Tuesday Aug 8

Today I started my morning with a little yoga outside. Afterwards I sliced up some papaya to go with our morning coffee.

Then James and I walked to the gringo market, but not to shop. Next door there is a little restaurant called Tata’s. We entered and to my delight we found a beautiful haciendaesque setting. Past the counter and bar, it opens up to a secluded courtyard, lush with all types of tropical plants and a small swimming pool.

James ordered a plate of fried eggs, toast, fruit and coffee. I opted for a plate of gallo pinto (a typical Costa Rican side dish of rice and beans), carne mechada, pickled pico de gallo, avocado, tortilla, plantains, and and a papaya slushie. Everything was absolutely delicious and presented with care, and the people working there were friendly and nice.

We walked back and packed up a bag for Los Pargos- take two! This time we were in contact with Javier (Pargos Adventures) who we arranged to meet with at 1pm to rent some bikes. We did the same walk as yesterday, a bit faster this time since we knew where we were going. We saw a large black iguana munching on some leaves on the side of the road. We also saw a flattened, squished, dead tarantula about the size of a toddler’s hand.

We got to Los Pargos a little early so we headed to Playa Negra for a quick dip. I wasn’t a fan because I was not wearing the right swimsuit. The waves were strong and kept knocking me down, around and over. Basically, I was holding onto my 2-piece swimsuit the whole time. Gritty sand got in all the places. James loved it though! 

It was nearing 1pm, so we packed up and walked back into town. At this point it looked like it was about to storm any second and there was loud thunder booming all around us. We had just made it into Javier’s shop when it started pouring. While it rained he went over the bikes with us, how to change the tire and patch it up if we need to, and also general things about Costa Rica and Nicoya Peninsula. Looking through his wildlife picture guide, we confirmed that we did indeed see a panther the other day- specifically we saw the jaguarundi.  He also showed us which snakes to watch out for.

After talking to him for a while, and of course filling out the necessary paperwork, we had our bikes and were off! By now the rain was still coming down steadily but it wasn’t too bad. In need of some colones, we biked to the closest ATM, located in the JW Marriott hotel near Playa Avellanes. The town of Avellanes is similar to Los Pargos- a main road with cafes, restaurants, and shops on the sides. We turned onto the property, rode past security and continued on for 10 minutes through a nicely paved road surrounded by golf course type greenery. Yep, this was the Marriott resort, lots of land separating itself from the real, wild Costa Rica.

Finally we got to the hotel, parked our bikes and were directed to the ATM. After taking out probably not enough cash, we wandered through the resort a bit and decided to have a drink at the poolside/beachside bar. The pool area was composed of several connected pools with different water features and little bridges. There were several bars, restaurants, chill out zones, and gardens. The general vibe reminded me of the HBO show, “White Lotus”, with its generic, western resort luxury. It was beautiful, but could be anywhere in the world. If you never left the property you could easily forget you were even in Costa Rica.

The food menu was expensive- we ended up ordering an average calamari appetizer for about 25 dollars. James had an alcohol free beer and I had a virgin piña colada that was delicious and only cost 3 dollars. 

James got a text from Danny, the spokesperson for the turtle sanctuary, saying that there were a nest of turtles beginning to hatch, so at 5pm they would do a release! We finished up quickly and then biked as fast as we could past our Airbnb, to playa Junquillal. It was a long way back, up and over hills. The mud from the recent downpour did not make things easy. At one point mud splatted up into my eye. Exhausted but determined, we pedaled on- for the baby turtles! We passed by some monkeys crossing the road above us on the telephone wire.

We finally made it to the turtle sanctuary around 5:15. But we really were right on time! There was a huge crowd of about 40 or 50 people. A volunteer showed us the turtles that had just hatched. There were maybe 50 of them!  All crawling around chaotically in a box, dark green, covered in sand. A few were starting to open their eyes.

After 5 minutes everyone walked together to the beach where they drew boundary lines in the sand for us not to cross. They released the turtles one by one a good distance away from the water so they had a long journey to go. As the turtles made their way closer to the water, the volunteers would redraw the lines, closer to the turtles so we could keep up with them. We just had to stay back behind the line so there was no chance of someone accidentally stepping on a turtle.

The turtles were so pathetically cute and helpless. They would flap their flippers as fast as they could, shoving themselves hastily across the sand, before giving up a bit, exhausted and needing some rest. A few got stuck in deep footprints, but eventually they pushed on, the distant crash of the waves guiding their way.

Once they got closer to the water, a wave would bring them into the ocean. If they were unlucky then they would catch the tide washing them back out to the beach. During this whole time, the sun was setting over this magical event. It was an incredible experience.

A volunteer informed me that maybe 1  in 1000 turtles they release will actually make it to adulthood. There are lots of hungry predators, fatalities from eating plastic trash, and a plethora of problems that come with climate change, making it difficult for turtles to survive.

We biked back to our Airbnb and on our way we passed by a huge snake! I recognized it as the poisonous one that Javier pointed out. It was massive! Long and thick. At least 3 feet feet in length and as thick as my arm. It was just laying stretched out in the middle of the road! Would not want to accidentally ride over it on a bike…

Back at the Airbnb we immediately took showers (we were covered in mud!) and I made dinner: leftover rice and beans cooked with some tomato, fried eggs over top, sliced avocado, and some spicy salsa caribeña.

Like yesterday, we are in bed by 8pm. James seems to have caught my cold and isn’t feeling too great now. I feel a great deal better than yesterday.