We slept in, had breakfast at Frank's Place and grabbed a few last minute gifts.

Frank's Place was the only place that charged 10% service (which about half of the restaurants did) and then charged taxes on top. However, the set up at Frank's was really nice for a morning meal. We sat outside and there were a good number of people around.

I mentioned before I had a horrible rash reaction from the Isla Tortuga trip. My arm was on fire and I almost had a breakdown in the grocery store when I asked for calamine lotion and they handed me rubbing alcohol. I was terrified to use any sort of medical supplies that I couldn't understand the writing on. Luckily, Milarepa was great and gave me some sort of poison ivy/baby diaper rash cream. The owners told me that it didn't look like sea lice, but we couldn't figure out what else it could have been. I used that and Lore gave me a piece of an Aloe plant. Not sure which one helped but the next morning my arm was much better.

All in all we loved Malpais. We will definitely be going back. It was the perfect place for us. Very chill and gorgeous. One thing that made us sad was the commercial center being built right by Frank's Place. They are putting a hotel, condos and spaces for stores. At the rate they were working, it should take a while to complete.

We checked out and drove up to Alajuela.

ORQUIDEAS INN

We had a lot of trouble finding this place. The only time we really got confused during our trip. We had the map from the website, but since we were coming from the other direction it was hard with no streat names off the highway. We ended up going all the way from the airport and backtracking. We still got lost because the map would show landmarks. At one point it showed a church and a gas station. I thought they were across the street from each other, looking at the map. They were actually 4 blocks apart. The turnoff is actually where there is a large number of signs. I think Xandari and Doka Plantation all have a sign at that fork in the road. There was a sign for Orquideas, but we didn't see it the first time around.

Once we were there we felt at home. We had a roadside room and it was fine. The restaurant was quite expensive, so we spent the evening at the bar eating appetizers and had the strongest margarita I've had in a long time. They had live music, but we were asleep by 7:30! The musician was warming up when we were in there. He even played some Eric Clapton for us. They did have a TV, which we hadn't watched in a long time. The only thing in English was a marathon of Summerland episodes.

Great place to stay before or after the airport.

Sorry this was so long. Believe it or not I left out a lot. Feel free to ask questions.

This was pretty much a beach day. Absolutely gorgeous whether.

CAFE MANANA

We had a great breakfast here in the morning. I had oatmeal, which I hadn't seen anywhere else and Josh had french toast. It was a really cute restaurant and quite filled. I felt bad for the Owner. She was extremely pregnant and all of her staff were out with a stomach flu, so she was left to serve. Very friendly staff and they have a book exchange inside. We didn't try the frozen coffee drinks but they sounded yummy.

SURFING LESSONS

With Lore at Tuanis. She is a great girl and I am terrified of the big waves. The first thing she said to me was "If you can surf in Santa Teresa, you can surf anywhere." I should have known then.I set up an hour lesson with her for 4pm. The day before, the waves weren't that great but they had looked good this morning. She said it was too big in the morning so we would do it in late afternoon. We started out the lesson with about a one minute part on the beach where she had me lay on the board and paddle in the sand. Next thing I knew, we were in the water.

For those who don't know, I had a horrible surfing accident when I was 17. I was at the beach with my friend, her boyfriend and her dad. Her boyfriend and dad were teaching me to surf. I was doing pretty well, too. When I was standing up one time, I fell off the back of the board. The board was so big compared to me that I just couldn't control it once I was underwater. Her Dad was standing right in front of me and the fin ended up cutting his face open. He had to be taken to the hospital and have intensive plastic surgery. I had never gotten back on a surfboard since and it has always haunted me. So this was a big deal for me to do this in Costa Rica.

I tried, I lasted half an hour. The waves are much different there then in Southern California. They came one after another and the current was pretty intense. I would dive under one wave, come up and get nailed in the face by another. I was burping up salt water. I finally told her (in spanish) that I thought I was going to die. She laughed and I assured her that I wasn't joking. She was very sweet and offered to take me out again the next day. I passed. But we had a great conversation where she shared some insight on Malpais and its people. An hour lesson including the board was $20. Girl lessons only I think...The advice she gave me was to spend about a month just boogie boarding. That way I could learn the waves and get used to being knocked around. Once I felt totally comfortable with the water, then get on a surfboard. It was too hard being afraid of the strength of the ocean and the board.

Dinner at TROPICO LATINO

Well I was exhausted, and sunburned and was ready for dinner. We tried again for Tropico Latino. We figured we'd have a nice dinner for our last night in Malpais. Dinner here was a bit more expensive but very good. Comprable in price to La Chile Viola. My husband loved his fish. This resort is gorgeous. The most packed place we have seen our whole trip. Very nice ambience and staff at this restaurant.

When we got back we will stay here. We should have taken your advice, but sometimes you have to see for yourself. Very nice staff and people here. We didn't see the rooms, but based on everything else, I'm sure they would have been more than sufficient for us. We spent very little time in our actual rooms throughout the vacation. Mainly on the grounds, if anything.

BACK AT MILAREPA

After dinner we returned to Milarepa and saw that quite a few people were going to our hotel. We didn't know why. Turns out they were having live music with dinner. If we had known, we probably would have eaten here. I don't know if this is a weekly thing for Fridays or just this Friday. It made us feel very unimportant that no one at the hotel even mentioned this to us. The check-in desk is in the restaurant....

