Even though Mark and I knew we needed to move on from Tamarindo deep down we could have happily stayed there until we were due to go to New York! We had hoped to catch one of the first buses down the road but were given the wrong time and so had to wait another 2 hours...this was spent by the pool! When we went to catch the next bus it seemed to take forever and 2 beers later we were pretty sure we had been given the wrong timetable for the entire day! "TAXI!"

It was a very short journey to Brasilito, only 7-8km down the road, but it had been recommended to us and we figured if we didn't like it then it was close enough to come back to Tamarindo. Our hotel was a disappointment after Villas Macondo. The rooms were nice enough, very clean and cool but it lacked character and facilities....mainly a pool, internet and kitchen!

We didn't want to spend much time there so decided it was time to hit the beach and have some lunch. We wandered into town and were greeted by a much smaller place than Tamarindo but very sweet with everything that you really needed. We found an Australian owned hotel and restaurant, 'Outback Jack's'..what else, right on the beach and enjoyed some great tucker there!

After lunch we walked along Playa Brasilito, which was a nice beach with a mix of grey and white sand and little waves. It continued over a small hill into another beach area called Playa Conchal. This beach is very popular as it is white but not white sand....crushed shells! It looks beautiful and is mostly backed by a very expensive hotel that has the main access to it. Us plebs only option was to walk via Playa Brasilito. We managed to steal some of the hotel loungers though so were happily set up for the rest of the afternoon.

The next day we needed a place to go for breakfast and wandered into the hotel next door. It was an oasis and our hotel a desert! We ate breakfast and began strategy talks to see if we could get a room at a discounted rate given it was more expensive than where we were staying. The beauty of this was that it is currently low season in Costa Rica and so hotels were happy to cut most of their normal prices just to increase occupancy levels. The owner turned out to be English and so I sent Mark off to charm him as he is very good in that department. Gift of the gab some might say! What do you know by the time coffee came we also had a room! We couldn't have checked out quick enough from our previous place and had hardly dumped our backpacks before we were monopolising the pool.

The Hotel Conchal is a beautiful 10 room place and nicely decorated. We only planned to stay one night as in our hearts we still harboured the ambition to cross back to the caribbean coast and visit Tortuguero, where the turtles, sloths and toucans are. After one night we booked another until we could stay no longer as we had to get back to San Jose! Its unfortunate we didn't get to see more of the wildlife that Costa Rica is famous for but we weren't really visiting at the right time to really enjoy it and the weather was so perfect for beach lounging that it made it very difficult to justify travelling by boat in torrential rain in the hope we would see glimpses of equally soaked animals! I guess its also naive to say 'next time!'

So in the end we stayed by the beach to rest up before the onslaught of the BIG APPLE. We ate fabulous seafood in Brasilito and enjoyed the company of one particular waiter at a small french owned soda (small local restaurant). He was very impressed with Mark's level of spanish and pronounciation. They chatted away in spanglish and it really made the local experience all the more special.

We came to the realisation that it was probably time to end the trip and employ our time a little more productively when we spent one afternoon in the pool fascinated in watching an army of ants carry bugs back to their nest for feeding. So enthralled were we that we began to collect bugs for them to help!! And they all had to be different so that their diet was varied! It actually was interesting watching them figure out together how they would carry them.....i know....too much sun and time on our hands. Its time to get a job again isn't it?!

We left Brasilito much more refreshed than when we arrived and very excited about New York. Our bus ride back to San Jose was much better than the one out as it rained and was much cooler. We got back in time for a quick meal and went straight to bed. This city had nothing left to offer...nor did it begin with anything!

Once again it was time to jump across the America's...so long Central...hello North!! xx