Pura Vida! This expression, commonly used in Costa Rica as both a greeting and farewell, means "Pure Life" and is apt indeed - it is most definitely a pure life here on Costa Rica's famed "Gold Coast."
We are laughing at ourselves over yesterday's adventures. We had lunch at a small restaurant at a nearby beach so we could watch a sand sculpting contest. Though the contest was mostly over when we arrived, we saw a few breathtaking sand sculptures, including one of a naked woman that any Renaissance painter might admire!
After lunch we headed off on a genuine mission. The boys and I love prowling beaches, whether in Lake Michigan for Petoskey stones and beach glass, Lake Superior for the elusive agate, or the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico for shells. When the opportunity to visit Costa Rica arose, we were nearly giddy at the thought of all the new beaches we would have a chance to visit and hopefully collect treasure from.
I don't know enough about tides and currents to fit onto the head of a pin, but I have decided that for one reason or another, Costa Rica is not a shell-hunter's paradise. We have looked carefully, often testing Daddy's patience and good humor, as well as Leonard's, but we have only found a small handful of shells. We are delighted with each one, as they are indeed different in their shapes, colors, and swirls from any other shells we've seen.
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I had read about the famed Playa Conchal ("Shell Beach") in Guanacaste, and I've been obsessed with visiting it ever since we bought our plane tickets. Of course, I've swept William and Martin up in my enthusiasm. We drove nearly four hours yesterday, most of them on back-breaking unpaved roads, to find the famed Playa Conchal. We arrived a mere fifteen minutes before sunset (our trip was a bit eventful for one reason or another) and immediately set to work scouring the beach.
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It is nearly inaccessible, and completely inaccessable without four-wheel-drive. Though all beaches in Costa Rica are public, some areas have been bought up by developers who control most of the beach access, which makes the virtue of being "public" something of a mute point.
In Playa Conchal, developers have virtually stripped the beach bare of its famed crushed shells to use as fill in their developments. (According to Frommer's Guide to Costa Rica, this area used to be a "shell-hunter's paradise".)
To make a long story short, we traveled a long way, very uncomfortably, on a wild-goose chase. It was a good lesson - not all odysseys yield the desired goal! To make us feel better, we bumped back home in the dark listening to the Rolling Stones. Even Leonard was cheered up!
Today was another story, and full of surprises. We boarded a sailboat at 9:00 this morning with another family to take a cruise along the coast and do a little snorkeling.
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I held a napping Leonard while Glen and the boys took the plunge. All went well, and they saw numerous gorgeous fish, including one a vivid blue the color of William's swim trunks! Alas, William kept having trouble biting down on his snorkel mouthpiece because he had a loose tooth and the plastic kept sliding off it when he tried to clamp down.
Finally, in frustration, he bit down hard. The tooth, which wasn't nearly ready to come out, came out. In surprise, William opened his mouth, and now the tooth is at rest at the bottom of Davey Jones' locker!
After a good look at the fish below, everyone swam to shore and we had a good look up and down the small, narrow beach. Accessible only by boat, we at last found a few shells! William found one he thinks is a good trade for his tooth, and Martin found several that he is proud to lay claim to. I have only one question: does the tooth fairy here deal in Colones or dollars?
As I type this, Glen and the three boys are down on the beach exploring the tide pools. Crabs and small fish abound, and the lure of the hunt is always strong in my boys. Though the heat is strong, I sit under a thatched umbrella and the breeze off the Pacific is cooling. The view simply can't be beat.
Pura Vida indeed!
Dad is doing chores outside right now and soon will want his computer, so this will be short. I love the descriptions of your experiences and can see them in my mind! I'm anxious to see the shells you were able to find and to compare them with Florida shells. I'm sure that they will be very different. I remember the brightly-colored fish I saw when I snorkeled in Hawaii; nature shows some interesting combinations! Love, Other
Posted by: Sherrie Martin | March 27, 2006 at 06:18 AM
Holy Gamoly! You guys are having such a great time!!! What an adventure! I'm glad that you lost your tooth to such an outstanding situation William! I can honestly say that I never thought that one of your pearly whites would end up on the floor of the ocean off the coast of Costa Rica. I bet we don't know anyone else that has had this happen to them!!! Were you guys afraid of sharks? Raegan says she will never swim where there are sharks. I bet she would go with you William and Martin! Love you all, Uncle Brennie
Posted by: Brenda Reints | March 29, 2006 at 07:38 AM