The bone-shaker!

Yesterday we said farewell to the RipJack and headed south on our way to Nosara and our next hotel, Lagarta Lodge.

First off, we went to take a look at Tamarindo to see how it has changed in the 7 years since Amber and I were last there. We couldn't believe our eyes. The place bears absolutely no resemblance to the chilled out little surfer town I've had in my head all this time. Now it's jam packed with hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and hordes of gringos. They even have a Pizza Hut and a shop claiming to be an official reseller for Apple!!!

We didn't even stop the car. Very sad. I was hoping that at least the Pollo Rico cafe would still be there as I have such happy memories if being there with both Jethro and Jen, and then subsequently with Amber.

The Lonely Planet, the staff at the RipJack and a friendly security guard all told us to avoid the bumpy coastal road to Nosara and instead stick to the paved highways (a far longer, less scenic route). As usual we did the opposite and pointed our trusty Daihatsu Terios (now named Terry) in the direction of the dusty, pot-holed, rubble covered, bone shaking road to Playa Avellenas - and adventure!

The road was crazy. We were transported back to our Gambia trip (when we visited friends Kerry, Sophie and baby Ned) and the long, brick-red, unfinished road that Kerry bravely hurtled the landrover down. Roads built neither for comfort, nor speed, just as an adrenaline-filled means of getting from the middle of nowhere to the middle of nowhere's neighbouring town.

Amazingly there are still restaurants and bars dotted along the roadside and we had a great little lunch at a place called Los Anomalos at Playa Marbella, with a treehouse restaurant and a no shoes policy. Great nachos.

After a while our backsides adjusted to the corrugated road surface and I starter to enjoy the driving. It was basically like driving a giant quad bike, with similar steering capabilities, so we had a few exciting skids here and there, but it all added to the experience and I tried not to think about the extortionate deposit the rental company has takenn off my credit card.

Eventually we arrived at our destination, and what a destination it is! The Lodge is owned by Amadeo and Regina, a Swiss couple, who also own the Nosara Biological Reserve, which sits below the lodge's hill top position. The restarant area and terrace bar have an unhindered view of the ocean and beach to the west, the mouth of two rivers (Nosara and Montana), the wide green rivers themselves and the surrounding forest, all of which lie down at sea level. Beyond that you can see the hills as they roll off into the distance. The view from our room is also incredible.

I can see myself owning my own nature reserve. Serious pangs of jealousy!

They run a supreme Eco-friendly lodge, with just 6 rooms. Everything has been very well thought out: flushable bog roll; instructions in all the rooms to separate recyclable rubbish and save water; locally sourced food (top notch grub too, as we found out last night!). Short of installing huge solar panels and a wind farm, they appear to have thought of everything. Swiss efficiency anyone?

Once we got into our room we headed down the hill to Playa Pelada to walk along the beach and then search for somewhere to buy a bottle of water. The map was hopeless and we ended up wandering around a ramshackle hotel at the far end of the beach where we met a guy who pointed us in the right direction. We still had to try several roads before we found Panchos mercado and bought much needed liquid refreshment.

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