Samara, Costa Rica - Days 10 & 11

Wednesday, February 20

Goodness, today was a lazy day! After 10 days of traveling, I think we all needed one of those days.

We’ve developed a bit of a routine this week— I wake up early before the rest of the house to blog or work on my Beachbody coaching stuff, and then I do my workout for the day. Andi wakes up later and makes the kids breakfast and then they hang out on the sofa for a while, watching cartoons while Andi works on his computer. Tory and I also do school in the mornings if we don’t have an activity planned.

Andi used leftover chicken to make chicken stir-fry with rice for lunch, and then we packed up our beach bag and drove to Playa Garza. We had plans to meet Chris, the owner of our airbnb, and his family for dinner at a soda there. (A soda is a restaurant that serves typical Costa Rican food, usually casados which are a plate of rice, beans, salad, and a meat of your choice). A few days prior, Chris asked us if we’d be interested in having fresh-caught lobster there. We said yes, of course! He pre-ordered it with the soda, and the fishermen went out that morning and caught it.

The road to Garza was a bumpy 40-minute drive from our airbnb in Samara. “Stop bumping!” Aden begged from the backseat, but there’s not much Andi can do about it as he’s navigating the roads. We have a SUV and some of the roads are still in rough shape. I can’t imagine what it’s like in a small car or on a motorcycle as many people have here.

We arrived to Playa Garza around 3:30pm and met Chris & his kids. He has an 11 year old, 9 year old, and a 5 year old. Aden made friends with Johnny (9) and Eleanor (5) right away and they began running and playing outside the restaurant. Tory wasn’t so quick to jump in — there were several dogs running loose and one tried to nip at her leg. She’s not very fond of dogs anyway, so all the wild ones in the streets and restaurants of Costa Rica aren’t exactly her favorite part of being here.

We’ve noticed that restaurants are pretty laid back when it comes to service. Chris was friendly with the owners at this particular soda as they live just up the hill, so he took it upon himself to get us started with beverages. I told Chris I’d have a water and he said, “Well, that’s the one thing they don’t usually have here.” My two drink choices were beer or orange Fanta. I choose a cerveza. So much for cutting back on our weekday drinking!

Soon it was time for dinner. Tory ordered a hamburger and French fries and Aden had fish and french fries. The kids all ate dinner, then ran off to play again. The tide was going out and they were itching to swim in the ocean. Next, our lobster casadas came out of the kitchen and oh my gosh - wow! We each had the biggest lobsters I’d ever seen!

Chris, Andi and I ate as we talked about jobs, family, school and travel. Then, we joined the kids to play on the beach as the sun went down. Chris’s kids brought a tube to the beach, and the kids had a blast surfing it through the waves.

Aden was a rockstar on that tube! He took a serious beating as he flung off into the waves, but he kept popping back up. At one point, he threw up from ingesting too much sea water all down Andi’s back and then said, “I’m ok!” as he hopped back in and swam some more.

We said good-bye to Chris & his kids, and made our way back to the airbnb in Samara. The Costa Rican toads were out in full force when we returned. These guys love to hang out on the outdoor patio and take a dip in the pool at night. I’ll admit, I do a double-check out the window before I walk outside. Every morning we wake up to poop on the patio the size a small dog would leave, and Chris confirmed for us tonight — it’s from the toads. Unreal! The Costa Rican cane toad is the largest in the world and can weigh up to 3 1/2 pounds, though the ones we saw were probably the size of my hand.

Thursday, February 21

Another day in paradise! Our day started out much the same - workout, computer time, breakfast and school. The airbnb’s gardener who lives in the nearby village stopped by the house with a bag of oranges. He has an orange tree on his property, and brought them over for us which was really thoughtful. Andi used the oranges to make us freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast and this time it was delicious. The oranges here are green on the outside, but perfectly sweet. Then, we put on our swimming suits and headed into Samara. Aden had plans to learn to surf today!

