A quiet spot in the gardens of the Cala Luna Resort

The grounds of the Cala Luna Resort in the Playa Langosta area of Tamarindo have lots of charming, quiet places, such as this garden scene.

This week we are showing some more photos from my wife's recent trip to Guatemala, featuring the market town of ChiChi and Guatemala City on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Getting ready for sunset

Our room at the Marriott overlooked the pool and gardens, but was not positioned to have a view of the sunset.

So, after my walk around the area, I walked up to to top floor  to find a spot from which I could get a sunset view.  I picked this spot above the main courtyard of the hotel.

Tomorrow and the following day I will show whether this was worth the effort.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Patagonia, Argentina.

Back at the San Jose Marriott Hotel

After my walk throughout the area around the Marriott Hotel near the San Jose airport, including the Mormon Temple and cemetery that I have shown during the last few weeks, I returned to the hotel.

I showed the late afternoon sky as I left the cemetery, so I hustled back to the hotel to see if I could catch the  sunset from the hotel.

It is very late afternoon in this photo, and tomorrow I will show the developing sunset.

This week, in recognition of St. Patrick's Day on Monday, we have posted photos of Dublin, Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Hotels in Tamarindo

This is the entrance to the Hotel Mono Loco.  Most of the hotels in Tamarindo are small, independent hotels with perhaps 10 - 20 rooms.   Some of them started as accommodations for surfers when Tamarindo was just a surfing town, and they have been upgraded now that the area is a resort town for a wider range of activities.  The Internet is crucial to enabling the smaller hotels to be able to feature themselves to prospective guests.

The major exception to the small scale of the local hotels is the Tamarindo Diria Resort, which is large and which I have featured in the past and have an index label in the right margin dedicated to it.  It is of a scale that one would expect of a large, multi-faceted resort, with several swimming pools, a tennis court, large beachfront, and they are even developing a golf course on the edge of town.

The hotels in Tamarindo are generally not affiliated with any of the international hotel chains, with the exception of the Barcelo Langosta Hotel, which is a Spanish owned chain.  There is also a Best Western.

The large international hotels, such as the J.W. Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons, etc. have located their properties in areas where they are outside of town in controlled access areas.  My wife and I decided that we preferred being in town, with many dining options and an actual town, not merely a resort.

We have photos of the charming town of Adare, Ireland, posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Hotel Mono Loco -- The Crazy Monkey

One of the hotels in Tamarindo is named Mono Loco, which translates as the Crazy Monkey.  I don't know if that is a good name for a hotel or not.  I guess it is memorable, but when staying in a hotel, I would not want anything crazy happening, including any monkeying around.

Tomorrow I will show you what the hotel looks like.

We have photos of the charming town of Adare, Ireland, posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Front lobby of Sueno del Mar

Yesterday i showed the path to the front gate of Sueno del Mar.  Here is a view from the entrance down to the lobby and the corridor where the rooms are located.

Merry Christmas to the readers of my website who celebrate this holiday.

We have photos of the doorways of ancient temples of Cambodia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Walkway at Sueno del Mar

This is the walkway from the lobby up to the front entrance of Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast.

It is a pleasant walk from here regardless of whether guests are headed to the beach or up this path towards town.

We have photos of the doorways of ancient temples of Cambodia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Pool & Hammock at Sueno del Mar

I started this series of photos of Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast by showing hammocks and lounge chairs on the beach.  So I figured I should show a hammock by the pool, which I guess is for people who are tired of the hammocks by the ocean.

Tomorrow I will digress from my normal posts for some personal news.

We have photos of our recent trip to Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

The Courtyard of Sueno del Mar

The Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast has a courtyard with tropical plants and trees.  This covered patio patio area has a rocking chair and book shelves with a little library.

Tomorrow I will show you another pleasant spot for reading one of the books.

We have photos of our recent trip to Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

A peek into a room at Sueno del Mar

After I took the photo I showed yesterday of a planter next to the door of one of the rooms at the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast, we walked by another room that had an open door because it was apparently being cleaned to be ready for a new guest after the other guest had checked out.

This let me take a quick photo looking into the room  The rooms looks nice, and in keeping with the Spanish colonial atmosphere of this little beach resort.

We have photos of our recent trip to Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Hanging Heliconia and Ginger

The rooms at the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast have usual planters hanging next to the doors.  They have ginger plants frowing up, and heliconia plants hanging down.  I have never seen this arrangement before, but it does make for a unique tropical welcome back to one's room.

