Day 137 (November 6): An Exceptional Day

We were all absolutely exhausted by noon. Lily's surf lesson ended in tears despite the fact that she had caught some great waves and even succeeded in making her first turn. Lunch conversation was a comparison of bruises, board burns and worse. We were all absolutely exhausted again by 6 when we sat down for dinner but in between is a completely different story.

The morning surfing was hard because of changes in the tide that I don't understand. I do understand that the high tide has been getting later and that our "ideal" 6am lesson time was no longer ideal. But I don't understand why waves behave the way they do. I do know that I love jumping in them and getting demolished, just as I did when I was a kid.

But surf lessons, like ski lessons, require going back and forth. The key difference is that the ski lift is basically effortless whereas paddling out against a pounding surf (by beginner beach standards) is exhausting and sometimes futile. In both cases, there is some amount of wiping out. On this occasion, there was a significant amount of wiping out. If you succeed and ride a wave for a while, you are promptly rewarded with a longer and much harder return journey.

Thus, Lily had an awesome morning on the waves, exceeding all of us in talent and effectiveness. But the poor girl had to swim further and more frequently as a reward for all that talent. And so the tears. Elise, on the other hand, struggled so much that she got to do a lot less swimming. I fell somewhere in the middle. If I managed to get up on my board, I shocked myself by seemingly being able to stay upright (long swim). But most of the time I fell off immediately (short swim).

Lily, instant awesome surfer.

Ali and Cate and their instructor, Mao, stretching for surfing that really never happened.

Okay, Ali kind of tried surfing that day.

Cate, not so much.

Henry skipped his lesson but he and Ali cheered on their buddy Tomas.

Henry watching new friend Levi (left) and old friend Alexander (right) doing their thing.

Let's just pretend I always look like this (upright).

Elise, making it look easy.

However, this did not hold a candle to the afternoon, during which we enjoyed a snorkel cruise with Marlin del Rey, just a short walk down the beach from our hotel.  There's not much to tell but there are glorious pictures, too many to include.

In short, a dinghy took us out to a large catamaran. We motored and then sailed for maybe an hour before anchoring in a cove. We snorkeled even though the wind made the water a bit murky and choppy. There was diving off the boat and then a buffet meal. There were good drinks throughout. There were fellow guests who amused and were amused by the twins.

Ali and her new best friend accompanied by Shelley, Sam, Jon, Henry, Alexander and Maria.

Cate was happy.

You can snorkel here but don't get pushed into the rocks.

Lily, Tomas, Cate, Henry, Ali and Alexander

Henry and Super Alex

And then there was a photo shoot. You need to understand that my cousin, Sam, is an extraordinary photographer with a speciality for capturing circus performers and other athletes. We had a lot of fun with this. (We had even more fun with this the next night but you have to wait for the next entry for those!)

Lily, Henry, Jon and Cate

Lily and Shelley

 And then there was the sunset. This was our fifth night in Costa Rica and no sunset has been disappointing but this one was exceptional. And it went on forever. And it turned the whole sky into a rainbow of colors. Everywhere you looked, something amazing was happening. The east seemed to be a delicate impressionist painting with yellows and pale peaches. The west was vivid, with the dark reds of the horizon creating marvelous contrasts between the dark blue of the water with the pale blue of the low sky. After the sun had set, the ocean turned orange. Because it was that kind of day. It was enthralling.

It just doesn't get more beautiful.

I really like the "pano" setting on the iPhone

Sunset.

#NoFilter

I can't make this stuff up.