Samara is a very idyllic little town with a minimal tourist presence and a very laid back vibe. The travel group consisted of me, Jen, and five other people from our program. We divided into 3 groups and all stayed at different hostels. On the way to Samara, we missed the main bus stop and ended up in the next town over. It would have been a really long walk back to Samara, and there weren't many taxis around, so, naturally, we decided to hitch-hike back to Samara. This is a short video of the hitch-hiking in action:
Me and Jen stayed in a hostel called "Las Mariposas". The toilet was really dirty. Other than that, it was cute, and we met really cool people, but the toilet bowl was just really dirty. I attempted to clean it myself because it was bothering me so much. We powered through the first night without a fan in our upstairs room (I almost died), but we made sure to acquire a fan for the second night. I'm pretty sure it was about 95 degrees there... I can't handle that heat.
Horse grazin outside our hostel.
On Saturday we rented bikes and headed to Playa Carillo. Playa Carrillo is supposed to be one of the prettiest beaches in Costa Rica, and it really was. It was a very long white sand beach lined with palm trees and no hotels or stores along it, just a small road. Obviously, there are plenty of pretty beaches, but this one felt particularly special because there was hardly anyone there. We didn't have to worry about constantly watching our stuff (although we kept it close by), and we could swim and play in the ocean to our hearts content. When I was lying on the beach I had one of those rare moments where my whole body just felt completely 100% relaxed. This relaxation continued until the ATM ate my debit card on Saturday evening. I didn't believe the tails I'd heard of ATM's just plain eating debit cards, but now I know they are true.
One of our many iguana friends from this weekend.
On Sunday morning, whilst eating breakfast, we met a couple who worked in the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically with a company who specialized in Women's health. I don't think they were involved with the evil kind of pharmaceutical companies though. The man was English although he hadn't lived in England for 12 years. His work schedule was as follows: work in the US (Boston I think?) for 2 weeks, then, every 3 weeks go to Costa Rica and repeat. I believe his girlfriend was a Tica. They were on the news the morning we met them, because they helped organize a rally for women's health, and everyone from the hostel gathered around to watch it. The man told us how he used to go to live in New Dehli, and about ten years ago he lived in Dubai. His tales of Dubai were especially interesting. For whatever reason, he was sent there during the summer, a time which is ungodly hot in that region of the world. He said it was usually about 120 degrees with 100% humidity. He told us an amusing/ fascinating story about a day when he decided to go for a "refreshing" swim on one of the beautiful beaches. It was another swelteringly hot summer day in Dubai, and he had a rental car so he decided to drive it on to the beach. So, he drove it on the beach, got out, and as soon as his TENNIS shoes hit the sand he could feel the excruciating heat through the soles. So he got back in his car, still determined to swim. He backed it up right to the edge of the water, and put his feet in. He immediately screamed in pain and jumped back in his car. The water, just like everything else, was scorching.
Moral of the story: do not go swimming in Dubai in the middle of the summer. He also told us the only thing to do was to go to shopping malls. Or indoor skiing which they have now. It's probably much more intense than mini mountain though.
That's all I can think of for now. I might come back and edit this post later.
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