A Day at the Beach

Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013--Side Trip to Playas del Coco

Our landlady made us an unbelievable breakfast this morning.  There was a medium-sized plate with fresh fruits--watermelon, papaya, and pineapple.  Then there was a normal-sized plate with scrambled eggs with ham, white rice with black beans, and caramelized plantains.  It was served with bread, coffee and fresh pineapple juice.  It was too much.  I felt miserable after eating it.

We caught the bus at 10:15 to Playas del Coco, a beach resort that is about an hour away from here.  It's an interesting place.  It has sophisticated resorts that cost in the hundreds of dollars a night, and it has many area local families who go there to picnic and swim.  The town itself is really one long street leading to the beach.  The street is lined with restaurants, bars, shops, tour company offices, etc.  The beach itself is shaped nicely but is not pretty.  That's because it is brown in color.  In fact, the name comes from its cacao coloration.

It was very hot today.  We found a seat in the shade and watched people on the beach for the first hour.  Eventually, we wandered up and down the beach doing more people watching while pausing only when we could find a shade.  Fortunately, the wind was strong (as it has been for the past several days).

We caught the bus back to Liberia at 14:45.  We passed the airport both going to and coming back from the beach, so we saw where Wes will leave tomorrow.  It's no bigger than the airport in Corpus Christi.

Back in Liberia, we were tired of beans and rice, so we went to McDonald's and had an early dinner.  Then we walked through town stopping at the main square to see the skateboarders who were practicing on ramps designed for them.  One was especially good and seemed to appreciate the fact that we would applaud when he performed a trick well.  Also there was a bicyclist who kept speeding by doing a rear wheelie.  It was amazing how far and how fast he could go on that back wheel.

We made it back to our hotel at 19:00.  Tomorrow will be a travel day.  Wes will fly back to San Antonio where his car is parked and then drive to Corpus Christi.  I have been reviewing my Nicaragua guide and have decided to detour across northern Costa Rica and cross the border at another site.  Therefore, I will return to Cañas for one night so I can catch a morning bus from there into the mountains to the east of here.