Damn those evil clones!

It gets hard not seeing your family when you are so far away. I miss the kids. We have a great big family with lots of cool kids. I have come to the conclusion that no matter where you travel to you can find someone who is a splitting image of someone else. Greyson, the kid in the bottom right, meet your latino version Esteve!

Every morning I wake up I hear Saul trying to keep Esteve from getting into trouble. He seems to love the Wheel Barrel and is always running off somewhere with it. I have since learned the word "Caratayo" That's not the correct spelling but I know the sound because in the mornings all i hear is "ESTEVE Caratayo aqui" , "No ESTEVE No"!...

Do you know the way to Guiones? I Do!

Every morning I wake up I start off with a couple cups of local Costa Rican coffee(Verde Cafe Rey) It's about 1000 colonies which is around 2 bucks a bag. It's a little cheaper than my Starbucks/Port City Java brew back home which usually runs about 8 bucks. Oh did I mention it taste better too? I am staying in Villa Las Tecas which I really enjoy. Here is a view from my balcony in the mornings. To the right in the wooded area you can often see Howler monkeys. The first time you hear one you will think a 10 foot ape is about to jump out but no it's these little monkeys with big attitudes.

Here is a view from inside the studio in Las Tecas. The owner Terisita keeps a really nice place. She has a great crew of employees that I probably manage to annoy on a daily basis with my spanish lessons.

Here are the grounds and pool area. Very tropical around these parts. I am also told the pool is Pee free most of the time.

I haven't used this yet but it is infront of my unit. One day when it's raining I plan on relaxing here.
On my bike I hang a left then a right then a left to roads like this.
After a few roads I come up to a great overlooking view of Playa Pelada. As mentioned before Playa Pelada is more of a local beach for ticos and ticas. Ask anyone who lives here and they will agree it's much prettier and has far better sunsets than Guiones. The surf is flaky and it breaks on crazy rocky reef.
After the Playa Pelada view Near the crazy hotel on top of the mountain you come to a small path that runs through the middle of the woods here. This is super fun to ride a bike down because it's all down hill but it gets hard with a surfboard in your hands. I am simply waiting for the day I bust my ass.
Where does that path end? Well here is a view of the end . A view with a natural frame at that. Welcome to the north end of Guiones. At high tide you're gonna have to walk through this water no getting around it but when it's low there is no water here.
Ok past the foliage view here is a better shot of Guiones. I am heading to the Palm trees to get back on my bike path.
Ok we are almost there. This is about midway. There are breaks all down Guiones but the majority of people seem to surf in one central location which is a little more south.
We were suppose to have 6-7 foot swell on this day but the tide is high right now and it's not looking to hot. Back home there would be 1000 people in the water. The sets are always easily head high here.

These are some of the locals. The majority of dark skinned people can surf their ass off here.(excluding me)

Another local ripper
Plenty of Americans found here.

And that's the end of this journey. I do this everyday when there is surf. Sometimes twice a day. It only takes about 15 mins.
ADIOS
~G

30 seconds wasted off your life by reading this

This is for the people who forget what my ugly mug looks like. I will take this moment to be the vain person I am. Annya is always giving me shit about my hair in the mornings via webcam and I would like to set the record straight. It's not just the morning it kinda stays this way and worse. The saltwater and humidity work together to create madness. I look like a dark skinned Carrot Top (the comedian) or a Mexican Bozo the clown. Good thing my hygiene is just as bad. I shower off in the yard after a surf and that's about it. On a brighter note I got head high surf today did you? HAR HaR har!

Captain Tico and the Journey to Witches Rock!

On the 20^th we had a chance to book a boat trip from Playa de Coco to Witches Rock and Ollie’s Point. Both of these world famous breaks were in Endless Summer II. The trip cost about 300 USD but we split it between the 4 of us. I can’t remember the boat driver or his son’s name but the trip there took about 2 hrs. In these two hours we held on tight while he throttled balls to the wall. The way back was a different story.

I will never forget pulling up to Ollie’s point seeing 6 boats parked waiting for their passengers to finish the surf session. 6x4 roughly means about 24 people on one peak. From a distance it appeared crowded as hell and only waist high. We debated going straight to Witches rock but the captain of our vessel suggested staying for a couple of hours because the tide was not correct. So we toughed it up and paddled into the lineup at Ollie’s point.

My first wave came in about stomach high and lined up forever. I did about 5 off the lips before I got tired and kicked out. Holly crap what a fun little wave. James, Ante and Scoot began catching theirs too. The sets would come in almost head high and peel forever. After about 2hrs it started to get really annoying dodging all the longboard obstacles in the water so we decided to leave and get to witches rock a bit early. This was a good call.

We were the second boat to arrive at Witches rock. The only other boat had 1 passenger who was out surfing far down the beach. Our captain suggested waiting for the tide an hour or so. We all starred at the huge out of place rock like kids in a candy store. To see it in person is breathtaking. The rock is a gigantic bolder in the middle of the ocean and it shimmers with gold. At the top it’s occupied by a crap load of birds. The picture will hardly do this justice. If given the chance you should see it for yourself.

