Monday Aug 7
Our second morning in Costa Rica! The sun rises at 5:30 making getting up early pretty easy as daylight floods in. Around 8am we walked to our nearest supermarket, closer than the one we went to yesterday. It’s the “gringo market” where supposedly the prices are higher. And gringo it was! There was kombucha, kale, a large variety of produce, peanut butter, and even Spanish cava amongst many other imported things. There was ample lighting and the store was clean and well organized.
I found an iPhone in the garlic bin so I took it up to the cashier, “Había un iPhone en el ajo.”
The cashier, a young girl who looked about 20 with the air of being completely over life and tired of gringos asking stupid questions, apathetically huffed “What,” with such attitude and disdain that only teenagers can pull off without coming off too overly rude.
“Encuentré un iPhone in the garlic,” giving up on my Spanish mid sentence. Upon seeing the phone in my hand her eyes lit up as she gasped, “It’s mine! Thank you, thank you!”
After wandering around the store for 10 more minutes we left with a papaya, German style bread from a local bakery (a braided loaf with peanut, walnut and almond paste), milk, and a large aloe vera drink for about 16 dollars.
We walked back (about 14 minutes) and made coffee and had some of the German bread. It was delicious! Then we packed a bag and started our trek to the town of Los Pargos and the beach Playa Negra which is the most popular surfing beach around here. The walk was really pleasant since there was lots of cloud coverage. Also this road was a dirt road solely used by residents, farmers and beachgoers so there was no through traffic. We only encountered one vehicle which was a large delivery truck advertising different fruits over megaphone.
A good part of the walk went through some very large leafed trees so when the wind rustled through it was really loud and beautiful, kind of like rainsticks. We came to a section that was completely flooded, but there was a little makeshift bridge on the side. We made more dog friends. Three of them, including a little puppy with tiger markings, accompanied us for a good 10 minutes before finally turning back. We also passed by chickens, a little baby pig, and horses.
The walk was long but enjoyable, about 50 minutes. The brick path to Playa Negra was nicely maintained. There was even a security guard watching over the parking lot. There were surf shops, signs advertising massage services, and cafe/restaurant signs. Very different from the wild and untouched beaches we explored yesterday.
The beach itself was similar to yesterday’s black volcanic rock beach, but more sand than rock and fewer crabs. About 20 people were out in the water trying to surf the giant waves.
We took a short stroll on the beach, admiring the surfers and the ritzy beach mansions along the shore. Then we walked into the town of Los Pargos- and it was a real town! Definitely more “gringo” and tourist friendly than where we are staying. Lots of shops and restaurants all close to each other. We popped into a cafe called Jalapeño. James had an iced coffee and I had a green Hulk smoothie that had apple, spinach, kale and I think pineapple… It was delicious! Definitely one of the best smoothies I’ve had in my life. It had just the right amount of sweetness and the way the ice was blended resulted in a creamy texture. We talked to the owner Mike who is from Florida but has been living in Costa Rica for the last 28 years. We talked about life in Costa Rica, and more specifically life on this coast in a small town versus the capital, San Jose. He shared that he had to go into San Jose the other day and that he wore his best shirt, but still felt like a dirty beach bum. Apparently people in San Jose dress up to go anywhere.
After chatting with him a bit, we then walked some more through the town and popped into a supermarket where we bought some salt, olive oil, toilet paper, and frozen chicken. The meat selection in the supermarkets has not been great and we’ve yet to find a carnicería or any fresh not frozen meats. This market was more of a locals/Tico market so the lighting was definitely lacking. The shop attendant was very kind as he checked the prices of the oils I had been comparing.
On our walk back, there were some horses just grazing on the side of the road. So far we have seen lots of horses and some babies too. Overall Los Pargos is a cool little town! I like where we are staying, but it is definitely lacking in convenience.
On the way back I tried popping into a place that advertised custom-made bikinis . It was basically someone’s home. The guy came out (his barking dog alerted him) and told us that his electricity had just gone out so another day he could show us bikinis. He is from California. We had a quick little chat with him too- all the expats here are so open and welcoming. On our way back we heard then saw howler monkeys! They were hooting very noisily.
We kept walking back. The same dogs greeted us and this time their human family was out having dinner. They were definitely very poor and their property and home looked in very rough condition, but they seemed to be genuinely happy, enjoying life, listening to music outside while their chickens clucked around. They have two little baby pigs and one larger pig.
We got back to the airbnb and I got to work cooking dinner. I made a casado (Costa Rican for a home cooked dish with some meat, rice and beans and a salsa component). I cooked the chicken with onion and tomato, served it over rice and beans and finished it with some of the leftover mango guac from the other day. It was tasty enough. The chicken was okay- lots of skin and bones. After cleaning up, I did some yoga then went to sleep. I think I was in bed by 8pm. I was dead tired. I’m also a little sick so I wasn’t feeling too great.