Monday, 25-08-2014. Day 6.

Port towns and thunderstorms.

After waking up to the sound of motorbikes, dogs, and roosters, the days here start leisurely. It’s nice to have a kitchen. Samantha cooked rice & eggs with peppers & tomatoes for breakfast. Somehow we neglected to buy milk at Mini Super Leticia, so the breakfast cereal was a little dry this morning.

At the market the day before we’d bought a bag of coffee (El Rey) and a chorreador strainer. So I broke it out to try my hand at chorreador-ing. I didn’t have measuring spoons or a scale, so I eyeballed it. I also didn’t have the wooden frame to hold the strainer, so I held it in place while the coffee brewed. It turned out okay, but it was a little on the sweet side. As I brewed a second batch, I realized why. The ingredients were 90% coffee, 10% azúcar.

Day Trip to Puntareanas

We decided to visit Puntarenas, a port city situated at the end of a peninsula about an hour’s drive from Costa de Pájaros. It’s a popular spot for surfers and ferry stops to the Nicoya Peninsua across the gulf.

It’s also a port of call for cruise ships, but the pier was pretty quiet when we were there. In fact the whole town, which looks a little run down, was a bit sleepy during our visit.

We wanted to eat lunch at Matobes, which was a well-regarded restaurant along the Paseo des Turistas, but it was closed, so we picked La Yunta, a spot next door. Lunch seemed to consistently cost us about $40.

After lunch we walked down the Paseo de los Turistas, where the girls got some Granizados dos Leches (translates as '“slushies, two milks”), which is flavored shaved ice topped with powdered milk and condensed milk.

There wasn't much else going on in Puntarenas, so after a short stroll along the beach, we got back into Dorothy and headed back toward Costa de Pájaros. Along the way we stopped at Maxi Pali, which is sort of a Costa Rican Walmart or Target to pick up a few more groceries. It wasn’t air conditioned inside, so it was very hot.

We also stopped at a Mini Super closer to the house to pick up more perishable goods (like milk) and some of Jackie's favorite snacks, Meneitos.

Sam wanted to make pizzas for dinner, but we had no measuring cups, and the oven didn’t work, so she cooked them in a frying pan. They turned out great!

Thunderstorm Across the Gulf

As Samantha prepared dinner, I did a load of laundry and the girls frolicked in the pool as we watched a thunderstorm roll in across Gulfo de Morales.

It started with a low rumbling that steadily got louder, then as it got dark, the lightning started and the rain began coming down.  I had to hang the laundry around the house instead of on the line (there was no dryer) because, well, it was raining.

The house had a metal roof, and the sound of the rain echoed very loudly through living room as we ate our pizzas and watched the Emmy awards in Spanish. The Spanish voices were dubbed right over the English broadcast, which made the whole show very confusing.

At one point, as the most intense thunderstorm rolled right over us, we got the dreaded mal señal, and television was done. Then the lights flickered, so we decided it was time for bed.

Notable statistics

• Hours driving: 2.5

• Loads of laundry: 1

• Power outages: 1

• Shaved ice consumed: 2

Header image: Land Rover in Puntarenas. Photo from the author’s collection.