This is a quieter spot we are in, away from the noise and parties of the main strip. We are in a little place called In The Shade and it is a rather new building. It sounds like we are doing pretty good since that English-Hungarian couple experienced what they thought might be bedbugs in addition to the cockroaches in the private room of their hostel. We paid just a few dollars more for this place and no sign of any kind of bugs, other than the giant red ants we have not befriended.

We seem to be at a crossroads. We can not complain about too much sun, surf and beach, but travelling for us is about experiencing a bit more. I mentioned the longing for an art gallery or museum in previous posts. We will definitely need to go into the city for that, but when is up in the air. We spent the morning researching options. Seek out the few cultural spots in Costa Rica, or cancel our flight from San Jose to YVR then rebook another ticket through Mexico City, Havana, or even Managua. I have a short spreadsheet outlining our options if we wanted to depart, and after a beer and burger…complimented with a walk along the beach…it sounds like we will soldier on and explore a bit more of Costa Rica. We might just have to dig a little deeper for those cultural experiences.

That burger and beer filled our bellies without emptying the wallet for the first time in a good week or more. A stroll through the far end of town yielded a few shopping options and Melanie was insistent that she needed a shorter dress for this trip. Apparently everything she packed is a little too long. She sweatily tried on dress after dress…so much to the point where I thought I might have lost her. 30 minutes she disappeared in the poorly ventilated corner of a store. In the dim lighting I could see a curtained off area for potential customers to try on each garment. Occasionally I would see a white sandalled foot that only appeared to be struggling with slipping something on…so she was OK.

We wandered back to our place for a nap. No pool, so that afternoon swim had to be reserved for the ocean if it was going to happen at all. We have had a few good ocean swimming days, but here in Tamarindo there are a lot of bodies all swimming, boogie boarding and surfing so lots to watch out for in addition to the waves. Very shallow water also makes swimming a bit difficult. Maybe tomorrow we go out. Rain showed up at 3:30 to water the plants. A thorough dousing, which also made the roads muddy once again. One of us likes to keep their feet clean, and a muddy road combined with those thinly soled sandals doesn’t make a happy camper.

We waited out the rain, then made our way down to catch a scrap of sunset. Happy hour had to also be somewhere, so we headed down the beach to that ceviche place from last night. No music tonight, so we wandered back up through town. Our bellies were still pretty full from lunch, so a lighter dinner was all we wanted. This place we have walked by a dozen times was offering discounted drinks, and live music at 7…so we stopped. Might as well enjoy a drink before the clock ran out, and if the music was good…maybe we stay.

Just after ordering a beer, the same guy that entertained us last night showed up with his stuff to set up. Again, he set up right in front of us. Since we enjoyed his show, we might just as well order a bite to eat and sit through the first set. The pre show entertainment included shrieks from the staff as very large grasshoppers, maybe locusts, flew awkwardly into the restaurant landing n various bits of furniture. One of the first plopped down on the floorboards behind us…and at 6 inches long, there was enough of a thud to be felt up the back of the chair. A lady came over to boot it out of the restaurant, and by boot, this was a swift kicking action to move the thing. Random flapping throughout the space and the creature departed.

Maybe that departed grasshopper told his friends about the place because over the next hour these insects would fly in and land on tables and TVs. The one lady brave enough to trap these bugs casually went around grabbing these guys so as to not spook the rest of the customers. No sense scaring off any dollars during the slow rainy season. Melanie was startled by one narrowly missing her on its way out of the restaurant, then secondly agitated by some other strange bug that landed on her back. We are in the jungle. Bugs are part of it…even really big bugs.

Our night was topped off with a tiny friend. A baby gecko seemed to drop from the ceiling and landed squarely on my hand. There was no flinching on my part, just a careful reach into my pocket for the phone to snap a picture or two before he might run off. Well, there was no running off. He hung out on my hand for probably 10 minutes, and only departed because we wanted to go. Obviously we must not be too threatening, or he just hasn’t caught on to what might eat him. I didnt have any interest in deep frying the cute little guy, but those big grasshoppers might think differently.

We made our way back down the less mucky road. Lit with a near full moon and the occasional streetlight, we seemed to make it back without any mosquito bites tonight. Maybe we are just getting used to them. Now, we need to figure out where we are off to next…and how to get there.