Arrived in Sámara yesterday evening and we are literally in paradise. It doesn’t feel real. We keep waiting for something bad to happen because it can’t really be this nice, can it? This is the bungalow where we’re staying.

Right?! It’s also the least expensive of all the places we’ve stayed so far, because we’re here at the beginning of the “green season” a.k.a. rainy season.

This morning, Chris and I were leaving to go for a walk when we bumped into Jose, the groundskeeper. He told us about a trail that leads to the beach, so we set out.

Chris found these big pods, and we saw crabs roaming around in the leaves!

We must have taken a wrong turn on the trail because we ended up on a cliff overlooking the beach, but couldn’t figure out how to descend. Check out this view.

Since we couldn’t figure out the trail, we just headed back to take the road instead. We bumped into Jose again, who laughed and told us he’d take us there this afternoon so we’ll know how to go. Then, he pointed up.

Monkeys! So we took the road to walk over to the beach. Even though it was early in the morning and overcast, it was still really hot.

After heading to the grocery store and walking around through town, we met up with Jose again in the afternoon. Sadly, I forgot my camera and Chris’s has some problems, but we managed to capture a couple shots.

We chatted with Jose about Sámara, where he’s lived for the past decade. He’s originally from Nicaragua and will be going back to visit soon. He pointed out different types of trees and told us the pods that Chris found can be turned into a tea that people use to treat anemia.

When we came to the beach, we passed one surfer who was leaving. Otherwise, it was totally deserted.

But the real highlight was when Jose started throwing rocks to get some coconuts out of a tree. They were really stuck on there; even after throwing several rocks big enough to give concussions, they weren’t coming down.

Two seconds later, he’s grabbing the palm branches. I thought it was to try and shake the tree, but instead he uses them as handles and starts shimmying up the trunk. When he gets to the top, he throws several down, shimmies his way back, and cracks them open on a rock so we can all drink fresh coconut water.

Yes, this day was real. Thanks for showing us around, Jose!

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