When Chris and Ama were at the airport in Los Angeles waiting for their Costa Rica flight, they were surprised to spot another friend of ours, Pat, boarding the same flight for Liberia as they were. They spoke briefly and Pat said that he, too, was going to Playa Negra. Small world. It turns out his rental was in our neighborhood about six doors down from our house. He had the whole family and a packed schedule, but we did manage to catch him and his beautiful wife, Lisa, a couple of times for quick visits. Awesome to see them, check out their oceanfront digs and get to know them.

Besides our nature excursions, most of Chris’ visit was spent lounging around home, swimming in the cement pond or walking the beach. We would occasionally step out for a bite to eat. One afternoon, I took them out the dusty byway down Perro Loco road to the Rincon de Caribbean, a totally local restaurant in a back neighborhood set up in Dona Kattia’s front yard. I’d eaten there before and their rondon is awesome, fish stewed in a coconut curry soup. Mmmm, tasty.

We had a great visit with our friends and are now back to the normal daily tasks of dog walking and cooling off in the pool. Oso misses having company so we might have to start preparing for more visitors.