A Day of Leisure Spent Shopping and Exploring the Beach Town of Tamarindo

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

A Day of Leisure Spent Shopping and Exploring the Beach Town of Tamarindo

Ola from Costa Rica on St. Patrick’s Day! I even wore my Kelly-green T-shirt all day to mark it!

Awaking in the J.W. Marriott Hotel is just the most stunning experience.  You know at once that you have slept in the lap of luxury. That said, I had a pretty restless night as I woke up frequently but, fortunately, fell back to sleep quite soon. Ultimately, I was awake after 7.15. Llew was having a lie-in but I woke him up at 8.00 am so that we could go and get some breakfast and not miss our seating altogether.

Breakfast at the J.W. Marriott Hotel:

I have to say that I had a splendid breakfast today. I pigged out on all my favorite things—things I have not found in the other hotels (and which I do love). So I started off with a quarter of a waffle which I doused with chocolate and caramel sauce, a big dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of mixed nuts—it was awesome, needless to say—Pura Vida! Next, I discovered that there was a large tray of smoked salmon (one of my favorite things in the world). So I toasted a plain croissant, then placed all the fixin’s on my plate: chopped onions, little pickled onions, capers, chopped boiled egg, cream cheese). I also was able to get decaf coffee today—so that was my breakfast as I made a sandwich of the croissant and smoked salmon. I also tried a variety of local fruit: soursop, guava, guanabana, mango, star fruit (I think it is also called carambola). The guanabana was really good: in appearance and texture, it was like custard apple or  Cherimoya (it probably belongs to the same family). During breakfast, we sat with Bueno and Kathy and really had a good time with them. It is amazing to me how wonderfully everyone has mixed and found the folks with whom they feel most comfortable. We seem to have lucked out as we have made some good friends and have found really nice folk on our trip.

During breakfast, we talked to Bueno and Kathy about our plans to go to Tamarindo as my friend Delilah who was whatsapping with me from Canada told me that they had taken a cab to the beach town when they were on the same trip. Our new friends decided to join us and we thought we would all meet in the hotel lobby at 10.00 am. 

But, long story short, by the time 10.00 am arrived, they backed out and Llew and I were the only ones left to take the trip. The hotel arranged a private shuttle for us at the cost of $75 round trip.  It was a half hour run to the town which we reached at 10.45 am.  We instructed our driver David to return to pick us up at 1.00 pm. We started off by picking up a tourist map of the town from the Tourist Center that was right by the taxi stand.   

Exploring Tamarindo:

Tamarindo is a very upscale town. It is a favorite venue for spring break students from the USA and there was more than a sprinkling of them still left in the town. Long before we reached the main commercial stretch, we could see beautiful, expensive mansions that faced the ocean that was an incredible aquamarine color. As we drove further into the town, we came upon a number of hotels, most sea-facing, with tropical landscaped gardens, loads of eateries offering multi-cuisines for varying budgets and strings of shops offering everything from classy beachwear to souvenirs in the form of carved and polished wooden salad bowls, indigenous pottery, beaded Christmas ornaments, and the usual kitsch (magnets, mugs, beach towels), etc. We bought our Tamarindo magnet and thought it would be a good place to buy the few gift souvenirs for the few folks for whom we usually take home gifts.  Got wooden book marks for the kids featuring colorful birds of the region, Christmas ornaments for Chrissie and ourselves, and then just when we thought our shopping was all done, I came upon a Jewelry designer called Ricardo from Argentina who designs and makes jewelry. A ring featuring a large cultured pearl and a setting in bronze caught my eye right away—I loved its modernistic design and the next thing I knew I was buying it and walking off with it. A really lovely and most unusual souvenir of Costa Rica that I know I will use for a long time.

Everything was lovely about the town of Tamarindo except that it was mercilessly hot. I understand that it was 102 degrees as the sun beat down upon us. Yes, there was a slight breeze but it was impossible to walk on the sunny side of the street and we kept looking for the shaded arcades in which to escape. Fortunately, all the shops were air-conditioned and offered relief from the strong sun. It reminded me very much of Bombay in the summer. 

We took a slight detour to walk on the sands of the beach for a while. There was a load of sailing craft dotting the waters that were jade green in the middle (reminded me very much of the colors of the ocean in Hawai’i). There were loads of surfers and surf gear shops and we could see why: the waves of the Pacific Ocean are mighty and offer enough to thrill in very warm waters.

Back on the commercial streets of the town, we entered a supermarket to buy cold beers as we badly needed refreshment. As it was almost 1.00 pm and we felt too lethargic to move, we sat down at the Tourist Center to await the arrival of David who was due in ten minutes.

