Happy New Year from the beach

The first beach we reached on the Peninsula de Nicoya was Playa Grande, a very clean and quiet beach in a marine park. It felt so good to have the wind on our skin while walking on the beach, given how hot it was that day. There were remarkable shells on the sand: long white twisted cones, soft pink shiny round ones, brown and white Chinese hats and even alive Sand Dollars crawling slowly in the wet sand. For Margot and Dominique, it was the first time they put their feet in the Pacific Ocean and later, they loved the sunset over the ocean, a sight only to be enjoyed on beaches facing west. This was the first of our days on the beach, which would be our focus for the next few days before going back to visiting and exploring the inland.

Our little yellow house on the beach

We only stayed in Playa Grande for a day and reserved our tour in the Marine Park de las Baulas for January 1st, when we would come back to hopefully see at night sea turtles lying eggs on the beach. But for now, we were off for Playa Samara where we had rented a beach house for the next three days, to relax and enjoy life on the beach in the middle of winter. The house was just the perfect retreat we were looking for: two minutes walk from a beautiful beach where you could easily swim, well groomed gardens, two bedrooms and bathrooms, a big kitchen and living room area for us to hang out and cook, and our favorite spot: the patio with the hammock from which we could see and hear the ocean. We just had stacked up on provisions so we would be good to enjoy our meals in the house for a few days and not have to worry and drive the five minute to go to town everyday.

Soon enough, we made the house ours and came up with the perfect relaxing beach routine. In the morning, we would get up and enjoy together our breakfast on the shaded patio, in the nice morning light. It was just perfect, taking our time, talking and joking for a while. After that, we would slowly get ready for some beach time while taking turns relaxing and reading in the hammock. When we felt like it, we would just take the short walk to the beach and stay there for a while, reading, listening to music, playing in the water or just watching the boats passing by or the water skiers in training, trying not to fall. There were not many people on the beach, just what we needed for tranquility and relaxation. Once we got hungry, we would go back to the house and enjoy a light lunch. The warm hours on the day would be reserved for running errands or playing cards before it cooled down a little again and we could head back to the beach for more playing in the water. We would then enjoy a gorgeous sunset and finally head back home for the night. We would just hang out in the evening, reading our books, listening to music, talking or watching a DVD. Perfect and relaxing harmony in our little yellow beach house.

Welcoming 2010 from the beach

Each day was similar to the previous one, with some little variations, such as what we would eat and how we would spend our mornings and afternoons. There was a predictable slow rhythm about our days and a lazy freedom about what each of us could do. Very very relaxing indeed and for us, so nice again to be in the same place for a few days in what feels like home. Time seems to have stopped, paced by the sound of the ocean and the movement of the sun. It is however amazing how fast these few days flew by...
On the 31st of December, there was some anticipation though: we would celebrate tonight! The girls went to town to buy some food for a special dinner and the Champagne was in the fridge, ready for the midnight celebration. For our last afternoon on the beach, we stepped it up a notch and got the boogie boards out. Chad, the pro in that matter, taught Caroline how to catch the waves. Pretty fun but no easy game, even if the waves were perfect for that. Dominique, intrigued by what he was seeing, let himself being convinced to try when Caroline stopped: Chad was happy to be his teacher. They had both fun in the water too for a little while, Dominique catching his first view waves, until they were both tired and it was time to admire our last glimpse of the sun in 2009. We all headed home and got ready and dressed for the evening celebration. As we prepared dinner, we got a little scared as the power went off but luckily, only for a few minutes. We enjoyed a special dinner, so special that we are still not sure about what we ate: we thought it was fish but it tasted like chicken and none of us had bones. Anyone knows what “Bolillo” is? I guess we will find out soon enough and hopefully it was not snake, iguana, monkey or something worse. Our last dinner in 2009 was a definite original!

As we were getting closer to midnight, we walked to the beach with our glasses and bottle of Champagne. There were many other people there, ready to celebrate the new year. Everyone was joyful and we all counted the last twenty seconds of 2009 together... Bonne Annee! We kissed each other and opened the bottle of Champagne. There were fireworks all around the beach, some just in front of us lit by a nearby group of vacationers. The full moon was lighting up the beach and we could see the ocean, the boats in the water and the sky blossoming with colorful fireworks from everywhere. We were so happy to celebrate the New Year in our summer clothes, outside in a summer-like night on the beach as a family. 2010 is off a great start...