The Overdue Trip to the Beach

I wanted to let the kids publish their blog posts about our first trip to the beach on Saturday, but if I wait too long I might forget stuff. So here is my take on it.

If you haven’t heard, Hurricane Otto passed out of the western Caribbean a few days ago. We had some legitimate concerns about it making history and being the first hurricane on record to hit Costa Rica. Although it did not leave Costa Rica unscathed, it did made landfall over Nicaragua, just north of the border. It passed across that country and out into the Pacific and has since faded into history. We ended up with some clouds and rain, but it wasn’t much different from the other cloudy and rainy days we’ve experienced since getting here.

It has been surprising how much the weather forecasts change from hour to hour down here. In any case, we had been here almost two weeks and had not yet taken in any of the beaches, which we had heard so many wonderful things about. It was time for a break.

We’ve all been working on our Spanish but haven’t used it that much since where we are staying is pretty quiet and out of the way. I did manage to call for a taxi to take us to Montezuma Beach. “Super” Mario was our driver that day, and he took us the seven or so kilometers to Montezuma. The countryside here has plenty of hills, and it seems like Montezuma is surrounded by them. On the rides in and out we encountered some pretty steep roads just outside of town.

The first beach we got dropped off at wasn’t the main beach, but that didn’t stop us from checking it out. Sydney and her inseparable “sister” Taryn were almost giddy after being cooped up in the apartment for so many days. Lucas was of course the first to race into the water. Karen was not that far behind. It was OK, but nothing to brag about. We realized there had to be a better beach, so we went for a stroll down the down the nearby street lined with shops and places to eat.

I thought we were getting a late start on the day, but most of the streets were pretty quiet as we strolled along towards Playa Montezuma. As we approached the beach, we encountered a sign saying that the conservation efforts in Costa Rica started here. Had we chosen to stay until shortly before sunset, we could have seen workers release baby sea turtles into the wild.

I have to admit I feel one of my duties as the husband and father is to keep an eye on my family as we travel. So far Costa Rica seems like a wonderfully safe place to travel. Everyone has been friendly and honest, but that doesn’t stop me from being vigilant.

One of the things that has been diverting my attention away from photo opportunities is Sydney’s knee. Apparently I/we should have added proper walking mechanics to the list of things we ask Sydney to work on and improve. Her right patella has decided of late that it doesn’t always want to track in the groove it is supposed to be in when she bends and straightens her leg. I can see now that she has a habit of keeping her upper leg under her body when her foot is out to the side a bit. We’ve spent the last few days working on keeping her knee over her foot while walking. She also has several stretches and strengthening exercises to do. Hopefully we’ve caught it early and she can get things working properly before we go to Nicaragua in a couple of weeks. I don’t want to have to carry a second backpack full of stuff. But I digress…

The main beach was fairly long and not very full. The sky was overcast, and that was fine for a bunch of pasty white Canadians who were new to the tropics. We hiked 100 or so meters away from the road and decided that was the place to head into the water. I took a couple of pictures, looking each way down the beach, and one of Karen and Lucas playing in the waves. I was watching the bags at first, but Sydney’s knee was bothering her in the surf, so she settled down to play in the sand. I headed into the waves and we had fun body surfing and jumping in the waves until the sun started to come out. I probably should have called it quits as soon as the clouds thinned, but I was having too much fun. I am a little redder than I had planned, but nothing too bad. I’ll be sure to cover up more in the future.

We stopped at a restaurant for lunch before we left town. It was right along the beach where we first came into town. The food was good, and we got to watch another pale couple turning red in the tropical sun while we ate. We may be heading back to Montezuma tomorrow to see the waterfall. I’m sure we will be back again before we leave to play at the beach again.