The Beach

This being our third Airbnb, we are getting accustomed to the pack up routine. Pack up, clean up, load the cars. Lily had told us that another guest was in the tree house that night, so we wanted to get out promptly so Lily had plenty of time to clean up. I even dried the washed dishes and put them away, which we hadn't done at the the other places (we washed our dishes at the other places, but usually just left them out to dry).

We headed towards Uvita, our new home for the next four days, and our last stop with Anna before she would head back to Sweden.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. The beach is not my favorite place. It's hot. Ocean water is sticky. I don't like sunscreen, but I have to use it, because I hate sunburns even more. Sand gets on everything. It's just a messy, hot, sticky experience. That's why out of 6 weeks, we're only spending 4 days at the beach. I can deal with four days. And after the beach experience with the Hines, I was looking forward to renting a tent and table/chairs at Ventanas. That's the way to do it.

Plus, I spent the big bucks to get a place with Air conditioning. Or so I thought.

The road to the Airbnb was 4 km of steep rocky road. Sigh. This was our third place in a row that included some version of a steep rocky road to access the house. Ah, Costa Rica.

When we finally found the house and figured out the code to the lock box, we got the lay of the house. Big and roomy, compared to the tree house. Four bedrooms with full-sized beds was luxurious. But I immediately noticed there was no air conditioning. I checked the listing, and sure enough, it said no air conditioning. Not sure what I was thinking, but at least each room had a ceiling fan and the windows had screens. This could work.

Then we noticed that the showers did not have hot water.

I know it's the beach. I know it's hot. But I don't think it's unrealistic to assume that the showers will have hot water, especially when most places in Costa Rica have the type of showers that heat the water at the shower head. That's the norm. The endearingly-dubbed "suicide showers" aren't expensive. So when this place which we paid over $100 a night didn't even have suicide showers, it was annoying. Long story short, we complained to our host and got a bit of a reduction in the amount we paid. So cold showers for everyone!

After unpacking, we drove both cars back down the road and got some groceries. Alex and I headed back up to the house to make burgers while the others went to the beach for a little beach time.

Costa Rican beef is not my favorite. It's lean and grass-fed, which is healthier, but when you've grown up with corn-fed American beef, CR beef is a little gamier and chewier. I'm fine with not eating beef in CR. It's expensive too. But Sofia wanted to have burgers with Anna at least once, so I obliged. About the only cheese you find here is a bland (but tasty) white cheese. But I wanted a good old cheddar for the burgers. They had some American-style sliced cheddar cheese at the grocery (since the stores here cater to the American tourists). There was no price listed for the cheese (a 10-slice package) but instead of trying to ask in my broken Spanish, I just splurged (it turned out to be in the neighborhood of 4000 colones. Ugh. $7).

The burgers turned out okay. Caramelized onions always help. The buns were way too big and thin, but I only had one option. Better than sandwich bread.

It was kinda hot as we went to bed, but manageable.