LOLA'S

So relaxing in the pool after a long day at the beach, Tom and I met our neighbor, Richard. Richard clued us in on several must see things, one of which was Lola's. Named after the pet pig that wandered around, he described it as a short drive out of Tamarindo around a couple curves and just when you feel like your lost, you will hit the end of the road at a beach. Lola's was described as a chill little resort that had great atmosphere where a person could hang out all day.

I pictured it as a hotel complex with a nice bar and some music surrounding a pool. What Lola's turned out to acutally be was truly a 1000 square foot leveled area with handmade Teak wood tables and chairs under evenly spaced 30 foot tall palm trees. On the east side was a bar with essential stove and deep fryer, restroom and small living quarters for the owners, and on the east side a few short steps away was another incredible beach.

Before describing the amazing conversation we had with the owner, I have to describe the trip to Lola's from our condominium that morning: Before we left, Tom got the directions once again from Richard, we packed our things and took off. On the way out of town, I sold it to Angie as a resort, with plenty to do. As we drove, the enthusiasm of seeing life in the country kept us busy for awhile, all the time each of us asking Tom if we were headed the right direction. Each response from Tom was one of assurance.

We drove for awhile past beautiful fields of horses and cattle, feeling further inland than when we first flew in. Feeling appropriatly lost, I was hopeful that we would soon see a sign indicating Lola's. Instead, we passed villages, 'se vende' signs in vacant recently scraped forests, and condo complexes in various stages of construction or abandonment. After about 40 minutes of travelling curvy, bumpy, dusty Costa Rican roads, it happened, that soft voice from the back seat claiming, 'I don't feel good'. The windy roads had finally caught up with Leslie and she shared with us that she was starting to feel car sick. The shared urgency in finding Lola's began to really surface, the three of us more frequently questioning if we were going in the right direction.

So finally as a good driver does, Tom pulled off the road at an intersection and approached a woman who was cooking lunch in her yard. The pots she cooked in were well used, and propped up on a steel sheet suspended by waist high cinderblocks over a small open fire burning between the rocks. While Tom initiated his international sign for pet pig, Leslie and I swapped seats, so she would ride shotgun.

"Hola, donde esta Lola's??"

....blank look....shrugged shoulders.....shy smile.....

"El Puerquo, Lola's????"

.....smile.....mild annoyed look.....finger point from where we come.....shrugged shoulders....

Tom got back in the car and we flipped a U turn.

"What did she say?"

"I don't know, but I think we missed the turn."

We were off again, looking at all the stuff we had passed, just with a different perspective. We rounded a corner when all of a sudden, "MONKEY!!!", Leslie spotted a couple monkeys in a tree next to the road. We stopped the car, like a good Floridian would in Yellowstone the minute they see a bison. We took our pictures, they didn't,and enjoyed looking at one another for a while, but we all knew we were on a mission. We jumped back in the car and as we scanned the trees, each shadow was quickly mistaken for another primate and as quickly discounted.

Near the end of our hope of ever finding Lola's we made one more attempt at asking. This time we randomly came upon a light haired guy, Tom rolled down his window and asked if he knew where Lola's was. This time we hit the jackpot!

In a spanish accent: "Just drive down this road around the corner, and you are going to feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, just go a little bit further and you will be there."

We headed on our way, this time closer than ever, we thought. It was another 20 minutes of driving through Teak plantations, past small villages and English signs exclaiming in so many words that the world had discovered/exploited this paradise.

Finally, we rounded a corner and saw a bunch of cars parked in a round undeveloped parking area with the ocean in the background. The parking attendant, in the middle of nowhere, guided us into a spot. Tom asked the attendant for Lola's, the attendant pointed to the passenger side of the car and through the manicured shrubbery, there it was.