Costa Rica is expensive! We left Granada and headed south to the border, stopping overnight in Liberia where we stayed at an AirBnB. The owner was quite knowledgeable about all things Costa Rican and told us that the country has successfully marketed itself to foreigners as a safe tourist destination; lots of expats bringing retirement money into the country, as well as skilled professionals moving to CR, and with them came the US chains chasing this new demographic. Unfortunately, for most of the locals, their wages stayed the same and they are suffering the high cost of living.  Windmill Alley on the Pan American Tamarindo is a great beach-side town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Beautiful sandy beaches and lots of tourists flocking to the surf lessons and snorkel tours. We stayed a couple of days here just to relax a bit and soak up the sun. It's still raining a little bit in the afternoons, and we're finding that it's difficult to predict when the precipitation will come as we travel to different regions and the Central American winter season starts to taper off.  Waves make fantastic shapes on the sand at Tamarindo  Watching the world go by  Neda said we needed more beefcake shots in the blog. The best I could manage was a bit of cheesecake...  "...enjoys long walks on the beach as well as blasting through muddy single-track on a dirtbike..."  And here's the beefcake: Fabio emerges out of the forest luring women onto his stable of horses.  Tamarindo is a popular place for tourists  Dog waits patiently for his master to return from surfing  "Sale" in Costa Rican Spanish means mark it up 100% and then discount it 50%...  Surf lessons done for the day  Paddleboarding into the sunset  Sunset on the Pacific Ocean We say goodbye to the beach and we're heading back to the interior of Costa Rica to explore a bit more. Rainy ride!
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