Nov 13- Fishing for dolphins……not dolphin fishing
So we woke up around 6 or so, we wanted to leave around 7:30 to walk over to meet our friends at their hotel for the “fishing” tour.  We were down in the common area for breakfast around 7 or so, they serve eggs, fruit, gallo pinto (rice & beans), yogurt, toast….all included:)  I only had a few pieces of toast with honey, I didn’t want a full tummy before this boat ride.  I took 2 gravol at 7:30, (1 sometimes isn’t enough) then we walked over to the hotel.

The van pulled up around 8:10 or so and there was another couple there as well besides the 5 of us, we also picked up another couple. It was only a 10 minute drive to the  next beach, (Carrillo Beach)

There was also one more couple who drove and met us there.  So we had 14 people in total including the Captain and 2 guides, on a boat that they say holds 25 people….20 would be pushing it.   Turns out, it wasn’t a fishing expedition at all, it was a dolphin watching/snorkeling tour, and there was 1 fishing rod on the boat.  Our guide, Estevan said we probably won’t snorkel because the conditions weren’t the greatest but we can go swimming or chase dolphins longer.  We better see some effin dolphins or I want my 50 bucks back!

The boat was going too slow for my liking and I was worried for the first half hour that I wasn’t going to survive this.  It wasn’t super choppy but even rolling waves make me queezy.  After standing up for a bit it got better, we spotted a few dolphins. There is always more than one boat out on the water and they are all in communication with each other so they know where to find the dolphins/whales.  He got a call that there was a pod about 7-8 more miles out, so we cruised over. Oh! We did see a pair of sea turtles…mating? Smashing shells? It was interesting.

Another 6-7 minutes further out we all started spotting dolphins, they were all around the boat!  These were Pacific Spotted dolphins, which are very similar to Bottlenose but with white spots, found in tropical waters.  We hung around that area for maybe a half hour while everyone took photos/video.

 

It was cool to see how close they come to the boat, you can see them swimming under the water.  It wasn’t as easy to see them as the water was murky due to red tide, and we weren’t in Caribbean waters either.  Estevan had some fresh fruit, so he cut up some pineapple for a snack, there was a cooler of drinks as well.  After watching the dolphins for a bit, we headed back inland until the waters were clear and  people could go swimming.  I need to see whats in the water, so thats a HARD NO for me (Thalassophobia, google it, I bet 63% of you suffer from this too) If this were the Caribbean than maybe, but not out here in the middle of the Pacific.  After 10 minutes of that we just headed back.  It was nice to get out on the water and not feel sick, but I still can’t risk it without gravol. WORST feeling ever if you get seasick (and embarassing, and your day is RUINED)

We were dropped back off at the hotel and Jay & I decided it was lunch time.  We headed to what turned out to be our “usual” spot at Lo Que Hay, since it is close to our hotel, has cheap beer, good reasonably priced food, on the beach…….I had pollo con arroz (chicken and rice), Jay had a burrito. 

We headed back to the hotel around 2-2:30 to do some work for a bit.
I think Jay went for a nap and I worked on my blogs for a bit.

We ended up back at the same place for dinner,I can’t remember what we ate

Pretty sure we just headed back home around 7:30-8 and just chilled. I don’t remember as I have been tardy with my blogs and forgetting details.:(

Nov 14- Beach DAy and Chill

We haven’t been in the ocean yet here, so we figured after breakfast and a bit of work we should hit the beach for the day to cool off. We got up around 6 or so, took our time with breakfast and work, headed to the beach around 10. Samara beach is beautiful, the waves are small-medium sized, perfect for beginner surfers and fun for swimming. They had chairs for rent, $10 for the pair for the day, owned by Tico Surf School next to Lo Que HAy. The water was warm and the waves were fun to get smashed around in, just had to watch out for the people learning how to surf. We watched a couple get some surf lessons and the instructor seemed to be pretty cool. We talked to them later and they were raving about it, it was something that we wanted to try here so we signed up for the next morning!

Since we were right at Lo Que Hay, we obviously ate lunch there:). I think that was the day I ordered a BLT with fried egg and potato wedges and Jay grabbed a burger. We sat there for a bit just people watching, the sun was strong and your skin felt like burning within minutes, so we needed the shade of an umbrella. We stayed until 4:00 or so then headed back to the hotel, figured we would shower/chill for a bit and go for dinner later.

We decided to try a different spot for dinner, there was a restaurant up the road called the Esmeralda (also a hostel). It serve Italian and was pretty quiet that night. Jay ordered an octopus in tomato sauce/bread appetizer, and a casado dish for dinner. I ordered a 4 cheese penne since I was craving something plain, it wasn’t too bland like an alfredo, I could taste some gorgonzola cheese, which seems to be widely used here.

As usual we went to bed somewhere between 8-9, you never know what day those effin Howlers will be waking you at 5am