Tamarindo Beach and Bahia Zapotal, Costa Rica
This morning we had to clear customs one more time as we left Nicaragua and came back to Costa Rica through the night. We had to wait a bit for the customs officers to leave our boat and reposition our ship a little further south to the surf town of Tamarindo. This beach is named after a tree in the legume (bean) family, the Tamarind tree, Costa Ricans and many other cultures use this tree’s fruit to make a brown, tart juice and a paste for cooking. This town is famous among surfers all over the world for the fantastic waves of the Pacific coast. Some of our guests decided to take advantage of this fact to take surfing lessons off of the beach. Others decided to join our naturalists on a Zodiac cruise up a mangrove-river where we were met by a few species of egrets, kites, and a couple of basking-spiny-tailed iguanas. Back from the cruise, we had the chance to walk and do some much-wanted shopping in town. At noon, we began to head back to our ship, with new knowledge, a few new items, and a lot of sun on our faces.
After lunch, Rafa gave a lecture on the Tropical Rainforest and, while he talked, our boat moved to the secluded beach of Zapotal. We all embraced our last chance for snorkeling, to use the “banana” boat, and for Zodiac driving lessons. Swimming using boogie-boards and walking on the beach were also an option. We were waved goodbye by a group of howler monkeys as we loaded our Zodiacs back on to our home away from home.
This morning we had to clear customs one more time as we left Nicaragua and came back to Costa Rica through the night. We had to wait a bit for the customs officers to leave our boat and reposition our ship a little further south to the surf town of Tamarindo. This beach is named after a tree in the legume (bean) family, the Tamarind tree, Costa Ricans and many other cultures use this tree’s fruit to make a brown, tart juice and a paste for cooking. This town is famous among surfers all over the world for the fantastic waves of the Pacific coast. Some of our guests decided to take advantage of this fact to take surfing lessons off of the beach. Others decided to join our naturalists on a Zodiac cruise up a mangrove-river where we were met by a few species of egrets, kites, and a couple of basking-spiny-tailed iguanas. Back from the cruise, we had the chance to walk and do some much-wanted shopping in town. At noon, we began to head back to our ship, with new knowledge, a few new items, and a lot of sun on our faces.
After lunch, Rafa gave a lecture on the Tropical Rainforest and, while he talked, our boat moved to the secluded beach of Zapotal. We all embraced our last chance for snorkeling, to use the “banana” boat, and for Zodiac driving lessons. Swimming using boogie-boards and walking on the beach were also an option. We were waved goodbye by a group of howler monkeys as we loaded our Zodiacs back on to our home away from home.
