Excursion #1: Puntarenas

Headed down the mountain. Looking closely to the top of the picture, the water in the distance is the gulf that divides Guanacaste province.

I regret not getting a couple pictures of the town of Monteverde. There was a great view coming down from the national reserve of the whole town.  Sometimes we are driving by quickly and I just miss a good shot. After we left Monteverde, we headed to Puntarenes near the beach.This a strip of land off the west coast. This is where we saw the Pequena Mundo and found the Dr. P Clark was hoping for thanks to a tip from a Tico he works with. 

Upon arriving, we were a little worried driving through Puntarenes to our beach house. We felt the town is somewhat run down. The house was great. Even though it was older, it was freshly renovated, spacious, and RIGHT ON THE BEACH. I mean, walk out the back door, across a brick patio, and step down onto the beach. We sat and watched the sunset then went hunting and gathering. 

Looking north.

And south.

Panoramic of the beach from the patio.

Looking through the kitchen window to the ocean.

Clark figured out there was a food truck gathering on the east side of Puntarenes, near the ferry dock, so we headed there. It was on Friday evening and appeared as the "place to be". There were people and families all over. The kids wanted more "Americanized" food and selected hamburgers. Craig's burger had chicken on it too. Ticos offer burgers the way Auzzie's do...with the kitchen sink! Haha! Clark ordered a Tico style hot dog. I have no idea what was on that; it was the medium size dog, dripping with sauce and fantastico! 

I chose a Picaritas Caldosa which is popular street food here. It's the Picaritas chips with ceviche or cerviche added like a walking Frito taco salad but with corn chips and marinated cocktail shrimp or fish. I could eat this every day! 

We went with a "Churchill" for dessert. A Churchill is a Tico version of the snow cone. It has red soda at the bottom then layers of packed shaved ice, dried sweet milk powder, more packed shaved ice, sweetened condensed milk, more soda, and the toppings can be marshmallows, fruit, or ice cream. Yes, this snow cone hits the spot if you have a sweet tooth, and it was YUMMY!

We chose to try these kebabs as well. They are grilled pork or chicken on a stick and vendors set up their portable grill trailers anywhere. There were two right next to each other here. Clark calls this offering "rat on a stick".

After eating we walked down the beach front a few blocks then back to the car. There were kids skating, riding pedal cars, people sitting in family groups grilling their own food and playing music, dancing, and hanging out. There was also plenty of cats in the mix. It was the perfect end to our day. 

Anecdotes:

Dead crabs in the showers and a live tail-less lizard in Rose's room.

Clark and I went out walking on the beach after dark and we saw these scurrying creatures. Those were crabs. There were hundreds of them we couldn't see. Those little things run like the wind.

We found a grasshopper on steroids on the patio. It was dead but we weren't sure at first. I wouldn't want to be in the flight path of this guy. It could bruise your eye or what if it gets caught on your clothes? That would be a way to make up a new dance! I think I'll nick name it the Jurassic Park hopper.