Day 2 - Getting Groceries in Tamarindo

The last time I was here in 2012, I stayed much closer to the river at Casa Cameleon in the Palm Estates area. Playa Grande is about 3 miles from there, and it's 90 degrees F.

Stupidly, I decided to walk over to Hotel Bula Bula where you can get a water taxi ride over to Tamarindo. The taxi ride is maybe 5 minutes long, but because it was Sunday there weren't a lot of people working. As Ivan in Tamarindo told me, "It's Sunday. People are lazy."

The 3-mile walk wasn't too bad on the way there because it was on a road. It was hot, sure, but I was prepared with a water bottle.

This is the water taxi pick-up at Hotel Bula Bula. I went into the bar and the woman working made a phone call across the river for someone to come get me. It was pretty cheap at $1 US. Don't swim in this river. There are evil crocodiles.

Once I got to Tamarindo, the Auto Mercado was really close and I made sure I only bought essentials for a few days of cooking. The Auto Mercado is a lot like a Safeway - they have everything an American could possibly want.

What are these fruits? The sign says "Granadella Especial." Either way they look either delicious or potentially sour and evil. The skin is slightly pebbly like a grapefruit but smooth like a mango.

I packed up my groceries and went back to the water taxi stand. This was when I met Ivan. Nice guy, but apparently I was going to wait for 30 min for a taxi to show up. Sunday, remember? Some guy, we'll call him Buddy, was messing around in his boat and Ivan yelled to him about taking me to Bula Bula. Buddy said he was almost out of gas and didn't have enough to get to Bula Bula. Friends, don't believe the first thing you hear here.

However, Ivan said Buddy could take me directly across to the beach. I figured this was better than nothing considering I had perishables in 90-degree heat. I got into Buddy's boat and we picked up a couple other people at the Tamarindo beach. They asked to go to Bula Bula...Buddy said sure but he was dropping me off at the other side of the beach. I should've said "Take us to Bula Bula!" but I was so very tired at this point.

I really, really should've listened to my gut instinct to go to Bula Bula. Hot damn, I walked down that beach in really hot temps and my water was gone halfway through. I thought to myself, "This must be what it's like to cross the Sahara." I thought I was going to see mirages or something. Instead, I bucked up and started counting paces to keep my mind occupied. I finally made it back and collapsed.

Final tally:
Playa Grande: 1, Courtney: 0
Total trip time: 2.5 hours
Total walking: 25 min on a road, 40 min on a beach