The past few weeks I have been going to different beaches. One weekend I went to an all-inclusive resort. This was only the second time I've been one of these resorts and this time it was near the town of Tamarindo. There were 8 of us that went and we arrived on Friday after work. The resort was right on the beach and had a huge swimming pool with basketball nets and a volleyball net. Unfortunately the entire weekend was rainy so we weren't able to enjoy lying on the beach but the food was excellent and there were plenty of things to do during the day. Some of us rented surfboards and we went out surfing. We were the only ones surfing there and the waves were as good as the waves in Tamarindo so it was a lot of fun. It was also within walking distance to Tamarindo so it was easy to get to at night.

The next weekend I went to Playa Carillo, which is a beach south of Tamarindo near Playa Samara which I had visited before. I had heard this was one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica and I wasn't disappointed. It was a long sandy beach lined with palm trees and there were no buildings near the beach. The town itself was up a hill behind the beach and I stayed in a really nice cabina there. The place was owned by an Argentinian couple and they also had an Argentinian restaurant in front which served thick, mouth-watering steaks cooked in the traditional Argentinian way. The beach itself had lots of picnic tables and shade under the palm trees and the waves were impressive. There was one wave that consistently broke in the same spot. From the beach it didn't look all that big but by the time you got out there it was a massive pounding force. It was fun to try to body surf it but I had to keep retreating to the beach when it wore me out. It was so strong that it ripped off my dead toenail that I had injured playing soccer the week before.

The last couple of weeks I spent here in Bagaces. There have been fiestas here in Bagaces for the last three straight weekends. One weekend they had the first rodeo in a new ring that has just been finished being built next to the new pool. It was an American-style rodeo and it is apparently one of the best places in Costa Rica for this. They had a TV crew down to tape it for broadcasting on national television. There was bull riding, bronco riding, horse control competitions and steer-tying competitions.

Last weekend I managed to find a new house in Bagaces and I moved back down into town. I enjoyed living up in my shack but I am glad to be back in town with reliable water and not having to worry about dirt and scorpions everywhere.