Tamarindo to Samara

I met up with the French family that I met the day before for a ride to Samara at 9am. There are a couple of different ways to get to Samara from Tamarindo. One is on main roads that are relatively easy to follow and the other is a shorter more scenic route along the coast. A local guy told us it was a two hour drive via the coast and that it was much more scenic. I envisioned us getting lost due to lack of signs and a sub-par map. I figured it would take most of the day if we took the coastal route but didn’t really care because I’d get to see that much more of Costa Rica. I thought there was a possibility of getting lucky and arriving within the 2 hour time frame but doubted it.

We headed south out of Tamarindo around 9:30 and seemed to be finding our way pretty well until we took our first wrong turn at the first village. No problem. It was a short detour so we just back tracked quickly. Jeffery was driving and Agate was navigating while 4 year old Tom was sleeping. I was just along for the ride. We stopped a couple of times to ask and make sure we were on the right road. No problema.

After a little while we came to a prominent well signed intersection and very properly took the wrong fork. The road narrowed but was still pretty good as we headed up into the hills. The way became steeper and the wheels spun out throwing gravel underneath the car as we dug in, backed up a little, and proceeded forward spinning out over the first pass. Down the other side across a creek then up and over another steep pass down to another creek and up another steep rise past a man on a horse where this time the car was not going to make it. The rest of us got out and Jeffery backed the car to get a running start and spun out up over the crest. I wasn’t sure we were going the right way. We seemed to be going away from the coast.

We asked the few we met where we where and how to get to Samara. Agate, with her French accent asked in broken English. I asked in Spanish but nothing was being understood by anyone very well. The only thing that was clear to me is that everyone we asked was giving us different information and suggesting different routes. We started down a suggested steep road but as it narrowed into a trough, with both sides closing in on the car doors, we decided it was best not to go further and backed out.

We tried another fork and met a drunk guy with a horse and what appeared to be family and friends hanging around a coral. In a very enthusiastic drunken animated fashion he waved his hands about describing the way signaling what believed was a turn right. But where exactly? We pressed on further. Wait, that right? Or, that left? That right didn’t look too good and the left looked ok. A little further on and we arrived in a tranquil little valley.

A very basic open air wood home with clothes hanging out to dry revealed a father and his daughter. We asked where we were but it really wasn’t clear. Apparently we were near some village that wasn’t on the map. He said it wasn’t good to go further and we all agreed it was probably best to backtrack. I remembered the prominent intersection a ways back so that was our goal.

So, we retraced our tracks up and over the passes through 4 or 5 creeks and eventually found the main intersection. It was well marked and well signed. We simply made a careless mistake. Cest la vie. About 5 ½ hours after leaving Tamarindo we arrived in Samara.

Samara is much more what I expected to see along the west coast of Costa Rica. Lots of Americans and Europeans, mixed with plenty of Costa Rican's running hotels, restaurants, surf schools, tours, etc. in a more basic somewhat rustic appealing fashion. Tamarindo is a little more upscale with night clubs and multilevel apartments laid out in a way that I find far less appealing that Samara.

The drive to Samara was a bit hot and tiring but it gave me a chance to see a bit of the real Costa Rica. So far I’d say people in the cities are doing ok but in the countryside there are definitely a lot of poor people. What I don’t see are people living in squalor. Costa Rica strikes me as one of those places I call middle world. Middle world is where you have lots of poor people but everyone seems to be eating, living with a roof over their head, and has some kind of chance to make a little money doing something.

Overall the country appears to be on an upward swing. For example, tap water is considered safe to drink throughout most all of the country. The availability of safe municipal drinking water is a nice indicator of where a country is headed. Aside of petty theft there really doesn’t seem to be much anything else to be too concerned with. The Costa Rican people are nice and friendly. The touts are non aggressive. A simple, “No Gracias”, and they’re off your back.

A couple of nights in Samara and I'll continue south.