Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

On Wednesday afternoon we left for Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. After previous travels which had included two busses and a ferry, the direct, under-five-hour bus ride to the Carribean coast was a breeze. Not to mention that it was through the mountains and jungle and thus was also fascinating and enjoyable. We arrived after dark and checked into our hotel before getting dinner. Cabinas Jacaranda featured uniquely painted rooms, a communal kitchen, a jungle garden and mosaiced EVERYTHING! This was the front entrance:

And here's the path from the entrance to our room.

Between the two was a garden with an amazing variety of flowers, orchids, and other tropical plants. These, in turn, attract all kinds of lizards and birds. We ate breakfast here every day!

After breakfast we usually went to the closest beach, which was about a five minute walk through town from the hotel. Here we swam, played, read, and ate papaya. There was an old sunken dock with trees growing out of it! And in some places there was black sand, which is made out of magnetic particles.

We had plenty of opportunities to sample the local food, and the following two sodas featured the best casados (a house plate of chicken, fish or meat accompanied by rice, beans, salad, and sometimes fried green plantain called patacones).

Evenings gave us time to expore the nightlife, and Kerry tried local favorites like the national beers: Imperial and Pilson,

 

and a local favorite, Cuba Libre (rum and coke in a can).

Because it was his last weekend in Costa Rica, Kerry wanted to really take advantage of it. This time instead of bikes we rented a motorized scooter. I was a bit of a timid driver but Kerry had no problem - trasportation became way faster!

Thus we had the opportunity to cover a lot more ground, and we rode to Cahuita, Cocles, Playa Chiquita, Punta Uva, and Manzanillo.

All of these are part of the 'Refugio Nacional de vida silvestre Grandoca-Manzanillo' a valuable and protected stretch of land that has suffered from the side effects of tourism since before the 1950's. During that time there was a lot of debate about permitting tourism and what types of 'eco-tourism' could exist in the reserve. There was (and in some cases still is) a lot of corruption in the land-use approval process and much exploitation from international companies.

It is a historically important place for Costa Rica and it was cool to see so much of it. What's more, I was assigned a novel for one of my classes about the fight against exploitation of the reserve and I got to read it WHILE I WAS THERE!

Although the biodiversity in the area has been impacted by exposure to humans and tourists and environmental degredation, there are many forces working to combat the negative effects. One is the Jaguar Reserve in Cocles, where they rescue animals who have been injured or who's habitats have been ruined and rehabilitate them. Once they're in good health they're kept in open cages and encouraged to adventure out into the jungle in hopes they will stay there. But the reserve is open to them as long as they feel they need it.

It's a nonprofit organization, but you can pay a small fee (for a good cause) to go on a tour there and interact with the animals. On Friday we did, and what fun we had! We got to play with monkeys

and two-toes sloths

and saw three-toed sloths,

toucans,

 

wild cats,

owls, frogs, snakes, spiders, a hawk, and an iguana, to name a few. WOW, right!?!?

We also rode the scooter to a few secluded beaches. This is Punta Uva, where the jungle begins literally as soon as the sand ends!

Our next stop was Manzanillo, where there is a big coral reef really close to shore. So close that you have to stay really close to the surface of the water or you'll scratch up your knees because the water's so shallow (Kerry learned that the hard way :(...) We rented snorkel gear there to check it out

We saw TONS of fish and coral and weird plants and creatures. One fish was about two feet by two feet! The rest were small but very colorful, and sometimes in big schools. I brought my underwater camera but it had a hard time capturing the bright colors through salt water. Here's a good shot though!

What a day!

On Saturday we went to the national park in Cahuita for a hike that included many real-life natural monkey encounters

as well as walks along the beach

 

and through the (sometimes swampy) jungle.

It was another day full of wild-life: we also saw all sorts of lizards and some really big spiders in addition to the breathtaking and sometimes bizarre greenery.

On Sunday we woke up to rain, and said an extra-wet goodbye to the ocean. We made breakfast, packed up, and returned the scooter before taking the 11 AM bus back to San José.

After such a great weekend not even the bad weather could dampen our spirits!

Santa Teresa

After a bus ride, a bit of confusion, and a shared taxi-van, we arrived in Santa Teresa just in time for sunset. It's on the west-facing side of the Peninsula Nicoya, so this time it was over the ocean! And what a sunset it was!



The beach was so tempting I couldn't stay out of the water. Unlike in Montezuma, there were no rocks here. Just sand that went on and on for miles and miles! Literally! It's such a great stretch of beach that it houses about five beach towns in a row.

On one side there's sand and the sea and on the other green palm trees. The following picture was taken at the same time as the preceding ones: what a color contrast!

Since the coast is so long in Malpaís (which is a town but also refers to the whole stretch of beach; literal translation: bad country) we rented bikes to go exploring!

