Otherwise, we enjoyed fruit smoothies and relaxing times by the beach... to the point I was going stir crazy! I've definitely realized that I am more of an active person... one day relaxing at the beach and I'm starting to get cranky from lack of activity.
Today, we definitely changed that. We began our morning with a 3 hour horseback ride, where we galloped on the beach and rode back trails up to beautiful vistas. We rode Criollo horses and had a blast!
Our guide really let us loose, and the horses were well behaved enough that we could really gallop around the sand and water. We appreciated that the horses were in good condition... here there are a lot of problems with owners not taking care of their horses, but these guys were in great shape. They were very cute little ponies... smaller than we are used to, but very hardy guys! My horse was a bit feisty and threatened to buck a bit in the beginning, but luckily stopped that pretty quick. She was always ready to run though! My mom's was very lazy, but as long as I was in the lead she was more than happy to pick up the pace as well. The guide was riding a young horse, and I think he really had a good time getting to actually gallop a bit, which I'm sure is a change from his normal tourist rides. I raced him on the beach at one point, and our horses were going all out across the sand, so much fun!
After the horseback ride, we finally found a place that would make my new favorite drink: the Horchata. Apparently, the place we found it in La Fortuna was the only place in Costa Rica that sells it (or so it seems). I guess it USED to be the really typical drink, but due to its difficulty to make it most restaurants don't have it anymore. However, today we lucked out with a very small little local's spot. They told us they needed 2 to 3 hours to make it for us (really? is it that difficult?), and to come back at 4:30.
I went surfing next. The waves were very strong and very big... I got out right before it got good for the pros... not so good for me. I felt like I was surfing white water on the beach because the tide was high. I fought against the very strong and large white water waves for an hour, never successfully getting out far enough to catch it in the good spot (although my surfing was actually quite good! I was feeling really confident and was even getting in some turns on the white water. I was just getting very tired fighting against the big waves coming in, and couldn't ever seem to get past the the white water. If I could have, I'm pretty sure I would have caught the semi-bigger waves pretty easily!). I had a blast though, even though I was exhausted after only an hour from fighting the water. I couldn't seem to dive under or jump over the white water without it pushing me so strongly back... I just couldn't make up ground. Afterwards, I went back and hung out with mom and some new friends we made, Garret and Robin, also recent college graduates, and watched the pros. Apparently, they wouldn't allow Garret (who arrived about 20 minutes after I started) to rent a board because of how strong the waves were, they said it was too dangerous for a beginner-intermediate surfer. That makes me feel better about the difficulties I had been having!
After surfing, we went back to the little Soda and got my Horchata drink. Apparently, they had to cook the rice and mix all of the ingredients very specifically, and it is very difficult. It was absolutely delicious, and totally worth the 2.5 hour wait to get it! I still can't believe they made it for us.... And then only charged us $4 for three large servings of it! Gotta love Costa Rica! Later, we went out for a very long walk circling around the back of town and then walking along the beach front back to town, ending at our favorite restaurant, Lagarto's, where we split a stuffed cheese and mushroom chicken dish with some amazing grilled baked potatoes and cocktails.
Tomorrow is our final morning in Samara; we end with a boat ride out to see dolphins, fishing, and possibly snorkeling if the water is clear. Afterward, we head back to San Jose to fly out on Wednesday morning.
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