Vamos a La Playa (Sámara)

This past weekend on my trip to Playa Sámara, I fell in love with this beach. I went with three of my classmates: four girls on a mission to have an awesome weekend. We left class on Friday and took a five hour bus ride to get to the beach. We arrived at Playa Sámara around six in the evening. It didn't take long after getting to our hostel before we were in our swimming suits heading for the beach. Exhausted from traveling and playing in the ocean, we went to bed pretty early that night. 

The next morning we were up bright and early for a breakfast of gallo pinto (a traditional plate of rice and black beans). We went to the bus station to buy return tickets and stopped in a grocery store for some ingredients for that night's dinner. On the way out I spotted a howler monkey. I thought it was pretty cool. We spent the rest of the day playing on the beach and in the ocean. I had a lot of fun jumping and diving into the waves. Playa Sámara is a great place to learn how to surf because the waves are big enough to surf on, but small enough to play in. When we weren't jumping into waves, we were playing frisbee in the sand. It was a great day. I got a little sunburned even though I slathered sunscreen on multiple times (I almost think it's inevitable when you're as fair skinned as I am), but as they say here in CR, it was "vale la pena" or "worth it".

That night we went out to a local bar to practice our Spanish with ticos (Costa Ricans). The stars that night were so visible; it was amazing. I even made a wish on a shooting star. 

Unfortunately we had to leave Sunday afternoon. We took a bus back to reality and went home to prepare for class on Monday. 

This beach is fantastic, in case I hadn't made that clear enough... There were dogs playing the sand and there were not many tourists. There are palm trees everywhere. The locals are friendly and the weather was hot. Its a postcard picture beach. What more could you want? 

A map of the beach

 

Howler Monkey

This monkey was walking across the power lines outside of the grocery store. I couldn't believe it. That was the first time I had ever seen a wild monkey! I was pretty excited about it. At night we could hear the howler monkeys. They make a noise similar to a dog's bark. 

Hammocks at the hostel 

We stayed at a hostel called Casa Brian. It is owned by a nice Canadian man. He made us breakfast in the mornings. The hostel was about 30m from the beach. All four girls shared a dorm style room. I really enjoyed hanging out in these hammocks. 

Me

This won't be the last time I visit Playa Sámara...