Flamingo

Alex's childhood best friend Jackie (who lives in NY) vacationed in Costa Rica to spend time with family.  This took us to the beach again for another weekend.

We were in Flamingo, which is up near Coco.  As you might recall, this was my first "home" when I came to Costa Rica back in December.  The weekend beach trip kind of felt like retracing my steps.  

We left early Friday morning for the 6hr drive from San Jose to Flamingo.  Costa Rica is about the size of Kansas, and traveling 165 highway miles would take less than 3hrs in the US.  But with the poor roads here, it takes at least twice as long.  I continue to realize how frustrating it is for me to travel such long distances at a pace slower than 30 mph!  

We arrived at our hotel and worked Friday afternoon.  This was a beautiful location to open up my laptop and knock out some work.  After work, we enjoyed sunset drinks and then joined Jackie's family for dinner.  

(Of course, Alex knows the hotel and owner, and got us one night free as part of an inspection to see the renovated rooms.)  

Jackie's family rented a beautiful home on a point, and we spent Saturday there with them.  This included lunch, an afternoon on the beach, and a sunset swim in the pool.  I got to hear some of their teenage shenanigans, but from the girls' perspectives and Jackie's mother...so much fun!

The pictures don't do the house justice.  It was very nice, but Alex tells me this was an older house that wasn't quite as nice as many she normally rents for her customers.

Sunday, we were on our own.  We joined an 8am yoga class at the hotel. 

Our afternoon was on a beach just north of Flamingo.  The highlight... PELICANS... hundreds of them... diving into the water to feed on the fish.  As I was swimming in the surf, there were birds all around me diving.  I wasn't worried about them hitting me because they were definitely more interested in the fish than me.  I've never experienced anything like that.

As we were wrapping up at sunset to drive back to San Jose, I said hello to a woman who was sitting by herself.  Turns out she is from KC and owns a popular art gallery in the Crossroads that I have visited many times.  Kim invited Alex and I to stay for dinner in her beachfront rental.  By the time we were done, it was too late to drive back to San Jose, so we stayed an extra night at the hotel.  This meant another workday on the beach Monday...which was fine by me!