We have photos of our recent trip to Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Pancakes

Yesterday a reader asked in a comment  whether we had pancakes for breakfast when we walked down to the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast for breakfast.  Here is a photo that shows the affirmative answer to that question.

As a Bed & Breakfast, there is not a menu like a restaurant, and the offerings for breakfast change.  But the breakfast offerings are predictably  delightful,  and a perfect way to end a walk on the beach.

We have photos of Julie's Grand Canyon rafting trip posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

A walk to breakfast

After a walk down the beach to the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast, we take this little path from the beachfront area to the area where they serve breakfast.

I will show a few more photos of this experience in the days ahead.

We have photos of Julie's Grand Canyon rafting trip posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.

Yet another way to relax

After hammocks, Adirondack chairs, and a day bed on the beach, that I have shown the last three days, I guess normal beach lounge chairs look rather ordinary.  Guests at the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast have at least 4 choices of how to relax on Langosta Beach.  That tough decision must be the most stressful part of their day.

It makes sense.  Sueno del Mar means dreams of the sea.  In guests are supposed to be having ocean dreams, there must be some relaxing and napping going on.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing a few more photos of Julie's unique Grand Canyon rafting trip.

Day bed on the beach

The last two days I have shown hammocks and Adirondack chairs on the beach, so today i am showing a day bed on the beach, also on the grounds of the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast.

I guess if a hammock is not good enough and someone wants a real power nap, this might be the spot.

This week we have photos of the recent total solar eclipse off the coast of Australia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Beach chairs

Yesterday I showed some of the hammocks at the Sueno del Mar Bed & Breakfast.  If guests get tired of lying in a hammock, they can get up and relax in these Adirondack chairs on the beach.

Life is tough.  Such difficult choices. Hammock or chairs?  And there are more choices, as I will show in couple of upcoming posts.

This week we have photos of the recent total solar eclipse off the coast of Australia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Beach hammocks under the trees

How would you like to relax here?  What could be better than a little nap, or time to rad a book, in a hammock in the shade under the trees on the beach, while listening to the nearby waves and being cooled by breezes .

These hammocks are in back of the Sueno del Mar Bed and Breakfast, located on Langosta Beach a few doors down from our Langosta condo.  We sometimes will walk there for a hearty breakfast.

This week we have photos of the recent total solar eclipse off the coast of Australia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

J.W. Marriott Guanacaste Resort

I showed a post from the golf course at the Four Seasons Papagayo a couple of days ago, so I thought I would give equal time to the J.W. Marriott Guanacaste Resort.  This is an aerial view of it taken by my younger son several years ago when he took a gyrocopter flight over Tamarindo.  Guanacaste is the name of

We can walk down the beach from Tamarindo to the location of this resort, if it is low tide across the mouth of the Langosta Estuary.  It is about 20 minutes to drive inland and around the estuary and surrounding rural communities.

We have never stayed here, of course, since we have condos nearby, but we have stayed at other J.W. Marriott Hotels and they are very nice.  The fact that Marriott would make the investment to build a resort of this quality and size very close to Tamarindo I think is a good thing, as it places sort of an international corporate seal of approval on our local area.

We have photos of Cape Breton Island on the northern tip of Nova Scotia posted this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is a pristine, beautiful place.

Theme Day: Electricity

Today's worldwide Daily Photo Theme is electricity.  What better use of electricity in Tamarindo than to illuminate a swimming pool and poolside lounge?  This photo is the bar area of the Cala Luna Resort, which is located just a block or so from our Langosta Beach condo.

We are showing photos of Egypt this week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, including some of the experiences that await tourists visiting the country might enjoy.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of Electricity, Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Playa Langosta and the Cala Luna Resort

This is a view of Langosta from the elevator lobby area of the top floor of the Crystal Sands condo. This is looking in the opposite direction from the beach.

The Cala Luna Resort is located in foreground. The tile roofs are the resort bungalo units. The tall thatched roof is the snack bar near the swimming pool. The Cala Luna has recently been remodeled and reopened.  We like to walk there from our condo to enjoy lunch at their restaurant around their pool.

The Peninsula and Naxos condos are the tall buildings on the left side of the photo. Our condo is on the beach near the top right of the photo, although it is not visible due to the trees.

We are showing photos of Chicago at night on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site this week.