We have to be in Liberia on Saturday so we decide to make our way back to Tamarindo via the beach road. Its pretty much a bumpy dirt road the entire way with a few river crossings. We had heard stories about the river crossings, the best was from the guys we met at our hotel in Tamarindo. They had made the drive in search of surf and were headed back, at night -- first rule broken: Never try to ford the rivers at night unless you absolutely know the way Essentially, the key is to be able to see where you need to enter and exit the river. Sometimes it is not a straight shot across. The best recommendation is to follow a local through as the river can get pretty deep in some sections. In the case of our friends, they knew they couldn’t just plow across unknowingly, so they got out and figured they would test the water level with a stick. As they poked around, they quickly were reminded that this is a jungle -- as an crocodile snapped at the stick. Which, as you can imagine, sent them running to their car in Three Stooges style. Of course by now it was pouring, and they were resigning themselves to spending the night in the car or turning back where they came from, until a local cowboy arrived. They paid him $20 and he escorted them through the next couple of river crossings and they and their rental car lived to talk about it. Our journey was easy, only a few river crossings and they were all pretty straightforward. Of course it was the middle of the day.
Although the drive was fairly deserted we did see a little wildlife. As we were driving along we kept seeing these flashes of red on the sides of the road. At one point they were darting across the road. I made John stop the car so I could run around and try to corral these colorful cangrejos.
Then we saw a monkey in a tree just above the road. We stopped to take its picture, and it tried to pee on us! There were several cowboys herding cows down the street which is a normal occurrence But the most culturally interesting was the funeral procession. It was for a baby, and they were carrying the casket down the street from the church, followed by family, friends and neighbors on foot making their way to the cemetery. We contemplated taking pictures as we drove by, but in the end decided against it. We arrive back in Tamarindo on Friday afternoon - our room at the Hotel Mamiri is waiting for us.
We have to be in Liberia on Saturday so we decide to make our way back to Tamarindo via the beach road. Its pretty much a bumpy dirt road the entire way with a few river crossings. We had heard stories about the river crossings, the best was from the guys we met at our hotel in Tamarindo. They had made the drive in search of surf and were headed back, at night -- first rule broken: Never try to ford the rivers at night unless you absolutely know the way Essentially, the key is to be able to see where you need to enter and exit the river. Sometimes it is not a straight shot across. The best recommendation is to follow a local through as the river can get pretty deep in some sections. In the case of our friends, they knew they couldn’t just plow across unknowingly, so they got out and figured they would test the water level with a stick. As they poked around, they quickly were reminded that this is a jungle -- as an crocodile snapped at the stick. Which, as you can imagine, sent them running to their car in Three Stooges style. Of course by now it was pouring, and they were resigning themselves to spending the night in the car or turning back where they came from, until a local cowboy arrived. They paid him $20 and he escorted them through the next couple of river crossings and they and their rental car lived to talk about it. Our journey was easy, only a few river crossings and they were all pretty straightforward. Of course it was the middle of the day.
Although the drive was fairly deserted we did see a little wildlife. As we were driving along we kept seeing these flashes of red on the sides of the road. At one point they were darting across the road. I made John stop the car so I could run around and try to corral these colorful cangrejos. 
Then we saw a monkey in a tree just above the road. We stopped to take its picture, and it tried to pee on us! There were several cowboys herding cows down the street which is a normal occurrence But the most culturally interesting was the funeral procession. It was for a baby, and they were carrying the casket down the street from the church, followed by family, friends and neighbors on foot making their way to the cemetery. We contemplated taking pictures as we drove by, but in the end decided against it. We arrive back in Tamarindo on Friday afternoon - our room at the Hotel Mamiri is waiting for us.
