Aquaholics Surf Shop

Greetings from Costa Rica!

Posted on 02/16/2008 at 10:25 am by Nanci Boutet
Viewed 874 times | 5 comments

Hi everyone,

Sorry it's taken so long... My Internet connection is not working, so I have to go to a wifi or Internet café to get this out.

I left Maine early January 30^th. The flights were good, I flew American and they didn't charge for my boards. SCORE!

I arrived in Costa Rica a little early, got my car (more expensive than I expected) and was loaded and on my way in no time. I headed for Playa Grande, to my friends Surf Shop "Frijoles Locos". Since my rental in Playa Junquillal was only set to start February 1, Ian and Corynne Bean were gracious enough to offer me a couple of nights stay in their lovely new house above their new surf shop. Nice digs! I sold most of last year's leftover stock to them to sell in their store. Out with my old, in with their new! I'm glad to make room for more, and they're glad to have new stock.

I surfed Grande head high early next day, ran, worked, yoga'd and generally relaxed and tried to slow down a bit.

Next day, I went to Playa Junquillal to scope out the new digs. Someone was still there, so I asked Giullermo, the neighbor and brother in law of my usual landlady, Anna, if he knew where I was supposed to be moving in (I rented a different house this year). He told me I was supposed to rent the one that was occupied. It seems as though the current tenant hadn't moved out yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I went back to Grande, surfed, and called my Junquillal rental connection, Anna. The tenant was still in. Maybe tomorrow. I guess Arcadio, the landlord and Anna's older brother was coming Saturday to get the tenant moving.  After waiting almost a week's worth of tomorrows, I took Anna's sister Marlen's house. $500 a month, three bedrooms and AC.  It's pretty nice, but it's right on the main road and prone to robberies. I've known a few people to have their things stolen there. I just keep my electronics and valuables on me or in a safe place at all times. The house was due to be available February 5^th and I didn't want to miss the opportunity by waiting for the other place to open up. Turns out Arcadio gave her another month to house hunt.

After I moved in, I noticed while unpacking that the airlines dinged Marc's board! I drove back to Grande to drop it off to be repaired, then went to the new "SUPER MERCADO" grocery store in Tamarindo on my way back thorugh. The store is huge and Gringo style. I bought supplies and drove home to settle in. After 5 days of fun surf in Grande, I didn't mind spending a day to get the place cleaned up and arranged to my liking.

There is an excellent beachbreak is across the street, and I love to surf it. It's a challenge, fast and hollow.

The surf has been pretty flat since the 6^th.  Eric and Ashley Belanger, Jay and Jill Dennison, Chris Lessard and his significant other, Courtney arrived at the airport at the same time as Theresa and Kaigan Munch, and a little ahead of Colter Deupree and his California friends Pete Statti and "Burb" Gibbons. We piled into cars and taxis and gheaded to Playa Negra, where Andy King and Marcio Munch, who arrived January 26^th for a little extra time ahead of the crowd were waiting for everybody to start their communal vacation at Colter's KILLER CASA at Playa Negra.

On the first day, we were sitting at the restaurant at Hotel Playa Negra and telling snake and bug stories, making the wives and girlfriends (and a few of the guys) squirm. Everyone headed off to bed at their respective domiciles (Eric and Ashley, the newlyweds are staying at Hotel Playa Negra). I was headed for my car with a soda for Jesse, the parking lot guard. I didn't see him in his usual chair and called out to him. He answered that he was further up the road, playing with a little snake. I went to bring his Fresca and have a look. It was a small, about a foot long and skinny, about the thickness of a pinky finger. He told me that it was called a Toboa and was very venomous. He was poking it and generally provoking it. It was striking at his stick and biting his boot. He thought it was funny. I asked him to keep an eye on it while I went for Eric and Ashley, and darted up the road. Three steps into my dash, I realized it was PITCH BLACK. I asked him if he thought it unwise for me tp proceed in the dark, and he said it'd be okay (I regret believing that, but didn't pay a price) I shouted to Eric and Ash, but they weren't coming. I went to cautiously my car and drove to my house. It was late and the tide is high in the morning this week, so I went to bed so I could surf early.

I went to surf at HPN Sunday, a crowded day at any break, and Costa Rica is no exception. We surfed, drove to Avellanas for a VERY expensive smoothie/lunch break. Eight bucks for a smoothie. We went back to HPN where everybody played a few games of Volleyball. Renan, my friend and the manager at HPN, Colter , Andy and I played a couple of sweaty games of Volleyball and Renan's daughter Lya was kind enough to get me a cold bottle of water while I played. The sun set, and we all dispersed.

Back at Colter's house, Eric, Ashley, Andy, Colter, Burb, Pete and I decided to eat at the Hotel. When we sat down, I remembered I had left my almost full bottle of water by the Volleyball Court, so I grabbed the flashlight and went to retrieve it. When I turned to walk back to the restaurant, I saw a beer can and thought I'd pick it up to recycle it. As I reached for it I saw a LONG snake slithering out of the tree near me, slithering over the can. EWWW. I called (again) for Eric and Ashley and they came to look. It was about a meter long (3 ½ feet or so) and as thick as my thumb. It slithered onto the Volleyball Court. Ashley wanted to see it closer, so we brightened the lights beam, and inched closer. I assumed it was a Boa. We went back to the table and resumed our conversation. Pretty cool. Chris Lessard walked up, and Eric offered to show him the snake. They walked down to the court, and Chris grabbed it's tail. It rose up to strike, and he let it go. They came back to the table talking about the fact that Chris wasn't really afraid of snakes because he'd handled plenty as a kid. Chris left. I saw Jesse, HPN's resident snake guy and general guard (the guy from the night before) if Boa's lived in trees. He asked me a few questions and when I told him about the thickness he told me it was probably a Toboa, because Boas get fatter as they get longer. Jay arrived, wanting to find a snake of his own, so a couple of the guys went searching in the bushes. Insanity!

Anyway, two poisonous snakes in two nights is plenty enough excitement for me. I'll be keeping my feet on the paths and my flashlight on from now on when it gets dark!

Hopefully, I'll write more soon.

See you in the water!

nanci