There is no conclusive evidence as to how this happened, but Hershey gets to wear bandages for a few weeks while her two fractured metatarsals heal. Other than hobbling on three feet, it has not seemed to phase her much. If only she could have gotten an orange bandage...

Today's activity was surfing...the reason many people go to Costa Rica. Not having much experience (maybe 30 minutes about 17 years ago) I took a lesson. We learned the basics in about ten minutes before getting into the water. We then spent nearly two hours surfing. I was able to stand up on the second or third wave I caught..and many more afterwards. Unfortunately the waves were breaking fairly close to the shore so you couldn't ride for too long..and when you went down, you were likely hitting the ground. The teacher was relentless. It was probably the best workout I've had in ages. As soon as you'd get back out to where the waves were breaking, he'd have you turn around and catch the next wave. At the end of the lesson I was glad that he had pushed us that hard because we got some good practice. During the lesson, however, I would have really liked to have been able to breathe. My arms weren't too happy at the end of the two hours either..

Dinner was pizza at Pizzeria Las Baulas, next to Dragon Fly. Again, nothing out of the ordinary (well nothing like Papa Johns and Pizza Hut)..thin crust pizza with some odd topping choices.

The beach was across the street, through a short wooded path from where we were staying. The beach here wasn't very good for swimming. In fact it was quite a dangerous place to get into the water due to the lava rocks that took up the shoreline. The pool at the villa was definitely the saving grace for our location. Without it we would have been some unhappy, overheated tourists. The picture above is looking north, towards Tamarindo. In the southern direction, across a small channel (which was dangerous to cross at higher tides), was a beach that reminded me of a beach you'd find in South Carolina.

The overall flight to Costa Rica was a bit shorter than I thought it would be. Obviously it is a short flight from Charleston to Atlanta. In Atlanta we had a long enough layover to grab a bite to eat before boarding our flight to Liberia, Costa Rica. Note to all of you who might one day go to Costa Rica in the future (take me!): Eat at the airport before you leave. Other than some snacks on the plane it's likely going to be the last good chance to eat for a while. The flight from Atlanta was about 3.5 hours--and very comfortable due to the lack of passengers.

Today the South Carolina Aquarium released two rehabilitated Loggerhead Sea Turtles at the Isle of Palms County Park. St. Simon can be seen on the left. On the right and bottom is Lighthouse, armed with a tracking device.

Earlier this month I purchased a 2006 Fuji Nevada 1.0 mountain bike in anticipation of the day I can ride from my house over the new Cooper River Bridge without having to cross over the busiest road in Mount Pleasant. Construction under the bridge is well on the way to allowing access from my side of Highway 17 to the 12 foot bicycle and pedestrian walkway that runs along the bridge.