SANTA TERESA

that bloody window

WHERE: Santa Teresa/Mal Pais
WHERE (less detailed): a sleepy surf town on the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica
DAYS: t-70 to t-63

Supposedly the world's 10th best beach

PEOPLE ARE: thieving bastards!!!
WEATHER IS: hot and sticky, frequent thunder storms at night and sunshine during the day.
TEMPERATURE: 36-42 degrees
FOOD IS: homecooked so even Paul's basic pasta dishes taste amazing. Since we are putting down roots for 7-nights - a record length of time not moving in South America - we decide to treat ourselves and stay in a cabin with its own kitchen. As a result we cook for ourselves for most days and enjoy a well-earned rest from the much used restaurant phrase "Este, pero sin..." (this, but without any ..."

so far Paul looks like he knows what he's doing

HIGHLIGHTS/LOWLIGHTS: Having stolen our laptop, back-up external memory drive with all our photos on it, paul's iPod, some cash and our camera memory card with ALL our South American photos on it is a definite lowlight. As does spending our last day at the police station filling a crime report.. despite the fact the bastard thieves forced a window open and used a 4ft pole/device to reach through iron bars and perform a 90 degree turn and unplug the laptop and grab our other valuables we still feel like the village idiots for not burying our valuables six foot underground, padlocking the hole and putting armed sentries around it (Paul fears that as a result of this experience he will follow his Dad's lead and hide jam jars and coke cans in the loft whenever he goes on holiday)....

not so sure now

... worryingly unpacking our backpacks and putting clothes on shelves amounts to a highlight .... as does being able to eat vegetables for Rhaani ... the prices of things at the local supermarkets is extortionate - ￡3 for a jar of pesto, soya sauce for ￡2, strangely Canadian Dry Ginger beer is pretty cheap... depending on the waves caught to cycles in the ocean washing machine ratio surfing is either a highlight or lowlight for Paul. The surf is big and choppy in Santa Teresa and some days the ocean turns itself into the largest paddling treadmill... the patient and easygoing Santa Teresa police who painstakingly translated our list of stolen items into a crime report, on a Sunday afternoon.

THINGS LOST/STOLEN: where to start? So our full 10 months on the road lost list amounts to: Rhaani's teva sandals, our computer lock chain, paul's sleeping bag, paul's sunglasses, Rhaani's sunglasses, Rhaani's hiking boots, a laptop, external hard drive, iPhone, cash, camera.
On the upside we do have a lot of Aztec tableclothes.

farewell to Hoolie, whose various states of sunburn was a constant state of entertainment

ALSO: Hoolie's big1 adventure draws to a close as she heads up to Tamarindo to meet her family for 2-weeks of pampering in a 4 star hotel. Many thanks to Jules for being a wonderful traveling companion - apart from the snoring.
UP NEXT: MONTEVERDE, home to a cloud forest whatever that means