Tamarindo

Tamarindo is only a 45 minute drive away so we took our time in the morning to do homeschool until checkout time at 11.

The kids are much better at doing schoolwork in a room than in a moving RV especially if we are on windy roads.

We stopped to get some groceries. Prices are much more expensive in Costa Rica than in neighboring central American county. We spent $24 whereas in Nicaragua we spent $15.

We did get a great deal on roadside rambutans, 6 kg for $6.

Tamarindo is the most popular surf town in Costa Rica, and probably why there is an airport and price smart 1 hour away. The town is very popular with foreigners that it is referred to as "Tama-gringo". There are plazas and restaurants packed in densely near the beach. Our hotel check in wasn't until 4 pm so we had a few hours to kill.

We were able to park on the dirt space in front of the hotel and barely fit under the string lights. Fortunately it is a walkable town. We went to hunt for some lunch. Since was low season, many places were closed, but there were still a few places open. The first couple places Christine had bookmarked were closed but the third one was open. We had Japanese food. 

Tempura shrimp, gyozas for the kids, poke bowl for Christine, and I had a sushi roll. It was our most expensive meal ($80). I had read that Tamarindo was more expensive than back home.

We walked across the street to the beach. It was high tide but beach was a wide bay. There were a few people in the water and restaurants of hotels lined the shore.

We found a open spot under the shade of a mangrove tree next to a small stream with a crocodile warning sign.

Iguanas scurried around. The kids chased a big one cross the stream.  The water temperature was perfect and the waves were tiny.

We spent a couple hours playing until storm clouds appeared and we headed back to the hotel to check in stopping for churros ($4).

There is a campground on the beach in Tamarindo on ioverlander but this hotel was only $29 so it was pretty good deal.

We don't have suitcases so it takes a few trips to bring in some stuff from the RV.

Meanwhile black monkeys scurried in the treetops overhead close by. 

For sunset we went back to the beach and it was low tide. There is a shipwrecked metal sailboat that was more exposed in the low tide.

The kids played around in the tide pools.

We went to find dinner.

We ended up getting a couple skewers of meat for $4 each and stopping at a food truck plaza and ordering some Caribbean food and Peruvian food. The fried rice from the Peruvian place took 40 minutes to get my order done. Not super fast food but it was delicious. Chinese food has mixed into Peruvian culture. The kids had some more churros and Christine had key lime pie. The total for dinner on the street $56.

There are some giant grasshoppers around here.