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December 19, 2016

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Costa Rica days 3 & 4: Day trips around Quepos

On Monday we headed south from Quepos to Dominical and Uvita to check out the beaches. We first stopped at Dominical, navigating the extremely rough dirt road to check out the beach where the river Rio Baru meets the ocean. It had good surfing waves.

We then drove down to Uvita to visit Ballena Marine National Park and walked along the expansive beach to Isla Ballena, a small little sand bar type island only accessible during low tide. During low tide when the sandbar and connecting sand bridge is visible, it’s shaped like a whale’s tail – hence the word Ballena! Well, they also say that whales migrate past this beach in the winter, so maybe that’s also a contributing factor.

After taking a dip in the calm waters sheltered by the sandbar, we made the long walk back to the car, during which we spotted many sanddollars on the beach. Afterwards we went to Dominical for lunch, stopping at the rather disappointing Patron’s Bar and Grill.

We then drove back south to take a quick stroll at Playa Hermosa before returning to view the sunset from our porch once again.

We dined at Emilio’s Cafe which had delicious food, good service and a live jazz band. We topped the night off with some awkward family photos on the porch.

On Tuesday we drove north to Rainmaker, a rainforest conservation project. We took the self guided river walk and suspension bridge canopy tour. The tour was more strenuous than it sounded, but we saw many waterfalls, little pools you can swim in, and the suspension bridges were pretty awesome. After climbing many stairs on the tour, we enjoyed local craft beer Perro Vida, brewed on site. It was quite good. A hummingbird visited us while we were hanging out.

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We then headed back down south to Playa Espadilla, which is the beach just outside Manuel Antonio Park. We had lunch at Marlin Grill, another disappointing lunch spot but at least that had a view of the beach. After lunch we headed to the beach for some lounging under a beach umbrella and strolling down the beach.

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The tide was coming in right before sunset, so we packed up and headed back to El Avion for a drink at the bar while viewing a particularly lovely sunset. For dinner we went to the Marina and tried Z Gastropoda, where the food was good, souls vide chicken was on the menu, and my kale salad was missing kale.

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July 12, 2015

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Saint Martin day 10: Kayaking to Ilet Pinel 

On our final full day in Saint Martin, I started out with a short run, just to be able to upload a GPS track from Saint Martin. I first ran on the flat roads but then headed up a hill from some lovely views that I stopped to photo and then instagram:

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Once I was back, we decided to go back to our favorite beach, Ilet Pinel. This time, we decided to rent a double kayak and kayak our way over there. The beach where you get the ferry or rent kayaks had a huge amount of seaweed washed up on shore. Which then rots. This entire corner of the island smells awful because of the seaweed. Luckily, the wind blew into Saint Martin rather than towards Ilet Pinel, so we were quickly able to escape the smell after we paddled a bit beyond the seaweed.  As we were paddling hard into a very stiff headwind, this kiteboarder was standing on a shallow section in the water before he started riding.
  A pelican on the rocks near Petite Clef, a tiny little island on the way to Ilet Pinel.  We made it eventually. It was definitely an arm workout because of the high winds.
    This time, we lounged at the other beach bar, called Yellow Beach. There’s a good reason all the things we read talked about Karibuni beach bar, which we did on our first trip over. The food we had for lunch seemed to be frozen stuff they deep fried. Everything was plain, boring, and way overpriced 😦
  We did see the iguanas. all sizes of them… they were taking food from people’s hands!   In the early afternoon, the server started putting out tables in the water – they had giant pointy ends that he would work into the sand and then leave a bucket of ice with a bottle of wine. It was great to watch these people get progressively drunker.
  For dinner, we stayed close to home, eating at La Voile Blanche. Carl started off with a giant salad.  I had the creole tasting menu, and once again my dinner wasn’t very exciting. I started with a trio of smoked fish. It was giant for being a starter.
  Carl had a lamb shank, which he says was very good.  My conch fricasee was not exciting. Not spicy, the conch was very tough, and there weren’t enough vegetables. 
  Dessert was fantastic through, bananas flambe again. This one was paired with a delicious macaron. 

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July 8, 2015

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Saint Martin day 8: Hiking to Petite Cay from Anse Marcel

 On Saturday we started with breakfast at the little French bakery and cafe across the street from our apartment. We both ordered breakfast sandwiches which were served on an entire half of a baguette. We also had delicious croissants so half of my sandwich went back as leftovers.     

