Apologies for the lack of photos, a lot of the internet places seem to have the USB ports taken out. Very inconvenient for when you're trying to show off sunburn and Pacific sunsets.
Casa Zen was our latest home for a week. With a name like that, how could it be anything but chilled out? Pan-Asian restaurant (incroyable and superhealthy), a yoga hall (which we didn't use) and 100m from the Pacific Coast!
Day 1 involved heading down to the beach for a late-morning visit. 2 hours later and I was feeling the after-effects. I don't think I have ever been so burnt. I reapplied Factor 30, dammit! The backs of my legs were the worst, but I also had it on my stomach and back. The face avoided it, thankfully. Even Milla got a tad burnt in a few places. The sun in Costa Rica is super strong! Wise purchases made = a long sleeved navy rash vest (well, I wanted one anyway) and some waterproof factor 50 from a surf shop.
Needless to say, I then covered up for most of the rest of the holiday. As much to avoid having to put on so much sunscreen so often as to hide the burns from the rest of the beach. There are some things that people don't need to see.
Sadly, my burns meant that it would have been too painful to surf the following day. No surfboard. Milla was still working on the tan, so we headed down. I was considerably differently attired, wearing my new rash vest and a pair of loose cotton trousers over my bikini. Managed a quick swim, but in general, did look rather out of place on the beach. It was super-hot too, the humidity in Santa Teresa is killer. We combatted this humidity by heading to an air-conditioned cafe called RendezVous, which did amazing juices and salads. Honestly, I am definitely making that one. Hot weather makes me crave fresh vegetables and healthy food, what can I say?
Other food that we've discovered includes Gallo Pinto, a breakfast dish of rice and beans. Again, a food I am going to adopt and bring back to the UK. Protein, carbs (I went for brown rice, so much healthier) with a dash of Lizano salsa. Must find recipe!
Day 3 brought with it a stomach ache for me, so again, no surfing. We did meet a whole host of Americans though, who were quite fun. A couple of them we spent quite a long time chatting too after they donated me some aloe vera and managed to discuss accents (always comes up), the US health system, politics, weed, etc. Really interesting stuff!
It was only on one of the evenings where we had a truly stunning sunset. The rest of the time, by the time 6pm rolled around, it was usually grey and forboding of tremendous storms. I don't think I've ever seen rain or lightning like it! Absolutely bouncing down. Anyway, the sunset. We'd gone for a quick stroll on the beach as a whim and ended up faced with the classic "pink and orange skies, Pacific ocean, palm trees, super calm" sunset. Beautiful. I got loads of photos. Shame I can't put them up. Grrr.
Our final day in Santa Teresa was the day I was definitely going surfing. I had my short boardshorts and rash vest on, hair up, Milla had a book for beach tanning... and I checked the waves. Noone was out. The waves were breaking very close together and were much stronger than I would have felt comfortable in. Thwarted. Still, we hung out on the beach and got to eat more healthy Asian food, so all was not lost.
In general, a week of reading a lot and getting a lot of sun. One 7 hour bus trip later and we were back in the arms of the Galileo Hostel in San Jose, ready for a flight out to Guatemala City the following day.
Tan Watch - Milla= definitely darker ("I look dirty!") as a result of the week. On the coffee scale, she's definitely more double cappucino than latte. Claire = pink (fading) with formerly neon legs plus slash of white, currently peeling on the back. Back covered in white patches of non-burn. Somehow.
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