I got a mini rental car and jammed up to Playa del Coco for the night. I took the main road north through Belen, Nicoya, Santa Cruz, Filadelphia to Playa del Coco.The drive up was great fun, I love how everyone just passes when ever they want to. Also, at a narrow bridge (of which there are many) you have to look and see if the yield sign is on your side or the oncoming traffic side! What a great concept. I wish they had that on some of our back country bridges. The temperatures here have been really steady between 26 - 30 degrees and wonderfully humid, Just in case you were wondering. ;) Playa del Coco is another everything in walking distance kind of place. It is a bit more of a touristy kind of local. As my new friend Krystal says it is more "Americanized" not too sure if that is a word but she's coined it. I met her on my sucky 5 hour layover in the Houston airport. She is a professional photographer from Calgary of all places! By the way, anyone looking for a photographer in Calgary should give her a call, she does amazing work! www.flyfreephotos.ca. Thanks to her and her boyfriend Gordon for letting me crash in the spare room for the night. All the surfing pics and night photos are by her. Coco is a great place to swim given that the beach is well protected. Hardly any waves to contend with. I went for a night swim (Just like Barcelona Linda except i actually went swimming this time..Ahahahaha) what a beautiful night with and abundance of stars and a bright moon shining down. When you wave your hands through the water the reflection lit up the plankton like tiny underwater fireflies dancing around just below the surface. 1 tequila, 2 tequila, water and a show. The beach in Coco is lined with sandal bars. The Tiki lounge had a tasty tequila and fresh pineapple juice drink that was to die for and only about $2 a piece. From down the beach i could hear some live music and was particularly drawn in when i heard the singer wailing out a Led Zeppelin tune. He had a fantastic raspy vocal gain with tons of range. It was impressive and the place is called La Vida Loca. These guys were in the pocket as Don Swift would say. What a great time, we stayed for a set or so, played some Foosball and watched a guy dance with his pool cue. The bar itself is all out door with Foosball, pool and ping pong. The band was really quite good the played ACDC, Bob Marley and more. The dance floor was full and i got to give a couple of nice ladies a spin. Up at the crack of dawn the next day woke by the screeching of a distant (but close enough) car alarm going off over and over and over and over and.........over again. After a quick dip in the pool and a walk around town in the daylight it was back on the road for us. Krystal decided to come to Samara and photograph some of the local areas there and needed to meet with Mike about some ink. She took me to Ocotal to meet up with her bestest Tico friend Luis at Father Roosters. This venue is a beachfront establishment right on the water. Gary, i'm sorry to say but this place has a steak that blows our perfect Rib eyes out of the water. I'm quite positive it was the best steak i've ever tasted in my life. It was cooked to medium perfection with a side of dipping salsa containing the perfect mix of oil, minced garlic and cilantro and sea salt. The carne melted in my mouth. Seriously. So good. I got caught up on some WiFi and phone calls and it was back to the mean Costa Rican back roads. After a couple of photo op stops along the way i managed to get the car back on time and get settled in. Ben, sorry dude but Krystal is breaking in your room for you. The next morning (yesterday) the sea was angry but i had to get in for some surf shots! I got beaten like a rented mule but it was so worth it catching a few waves on an 8' 2" board and the photos. It was an incredible workout and i slept like a baby till almost 11 am this morning as a result. Not like me at all. I'm hoping to surf for most of the day tomorrow and to do it on an even smaller board! Today was an beautiful day, i slept in and made a hearty Tican breakfast of rice, beans, fresh mango's, and eggs. Oh yah and hot sauce and a beer. A fella's gotta keep his fluids up. Kurt and Jules came and picked us up for a trip to a local waterfall called Cascade de Belan. It was back in on a farming track a ways north of the main road. What a great spot, Krystal did a maternity shoot for Jules and photographed the waterfall. As things do around here our 2 hour tour turned into a 5 hour outing ending with a stop for a bite at La Roca. This place is a picturesque restaurante situated on a steep cliff over looking a buena vista. I got to see a Monkey today finally and captured a couple of pictures of him in the trees. Well, been at this for hours because I've had to re-write it a few times now due to technical difficulties. (probably user error) Beddy by time for this weary traveler. Texass out!