Samara

We left Santa Teresa at 6:30am, headed to our next stop in Samara. The drive ahead of us wasn't a long one, but there was a point where we'd need to cross a river during low tide and there was a small window in which we could do so. During the trip we had to drive a portion of the way over an almost deserted beach - In hindsight, it was a really beautiful trip, but we were mostly concerned with the numerous signs we saw right before driving on the beach that said "DO NOT DRIVE ON THE BEACH."

This was one of the gorgeous spots we drove past on the trip

Samara is an adorable little beach town, full of tourists and surfers. When we arrived, we drove around for about an hour searching for the hostel where we'd booked a room. We even asked a few shop owners in town, and they hadn't heard of it. Finally we had the brilliant idea to ask at a surf school and they directed us to Casa Brian, which it turns out we'd already passed on our way into town.

After getting ourselves settled at Casa Brian, we headed straight for the beach. Kyle had a great time jumping in the waves.

We had a fabulous time at Casa Brian. Our host, Brian, is Canadian and we spent our first night hearing stories ranging from a small jail stint in Brampton and to sea fishing off the West coast, to raising his kids and his work with Marc Emery.

For our second day we had booked ourselves surfing lessons a short walk down the beach. Kyle did really, really well - Got up onto his feet and even turned a few times. I, on the other hand, had a very rough time with it. The combination of not being able to see (no glasses) and the rough waves knocking me off my feet and splashing me in the face were a recipe for a small panic attack. My surf teacher could tell and after a while said "Michelle, you're doing a great job, but this is your last wave" and sent me back to the beach.

Kyle enjoys a little beer on the beach after our surf lesson, and we went back to the hostel to relax in the many hammocks Brian has strung up around the place.

The sunsets in Samara were beautiful!

On our last night we had some drinks with the other Casa Brian residents - Pierre from Montreal, Lyndsay from Arkansas, and Brooke from Oklahoma. Brooke had been at Casa Brian for a month, and during that time had taken up fire dancing. She gave us a demonstration, which was amazing.

Posing for one last photo before heading up coast to our next stop!