Weekend trip to the Caribbean

   

It's been awhile since I've last posted, sorry about that.  Anyways, a few weekends ago I went to Puerto Viejo, a town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica for the weekend with one of my friends. It's about a 4-4.5 hour bus ride to Puerto Viejo. The town of Puerto Viejo is uniquely different than any other town in Costa Rica I've visited. The weekend I spent there was probably one of my favorites because the atmosphere of the town, and the beach was so different than my past excursions.

Puerto Viejo is a colorful, laid-back town full of Bob Marley worshipers. In general the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, is different than the rest of Costa Rica.  There is Costa Rican culture and then there's the Caribbean culture. The Caribbean has more black people, which makes a lot of difference in terms of culture. The food, music and atmosphere are all different. In the Caribbean there are African, Jamaican and Costa Rican influences all in one--it's an interesting place. Reggae music, spicy meat served on the street, languages with a mix of English, Spanish and French and lots of people on bikes are things that you are able to experience in Puerto Viejo.

The beach at Puerto Viejo was beautiful.  There was clear blue water, palm trees and lots of reef along the beaches. The current wasn't too strong, so I was able to swim, and not get pummeled by waves. This beach was what I imagined all Costa Rican beaches to be like. Even the sights under the water were beautiful. The friend I was with had her goggles so we took turns swimming around underwater looking at the tropical fish and reef. It was so cool.

You are able to learn so much about the culture of a place by walking around, observing and talking to people. The town was so full of life. Everyone was out on street corners and benches, talking to their friends and hanging-out outside. Before dinner time, there were so many different smells filling the air.  Kabobs cooking on street corners, a whole pig roasting outside of the restaurant and fresh fish were common smells.  We opted for a cross border European style dinner, having tea, crepes and pizza.

After walking around the town, taking photos, exploring souvenir shops and having dinner we headed back to the hostel. We stayed in a popular hostel amongst International Veritas students, called Rocking J's. It had many options for accommodations--hammocks, cabins, dorm rooms, suites and tents.  It's places like that, that make me realize I'm in Costa Rica.  Anyways we chose to spend $5.00, for a sheet, locker and a hammock.  It wasn't the most comfortable night's sleep I've ever had, but you can't beat only spending $5.00 for a night somewhere. The hostel was geared for the young traveler. It was colorful and decorated with glass mirages along the floors and walls. There was a restaurant, bar and beer-pong table for night entertainment and a gazebo with seating for hanging out during the day. 

The next day was filled with spending time at the beach, taking photos and a hunting for a house that sold cocoa butter and home-made chocolate products. My friend had heard about this house near by Puerto Viejo from her friends that visited before, and wanted to find it to buy some cocoa butter.  We asked probably about 20 people in Spanish and English trying to find the location of this house. It was frustrating because no one knew what we were talking about. After about an hour of asking around we found a taxi driver who knew where the place was.  He took us to this house owned by an indigenous woman.  The woman makes her own chocolate and chocolate based products. I bought a little chocolate bar with vanilla and my friend bought her much desired cocoa butter.

Overall Puerto Viejo was great.  It was a cool, unique town with friendly people. If I get another oppurtunity to visit other Caribbean towns I would jump at the chance.

¡Pura Vida!