After a 5hr drive we made it to the Pacific coast around dinner time yesterday. This morning we started a 5 day “Spanish and Surf” program for the whole family.
The program is run by the “Coastal Spanish Institute”, right on the beach in Tamarindo. It was a really lovely place to study with a staff of super friendly and supportive teachers with whom we became fast friends. The school is set up on the 2nd story and overlooks both the street at one end and the beach on the other so you never really feel like you are holed up inside a classroom. The schedule involved 4 hours of instruction from Mon-Fri 8am-12pm. We had two sessions each morning with a 20min break during which we’d stretch our legs and walk down the street to get a hot empanada from a local shop or to make lunch arrangements. We were all assigned homework, which we mostly did sitting in a local soda (tican slang for restaurant or cafe) drinking cervezas or margaritas (virgin cocktails for the girls). This was also a great time of day to share our surf stories and talk about our upcoming trip.
Surf lessons were scheduled based on the high tide, which for the week was in the early afternoon. We’d usually have time to grab a quick lunch and then we’d don suits and thrash guards (sunshirts for surfing) and head down the beach to the end where the surf was best for our skill level (beginners). I wasn’t sure how the girls would do, but they absolutely loved it and took to it right away. With the help of our wonderful instructors Alex and Jergen, the girls showed themselves to be total naturals on the waves. It seems good balance and light bodies makes them graceful, gnarly little surfers! 🙂
Our accommodation in Tamarindo was a two-story bungalow at Hotel Luna Llena (Full Moon), just a 5 minute walk from the beach. The grounds of the bungalow are adjacent to a monkey sanctuary. The trees in and around Tamarindo are frequented by Mantled Howler Monkeys and we encountered them both around our bungalow and in the trees next to the school. Male Howler Monkeys get their name due to a hollow bone near their vocal cords, which amplifies their low drawn-out calls. I got a few shots of them behind our bungalow silhouetted against the evening sky (they are nocturnal).
This entry was posted in Central America, Costa Rica
