Guanacaste: Say it. You'll sound cool.

So I just returned from Tamarindo, Guanacaste...and I miss it. Two and a half days was not enough to get my fill of the sun, sand, ocean, resort, and shopping.

We left for Guanacaste on Saturday afternoon, and six hours later arrived at the Hotel Tamarindo Diria. This place was beautiful. Huge rooms, amazing beachfront views, three pools (one with a swim-up bar), restaurant and bar, and a private lounging area in front of the ocean. I felt so happy and relaxed.

When we got there, we quickly checked into our rooms and went to dinner at the hotel restaurant. They served us an entire buffet of all kinds of Costa Rican cuisine: rice, beans, chicken, steak, tortillas, and tres leche cake! It was amazing. They also had dancers perform for us. Afterward, I showered and relaxed at the hotel, and went to bed early so that I could go shopping early the next day.

My roommates both had excursions in the morning, so I woke up and ate a huge breakfast at the hotel (pancakes, fruit, cheese, hashbrowns...gahhh), then went shopping around the beach and hotel. It is very much a tourist area. There are more than enough souvenir shops, and most of them take US dollars (even though I payed almost entirely in colones). Most of the Ticos there speak English as well (even though I tried to speak Spanish, and even manage to barter entirely in Spanish once). At first, I shopped for specific things for specific people, but eventually I learned to also buy little things like bracelets in keychains that I could buy 3-5 at a time for about 5,000 colones ($10).  For myself, I bought a purse and a bracelet.

In the afternoon, we had the Sailing Catamaran tour. It was a lot of fun. We got to snorkle and they gave us free food and drinks. At the end, I got to see the sunset.

Afterwards, a group of us went to a seafood place, where I ordered linguini with lobster. This is what I got:

This morning we ate another big breakfast, went shopping a little bit more, then hung out on the beach before we had to get back on the bus again for the ride home. A friend of mine (*cough*Tyler Priest* cough) wanted me to bring him a vial of sand from Costa Rica. I thought that was a good idea and washed out the hotel shampoo and conditioner bottles and filled them with sand. Innovative, yes?

I miss Tamarindo already, and I want to go back.

I have a full week of school and San Jose ahead of me, then I will be going to Arenal on Friday!

Chao luego!