We heard Pato’s at Playa Samara does a great job teaching kids how to surf and Aden said he was interested in learning, so we booked him a lesson there. Tory decided to sit this one out. Interestingly, most events are based on the tide schedule here, which is something I am not at all used to living in the Midwest all my life. Based on the schedule, the best time for him to learn to surf was at 12:30pm, so we arrived at Pato’s at that time for his lesson.

Everything here is so laid back, we ended up waiting 20 minutes for the surf lesson to begin. We were 10 minutes early of course, and then we waited another 10 minutes for the surf instructor. “Tico time,” they call it, which basically means nothing starts on time. As the minutes ticked by, I could see that Aden was getting more nervous about the experience. He’s rarely the one “center stage” - it’s usually Tory taking the lead - and he wasn't quite sure how to act. When the surfing instructor started the lesson, Aden clammed up and refused to participate. I decided to sit back and let Andi handle this one, and he offered to go into water with Aden so he’d feel more comfortable. With Andi by his side, Aden agreed to try it.

First, Aden practiced the surfing fundamentals on the sand and then Andi, Aden and the surfing instructor carried their surfboards down to the water. Tory and I hung back in the sand and watched as they paddled out past some of the shallow waves and took a few tries. I couldn’t really tell what was happening, but Andi said Aden was scared and didn’t really try to stand up. After a few attempts, Aden said he was done and the lesson was over.

It was a learning experience for all of us. In hindsight, I think Aden might have been more comfortable if we’d come down to the beach earlier that morning and let him play in the water. Jumping in cold turkey for his lesson wasn’t the easiest transition. It would have been a better idea for Andi or I to take Aden alone vs. having the entire family as an audience. And this is probably my motherly defense talking, but Aden learns better by doing, not listening. If the instructor would have gotten on the surfboard with Aden while they were practicing on the sand and said, “Let’s surf! You do what I do!” as he taught Aden the basic fundamentals, he would have been more likely to participate vs. sitting in a chair asking Aden pop quiz questions. Anyway, he didn’t surf but he tried it and I still think that’s pretty great for a five-year-old.

After the surfing lesson, we all needed a reset so we popped over to Lacanda Restaurant next door to Pato’s for a smoothie. Andi was upset by Aden’s lack of effort and I was upset with Andi for being upset with Aden, so I decided last-second that a Moscow Mule sounded even better than a smoothie! The kids shared a slice of tiramisu and we all chilled out for a bit under the shade of big overgrown trees. Ah, back to Pura Vida living.

We walked down to the sand after our mid-day happy hour, but suddenly the water was packed with surfers. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable having the kids play in the water with all that board action, so we decided to pack up and head back to our airbnb for pool swimming instead. “Are we short-changing our last beach day in Samara?” Andi asked me before we left, but I didn’t think so. We spent plenty of time here and made lots of great memories. It’s not good-bye to Samara, it’s “until next time.” We really enjoyed our time in this town, and I can see us coming back someday.

Before we left downtown, we stopped and picked up some veggies and fresh bread. The kids needed Nutella, too, but it was $12 for a jar in the Super we stopped at. I know they like Nutella toast, but that’s ridiculous! Andi said he knew Super China market in town sold it for less, so we drove there to buy some. With groceries procured, we went back to our airbnb about 10 minutes outside Samara. The kids and I swam for the last hour until sunset.

We hopped out of the pool just in time to catch our last sunset in Samara. “Race you to the top,” Aden shouted! Tory was still in her pool towel as she hiked up the dirt trail.

“Hold this stick up in the air, Mom, and say ‘I’m the queen of the world!’”, Aden said. It really did feel like that as we looked down on the valley below with the ocean in the distance.

Our photos can’t seem to capture the true depth and beautiful of these sunsets! They really are magnificent. And there’s something special about watching them together every night as a family. It’s the perfect reminder to slow down and be grateful for our day. I’m not sure what our future holds, but I’m really trying to be present in this trip and enjoy every experience. Today, life is good.