Second Beach Day at Dan's

Us girls had such a great time at the beach, we wanted to stay another day if the bus schedule would allow it. I woke up at 8am on Tuesday and headed straight to the pool to nurse my sunburned skin that felt as if it were two hundred degrees to the touch. Plus, I had learned there was wifi down there, so I took advantage of that as well. It was so nice to relax in the pool and the lounge chairs surrounding it. I could see why so many retirees move south. Some early birds were already down there reading their newspaper and sipping their coffee. Jan and another guy were discussing community gossip or drama and Mr. Tallahassee (can't remember his name from our sunset gathering) came down for a morning dip. I hung out in my lawn chair, relaxing and typing some more blog readings. An older couple comes and sits next to me with their bowls of cereal and decided to strike up a conversation with me. Their names were Stu and Sue and they were also from Canada. They were very curious to hear all about our trip, and all about me. They told me how they were taking Spanish classes down here twice a week and were really enjoying them. Stu and Sue were my favorite couple yet.

When I went back inside, I was just in time for some breakfast and the game plan for the day. Erin and Nicki had checked the bus schedule and there was one leaving Nosara at 6am, so we had another full day at Dan's. He asked us if we wanted to do any of his adventure stuff his business offered and we decided to rent some surf boards and boogie boards. Dan was kind enough to call his buddy that owns a surf rental place and get us a great deal on boards. He had to take off for a doctor's appointment, so we were left to explore the beaches for another day. We set out to his beach at low tide and walked the shoreline south about a half hour. About halfway through the walk, there was a small footpath that cut thorough the rocky and wooded peninsula that jutted out into the ocean. It was nice to be able to cut through and not have to walk all the way around. The path was rocky and rough, and was lined with beautiful flowered vines on both sides of us at times. Bright red hibiscus like flowers lined the trail as we marched our way back out to the beach. We walked past people playing in the water, and sitting in tide pools and enjoying the ocean as much as we were. Birds loved low tide because they were able to pick at anything and everything left behind in the sand and shallow tide pools.

We had finally reached Guiones beach and it was just as remote as the others we walked across. A few people were sunning themselves or surfing, but other than that, pretty empty. We walked up the path towards town and were extremely hot from our walk so we stopped in a small restaurant called The Gilded Iguana for a smoothie and some lunch. I ordered a pineapple smoothie, which down here, is the fruit of your choice, water and ice blended. So good because it's not too sweet and you can appreciate the taste of the fresh fruit without being overloaded with sweet yogurt or sugar.

We enjoyed our lunch in the breezy shade and found out that there was live music here later in the evening, so we made dinner reservations. Leaving the restaurant, we headed to a place called The Frog Pad to rent boards, and hit the beach. I was so fried from the day before that I just chilled on the beach and was careful to cover my skin for a decent amount of the day.

We walked the beach back the same way to get cleaned up and ready for our dinner reservations. The tide was definitely on the rise and made walking a bit more challenging. I rinsed off at the pool shower outside and felt so refreshed to get all that sun lotion and sand off my skin.

We had planned to catch the 6am bus the next morning so we had to pack up our things when we got back from dinner so I decided to get a head start on packing, while the others got ready for dinner.

I moved my backpack to the bed so that it was at a more comfortable height to pack in. I was sitting on one bed and went to rest my feet up on the other mattress and inches from my foot, sitting on my stuff was a spider even bigger than the night before. I, of course, flipped out and my spider catcher Nicki was in the shower! Niki James guarded the spider while I ran to the kitchen to get the cup. I returned to the room as fast as I could to hear Niki announce to me that it took off...BEHIND OUR HEADBOARD! Yikes! Why in the hell didn't I just kill it when I had the chance. All of the girls, who were totally used to encountering these types of bugs in their traveling adventures, assured me that it'd be gone by the time we got back from dinner. I could only hope so.

Time had already crept up on us and the spider had just added to the fact that we were running behind. We knew that the tide would be too high to walk back to Playa Guiones for dinner so we decided to take the roadways, which didn't work too hot. The roads are so windy and dark that there was no way to keep track of direction. We got to La Luna, the restaurant where we had drinks and called a cab. Our reservations were in ten minutes and there was a good chance we wouldn't make it in time. The cab showed up and was way expensive for how far it actually had to drive us, but we had no choice.

Upon arrival at The Gilded Iguana, we thought for sure, we were too late, but the smiling hostess took us right to our table on the grass yard outside. Oriental paper lanterns were strung above our heads, a reggae sounding band played Sublime and other familiar bands as we took our seat. A cheery Canadian waiter greeted us and started us off with some drinks. I enjoyed a vegetable curry and rice along with an awesome Bloody Mary. It was nice to eat dinner out again because we were so used to making our dinners at home. The environment was very summery, chill, and perfect for the surf town feel.

We walked the beach home with full bellies and flashlights in hand. Here and there, we'd have to dodge a crab in the sand or an over energized wave coming farther up onto shore than the others. Toward the last third of our walk, the amount of hermit crabs greatly increased. Nicki and I shared my beam of light, strategizing and being so careful not to step on any crabs. I shined the beam of light away from our feet and out across the sand. They were everywhere! It was like LA traffic during rush hour for these little crabs.

The thought of that spider that had disappeared from my mind at dinner, but quickly returned as we walked into Dan's house. I still needed to shower, so I grabbed my clothes from my bag, shaking each individual item, and I headed to hit the showers. Right when I got my clothes off, I look down in the corner by the entrance of the shower and see the spider! At least, I hope it was the same one and not another. What seemed like all one reaction, I screamed, threw a towel around me and booked it out of the bathroom. Niki runs in to see it and we startled it under the bathroom vanity. The rest of my shower was a little on edge with my eyes constantly watching around me for him to return.

I survived my shower in the same room as a spider, finished what was left of packing, and hit the hay. We had another long and dusty day of traveling ahead of us to get to Nicaragua, so sleep was a must....even if it was with one eye open in pursuit of my haunting spider ;)


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