Christmas in Costa Rica Part VII

Day Thirteen:

Puntarenas Province, Parrita, Costa Rica

Since our time in Costa Rica was quickly winding down we wanted to explore just a few more beaches before leaving the Pacific coast. 

 This time we drove North to Parrita, to get away from the crowds of Manuel Antonio. Originally I was hoping to explore the Mangroves of Damas Island, just outside of Quepos, but apparently you can only go during high tide because of all the crocodiles. So we did "plan B" which was to check out some of the beaches around Parrita. Incidentally, a mangrove is forest trees that grow along the ocean with underwater root systems that attract various species of birds and animals that include sloths, egrets, caimans, crocodiles, boas, and monkeys.

 The bustling town of Parrita was larger, and more modern than Quepos. 

Seco Beach

 The first beach we explored was Playa Seco (Seco Beach) which means dry stick beach, and the beach truly lived up to it's name.

It seemed like the sticks washed up on shore during high tide. There was one little man making piles of sticks and burning them. I guess that's how they kept the beach so tidy. 

 Breck couldn't wait to swim in the big waves, 

but I was a little nervous because of all the warning signs about undertows.

  The girls and I eventually wadded out into the water, but felt like it was a little too deep, and the waves to strong for our liking. 

 Merinda found what used to be a little shelter made out of palm leaves.

 She decided the leaves made a perfect backdrop for some artsy pictures... 

I think her pictures turned out pretty awesome!

 Maybe the waves didn't suit us, but we did find some cool shells at Seco Beach!

Banderas Beach

 Because the waves were too big to swim in at Seco beach, we drove a few more miles North to check out Banderas Beach.

 Banderas Beach was similar to Playa Seco, only without the sticks,

and it had a more shallow beach area with calmer waves.

 The other great thing about Banderas beach was that it was practically deserted. 

It was so peaceful!

 All too soon it was time to leave, rain was in the forecast and we didn't want to get caught in a monsoon!

 On our drive out, we saw this Iguana just chillin on the side of the road.

Parrita, Costa Rica

 Parrita is an interesting place because of all the palm tree plantations. Palm oil is one of the largest agricultural industries in Costa Rica. 

 Along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, from Jaco down past Quepos and Manuel Antonio to Dominical, there are numerous plantations of African Palm trees. The palm trees are harvested for their palm oil, one of largest agricultural industries in Costa Rica. 

Palm oil is the world's most consumed vegetable oil and can be found in candy, cosmetics, candles, cooking oil, lubricants, and biofuels. 

Large trucks transported bundled palm fruit, which was all picked by hand. Palm oil was then extracted from the pulp and kernel part of the fruit. The fruit grows in bunches and is large, round, and multicolored, but turns red when it is ripe enough to be picked.  

 Since this would be our last day in Costa Rica's Pacific coast, I wanted to take more pictures of every day life. Above is a typical cemetery. Due to all the rainfall the dead are buried in crypts covered in white tiles. The crypts are rented for five years and then the bodies are exhumed for reburial in a common crypt, if the family doesn't have money, or in a permanent, private crypt if they do have money. Apparently, however, there is starting to be a shortage of crypts, especially in places like San Jose, where there's just not enough space for new crypts. And many of the existing crypts are very old and in bad shape, while others have been abandoned by families which have either died out, or have moved out of the country, leaving unused space or crypts . 

 This was a hospital and emergency department in Parrita. It was actually nicer than anything around it, and looked like it was brand new.

 This was a grade-school in Parrita.

 It was common to have big fences or gates around not only schools, but any home or business.

 This was a typical neighborhood street in Parrita.

 These next pictures were examples of typical homes in Parrita, which were also pretty similar to homes in Quepos...

 The home above, and the next two, were examples of very nice homes in Parrita and Quepos. It was also common for everyone to hang their laundry on clothes lines.

 Quepos, Costa Rica

 This home was at the entrance of the dirt road leading to Casa Wow. I think it was probably also a hotel, just because it was so nice.

 These next two pictures are of a house on the same road, that we walked past almost every day, on our way to town. 

 The green part of the house was actually netting of some sort, so when the sunlight shown through, you could see almost the whole interior of the home. Many homes in Quepos had this type of netting for walls. 

On our drive back to Quepos we got some gas, and stopped at a fruit stand for some fresh watermelon, mangoes, and oranges (I wanted more pineapple but I had already eaten so much that the interior of my entire mouth was raw). Brad and I then dropped the kids off at Casa Wow and went to the Maxi Pali to get some traveling snacks and water for the next day. About the time we reached the store, the clouds opened up and just dumped. It was raining so hard that we could hardly get out of the store because people were literally pulling their cars inside the store's entrance to unload and load people and groceries. It was insane! I thought to myself, aren't these people used to the rain, especially with a rainy season that lasts six months out of the year? It also made me realize how lucky we were not to have had any rain until that point. Even though December is the beginning of the dry season in the Province of Puntarenas, it still rains because of the mountains, humidity, and proximity to the ocean. We enjoyed almost two weeks of mid-eighty to ninety degree temperatures, with virtually no rain!  Granted, Potrero was located in the Guanacaste Province, which is considered the dessert part of Costa Rica, but even there, rain is not uncommon. All I can say is, we were truly blessed!