It was wonderful to have the mobility, especially since things were really spread out along a single, long road there. But unfortunately others had the same idea, only with motors, which led to a lot of dust.

So we would ride for a while and once we got too sweaty and our mouths and eyes were sufficiently dusty we would turn off towards the beach in search of a shaded, secluded spot.

Success! We spent much of the day relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

We also found that as we went south the beaches tended to get a little rockier, which is breathtaking, but not ideal for swimming. Especially with such strong waves! Santa Teresa is probably the most popular surf spot in Costa Rica - it has more breaks than Montezuma and less rocks but the waves are still strong. Luckily for us swimmers, more breaks meant that the innermost waves were a little smaller.

And any beach is great for taking in some sun! Especially one with mountains and foliage nearby in addition to the expanse of sand and surf.

Needless to say we were sad to leave, but our trip home Monday afternoon put us on the ferry at the perfect time to watch  - yet another - spectacular sunset.

This time over the sea and the mountains, with birds flying into it! It just keeps getting better and better...

We arrived back in San José late Monday night and had the whole day Tuesday and half the day Wednesday to enjoy the city before setting off again, this time for the Carribean cost!

Montezuma

Kerry´s first full weekend here we went to Montzuma and Santa Teresa. We left Thursday morning got to Puntrenas around midday - it was Kerry's first time seeing the beach here in Costa Rica!

From there we took a ferry to Paquera. It was a big boat and we had an hour-long ride to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

The seagulls flew alongside the boat for about half the ride and we could see 'Las Fiestas de Puntarenas,' a two-week-long nightly carnival they have there every year.

We could also see the mountains and various small islands as we passed by.

After Paquera it was about a two hour bus ride to Montezuma. We arrived in the early evening and wasted no time getting to the hotel and finding something to eat - we were tired and hungry after a long day of travel! Once we got our blood sugar back up to a normal level we were able to really enjoy the beautiful, rocky beaches there - just in time for sunset!

Montezuma is on the east-facing side of the Peninsula Nicoya on the west cost so the sun doesn't set over the ocean there but it was breathtaking nonetheless!

We also had time to walk around and get a feel for the town before it got too dark. It's a tourist town but is not as commercial as most others, and has a really laid-back vibe.

While we were there, staying at a hotel called Luna Llena (full moon) we got to enjoy the real thing! It was great because the beach was lit up even at night and we could walk around no problem, even without a light.

We stargazed on the beach that night and enjoyed the poi fire spinning show on the street downtown - they were really good!

For the rest of the night we hung out at the hotel, which featured a full kitchen, private cabanas, a great overlook, and some really wonderful hangout spots.

It also had freestanding bathrooms, and was settled in between the trees, so even brushing your teeth was an experience!

The same trees it was situated in were home to a family of howler monkeys, so you could enjoy the wildlife while sitting on the cabin's porch! Their call is quite loud, so luckily we couldn't miss them. They only came out to play in the early evening though, so the racket was enjoyable rather than bothersome.

And of course, we spent some days on the beach!

There were rocks to play on, HUGE waves (I sometimes got a little scared, they were really strong!), and areas where instead of sand there were tons of bitty pieces of shells. I had fun collecting all the cool ones. And all along the beach there were vendors selling their hand-made goods.

With so many exciting things on the beach it's no wonder we got a little sun burnt, but luckily Montezuma has attractions other than the surf. We went on a day hike to a triple-decker waterfall!

This is only the lower one, but even standing alone it is remarkable! The pool that surrounds it is calm, cold, and REALLY deep, so we took advantage of the big rocks surrounding it to do a little cliff jumping.

That night we met up with some friends we made at the hotel for a beach side campfire and some drinks. There was no shortage of driftwood on the beach (maybe because of all the waves) so it was quite easy and very fun! Our glow attracted some new friends as well, from Canada and Germany. With a guitar and several people who could play it we really had it made!

And the best part: we still had half of our adventure ahead of us! We left Montezuma the next afternoon but instead of heading back to San José we went west to Santa Teresa. Read on...

El Día de San Valentín

Kerry arrived on February 12! He just left this morning (March 2) so we enjoyed a long vacation together, hence the lack of blogging! The next few posts will be about our travels and time together, starting with Valentine's Day.

We spent the day in the city, and since it was Kerry's first time downtown we visited parks and other national sights, such as the Teatro Nacional,

Parque Central,

and Parque España,

among other cool places.

For dinner we went to a restaurant up in the mountains called Mirador Ram Luna, which overlooks all of San José and it's surrounding areas and is well known for its spectacular views.

We left at about 3 pm to take the bus there and arrived in time to see it in daylight and after dark when the city really lights up!

The food and ambiance were great, and the view was to die for!

I feel so lucky to have been able to spend Valentine's Day with Kerry, and better yet it was only the beginning of our Costa Rican adventure together!