Upon Arrival

We arived yesterday at about 1:15PM.  The flight was fairly comgortable, with a nice cereal/fruit/muffin breakfast and the movie "My One and Only" about George Hamilton.  It was actually a very interesting movie, tracing the life of George Hamilton during the summer after his mother left his father, at the end of which he landed his first movie role.  There was a bit of turbulance, but nothing too horrible.  Amber was up in row 12 and though we started in row 21, we switched seats with a mother and son so that they could sit with the father.  They had the middle and aisle seats four rows back, so it worked out all around.  We even got off earlier at the airport due to the rear stairwell.

Bryan slept and listened to his MP3 player most of the flight and I listened to the airplane radio, watched the movie, and worked on the crossword in the Continental magazine.  I also focused on disregarding the 50ish year old lady in the adjacent row who insisted on dressing worse than many 15 year olds I know, and sharing her very USA-centric persepective about lodging conditions in Costa Rica.

The airport in Liberia was open-air with these amazing large metal fans.  Customs went swiftly (I got my first stamp in my new passport!) and we all reclaimed our baggage without a problem.  We left the airport via a corridor of human walls, all with taxi signs, tram signs or rental car signs.  A nice airport employee helped us find the AVIS representative and, after a brief wait in the shade of some pretty flowering trees and bushes, we boarded the correct shuttle.  Our car rental went smoothly as Bryan had reserved the car beforehand.  I waited outside with our luggage, conversing with two college students from Denton, while Amber and Bryan were inside.  Once all the paperwork was signed, we inspected the car, loaded the luggage, and headed off to Tamarindo!

The drive took longer than expected--about an hour and a half as opposed to the expected 45 minutes to an hour.  Part of that was due to a construction delay, and part of it was due to Bryan driving rather slowly so that we could observe the passing scenery.  Listening to several Spanish music stations, and the rare English one or two, we cruised in airconditioned comfort.  We saw many small homes, ranging from well-kept to run down, that were painted in colors ranging from earth tones to bright primary colors.  Interpersed among these smaller dwelling were some very nice and large (by American standards) abodes.  The foliage was beautful--huge trees, some mango, other that we could not identify.  I especially loved the trees that grew up and then spread out into a natural flat-top cabana-style shelter.  The flowers were blooming everywhere--and this is the dry season!  The splashes of color were eye-catching and exciting.  We also passed many pastures with horses and cattle, though many of these were pretty skinny.

When we arrived in Tamarindo, we began looking for La Palapa.  It was initially hard to locate, as teh sign was moderate in size and bracketted in between other buildings.  The highway dead-ended into a turn-around loop, which we used to turn around after passing the hotel lol.  Once we were in front of La Palapa, I jumped out to inquire about parking.  After one failed attempt, we found the correct wooden gate.  I again exited the vehicle, lifted the latch, and opened the gate.  After Bryan drove in, I resecured the gate, we unloaded the car, and Amber and I took the lead as we entered the hotel.

The lobby is open-air and open, taking full advantage of the fairly constant sea breeze.  We checked in at the front desk, and were then shown to Amber and Hunter's first room.  I say first, because in short order Amber discovered the AC was broken.  By this time, Bryan and I were getting settled in Room 6--our wonderful loft room!  (We both LOVE it!)  There was a knock on the door--Amber had been change to Room 5, right nest door!  (Unfortunately that AC was also having problems, but they fixed it first thing this morning...now it runs perfectly!)

Once we had all gotten settled and changed--Amber into her swimsuit and Bryan and I into shorts and T-shirts--Amber went to explore the beach and Bryan and I went to explore the town.  We walked down to Super Las Olas, a small supermercado, and bought sunscreen and two bottles of water.  Most places here accept dollars--we have yet to find one that doesn't actually.  Upon our return to La Palapa, Cherri (the girl who checked us in--she also likes schifi/fantasy books and we seem to have hit it off.  She speaks Spanish and English equally well, and speaks Spanish to me and English to Bryan, Amber and Hunter) asked that we move our car out of the reserved spot we had unknowingly parked in.  Of course, when we moved the car, we saw the "RESERVADO" sign...silly us.

After that was taken care of, Bryan and I laid claim to two beach chairs in the shade of the palms and spent the rest of the time until the beautiful sunset reading out books.  Amber continued to swim.  At sundown we took some more pictures (more, because we took several at the Liberia airport) and then grabbed a beach table at the hotel restaraunt for dinner and happy hour!  I had the La Palapa Pasta (pasta with lobster and shrimp in a wonderful sauce) and a buy 1, get 1 happy hour pina colada, which was the best pina colada I've ever had!  Bryan had the seafood past and the local Pilsner (also B1G1) and Amber had something with shrimp and the B1G1 pina colada as well--she agreed that it was the best pina colada ever, even though neither one of us could finish our second.  All the sugar AND alcohol made our stomaches turn a bit lol.

After dinner, Amber stayed up to wait for Hunter, who took a later flight and didn't get to the hotel until about 11PM.  Bryan and I went to bed early, after unpacking and getting settled.  Bryan had a bit of a chill, so we started the night with the AC off.  Then at 3AM we both got overly hot and turned it back on!  We slept for almost 11 hours total, waking up at 8:30AM.  The view from our loft bed straight through the top windows is incredible--palm fronds framing the deep blue of the ocean with the amazing sunrise coloring the sky.  I'll update late today--for now, we're going to hit the beach!