Las mamás (don't forget the accent)

We finally had our first visitors in Costa Rica. Both our moms and Hank came the last week of April and were able to stay in this beautiful house on the beach in the nearby resort. Even better, the house had a chef that we are now teaching English to, so we got to eat lots of great food while they were here. They were fantastic and each brought down an extra suitcase of stuff we had forgotten in the US or couldn't find here so now we're set here.

The first few days we just showed them around our life here in Costa Rica, our job, our old house/town, our friends, etc. We gave them a true Tico experience by taking them to the festival in 27 de Abril with bullriding, greasy food, and plenty of crazy drunks to top things off. Needless to say, they were happy we had moved to a new town.

We all took a horseback tour through Hacienda Pinilla – through the fields, up a mountain to have a great view of the ocean, through the mangroves, and finally emerging on the beach. The next day we split up, Miah and his mom taking a canopy tour through the jungle and the others going on a snorkeling/sailing trip. The canopy tour was quite a new adventure for mama wander, and though she didn't go racing through the trees hanging upside down from the cable (like Miah did), she seemed to have a fantastic time.

The sailing trip was a blast. It was a huge boat that our friend is the captain of and it's all you can eat/drink. It can hold about 75 people, but there were only nine of us that day so we had the boat practically to ourselves. Halfway through the tour we all went snorkeling and the guide was able to catch a blowfish. We got to hold it as well, which felt like a giant soft water balloon. We finished the trip at sunset at a new beach to the north and were shuttled back to Tamarindo to end the evening.

We also took everyone to our favorite restaurant here, a little thatched-roof fishing shack called Pedro's. They go fishing everyday and serve whatever they catch. The restaurant doesn't even bother serving drinks – you have to walk to the bar next door to order what you need. It is the best fish and shrimp you can find in Tamarindo eat though.