Very soon, we were back in our cab and returning to the J.W. Marriott Hotel which we reached in a half hour. It had been a lovely excursion and our only chance to actually experience town life in the country of Costa Rica and have a wander on our own. Yes, the town was still buzzing with enough of tourist energy to not make it a seem like a ghost town; but it is clear that visitors are leaving as quickly as they can and trying to beat the coronavirus by getting back home.

Lunch at the Marriott Hotel:

The Marriott Hotel is certainly doing itself proud in terms of its menu offerings. It does have other speciality restaurants such as the Azul Grille that is pool-side, Tamarine which is an Asian fusion restaurant, Sabanero which is a traditional steak house. However, since our package includes all the meals, we have been eating at the Mansita Restaurant which has a number of stations and all sorts of delicious food. Indeed, eating is one of the many pleasures of this tour and this particular hotel and for a foodie like me, this place is sheer bliss.

This afternoon, I started off with a Fruit Gazpacho which was simply awesome. I then went to the Pasta station and ordered spaghetti cooked in a cheese sauce—it was not great. I had it with a piece of Teriyaki Chicken but it was the little poof Ceviche on which I really feasted. They were most exquisitely seasoned with the lime juice and Chile proportions simply perfect. The shell fish was incredibly fresh and it made for a really terrific treat. For desert, I had passion fruit cheesecake and an opera (chocolate-layered cake). 

Needless to say, after that magnificent meal, all we could think of was going back to our room and getting a nap. The pool looked tempting but it was simply too hot and I could not stand the thought of basking like a Lobster in the sun. Our air conditioned room offered soothing respite and Llew and I both took naps for about an hour after listening to the updates on TV of the stepping up of coronavirus precautions all around the world.  Llew did try to get online with American Airlines and discovered that since we had booked our ticket after March 1, we could not make changes online but would have to do so by calling the airline. Llew found a local number for Costa Rica and we decided to try to teach them soon. He was convinced that we would have to cancel our current booking and make a fresh one for which we would have to pay. I felt otherwise (given the unusual world situation) and told him to try instead of making assumptions.

About an hour later, when we awoke, I badly felt the need to get some exercise. So I decided to get to the gym and Llew decided to go with me. I spent 40 minutes on the elliptical machine and the stationery bike while Llew stayed for just 20 minutes and returned to our room. I did not want to leave the hotel without using the amazing Infinity Pool—which is the largest in Central America. It is basically a succession of little pools knitted together by bridges. Surrounding them are turquoise-blue lounge chairs and striped umbrellas. We went to the water’s edge and I dangled my feet in the water that was as warm as one’s bath tub. We carried gin and grapefruit pelligrino and wine outside with us and sipped it at the pool’s edge. It was all very lovely and very relaxing.

About a half our later, we returned to our rooms to shower and get dressed for dinner. This is the only hotel in which people are actually dressing up semi-formally for dinner as it is such a posh place. 

Dinner at the Mansita Restaurant:

We sat with Kaye and with Carol and Rick at dinner time. They had just returned from their snorkeling adventure and told us all about it. For dinner, I started off with a most refreshing Cantaloupe Gazpacho. I am amazed at how fruit is used here in this country to make gazpacho—always served cold, of course. It is certainly something that I will try when I get back home. I then went to the Pasta Station where a lady was warming up Tortellini stuffed with salmon and preparing it in a pesto sauce with accompaniments of one’s choice—I chose mushroom and onions and I garnished it generously with Parmesan cheese. It was very good but very filling). I am simply eating too much as I feel too stuffed between meals to even want to eat the next one!  I  also had a bit of focaccia to sop up the pesto olive oil. Finally, I had a small pot of ceviche (as this is probably the last time I will eat it here) and finished off with a tiny portion of tiramisu which was outstanding. Overall, a most marvelous mea!

Packing for Tomorrow and Getting Ready for Bed:

Given that we had made the most of our day of leisure (using part of it to explore this region of Guanacaste and part of it to enjoy an incredible hotel), we felt very satisfied at the manner in which we had spent our day.  But it was time to return to our room to pack our stuff and get ready for another early-morning start as we had to get our bags outside our door by 6.00 am followed by breakfast at 6.0 am. We finished packing, sat on our patio for a little while to enjoy the sound of the waves but it was really very warm indeed and in a short time, we returned inside.

What a spectacular property we had enjoyed for two whole days and how privileged and grateful we felt for the entire experience as we lay our heads down to sleep.

Hasta Manana!