Leire woke early for a phone interview for the internship she had applied for, while I snoozed. Upon her return we headed out for breakfast at a small café we had noticed the previous day. We had seen a few ‘white’ people dining there and assumed it would be a safe choice. It turned out to be a tasty breakfast but the Tortillas weren’t nearly as tasty as the ones Id eaten in Grecia. These must be the generic tourist Tortillas we mused.
We drove to the same grocery store as the day before to buy the camera we had both liked. The camera store was closed. We bought a calling card and a can of coke for myself and headed up the main road, then back down when we realized we’d gone the wrong way, and finally arrived at the mall.
The first day driving I managed to fill the car up paying with my credit card, but had since been unable to get any money out. Fearing my card details had been copied and my account drained I used the calling card to phone my bank. They informed me that I was completely over my limit. I was certain I had enough cash in the account but they told me otherwise. Nothing out of the ordinary the Aussie guy on the other end of the line said, “Just the usual yahoo crazy holiday spending...” Bugger!
Being early morning the Mall was closed and so we headed back to the grocery store. It must have been 9am but still everything was closed. We eventually bought a camera when the camera store opened. We decided to name the camera Rosa as we had broken the original one in Santa Rosa.
Back on the road and finally escaping Liberia we were headed toward Tamarindo.
Liberia was inland and the road to Tamarindo was along the coast. We decided to stop in at as many beaches along the way to fill our day, as we had nothing else planned. It seemed like an excellent idea and we were soon weaving through the small beach town of Playa Hermosa.
We parked our car a few short meters from the beach alongside a few buildings. The road was shaded by overhanging palms and as I took in a deep breath of cool morning air, there approached a short man. He wore a plain white shirt, black sunnies and a red hat. He looked like a tour operator so I immediately said ‘no thanks buddy’. He spoke with Leire while I awaited the translation. He apparently wanted some money to look after our car, and was also offering snorkeling equipment or some sort of tour package. Leire said no thanks and we headed for the ocean. The fella walked off looking very grumpy at not getting any business from us. Oh well.
We swam and sun bathed for less than an hour before deciding to move on to the next beach. The same guy caught up with us again at the car and was being a bit rude and try as he might, we would not give him any money and instead drove off in search of the next beach.
Next stop was Playa Octal. The beach here was even less exciting than Playa Hermosa so after parking the car we headed straight to the beachside bar instead of the water. After a bottle of Imperial and some awkward glances from the locals we moved on to Playa Flamingo.
After a 20 minute drive down long straight roads through farmlands we came to Playa Flamingo. We noticed almost instantly that this was a much more touristy spot. The sand swept beachside road was lined with white resort hotels. A few bright white tourists with sunscreen painted noses milled about and headed toward the sandy beach.
We followed this main road to its end, through a small resort and then
stopped next to a palm tree so I could relieve myself of the beer onto the crispy dry foilage. A few big lizards scrambled out from there hiding places and headed toward the beach.
We looped back to the main road and parked a short distance from a group of tourists that were obviously here for the same reason as us, to soak up some sun and catch some waves.
Reaching behind my seat I lifted my laptop bag up and grabbed the ‘acquired’ knife from a plastic bag. Spreading some peanut butter and vegemite onto toast I made a snack, then gathered my gear and some fruit. We got out of the car, did the usual check to make sure it was all locked up, and headed to the sand.
Finding a suitable spot we laid out our sarongs then headed straight to the water. The whole time I was out in the water I had a strange feeling about my laptop and kept looking back at the car, which was a bit blurry from this distance. Catching a few waves and getting a little hungry I headed back into shore.
Leire was sunbathing, wearing her lil yellow bikini and looking amazing as usual. I took the Maracuja I had bought from the grocery store and spilled the contents onto her stomach. I decided to test out Rosa, our new camera, and started filming as I sucked the tasty fruit seeds and juice from her half naked and completely sexy body. “It doesn’t get much better than this” I said as I leaned toward her for a kiss.
Bubbly with as much happiness as energy I surveyed the surrounding area. Apart from the few scatterings of tourists the whole stretch of beach was virtually empty. Jutting out into the ocean in the distance was a cliff with a lone mansion on top. Crazy! I thought. About ten meters in front of us a large lizard was strolling on by heading toward the car. I started filming again and then noticed a bird chirping loudly in a tree that blocked our view of the car.
After a good hour or two sun bathing, swimming and making out, we packed up our gear and headed for the hostel in Tamarindo.
The paved coastal road to Tamarindo turned to gravel the moment we entered the center of the small town. We had reached a tourist hotspot. Changing down a gear we drove slowly past various surf shops, cafes, tourist centers, hotels and merchant stalls. The streets were busy with 4WD’s and tourists milling about in boardies and bikinis. After a quick stop for directions we eventually found our hostel, Pura Vida. We were greeted at the reception hut by an American who after checking us in, suggested we park our car at the front but 'be sure to not leave anything valuable in there'.
We began unloading Jimmy. Removing the two suitcases I reached in to grab the laptop bag. Where’s the laptop bag? I asked Leire, surprised that she might have taken it out already. ‘Isn’t it there?’ she responded. No its not. Oh no. My heart dropped. There was only one explanation, it had been stolen. =(
Stunned into silence I slumped down on the back of the car. My only thought, ‘I cant believe it’. Leire tried to reassure me; perhaps I had left it at the last hostel? I knew it was gone, stolen. And there wasn’t a thing that could be done. I remembered what Leire had said after the camera had broken, that there is no point stressing and getting worked up over things that have happened that we cannot chnge. That it’s best to deal with it and move on. Dealing with this was not going to be easy.
We unloaded the rest of our items from the car and into our room. I was full of emotions and one moment wanted to lash out and break something, another moment I just wanted to leave. Leire, empathetic to my anguish, gave me a hug which instantly calmed me and again I recalled her words. No point beating myself up over this.
Grabbing one of the three calling cards we now possessed we headed down our dusty road toward the beach. Finding a bay of phone booths I dialed the calling card and then home sweet home.
Mum, Ive got bad news.
Uh oh.
Yea, my laptop got stolen.
Aww shit Luke.
Sigh.
Mum said she would find out my travel insurance details and have the info ready for me to call back the same time tomorrow. Hanging up the phone I sighed again, this time with some relief. My brain was still fuzzy with shock and I felt drained of all energy and enthusiasm. We picked up a beer each from a bungalow looking beach bar and found a nice spot to watch the setting sun.
After the sunset we bought some food supplies and cooked up a tasty meal of tuna, mushrooms, tomato and pasta. I tried to burn the pictures from the near full memory card to a mini dvd. I had bought the pack of tiny DVDs on impulse while at a one pound shop in Edinburgh, I knew they’d come in handy some day. I soon gave up trying to burn the pics as it just wasn’t happening and my patience was running out with each and every mosquito bite.
Leire poured a couple of strong vodka drinks to drown my sorrows. We passed out around 10.
