldn’t imagine her walking all the way there with her baby. We stopped our car and offered her a ride up the road, and she accepted. Tory and Aden didn’t know what to think as we unbuckled Aden’s car seat and told him to schooch over so the woman and her baby could climb into the backseat. Unfortunately, we don’t speak any Spanish and she didn’t speak English so we weren’t able to communicate with her in any way other than gestures, but we could see she was thankful for the ride. It definitely blew Tory and Aden’s minds that not everyone here owns a car, and that many people walk or take the bus where they need to go.

Finally, we made it back to our place just in time to see the sun go down. Andi grilled hamburgers for dinner which we ate with steamed green beans, and then we all fell into bed early after a fun day in Samara.