On our bike tour guide’s recommendation, we headed to a trail head in Anse Marcel to hike around Pointe des Froussards to Petite Cayes, a secluded set of beaches.
The first part of the hike was a gravel road that took us above Anse Marcel with a view of the marina there when there was a break in the brush. Next came some single track trail with interesting plant markers along the way. There were giant air plants which are apparently related to pineapple, this one was growing on a rock:

  

After climbing some rough trail for awhile we were rewarded with fantastic views of Petite Cayes.  

But then of course we had to scramble down some huge rocks to get to the water.      

We found a nice shaded bench to hang out on, read, and eat lunch. We explored the coast line and Carl swam in the waves for a bit before we hiked back out.   

We obviously deserved frozen fruity drinks after our hike so we stopped at a little bar on Anse Marcel beach and had some delicious drinks.  

Then we swam in the calm waters before heading back to our apartment.   

That evening we went into Grand Case for dinner at La Villa. The main waiter was super friendly and started us out with a free glass of champagne and an amuse bouche of tasty cold vegetable soup.

We started with an appetizer from the special board, baked Brie cheese with asparagus and a side of salad, all very good.  

For my meal I ordered the scallop appetizer, not realizing how tiny the scallops would be. At least they were delicious, paired with avocado, tomato, and sweet potato. Many of my much larger meals were not nearly this good.   

Carl had duck breast for his dinner and says it was very good, one of the better meals he had on vacation.   

Our dessert was a pear tart paired with a cold pear compote and caramel ice cream. Caramel ice cream isn’t my favorite, but the tart and compote were amazing. 
    
   

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July 4, 2015

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Saint Martin day 6: Ilet Pinel and sunset searching on Cupecoy Cliffs

On Thursday we headed to Ilet Pinel, a tiny uninhabited island off of the northeast coast of Saint Martin, not too far from where we are staying. You just go up the road to Cul De Sac and catch the ferry. We never saw a ferry schedule and just assumed it started early. Wrong. In the off season it starts at 10 am. Luckily we got there at 9:30 and didn’t wait too long. It’s only a 5 minute ferry ride and you can even kayak over if you’re so inclined. I wanted to take my DSLR, so the ferry was our best option. When we arrived, the beach was pristine and we had our pick of chairs at Karibuni beach club.  
We set our stuff down and headed for the hiking paths that would take us to all sides of the little island. First we went by the iguana colony. See grandma iguana surrounded by the younglings, even a tiny one to the right of grandma and behind the two juveniles. There were more… So many!

  We hiked over the hill to the Atlantic side beach, which was quite rough.  
Young me would have freaked out here because of the huge amount of broken up coral and shells. Big pieces! Someone constructed an artfully arranged pile on the beach. I still feel the pull to collect my favorite pieces, but it’s not allowed in a nature reserve like Ilet Pinel.

  

We followed the trails to each of the signs and had some great views of Pinel, Saint Martin and the surrounding islands. In this photo you see one of Pinel’s Atlantic side beaches, the thin channel separating it from Saint Martin, and then Saint Martin.   

A little peninsula jutting out from Pinel and Orient Bay of Saint Martin.

  

Pinel had the most lovely beach on the side towards Saint Martin.
After our hike we snorkeled where there used to be an official snorkel trail, but is now abandoned. 

 We had lunch on the beach at Karibuni beach club. Cod fish fritters, pork spring rolls, and a delicious fresh salad. Later I enjoyed a wonderful frozen mojito.  
   

  The last ferry leaves Pinel at 4, so we decided to try to walk along Cupecoy beach to look at the cliffs and see the sunset. We knew the beach would be thin, but apparently when we were there the beach was mostly gone so we ended up walking on the cliffs and settling down for the sunset. The cliffs had wonderfully colorful strata.
  

We enjoyed some wonderful strawberry infused sparkling wine picked up at Bacchus.  

We were able to see the sun near the horizon, but then it was obscured by clouds. Unfortunately the sky did not light up in wonderful colors.

 

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July 3, 2015

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Saint Martin day 5: a tour of Marigot and and afternoon at Baie Rouge

Wednesdays and Saturdays are market days in Marigot so we decided to take our walking tour of the city then. We walked along the water front and explored the colorful stalls, eventually buying some interesting infused rums from a vendor.   

