Playa El Uverito

This is our third day in our seaside home at Uverito Beach. We are most definitely kicking back, relaxing and enjoying life as it is. There are several restaurants within a couple of hundred meters from our rental, but our menu choices are pretty much limited to rice, beans, salad and plantains. Fortunately, with a ten minute drive into the nearest town, Las Tablas, we can purchase beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the cost in Vancouver.

We've started our days here with long strolls along the roughly four kilometers of beach spread out in front of us. The sand is mostly hard packed enough that I was able to get in a little 4K run this morning while Brenda power walked along the shore.

On this morning's walk we were accompanied by our new found friend that Brenda has named LaylaDog.

As soon as we arrived here Wednesday afternoon, this mangy looking, tailless cur welcomed us with a wagging behind and unbridled excitement. She is omnipresent and always gives us the same enthusiastic greeting every time we've been away for a while.

In the movie "A Dog's Purpose" the plotline follows the reincarnation of one dog's soul from one life to the next. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Eventually, after six lives, she is eventually reunited with a man who was, as a boy, her original owner. She is somehow able to make him understand that she is the reincarnation of his boyhood best friend and they all live happily ever after. Awwww. Sniff, sniff.

Anyway, this mangy mutt that seems to have adopted us acts so much, and has such similar qualities to our beloved Golden Retriever, Layla, that we think, well, maybe...…

Thus LaylaDog.

As I jogged along the beach she stayed with me the whole time, either right at my side or two short paces behind me. We haven't fed her, given her water or anything but kind, gentle words and she has been a joy to have around. Unfortunately, she's so mangy and probably flea infested, I'm wont to so much as pet her. But, if we lived here full time, I'm pretty sure we'd adopt her and give her a better life.

Yesterday as we strolled along the beach we were amazed by the number of crabs residing underfoot. From a distance we could see them all over the sand, but as we approached, they'd all scurry back into their burrows. I have to admit to having childishly run at an exceptionally large group of them, giggling to myself the whole time, as they frantically scattered to avoid the gigantic ogre that threatened them. Bad vegan, Roch.

This variety of crab is known as the Sand Bubbler Crab. As they forage for microscopic food clinging to the grains of sand, they form the sand into little balls, leaving behind a trail of their efforts everywhere on the beach. Depending on how long the tide has been out, some of these works of crab art are quite impressive and beautiful. Judging by the complexity of the designs, some crabs are clearly far more artistic than others.

We've been very lucky with the weather here at the beach. It has rained very hard late at night, but other than that, the skies have been variable without precipitation. In fact, I managed to get a bit of a sunburn during yesterday morning's walk. I put a hat onto the chrome dome this morning.

As I type this blog I'm once again lounging on the porch with the Van Morrison station playing on Spotify and Brenda having a little snooze in the hammock next to me.

Ah, life's little pleasures.

I think I'll go crack open a $0.58 can of Balboa to put a cherry on the sundae.Read more