4th Aug 2026   Extraordinary Experiences

I apologise for the abrupt ending of my previous blog.  Maybe it was an attempt at a cliff-hanger?  Or maybe I was just tired after writing on-and-off for three days, and I just posted it.

Back to Tamarindo.  As usual, I met some interesting people in the hostel, most notably a Russian woman, Olga, who had been living in Canada and now lives in Costa Rica, running retreats all over.  She had some notebooks, all written in Russian, which she used to explain her approach to me, based on the balancing of energies.  She had led a difficult life, with much ancestral stuff she had to identify and work through. What impressed me was that she had been living in Tamarindo a year before, and could see the difference in herself after returning a year later, thanks to applying her own methods. 

I was curious about the name of the town, and researched the tamarind tree and its fruits.   The pods have hard, shiny seeds that are covered in a husk and sticky paste, much like dates.  These are harvested, and sold as a compacted lump, or as tamarind juice.  I went in search of the juice, but unable to find it anywhere, I bought the lump of tamarind and now I make my own juice, dissolving it in water.  It has a tangy taste, like a mixture of lemon and dates, and is good for the digestive system.

Although Tamarindo is by far the most popular tourist and expat town, I loved the relaxed atmosphere at the beach.  I spent my days walking and swimming, and tried to rent a bicycle one day, but one peddle fell off after about a kilometre, so I returned the bike and walked to the next beach, Playa Langosta, instead.  It ends abruptly at a river, and it was quite amusing to see how people reacted to the river, some going inland to wade waist deep through less turbulent water, others standing there, seriously thinking about entering the strong current.  It was low tide when I returned, so I could follow the beach around some rocks instead of having to go back by road. 

My one beige short pants was beginning to fray and tear, so I went in search of a thrift store, where American second-hand clothes are sold very cheaply.  I managed to buy an excellent one for $5, and left the old one and a badly stained T-shirt at the hostel when I left. 

The nightlife at the beach is quite exciting.  Restaurants have tables and chairs on the sand, strings of lights and tempting happy-hour cocktails.  Watching a sunset one evening, I ordered a mojito, but the waiter brought two, much to my astonishment – I had forgotten about happy-hour, two for the price of one.  As it happened, Enca reminded me it was friend-day in Argentina, so I was sharing with friends worldwide, in spite of drinking both myself.  We had a fire-show when it became darker, accompanied by dramatic music.  

There are brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) that dive for fish like kingfishers, and they were at the Tamarindo beach every day, sometimes diving close to where people were swimming.  I was watching them one day when a whole lot of flying fish leapt from the sea close to me, making me and other swimmers gasp in surprise.

I went to draw some money at a bank, and walked past a local restaurant advertising casado, and went in.  I was the only customer, and great care was given to the preparation of the food, which the owner explained was made from scratch.  He turned on the aircon, and we had a good conversation, him practicing his English, and me my Spanish. 

The final FIFA game was being played while I was in Tamarindo, and although I was fervently hoping for an Argentinian win, I couldn’t help being impressed by the staunch support by Spanish fans, and bemused by their exuberance at the end of the game.  TV’s were on at all the restaurants and pubs, and the noise was overwhelming when Spain won, carrying on late into the night with hooters blaring and flags being waved out of car windows. 

I’ve become very good at making arepas, my breakfast every morning.  I managed to buy some yellow maize flour, and fill mine with ham, cheese and an egg, just like in Bogota.

Eventually I had to pack my bags and leave.  Juan, the owner of the hostel, had been very helpful with information, especially about the turtles.  He had gone to great lengths to find a guide that could take me to a beach to the north, Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, where I was told the turtles come to nest.  The third person he contacted explained that it was not the right season – turtles nest there from November to April.  I had gotten my dates wrong, much to my disappointment.  On the Caribbean side they nest at this time of the year, but I was not about to undertake a trip back that way, so decided to go to Montezuma, a small town on the southern side of the Nicoya peninsula.  Juan very tentatively told me I could take local buses, and he would explain the route, but when he mentioned a third and fourth town, I decided to take a shuttle, even though it was more than four times the price.  Good decision – picked up at The Backside House, dropped at the entrance to Luminosa Montezuma Hostel.  Best place ever – right above the sea, great views, waves crashing onto the  rocks at high tide, clear rock-pools to swim in at low tide, and hammocks everywhere. 

I immediately booked an extra night, and later on I added two more nights – I could’ve stayed there for a month, the tranquility was addictive. 

Nate, the owner of the hostel, showed me a map on arrival, explaining in detail what there was to do, how to get to places and where one could eat.  The hostel was a 10-minute walk from the small town, but there was a soda across the road which served delicious casados at a reasonable price, so I didn’t do much cooking, apart from the arepas every morning. 

