DINNER AND A SHOW

There's a really nice beachfront hotel called Capitan Suizo near where we stay in Playa Langosta. The name is Spanish for the Swiss Captain. Their excellent restaurant, El Barco, is open to the public. We've gotten to know the executive chef, Jujo Molina, over the last few years. We always contact him before we head south to see what's going on.

There was a Costa Rican barbecue buffet and entretenimiento costarricense. The food, as always under Jujo's supervision, was wonderful. The entertainment was fun but almost all backlit. Tough shooting.     

STL DPB On The Road - If 6 Was 9

Now if 6 turned out to be 9
I don't mind, I don't mind . . .
Dig, 'cos I got my own world to live through
And I ain't gonna copy you.

Jimi Hendrix, 1967

A memory of being young on my sixty-ninth birthday. The first two lines are profound if you think about it a bit. I've had a privileged life that lately has seen some, uh, physical wear and tear. Walking on sand with a cane is not advised. (Maybe there are snowshoe-like canes?)

Went into town to look for a place for a drink with sunset views. Bingo. Way better compared to the condo, which has nothing interesting in the foreground. Still, I had to throw in a Playa Langosta picture with Mrs. C. doing the beachcomber thing.

STL DPB On The Road - Tough Day In Paradise

Shot almost nothing yesterday. I feel too much like I did in France last year - weak, sleeping way too much. Many pharmacies here have a physician attached to them so if I don't get better soon I'll check one out.

Got down to the pool before sunset and tried to take some handheld shots. They were awful. This one is tolerable. Lots of people go down to the beach for the show. We will try to get down there today, where there is always something to shoot.     

City Dailly Photo Theme Day - Play

I managed to come up with something from Costa Rica for CDP theme day. This was taken at just about the same place as the photo in yesterday's post.     

Endless Summer

Costa Rica is about half way between the Tropic of Cancer and the equator. The Pacific coast is warm all year round but there is a wet and dry season. It's hot every afternoon at this time of year and rarely rains. From April-May until around November it rains pretty much every afternoon, sometimes in torrents. The tourist authorities euphemistically call that the green season.

Big slap in the face getting back to work this week. Editing and posting time is limited so I'll pare down the content. This scene is a couple of hundred meters down the beach from the condo where we stay, as sunset approaches.      

STL DPB On The Road - We Never Tire Of It

We are not a couple who like to lie out on a beach, avoiding consideration of the co-pays for melanoma treatment. This is a sunny place, though, that is so beautiful we return again and again. This our tenth trip to Costa Rica and our eighth in the Tamarindo - Playa Langosta area.

Thanks to some wonderful people who own a beachfront condo, we have the benefit of the ocean and beautiful accommodations. If anyone is interested in coming here, we can put you in touch with the right people. You do have to book well in advance for this particular property. We have our week for February, 2019 reserved.    

Time To Move On

All good things must come to an end. (And, if you think about it, bad things, too. It's helpful to have at least a bit of a Buddhist attitude.) Time to wrap up the images from another trip to enchanting Costa Rica, with many thanks to our hosts, Dave and Julie. We hope we can go back next year. I'd really like to bring our daughter and granddaughter Madeleine (who will be back here on Monday). I can imagine her delight while observing the critters in the tide pools.

I don't have a single frame of new local material. Better get back out on the streets of St. Louis today and see what's going on.                

Wish You Were Here

And me, too. It's been an awful week back at work. I'm looking for a way to ease out of my career of more than 40 years. Not that I'd hang out on a beach or learn to surf (that's a laughable idea). But I'm reminded of an old, bad joke - Question: Why do you keep banging your head against the wall? Answer: because it feels so good when I stop. There's none of that going on in Costa Rica. Pura vida, y'all.          

Wildlife

A tiny crab, not more than 4 inches/10 cm across, scuttling across Playa Langosta. Mrs. C found a bunch more on one of the lava rock formations jutting out of the water. They were wet and slippery, and I have a poor sense of balance (from creaky knees and trifocals?) so I decided to take her word for it.

Those are three tiny snails in front of the crab. I don't think it was interested in them as a snack. The crab found its way into a hole in the sand moments later. The bottom picture is a broad view of the area.              

Ocean Gate

Perhaps a piece of beach art. It invites us to use our imagination. Found on Playa Langosta.

            

 

Adios

Sunset at Playa Langosta. I hope this little movie is viewable. Don't know a thing about video editing and I've been wrestling with getting this done and uploaded.

Leaving Costa Rica today. Back to reality, which looks pretty heavy this week. Lacking any other material, I may have some more from here in the coming days.

             

No Direction

For now, anyway. Photos from Playa Langosta as sunset approached. What do the Aussies say? No worries, mate. For now. For another week. And then . . .

Quite a variation in our annual routine today. It's Stupid Bowl Sunday. Normally we'd go out to dinner for our private Stupid Bowl party but we're not on our home turf. There's a sports bar here, Sharky's (my photo), that is lined with huge televisions and is promoting the game. Never gone into the lair, so to speak, for this event but my camera and I plan some anthropological research.       

J'accuse

Those Same Pictures Again

We have been coming to Tamarindo, Costa Rica for some time (with great thanks to our friends who make it possible). Every year I take versions of these same pictures, over and over, from the ocean side of the condo development. Who could resist?       

Adios

Time to leave la hermosa Costa Rica. We hope to return but the future is unknown. We depart with a few final shots of Horizontes del Mar where we stay.

The pool overlooks the ocean, refreshed by concrete fish. Mrs. C takes a final dip and then relaxes with a piña colada. Her shirt has a quotation from Gertrude Stein: you can either buy clothes or buy pictures. That's right up to a point. Even better if you can make pictures.

Oh, and I was going to get back to my friends blogs, right? Well, our friendly electric company was digging up about everything in front of our house yesterday and cut our water service. One thing led to another... 

                

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Yes.

Playa Langosta, late Sunday afternoon. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more.               

Volver

Volver. To return in Spanish. (Also the title of one of my favorite Carlos Gardel songs.)

Here we are, back again at Playa Langosta, Tamarindo, Costa Rice. What an extraordinary privilege and pleasure. Life has its tough spots and its rich spots. This one is the jackpot.            

Farewell To Paradise

We have spent a winter week at Horizontes del Mar condominiums for four of the last five years. It's heaven. We have only been able to do it because of an exceptional bit of fortune, too long to explain here, renting it for a very reasonable price. We could not afford the regular price. Sadly, it's up for sale now so this was probably our last visit. We were privileged to enjoy it as much as we did. We have come to love this part of Costa Rica and its people.

So I better get back out on the street in The Lou. It's going to be a miserable sleety, icy, snowy day. That gives me the opportunity to take some miserable photos. We'll see what happens.               

Tamarindo Portraits

People shots around town:

The pizza maker at La Esquina.

Mr. Honey, a vendor at the weekly farmers market, Feria Tamarindo.

Three Italian guys on Playa Langosta. As happens so often, they saw my big camera and asked me to take their picture with their little camera. Then I got a few for myself.

Waiting for the fire dancers at Latitude Blue. Looks like a low-end version of the last supper. We had ours in the condo last night. Back to STL today, where it's really cold and snowing hard at the moment.

No local material so I'll stick with the tropics for a bit.