How come you sleep in on a day when you have to get up early?

So it was hasty showers, breakfast and packing away before bidding farewell to the Lodge at Vida Aventura.

In general we have overestimated travelling time in Costa Rica. Having factored in shopping at a Supermarket (no crazy queues), we still arrived at Casa Smilin' Dog in Tamarindo two hours earlier than expected. The only excitement was a grass fire by the roadside.

Our lodging is owned by some British ex-pats who are lovely people. Our flat has an outside kitchen and living area which as locks on all the doors as racoons steal the food at night.

The weather here is hot. We took a stroll on the beach which is lined with bars and hotels. There were lots of people sun bathing and splashing in the water. We have been told not to go in the water at the creek near to the beach as there are crocodiles and caimans!!

We haven't eaten out much here. We browsed the menus but most offered veggie options of pasta or pizza. However, we did find one bar, Noguis, that did Costa Rican vegan food. Though there was a menu hiccup (Kevin got the wrong dish as it had rice on it, and Kevin doesn't like rice that much ;-) ), it was delicious but the waiter seemed a bit freaked out that we asked for a menu so we could work out what we were eating.

On the way back, the birds in the trees were making a right hullaballoo. We sat out and enjoyed seeing our friends on Facebook doing their Christmas Eve preparations.