Saturday's trip to the black sand beach & costume party

We got an early start Saturday morning as we were headed south to the Pacific coast with Kelly and her local friend, Roblanz, for a half day at the beach. Kelly picked us up around 7:15 and then we headed over to a zone of the city we'd never seen before to pick up Roblanz. He lived a way's away, so it took a while to get him and then to finally make our way to the highway.

Roblanz didn't speak any English, so Beth and I did our best to communicate with him in Spanish. Kelly had no trouble as she's pretty proficient with the language. Roblanz was nice enough to drive us as he knew his away out of the city and down to the coast. Surprisingly, the highway down there was really nice and new, so it made for a quick trip--just an hour and 40 minutes or so to get there. Along the way we enjoyed the radio's eclectic offerings of '80s music and reggaeton, as well as Roblanz's iPod, which also had some random '80s goodness (Bon Jovi, "pre-facelift era," as Beth would say) and of all things, Shaggy.

We paid to park our car and hang out in a mini water park next to the ocean. It was sort of like White Water in Branson as it had a few big--and fun!--water slides, wave pool, kids play area, changing areas, concession stands, tables/chairs, etc. This really worked out nicely as the ocean was much too powerful to safely swim in, so we could still enjoy some swimming in the big pool.

Me lounging in the wave pool

Not only did the ocean have the biggest waves Beth and I had ever seen, but it also had black sand! I guess it's black from the volcanic remnants. It was much softer than white sand, but also really hot! Back to the waves... These were monstrous! There was pier a few hundred feet away from us and I'd guess it was at least 25 feet up in the air, and at time the waves would be crashing in all the way up to the top of the pier! It was astounding. There was also significant pull and undertow at the shoreline. You could get in the water up to your ankles and let the big waves hit you, but it would be dangerous even to go out as far as the water level above your waist.



We all lay out on the beach for a couple hours and Beth and I both even fell asleep for a short time. It was mostly cloudy the whole day, but it was still plenty warm and relaxing. We bought a few slices of watermelon from a woman selling them and we also snacked on the lunch we brought with us.

While on the beach, we spotted a gigantic pig and two piglets! The big sow was using a palm tree to scratch itself over and over. Thankfully, it wasn't a menace! (Adam) It was so odd and funny to see them on the beach. We're not sure why there were there. It didn't look like anybody lived nearby and owned them.


Around 2 we started packing up to head home as we wanted to get back in time for the night's costume/surprise birthday party. It was the perfect time to leave as a storm was beginning to move in. The ride home was thankfully uneventful and safe. We were both a bit sunburned in spots and feeling pretty drained from all the sun when we got back.

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That night a bunch of the staff was getting together in Zona Viva at the fun bar, Cheers (which I think I've mentioned before...great sports bar, owned by a Canadian), to throw a surprise birthday and costume party for a staff member named Campbell. With limited resources, we think we did pretty well with our costumes. It was a departure from our previous themes, but I have to give credit to Beth for the funny idea and execution. We went as our mini grocery store outside our apartment, Tiendita Mi Favorita.


Twenty+ people showed up and we had the whole back room to ourselves. We each paid a cover and then could have all the beverages we wanted. We were there about an hour before Campbell and his girlfriend, Sara (who organized it), showed up. It was a total surprise to him and a lot of fun to see his expression. There were two pool tables, so we ended up playing a lot of pool, as well as snacking on all the various goodies people brought, and chatting with everyone and marveling at certain costumes. We were there for probably four hours before calling it quits and heading home with our neighbors, Matt and Amy (who came in togas!). It was a great party and we were both happy not to break tradition and still put on a costume for Halloween (albeit a little early).

Matt and Amy as Greeks

Charlotte with her muchacha, Kris

Pimp Jamie and her 'employees'

Far East Reed