My first visit was to the Montezuma Waterfall of course, which was close to the hostel.  There were three kids who were jumping and diving from the rocks, into the muddy water where they could not see what was below.  One climbed up into the waterfall and dived down. 

One day I walked 6,5km along the coast to a waterfall that falls into the sea, but I could only view it from the little beach as it was high tide and the waves were breaking on the rocks below it.  It was a lovely walk though, as one sometimes walked on the beach, and sometimes along a trail that went through forests and palm groves.  At one point there was a whole lot of garbage bags stacked together and empty ones tied to a fence, that one could take to pick up rubbish above the high tide mark.  It is the only place in Costa Rica that I have seen garbage on the coast (a lot of it), and it was well above the high tide mark.  The rest of the beach and the sea is clean. 

There is an island, Cabuya Island,  which one can walk to at low tide, so two days later I left early to walk the 6,2km in the opposite direction, this time along the road, but also through some forest areas.  Along the way was a gigantic ficus tree, the largest in Costa Rica, Nate had emphasized.  I was wearing my hiking boots, so when I got to where I could cross to the island, I had to wade through on the rocky path barefoot, telling myself it was not painful, it was just free reflexology.  A pleasant surprise awaited me on the little island – there was a cemetery! 

Every Saturday there is a local market in town, and on the 25th July they were celebrating Guanacaste Day, which is the  commemoration of the voluntary  inclusion of the Nicoya peninsula to Costa Rica in 1824, when the area became known as  Guanacaste.  They had a live band, some stalls and happy people dancing on the little town square, unfortunately mostly expats, so I didn’t stay long, but it was fun. 

And then one of the highlights of my trip occurred:  Nate told us they were releasing baby turtles at 16h00 on the day before I left.  I was not aware that there was a turtle protection project at Montezuma, where they patrol the beaches every night during nesting season, dig up the eggs that are lain and bury them in a protected area to prevent raccoons, dogs and poachers from raiding the nests.  Also, the beaches are covered by water during high tide, so nests might be washed away.  We gathered at the designated point and watched them remove 118 baby hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) from a nest and release them one by one high up on the beach.  It was the first time they had hawksbill turtles breed there, and everyone was very excited.  What a joyful occasion, I was enthralled.  The last little one struggled a lot, it kept on being washed back up on the beach by the waves, and a great big cheer went up when it finally made it. 

My final destination in Costa Rica was going to be Cartago, close to San José, as nobody seems to stay in San José.  One can take a ferry to Puntarenas and then a bus to San José instead of travelling up through the peninsula. When I asked Nate about time schedules, she suggested I rather stay in Paquera than Puntarenas, which is a small typically Costa Rican town close to where the ferry leaves from.  It was not far from Montezuma, but I liked the idea of still being on the peninsula and booked two nights at the Bioluminiscencia Hostel Tours – South. 

I was cooling off in the lovely pool at the hostel, when the owner (Coco), who was scooping bougainvillea flowers out of the pool, started talking to me. “Are you interested in the Bioluminiscence Tour?  It is a boat trip to two islands, swimming at a beach on one of the islands, sundowner drinks and seeing the luminescence in the water, really beautiful.  You also have the option of taking a kayak.”  The latter comment caught my attention, and when he said he was the tour leader and we leave from the hostel, I was convinced.  Four of us and Coco left at 16h00, drove to Pájeros Bay in his car, got our kayaks there and rowed quite far into the bay to two islands.  Coco asked if I wanted to share a kayak, but I bravely said no, as I was really looking forward to kayaking on the sea.  There are many Magnificent Frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) on one island, called Pájeros Island (pájeros is Spanish for bird), and we saw one male with his red inflated gular sack, but I couldn’t take a picture.  There were hundreds of females, and very few males.  We stopped at a rocky beach on the second very small island, called Texas Island because of cacti growing on it, and we lolled in the water until well after sunset, drinking mojitos that Coco was mixing on the boat that had joined us (with more guests).  One man, a Mexican, talked non-stop  the whole time, in Spanish, entertaining the three other young people and other guests.  I was feeling anxious about rowing back in the dark, and afraid I might get too tired, so I was a bit withdrawn, not able to communicate my fears in Spanish.  All went well though, and we crossed to the dark side of the bay, where the luminescence of the plankton was exquisitely beautiful once it got really dark.  I was looking at the stars as much as the water, and drifted away in my kayak while the others were swimming and talking.  Eventually the moon rose and we could see quite well to row back.  A truly exceptional adventure. 

[I am having trouble downloading pictures on this website, and no videos would download, so I’m posting it now and hopefully a new blog post will allow me downloads.]