While we wanted to take the captain’s advice we notices good size swell coming at the boat which obviously meant the conditions were somewhat ride able. Sorry captain we’re ready to rock and roll. We jumped out the boat one at a time while James took the world’s smallest pictures of us and a massive landmark. (Inside joke). After about a 5 min paddle we were in the lineup with only 1 other around. The swell came in head high but it wasn’t consistent. It got really good then really bad then ok to really good then to complete shit. By the time we were ready to leave the wind had begun to do what it does best here in Costa Rica- blow like hell after noon time. We decided we were gassed out so it would be smart to head back.

The trip back will linger in my memory for some time to come. Captain Tico decided to run it full throttle in hard onshore conditions which means the boats turns into a jackhammer. Just when we thought our asses couldn’t take any more the gigantic anchor pops off the bow and hits the water taking 30 feet of rope with it. The rope was ripping down my side not to mention tangled between Ante’s feet. Long story short if the captain didn’t decide to kill the engine I would be headless and Ante would have been drug out to sea for a while. He finally stops the boat and looks at his son and laughs for 5 mins or so. The son laughed so hard he was crying. We laughed on the outside but deep down we were like WTF just happened. The boat finally made it back to the beach and we spent the rest of the evening trying to find a working ATM to pay them. Was it worth all the hassle? Hell yes and I would do it over again if given the chance.

As it slows down

There are many people who get tired of hearing me bitch about living in the US. Whether it be the price of gas, mass consumers, greedy corporations or crooked politicians I had plenty of annoyances to keep me frustrated with life there. I often hear the comment “love it or leave it”. On June 14^th I decided to “leave it”. I had booked a trip with a friend to Costa Rica, a country which I have visited a couple of times before. What better way to ween me off of typical American norms. I decided not to return.

While Nosara, Costa Rica isn’t exactly the same as living in Morocco, there are plenty of things that are no where near as Americanized as you would think. Going from life in NC/FL to Nosara is like down grading your sports car for a moped. But you must note that it’s one freaking sweet ass moped. Everything in my life has since slowed down. It’s the kind of slow down that one desires to get away from what drives people mad. I went from 200 choices of toothpaste to about 2. I have 2 hand fill gas stations if someone needs to fill up their car. Instead of poodles and bull dogs we have mutts and monkeys. Instead of a public beach with pay parking I now have a public beach with solitude. Instead of checking a report praying for surf I now pray for a day off of surfing. Everything about life has slowed down and is changing for the better.

It’s great to see a community of people who seem to appreciate life. Not that in the States people don’t but you can’t argue that lots of people get worked up over the dumbest shit. The other night after a head high evening session, as I was walking to my friend’s rental car to strap my board on, I noticed all the families on the beach watching the sun set. The American kids were building bon fires with the Tico kids and everyone was smiling. A Pacific coast sunset in itself is incredible but add happy babies and fire, Can you imagine? I can understand the love/hate the locals have towards us but am I wrong for wanting to be a part of their great little society? I don’t think so. In my 1 week here I have met some incredible people. I look forward to calling the place home for a while.

The pictures posted below are to give you a visual of my experience:

After a quick 2hr flight from the busy city of Miami my friend James and I ended up in San Jose, Costa Rica. A five hour drive up to Guanacaste brought us to the beaches of Guiones. This picture is a tree located near the South beach. Playa Guiones is a 6 mile beach located west of the small city of Nosara. A very small town vibe with consistent head high surf.








Motorbikes, ATV, Scooters and 4x4s with the right away. Pedestrians watch out! Notice the small infant giving me the stink eye on the back of this bike :)





The beaches of Playa Pelada. This is a five minute walk from my place in Las Tecas. To the south of this you can find Playa Guiones. Playa Guiones has more quality surf but it also has huge crowds of Americans crowding it. I saw two people fishing this particular day on Playa Pelada. The locals can be found shredding in between the rocks during certain tides.









Tico rips it at mid tide
Playa Pelada breaks on rocky reef. It seems it's mainly Ticos that surf this area. I have made it a goal to learn this little inside wave when I want a change from the grande ones at Guiones.


















Rocky Reef at Playa Pelada
Here is a better picture of the reef at a lower tide. This is what you are surfing on top of.







This little island is a gem. Its right before the Nosara rio. I am sure i am butchering the termanology but needless to say this is what the Sunset at North Playa Pelada looks like.

A day in the life of Lestat Vieages

I was informed that Lestat has been a part of my cousin Nathan's family for quite some time. 1996 was around the time he got him. That makes him about 84 years old. He was born in Eastern North Carolina but relocated to Orlando about 5 years ago. When asked how he dealt with the culture shock he did not reply. Maybe it's because he's a cat and doesn't talk or maybe knowledge speaks and wisdom listens. Either way next time I am kicking him across Nathan's living room because he insist on making biscuits in my belly I will think about his life and accomplishments as a country cat adjusting to city life at an old age. How many cats can you honestly say look this damn good at this 84?