Playa Samara

This is Elise. We spent the night in Samara, Costa Rica last night. I had always thought the whole Nicoya Peninsula was dry but I was wrong. The green season has only just begun and it is very lush and jungle like here.  Very beautiful and tranquil but the rain brings intense humidity and bugs.   I remember hearing someone from Louisiana say something about the weather making you feel like you are breathing through a straw.   This is a quaint laid back hippie type town that I like much better than Tamarindo. I feel like this is somewhere different and I didn't have that feeling there. The ocean water here is very warm and we have the beach to ourselves.   There is a whole city of big red crabs here on the beach at low tide.   One scared me last night as it had crawled up to our front door and was skittering across the aluminum door frame in the dark. It was quite loud and  dark so I didn't know what is was. We are 300 yards from the beach so I don't know how it got here.   I was outside at night because I couldn't breathe in our bedroom. The A/C didn't work that well, the windows don't open, and there is a dusty,  mildewy, bug spray smell in there. My sinuses completely swelled shut.   Of course there are too many mosquitoes here to be outside at night. Luckily the A/C in Sierra's room works great so I was able to sleep there.
Costa Rica is blessed with abundant natural beauty and is the nicest country so far with  being developed , clean and not poor.  I still like Nicaragua better even though it is very dry and brown there from the drought. I guess I like being about to go out to dinner and take whatever tours we want without busting the budget. If you are only on vacation for a week it's not a big deal to spend $40 on a meal for the family, when you are traveling long term spending that much on a simple meal is prohibitive.  Groceries are more expensive than what we are used to back home. I love the vibrant flowers, intense green and butterflies here. What is it about the tropics?  Even if it is mostly cloudy, it is still not dreary. The sky is a ever changing palette of clouds and blue sky.
How is homeschooling going?  We get some push back from Sierra that makes it difficult. We have challenges with finding a good cool space to study. Today we have a beautiful spot near the pool but we have to brush bugs off ourselves and our books as we work. We all love that we can do what we want. Some days Sierra wants to work on science.  Today she wants to finish her third grade workbook, do some addition with the game of Uno, and play scrabble.   Not a hard core curriculum but good enough. Trying to keep it fun.  We only study about an hour and a half a day.  On travel days or if we don't have a table we just skip it.   Mostly we stay at places for at least three days to a week so we have a chance to settle in and get to know the area.

Our first evening in Samara was overcast

Homeschooling with the kids, we try to mix games with studying

Thousands of crabs scurry along the beach during low tide, the kids are playing with this one.

Very few people at the beaches to listen to all the howlers monkeys in the jungle.

Sierra and Zoe have developed into very good snorkelers.

Children enjoy walks on the beach as much as any adult.