We ended up having a drink on our porch. We had bought our own rum and coke from the grocery store. I must say that this music was absolutely amazing. There was a guitar player, bongo drums (I think) and a violin. They played until about 9pm. I was ready to go to bed then, but the folks at the restaurant were quite loud and kept me up until about 10:30.

I froze all night while I slept. I was suprised how much cooler it was up in the jungle/woods. This was the only time during the trip when I had to turn off the fans and grab blankets.

I didn't mention that I saw an enormous amount of iguanas at this hotel. Very cool. We would have to watch where we stepped because a 2-foot iguana would just be sitting there in the middle of the walkway. We heard a howler monkey during the middle of the night that I swear was on the porch. This was the first time we really heard one and knew what it was. I don't know what I thought they would sound like, but not like this. They sounded like dying lions. Painful roars. They would be so loud, too. Most of the time we heard them when the sun was rising, but sometimes at night, also.

We had breakfast at Blue Jay. Breakfast was simple but good. Included in the hotel price. Actually, everyplace we stayed, except Milarepa, included breakfast. One other girl was down there and we talked to her for a while. She comes to Malpais for three weeks every winter so she was giving us her favorite places. She had great things to say about the surf shop Corduroy, that I already mentioned. When she was here in January she asked them to make her a custom surfboard and she picked it up this trip. I think she said it cost $600, which seemed good for the intricate paint job they had done. In addition, to telling us that Buenos Aires and Tropico Latino were good, she told us about a restaurant down the road that we had to try.

LUNCH at SODE de PIEDRAS MAR

I LOVED THIS PLACE. This was the place that the chic at Blue Jay Lodge recommended. It is a little restaurant literally on a rocky beach, feet from the water. We went at high tide and the water came crashing over the rocks. There is a little break in the rocks so when a wave came in it would blast through the rocks. All locals and us. Cheap good food. Amazing location. Right near the entrance way up to Casa Chameleon. Maybe a mile down the road from Blue Jay? We sat here for quite a while just relaxing and staring at the water.

TUANIS

Someone else posted about this place. Very cool surf chic shop. I went there to sign up for surf lessons with Lore for Friday. I ended up buying a cheap sarong here because we didn't take any beach towells with us. Blue Jay had given us plenty of extras, but at Milarepa we had nothing to use on the sand. I bought a sarong and laid on it on the sand.

MILAREPA

After lunch we checked in to Milarepa. It is a couple miles down the road. Right next to Florblanca. One suggesstion. Josh said that because of how steep the driveway is, we wouldn't have made it to the parking lot without a high clearance car.

The place was full (all 4 villas) the whole time we were there. Our villa number one was the furthest from the beach and opened towards the restauarant/bar which had it's good and bad. I didn't feel like we could leave the wall to the bedroom open, because everyone at the restaurant could see us. The good part was that on the last night they had live music and we could hear it on our porch perfectly.

I have mixed feelings about this place. My husband loved the villa. It was gorgeous. The bed was be far the most comfortable bed we had. I just didn't feel like it was as warm. We felt a little out of our league here. It was obviousl everyone else had money here. A musician was staying here and we felt a little ignored. Which is fine with us, but felt guilty not eating at the restaurant...

I think we would have preferred staying somewhere with more of a local flare? However, the restaurant manager was super nice and they are doing some cool things on the grounds. The outdoor showers are very inventive and unobtrusive.

They did have the cutest 3 month old pit bull puppy here. Everywhere we stayed, the animals seemed drawn to us. The puppy would never leave me alone. Whenever we were on the grounds, he was right at my heals.

BUENOS AIRES drinks

We decided to head up to Buenos Aires for dinner and to watch the sunset. I must say that the views up here were as amazing as everyone had told us. The sunsets were so different than what we have seen before. The sun is so clear and defined as it sets. We had drinks here . They told us that the kitchen didn't open until 5:40. It seemed like a random time to us, but it might be that they don't open until sunset - about the same time. The menu was a little pricier than other places so we decided to explore another restaurant. We like to try as many places as possible!

AL CHILE VIOLA

We like trying as many different places as possible so we moved on to this place that was recommended on here. Very romantic. I thought it had a middle eastern feel. Apparently Wendesdays are their big night with live music. We heard it was packed the night before. They have pizza nights on Sundays, too.

I had great lasagne. The menu said meat or veggie, but I didn't get a choice. I think they make one or the other each night and then warm it up. My husband had raviolli but the gorgonzola sauce was a bit rich. Pretty good, though. They have about half a dozen sauces that you can pick from. The salmon sauce sounded tastey, too.

More expensive here but a nice atmosphere. We saw several groups come in, look at the menu and leave.

MILAREPA DESSERT

We got back to Milarepa and had to go get our keys back from them. Our plumbing did not work the whole time. We had them fix it twice and it still wasn't right. Josh had to climb int he bushes to shut off the water to make the shower stop. They never even apologized to us for the inconvenience.

When we were grabbing our keys they asked us if we wanted to have dinner. Josh told them we already had eaten. He came back to the room and look puzzled. It told me that he thought that one of the guests was a pro snowboarder - the owner of Holden. We decided to go have dessert! We get down there and Josh kept trying to get my attention. I was embarrassed because there were only 2 other tables of people and I thought he was going to make a seen. Josh says that once he saw the guy without his shirt he realized it was Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers. He never talked to him because he didn't want to call him Flea and he couldn't remember his first name. I have no idea what this guy looks like, but Josh says he is 100% sure. I went to bed happy that I wouldn't have to be wearing my Holden shirt around for the next two days.