First leg of the trip - Tamarindo

How great was Tamarindo?! VERY great! :)

Actually to be perfectly honest, Kaiya and I had a slight freak-out session the first day... First of all, for me, this was the first "real" vacation in 2.5 years! (I know I'll never wait this long again!)

Secondly, we have spent the better part of the day battling potholes... so you can imagine that when we pulled into town and finally found our way to our hotel up the road, all we wanted to do was have a drink IMMEDIATELY. (MANY drinks to be exact.)

We were experiencing this strange sense of pride to survive. Yet, its not like we did anything special... just drove a few hours from one city to the next? Right? Well, I think it was more... It was almost pride in being able to escape the civilization as we know it, our corporate jobs, our auto-temperature controlled homes and self-flushing toilets... I think it was the realization of how complex, information driven, multi-tasking our everyday life is; it was realizing that our brains have probably changed to function differently because of the lifestyle we are forced to live. I think the scariest part was thinking that there is "no way out" for us. Here we were about to start our two and a half weeks of relaxation, beach and sun! And all we could think of was how HORRIFYING this idea was. How almost uncomfortable it made us feel... how foreign it seemed!

We RAN down the hill to this restaurant called "Las Palmas". It is set right on the beach with tables sharing the space with palms. Before we even sat down we made eye contact with the waitress across the restaurant and soundlessly mouthed the words: "Dos Imperiales, porfavor!" She sensed our desperation and come over immediately with two bottles.

Kaiya and I subdued our usually prolonged toasts to a simple "Cheers" and inhaled our beers without a word. By the time the waitress made her way to bring the menues we were already looking for her and signaling for two more Imperiales. After the third beer, Kaya looked over and as if she was reading my mind, said:
"We're gonna be OK..."
"Yup"
And yes, we finally were beginning to "relax", to notice the swaying leaves of the palm trees, to sense the magnetic darkness of the ocean, to feel the breathe carrying the scent of jasmine flowers. Yes we would learn and remember how to enjoy life again... even if it took many more hours of driving over potholes or 100 more IMPERIALES!!!


Some info on Tamarindo Beach:
Tamarindo Info
Chocolate Aparthotel