Friday March 14, 2014
This was supposed to be a bit of a rest day, as we’d originally planned a mangrove boat tour for this morning, but decided as the trip went on that we would prefer to have a full beach day at Tulemar instead. It figured then that Mallory would be up watching Spanish cartoons by 6 am!
We had breakfast in our bungalow and didn’t get going until 8:45 or so when we caught a shuttle down to the beach. We were the second group there. It took a while for ‘Beach Dave’ to come open the cabana services so we hunted for shells for a while – it was a good time to do so as it was low tide. When the cabana services opened we immediately got some boogie boards. The kids had a great time playing on these – at least they did until Mallory took a direct hit from a big wave and swore off the sport forever. Liam wiped out several times, but always went back for more.
We boogie boarded all morning until lunch, which we ate at the beachfront restaurant. I had the fish tacos, Chad tried a mango chicken wrap, and the kids had quesadillas. Liam was getting an itchy rash on his legs, which had been plaguing him the whole trip – neither pair of swim trunks we brought were comfortable for him any more. Chad said he’d run back to our room to get a new pair of shorts for Liam to try, as well as more sunscreen. On his way back down the hill, he spotted a sloth fairly close to where we were on the beach, so he rounded us up to show us. Also at this time a troupe of white faced monkeys came through the restaurant area, looking for food. We walked up the road a short distance to see the sloth, and it was a great sighting – he was in the perfect position to see his face, and pretty close to the road.
Back down to the beach and into the water again, but not for more boogie boarding, as the tide had come in and the waves were breaking very hard and very close to shore. We found that boogie boarding was great at low tide on the Tulemar beach (early morning and again late afternoon), but not at high tide. Liam was still content to be out in the water bodysurfing though, and Mallory entertained herself near the shore.
We left the beach around 3 and took the shuttle back up to our bungalow. On the way, our driver pulled over twice to point out additional sloths. It was funny since in the morning we’d just been saying that everyone always talks about the wildlife on the Tulemar property, but we hadn’t seen anything since one monkey on our first day – today we saw plenty of wildlife. Then again, we’d been taking the shuttle a lot lately, so it figured we wouldn’t see much.
in the bungalow we showered and rinsed out our swimsuits and rested for a bit in the air conditioning. Mallory had some mild sunburn on her back and shoulders, and Liam on his face, from our two back to back beach days. We left shortly after 4 to walk over to Si Como No for the night hike. On the way, we stopped for a frozen yogurt and to look in a few shops, and Chad tried to get some $ from a bank machine that did not want to give it to him – this would be the beginning of our banking troubles.
The night hike started at 5:30 and lasted 2 hours. We saw red eyed tree frogs, yet another sloth, lots of other frogs and bugs, but sadly for Chad in particular, no snakes. The hike was probably a little long and involved for our tastes, but it was fun being out in the jungle after dark, and the wildlife centre was conveniently located quite close to where we were staying. After the hike, we returned to the gift shop affiliated with Si Como No and Mallory picked up some maracas for her last souvenir. I also bought a small glass tree frog to use as a Christmas tree ornament. Liam still had not found a souvenir he wanted, but he was very intrigued by the Costa Rican money which has pictures on it of sloths, monkeys, sharks, etc. He decided maybe he’d just like to keep a few bills instead of buying something. We dropped into a convenience store on our walk home for a few things. Everyone was extra tired, so the snacks sufficed for dinner for most (Chad did pick up a takeout pizza at Tulemar) and we went to bed early.
Cook Family Travels 