Playa Naranjo  -> Playa Tambor -> Playa Malpais and Santa Teresa

Rejuvenated by our stay at the Oasis, we were ready for what awaited us around the corner. We enjoyed the ride around the end of the Nicoya peninsula, stopping off at Playa Tambor on our way to Playas Malpais and Santa Teresa.

The roads were 4WD tracks that forded streams and switched back to climb the steep hills between drainages. Much of the forest was undisturbed or old second growth and it was some of the most quintessential Costa Rican riding we have found.

Tambour is a sleepy fishing village that is starting to be discovered by tourists, but it is still far enough off the beaten track that it holds some surprises. The electricity supply is a little unpredictable because they are trying to upgrade the service (probably so that some Spanish or Japanese company can put in a couple of golf courses and build a mega-resort… if you like unspoiled you better get there soon) and just as we checked into our cabina the power went out.

We weren’t too concerned, we enjoy candle-light, until we found out that their water pump was electric.

You sweat a lot when you ride in Costa Rica. After a few turns of your cranks the little beads start to appear all over your body, and almost as fast the dust from the road starts to layer on forming a shell of grime. We would have just jumped in the ocean to clean off but it was getting dark, and I have this thing about sharks and the dark. Irrational but true.

I ended up riding into the village and picking up a 5 liter jug of bottled water so Sue could shower in style. I was just about to join her when the power came back on.

The next day we continued through Cobano and down the hill to Mal Pais and Santa Teresa on similar 4WD track.   Along the way I encountered the dreaded killer cashew.

We had been spending under our budget for a while so we splurged at Playa Santa Teresa and stayed in swanky beach villas, wined, dined, beach combed, and swam in the ocean and the pool.