One end of the market area has nice buildings that house a fish market on some days, just not this day.

  

After walking around on the main streets of Marigot, we took the 92 steps up to Fort Louis. Don’t worry it was not near as strenuous as it sounds. The fort was built in 1789 by the French. It has not been well maintained, but it is free to walk around on and has great views.

  
    

The colorful tents are the market:

  

After walking the town a bit more we headed to Baie Rouge for lunch, beach lounging, and snorkeling. I like the large smooth rocks on the edge of the surf. We had a lovely fish sandwich on fresh bread from chez Raymond.  
 

We snorkeled around a rock outcropping that had a residence that seemed abandoned. 

   On the other side we found a small little beach and a swim through rock cave that we didn’t actually swim through because the tide was a bit too low at the time.

  

  

For dinner we headed back into Marigot’s La Marina Royale to La Belle Époque. The food was more reasonably priced then some places we’d been. It all was good, but the fish and steak were perhaps a bit over cooked.
 My starter salad was enormous. 

My dinner had both Mahi Mahi and Salmon. 
  

Carl had steak.  

We finished with a delicious and large serving of creme brûlée.

 

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July 2, 2015

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Saint Martin day 4: Happy Bay Beach and an afternoon alone

On Tuesday we woke up and headed to the secluded Happy Bay Beach, accessed by Friars beach. When we arrived we were almost alone as we walked to the end of friars beach.   
  
Happy beach was very secluded and only populated by a nude couple when we arrived. Don’t worry, I didn’t take any photos of them.

There was a bit of snorkeling along the edge of the bay, but the current was strong and the water murky.

Apparently there used to be a food stand on this secluded beach.

   
    
Around lunch time we packed up and headed back to Grand Case for Carl’s scuba trip and my plans to lay on the beach and get a massage.

First I dropped Carl off at octopus diving.

 
Then I walked down the main beach in grand case until I settled in at a beach club for some relaxation, reading, and guavaberry cocktails.

   

  
 After a massage, I met back up with Carl and we headed back to Orient Bay. On the way we stopped at Bacchus for good bottles of wine, French cheese, and a fresh baguette. We spent the evening on our porch enjoying those things.  

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July 2, 2015

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Saint Martin day 3: Philipsburg and little bay beach

On Monday we started with a walking tour of the cruise ship port, Philipsburg, which is on the Dutch side of the island. It has an old courthouse on Wathey Square. It is the shopping capital of Saint Martin and a bit overwhelming.

We started on the boardwalk and enjoyed a view of the lovely blue water.

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We stopped at Wathey Square and the pier for some photos.Evernote Camera Roll 20150630 153648

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Saw some great examples of caribbeann architecture including this church:

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The shopping was nonstop on front and back streets:

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We stopped in the Guavaberry Rum store for some samples and purchases.

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We had lunch on the boardwalk at Taloula Mangos and started with Guavaberry coladas. Look how pink!

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After lunch it was time for beach lounging at little bay beach, accessed from the Divi beach hotel.
The beach was lovely. The snorkeling was OK.
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After our afternoon of lounging and snorkeling we headed back to the French side of the island to go back to our apartment and stopped at the monument commemorating the friendship of the two sides of the island.
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For dinner we headed to Grand Case, the culinary capital of the Caribbean. After perusing the menus along the main avenue, we settled on Le Cottage.
We first had a delicious amuse bouche of sweet potato, carrots, and ginger chilled soup. omg, so good! Carl ordered the creole seafood tasting and I had soup and an eggplant dish.
The first plate that came out as part of Carl’s tasting menu was cod fritters with sweet and spicy sauce. I neglected to get a photo of that plate. The second plate was fried white and black sausage with a side of fruit slaw.

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My first plate was French onion soup, because, you know, I love that stuff. Just look at that presentation!
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Then, the magic happened. Carl got a crazy tasting plate with a number of seafood items that he actually enjoyed! It was awesome.
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Here he is eating some raw fish on a toast!
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I got my eggplant dish at the same time, beautifully plated.
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We closed with bananas flambé, which I was so excited about that I didn’t take a photo. It was delicious. And we got the traditional shot of house infused rum at the end of the meal. Carl said his food was great, and so was mine. Nothing to jump up and down about, but still very good.