I traveled to Costa Rica for my annual 4-week trip. Tracy took me to the airport early so we stopped at Stone Brewery in Liberty Station for a drink and nosh before the drop-off. A teacher was at the bar enjoying a beer while grading papers.
This outbound flight took me to LAX for a red-eye. My private shuttle was awaiting and delivered me to Kaya Sol in the late morning. Painless travel. Note for future travels: Sambuca is available in LIB duty-free for $20, after customs and before baggage pickup. I carried a package of earplugs for Kaya Sol in exchange for breakfast. When checking in they said the bedroom ceiling fan wasn’t working but that it would be fixed. The fan was replaced during my last week; however, the light on the new fan did not work. Bill and I decided to not tell them and see if the light doesn’t work on next year’s trip.
Waves were bigger during the first part of the trip and were listed at flat, flat-1, or 1-2 at end of the trip. The Holden was the board for those days.
Water temperature was 86-87F. Base wax was not staying on the Holden over the red-painted area.
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| Huge New Home in Perfect Location |
I re-met Margaret and Patrick from San Francisco. And also Mike and Jane also from the bay area. Joel joined from the bay area after a few days. They were here last year.
Also re-met Wayne, a bald guy from Long Island who lives in Nosara part-time.
Bert arrived on 18 December and left on the 28th. He struggled with surfing throughout the trip and admitted the Infinity might not be the board for this break.
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| Next Day after Evening Rain |
Walking back from a surf session, Bert and I and another person came across an iguana with a bad attitude on the trail. Iguana would stand his ground and hiss. The third person took a stick and poked the iguana. The iguana would continue hissing and whip his tail at the stick. Then it bit off the end of the stick.
Nosara has a dog problem. In particular, the restaurant across from kaya sol owner has a dachshund that continually barks. The photographer Andrew has an unleashed dog that barks at beach runners and bikes, digs up baby turtles, and eats them.
But the worst dog award goes to 2 dogs owned by a shaved-headed guy and his Asian girlfriend. The smaller dog bit a person on a bike, then bit Bert. The girlfriend obviously did not know what to do and nervously giggled. Episode #2: Bert and I were walking back on the trail and the girlfriend had the dogs on leashes about 10 feet off-trail. She could barely hold them as they barked, growled, and lunged at us. Episode #3: I was walking back on the trail. The guy had leased dogs about 4 feet off-trail. As I passed, the smaller dog lunged at my free hand and almost got it. The guy said "Sorry about that". Episode #4: Bill and I were walking in ankle-deep water at sunset. The couple and 1 of the unleased dogs were sitting onshore. The dog spotted us and aggressively ran to us. The guy noticed and his voice commanded the dog back.
Good note: I did not see the aggressive dogs or owners for the last 2 days. I hope they just finished their last Nosara visit. I checked, and telescoping batons are illegal but slingshots are not.
The kitchen stove gas ran out on a Saturday morning. We resigned ourselves to the fact it might not be refilled until sometime next week. I told 1 person at the hotel desk and got a weak response. I told another person (Andrea) later that day and it was fixed in 1 hour.
We dined mostly at the hotel restaurant. Local and reasonable, they had a good Caesar salad.
Jennifer and her family were in town. We dined at Kaya Sol one evening. Jennifer had a scare on a surfboard and hasn’t been on a board since. Hope she gets over it. It was good meeting her family.
Bill was scheduled in for the last week. I watched the gypsy cab bus show up and depart without Bill. Oh well, he is lost somewhere in a foreign country. 10 minutes later GC #2 showed up with Bill, and an 11 pack of Imperials, Sambuca, and Baileys.
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| Bill Always Shows Up Prepared |
Bill started the next day surfing the white water. We talked about leash management and popup timing. Bill progressed to paddling out to the smaller breaks and catching a few waves.
Bill brought a small fan to help circulate cold air from the bedroom. Good move.
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| Bill, Bill, BILL!!!! |
Mainly due to the low tide at daybreak, we would schedule dawn patrol walks to watch to sunrise. Nice colors.
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| Morning Light |
Pack list add items:
Additional 275 contacts. Use 2 per surf per day.
Calvin Klein cotton briefs for lounging when only 1 person
Hard squeegee for wax removal
ADK hat with next coverage
Koozie for beers
Old surfer journals to swap w/ Bert
Wide mouth water bottle
Bottle cleaner for water bottle
Noodles to protect packed boards
Duct tape for noodles
Pizza port sticker for frig
Sharpie pen in zip lock bag
Individual salt/pepper
Ziploc baggies for freezing food
Candle or canning wax for painted area on Holden
Surfboard handle
Light-colored, high collar, non-cotton shirts that can be sink rinsed.
