Maggie vs. The Jellyfish

It turns out that I got a little distracted from my Costa Rica blogging. First, my uncle (Dad and Aunt Kim's brother) got really sick and I had to drive up to New Jersey to do the whole hospital-waiting thing. Side note--I HATE the hospital-waiting thing. It looked like he might pull through, but unfortunately he passed away about two weeks after the initial scare. It was very sudden and I didn't really feel like posting about vacations at the time.

I also go distracted by another trip, this time to California to visit my brother, my sister-in-law, and my new nephew, James! That is the subject of another post and now that things are finally starting to calm down again...back to Costa Rica!

When you last left this intrepid explorer, I had been traveling around Costa Rica's northwest coast going to beautiful beaches. And guess what? This post is more of the same! You would think after a while you would get tired of beaches, but it turns out each one has it's own little pleasures and is different from all the others.

For our next sojourn, we decided to stay a little closer to home. Playa Hermosa (meaning "beautiful beach") was only about 5 minutes from our house and thankfully not crowded. I wouldn't say that it was strictly the most beautiful beaches of all the ones we visited, the sand was kind of coarse and grey colored, but it wasn't crowded, and it has the distinction of being the first place I have ever kayaked!

That's right, I, Maggie of the infamous poor balance, went kayaking! Here's the thing--it was a lot easier than I expected. I envisioned kayaking as when you have to sit in those long canoe things that cover you up to your waist and if you tipped over you could drown if you couldn't right yourself. Needless to say, I was never really interested in kayaking.

I was, however, assured by my traveling companions and by the folks at the water sports rental place that there were other kayaking options. In fact, there are very nice open dual kayaks that require little or no skill (perfect for me!) so I decided what the hell and went for it. Turns out I wasn't too shabby, and it was really fun. Especially the parts where we went fast. I like going fast!

You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.

 Mac and his Mom are ready for kayaking adventure.

Oh, and it turns out the hardest part of kayaking is remembering which part of the beach holds the rental place. It kind of all looks the same from 200 yards out. Good thing someone in our group was paying attention.

 

 Check it out, I am kayaking!

Playa Hermosa

After our kayaking adventure, we sat on the beach for a while and then went in the water for a dip. And then it was MAGGIE vs. THE JELLYFISH. There I was, in about waist-deep water, minding my own business and BAM! Something whipped across my leg and it burned. Oh, how it burned. I ran out of the water to get a look at the damage, and I already had the beginnings of a large welt across my entire right thigh. Luckily we had some "after burn" style treatment that I put on it and while the pain never got too bad, it was a constant burning reminder of how nature can sometimes REALLY SUCK. Oh, and it turns our aloe (like you would put on a sunburn) is awesome at treating jellyfish stings. And it's a good thing too since in another two days we had a big horse-riding and zip-line adventure planned and I kind of needed my thigh.

 I think the Jellyfish won this round. And I am not all that eager for a rematch.

 Is it possible that there are more beaches that we haven't visited? Would my leg heal in time for horseback riding? And who is Rosita and why did I want to smuggle her home in my bag? Stay tuned for the answers!