Christmas in Costa Rica

Our 15th Christmas together was certainly a great one!  We spent the morning and part of the afternoon talking to many of our family and friends via skype.  What a great way to talk to loved ones; and we were even able to see some of their presents!  Thanks Dave! 

Then, late in the afternoon, we walked down to the beach.  It was by far the busiest day on the beach so far.  Lots of families playing, swimming, surfing and just plain old having fun!

We found a nice place to sit and watch the activities going on around us.  Lots of dogs playing in the waves too.  Many of them chasing… coconuts!  That’s right coconuts.  At home, people throw balls or Frisbees, but here, there’s so many coconuts on the beach, that that’s what people throw. 

There were also lots of people surfing; as the waves were plentiful; and I’m sure that one or more of those boards were Christmas presents. 

We sat and watched an incredible sunset; and then strolled up the beach and then along main street.  I was surprised at how many shops were open.  Our friend Herman was out selling tours, and wished us both a Feliz Navidad.

We continued on up main street until we arrived at Lemon Zest.  We met Nellie Lemon, the owner of this restaurant at the bank a few days earlier.  She is from Florida and was able to ask a few questions on our behalf.  She also told us that she and her husband ran this restaurant.  We had seen it advertised; and that’s where we chose to have our Christmas dinner.

And boy, was it ever good!  Mike had a yellow fin tuna steak; and I had filet mignon.  Both accompanied by a fruit smoothie.  And Mike had his all time favorite desert… crème broulee.  Although it wasn’t a traditional turkey feast with all the trimmings; this certainly was a yummy second choice.

A few friends have asked if we miss having a white Christmas.  And the answer to that is an emphatic NO!  I was born and raised in Northern Ontario; and have had my fair share of white Christmases.  In fact, the past 2 have also been white; and I much prefer being in the tropics.  This is in fact our first tropical Christmas (you can’t really count Florida as tropical, can you?)  And it was very different. 

Not many decorations up; and so many of the shops being open; it seemed like just another day.

Mike and I haven’t exchanged presents for a few years now; and enjoy the stress free Christmas that we have carved out for ourselves.  It works well for us; and don’t miss any of the pressures for a perfect Christmas.

Then on boxing day, sitting out on the balcony, I spotted a couple of scarlett macaws flying around in the trees just up the road from us.  Grabbed the camera, and off we went. 

There were two of them in this tree; and we had a pretty good vantage point; as we were above them.  Ended up watching them for about an hour.   The last shot that I took, the macaw moved as I was snapping.  So it’s not the greatest picture.  Just then, my camera lens closed; and the “change batteries” icon was displayed.

And at the exact moment when I was changing the batteries, that’s when the macaws decided to fly off!!!  The timing couldn’t have been any worse!  We had a beautiful vantage point; and they were spread out from tip to tail in absolute beautiful colours!  Hopefully, I get another chance to take a full shot of them.

And mother nature gave us another absolutely beautiful sunset last night.  We made it up to the road just in time to take a few shots of it.

All in all, Christmas in Costa Rica, was just absolutely perfect!  Hope that all of you had just as perfect a day.

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