Day 2:
We all went for a breezy, morning walk on the resort's volcanic sand beach. I have never seen a black beach before. The tide was out and the waves looked intimidating - most of the beaches on the Pacific side seem to have riptide warnings.

During the walk, besides encountering many tiny, little hermit crabs, we found a baby octopus that had washed up. Both Jon and Mark were trying not to touch it; I decided I wasn't going to be afraid of something that small, especially something I had eaten before. So I picked it up and put it in a tidal pool. It was pretty weak; I'm sure it became something's breakfast pronto. I also found a tiny fish gasping in the sand. He was much friskier; by the time I put him in a tidal pool he leaped out of my hand and skipped across several small pools until he was in deeper water.

Then the four of us packed up in our rental car and received another 2 hour kidney pounding to go to Tamarindo. Our primary goal was to find a grocery store so we wouldn't have to spend so much at the resort's restaurant. On the way there I was delighted by how many iguanas I saw; they crawl up on fence posts to sunbathe.

Tamarindo was built up and somewhat touristy - lots of little shops. Costa Rica, incidentally, is a surfer's haven and Tamarindo seemed to be to surfers what a light bulb is to bugs. We went on a tour of an estuary (for what river, I forget). Jon was anxious to see some monkeys. He heard about all the wild monkeys in Costa Rica and wanted to see some.

We saw crabs, birds of all sorts, and even a quick glimpse of a crocodile. On the way back, the guide stopped the boat and we walked a ways and Jon got his wish: Howler Monkeys! All of us tourists were snapping photos like crazy. The guide incited the male monkeys by imitating their call and clapping his hands and that got them howling.

Those little buggers are only about 2 feet tall at the most but talk about an unearthly racket! If you walked into a forest and heard that noise you would beat feet rapidamente. Anyways, Jon was content. He had seen his monkeys. He didn't spank any of them, despite his threats to do so.

On our drive back, a snake dropped on the hood of our car. We had to stop and take pictures, of course. We have no idea if it was poisonous or not. Crazy Gringos.

I was feeling much better about Costa Rica at that point; I think we all were. Despite the roads (which we started to think of as an adventure) and the problems at the resort, we found the people were friendly, the weather quite tolerable, and no bugs! I don't think any of us had to use the industrial strength Deet we had brought ever during our trip.

Next up: Sandy finally remembers how to speak Spanish.