Aside from a village perro who sat at the edge of the sand to watch us pass, we were the only inhabitants of Santana Beach on this morning. With Jack wandering as he pleased, we walked for an hour. The huge rocky cliffs that could be seen in the distance seemed to never get any closer as the flat, firm sand stretched on forever. It was stunningly beautiful.

A tsunami ruin sits just beyond the water's reach and spectacular driftwood is everywhere. Rock lies beneath the sand on Playa Santana so the footing is firm and the waves diminish for incredible distances as they push across the beach.

Jack was very eager to ride the quad. At noon we went into the deep forest to Rancho Los Perros and Iguana Beach. The trees through this section of the Ranch are so huge that they seem hundreds of years old. We had heard that the monkeys were regularly spotted at Iguana Beach, but they were not there on this day and neither was anyone else. The white fluffy sand contained no footprints except our own.

Every day at Rancho Santana is punctuated by periods of tarriance – most of it spent in the company of others. The expatriates, part-time residents, travelers and staff are friendly and welcoming. Everyone is quick to share their table and their story and eager to learn about the tiny four-legged traveler. On this day, we invested a lot of time lazily chatting with this person and that.

In the evening, the three of us observed the sunset ritual on another beautiful and deserted beach - Playa Escondido. Hidden and protected, the land rises up in rocky cliffs around it; the sand is loose and white as snow. We sat on a blanket and witnessed the falling sun with our constant little friend beside us. Desierto belleza.

Tomorrow we move on and are already longing to come back.

Move on to day six