Sunset No. 4

Although there were no guarantees of a scenic sunset given with the sunset cruise on the sail boat shown yesterday, Tamarindo usually cooperates with memorable sunsets. The day of our sunset cruise was no exception. Here is a photo of the sunset taken from the sail boat.

The Mandingo Sailing sunset cruise sail boat that I showed in yesterday's photo is a replica of 1800's schooner, 50 feet (16 meters) long, built in France in the 1990's. Like many of the businesses in Tamarindo, Mandingo Sailing is operated by Europeans. The skipper, Andree, was born in Germany and sailed the boat from France across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and up to Tamarindo. His wife, Maria, is Dutch/Italian and handles the duties on land taking care of tourists and reservations. She speaks English, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, and French. (As an American, I can without insult observe than anyone who speaks that many languages is likely to be European.)

Sunset photos such as these give an appreciation for why the area of the Pacific around Tamarindo is called Costa Rica's "Gold Coast." I suspect the name does not refer merely to the color of the sunsets, however, but also refers ot the rapid development of condominiums, hotels, resorts, and other tourist facilities.