Playa Negra

The sun was barely over the eastern mountains when we stepped out the “man gate” and started our walk towards the north. We took the road that follows behind Chuck’s property and came up to the lookout point to get a panoramic view out over Playa Blanca. We were surprised by a group of young Ticos also up early and hiking down from Playa Negra. We wished them a buen dia then followed the trail down to the beach at Callejones.

Along the way, we picked up a canine escort, an unusual mix with a beagle head and Dalmatian body. She walked with us as far as Callejones where she got sidetracked digging in the sand for crabs. Three more dogs ran up and the pack was off and running searching for some new mischief to get into.

The low tide made it easy to traverse the sand and we soon found ourselves passing Sandy Beach where some fishermen were working the shoreline with hand lines. As we arrived at Negra, a wannabe Rasta man actually had hauled in a pretty decent sized fish. He kept it fresh in a tide pool among the rocks just south of the break while continuing to angle for more.

Playa Negra was dong what it’s best at – drawing a crowd. It looked like the merest of swells was really trying hard to work its way onto the reef, but just couldn’t quite get there. There were people of all shapes and ages paddling for sets. Men, women, children and old guys on inflatable SUPs. Quite the sideshow.

We walked over to the rocks in front of Rancho Playa Negra before hitting the brakes and turning for home. We passed through the hotel and walked home along the teak road. When we came to the stream in the arroyo just before Playa Blanca, we were greeted by a chorus of guttural growls from the barrel of monkeys that were idling in the canopy overhead.

You know by now that I can’t pass up a troop of monkeys without stopping to observe their behavior and get in a few photos. They were sharing a treetop with a pair of vultures that were spreading their wings to air out their avian armpits. A baby monkey was following around the adults trying to get things figured out as the alpha male was watching over the action as we crossed the rickety foot bridge that took us up the hill to the house.

The groceries were getting low so we made a run into Huacas, as much to check out the pueblito as to stock up. We came upon a sporting goods store and found a fishing pole that I can use with my reel. We gassed up, stocked up and drove on back to the beach. Quiet evening swimming in the pool and doing a zoom meeting after dinner. Laid back days at Casa Playa Blanca.