Simplicity is happiness

Playa Herradura

Playa Herradura

This weekend the original plan was to go to Montezuma ... but that plan was short lived because were broke and hate being on a bus for long periods of time. Any how ... we(Anabel & I) decided that we would go to Herradura, which is right next to Jaco, our Tico dad's grandparents live there in a little home and had invited us , so it seemed right that now that we were in need of the beach and somewhere to sleep we take advantage.

Mamon Chino ! Yum

Dona Mercedes and Don Edgar , are the cutest little couple of grandparents. They have lived in Herradura for about 15 years now, once they decided to retire and leave San Jose. They have been together since they were 18, and have 4 kids. Since retirement don edgar left his mechanic shops and home to his children and they send them money each week to get by. They live a humble lifestyle , in a little house that looks like i could have somehow constructed it myself. when we first arrived I thought to myself " oh lord where could we possibly be sleeping in there?" but the truth was we were comfortable from the beginning. Even though they live so humble and poor , they are willing to share all that they have and they live happily without a single complaint. Not to mention that they are very healthy,for people there age.  We were fed various times a day while  there like we were their own family, and spent hours conversing about life. I tried so many new fruits  and had plenty of rice !

Upon arrival we were offered a plethora of fruit and they took us to the beach. Herradura is a low key beach with less tourism than Jaco. Although you can tell that americans are certainly trying to develop tourism and real estate there. We went to "Los Suenos" resort village ... and there was a man flying in to his villa on a HELICOPTER ... not to mention the shit ton of yachts ! It was a lovely place to say the least. I enjoyed myself so much.. (without a single drop of alcohol. lol ) Me and Anabel even told her that we'd come back next week for our spring break, before we head over to Panama and Nicaragua. We spent plenty of time at the Auto mercado .. using their wifi and buying snacks. Aside from that we were either on the beach roasting, Anabel trying out the topless tan fad and me trying to not get trampled by waves. We even took a bus into Jaco one evening and went to a fair and watched the sunset.

Sunset in Jaco 

How could I forget ? This is where Bella is ... She's so big, We barely recognized her from how much she has grown. I couldn't really tell if she was more or equally hyperactive than when she left our house in San jose.They also changed her naem to Luna, which was awkward because thats the name of one of our dogs back home, but what ever makes them happy! shes not ours any more, although she still responds to bella sometimes. She's a trouble maker , thats for sure! Driving them a lil crazy, but she's a funny pup. they enjoy her company , because they're dog they have is very old ... im surprised it still walks lol . her name was Osa.. she stayed to her self. which was reasonable because she's 15 years old .. which is super duper old in dog years.

All in all , I had another amazing weekend for about 1/3 of the money that I would have spent in Montezuma. I still can't fathom how lucky I was to cross paths with such an amazing family. It saddens me to know that they are so old, because I want to come visit them one day when I return to Costa Rica. I want to be just like dona Mercedes when I get older, happy, optimistic and healthy. I'ts evident that in their simple lives on the beach they live happily and grateful for all they have... thats how it should be.