Next Up: Puerto Viejo!

Our final weekend trip was to Puerto Viejo, the Caribbean Beach of Costa Rica. This really was the Caribbean - I thought I saw Bob Marley about 20 times the whole weekend!

The coast here is a lot less pretty than Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side of the country. The beaches are dirtier in appearance, and there are places where it is dangerous to swim.

a view of the beach from the street our hotel was on

We were split into two groups of hotels for this weekend stay, and our hotel was gorgeous. We were in raised log cabin-style rooms, all with beautiful amenities, hammocks, air-conditioning (REALLY needed there!!), and nice, thick comforters.

there's the door to our hotel room!

The other group was put up in a hotel that had little cabins. The beds had mosquito nets on top, and although they had no air-conditioning, they had some really pretty bathrooms and a nice bar in the lobby.

Jen in her mosquito-netted bed at their hotel!

We ate dinner at a great outdoor pizza place in town that had delicious cocktails. Because we were such a big group, our food took a while, so we were brought bruschetta on the house - the BEST bruschetta I have ever had in my entire life!

At the restaurant, a Tico named Edwin and his son provided entertainment with guitar-playing, singing, and drumming. He performed all Bob Marley (a common theme in Puerto Viejo, of course), and we really enjoyed him. He even got me up there to perform “No Woman, No Cry” with him, and later, Dan, Chris, and I went up there and sang our Costa Rican version of Margaritaville. I think Edwin liked us!

jammin to some Bob Marley with Edwin and his son was so fun!

Later, we went to a bar/club right on the ocean. Here, there were little tables with candles by the ocean’s edge. It was really neat - very different from anything I’d seen before.

The beach the next day was really fun. We spent most of the time in the water, since it was so hot out.

cooling off in the water in Puerto Viejo

We concluded our Puerto Viejo trip with some shopping. Again, there were lots of street vendors along with the little shops on the road, and I got some great souvenirs for friends and family.

It was sad to return to Heredia knowing that the next time we left the town we would be leaving for the U.S.!

Wildlife Refuge Tour in Manuel Antonio

Our wildlife refuge tour of Manuel Antonio was one of my favorite organized activities of our entire time in Costa Rica.

We were split into three small groups. Our tour guide’s name was Flaco. This means skinny in Spanish, and he explained that it is what all his friends call him. He did a GREAT job in finding us lots of wildlife to see up close and personal.

Flaco and la cucaracha he made me from palm leaves

In the opening of the tour, he made a cucaracha (cockroach) out of two palm leaves. Because I could name the typical Costa Rican meal (Casado - see my Tour of Heredia post) the fastest, he gave me la cucaracha to keep. I still have him in my room at home, preserved with hairspray, just as Flaco told me to do.

The first monkey we saw was a howler monkey. They make CRAZY loud noises in order to claim the territory around them. Apparently, the male monkey who howls the loudest gets to claim his territory.

Next, we got as up close and personal as one can possibly get to a white-faced monkey. Remember how I said the butterflies didn’t like me when we went to the butterfly garden? Well, monkeys loove me.

my monkey friend

This guy wouldn’t leave me alone, and kept trying to grab my hair from a low branch. I was able to capture the end of our encounter with him.

he was ready for his closeup!

You can see this guy in action via video here via youtube.

The guides stressed that it is very important not to touch the monkeys, as they can be dangerous. People sometimes enjoy the beach within the wildlife refuge, and it is important to watch your belongings, as the monkeys will steal bags.

We got to see a variety of lizards, as well. The nicknamed “Jesus lizards” (because they walk on water) were all over the place in Manuel Antonio)

can you find the "Jesus lizard?"

there were MANY different types of lizards around our hotel, too!

Sloths are also plentiful in Costa Rica, and from what we learned about them, they are probably the grossest animal on the planet. They move so slowly that it’s hard to see they are moving at all. They are also so lazy that they don’t clean themselves, causing entire ecosystems to live in their fur. Ew! This shot was taken within the telescope to see the sloth up close.

the famous sloth eating his breakfast

I loved seeing all of the wildlife, especially the monkeys! Can you imagine wild monkeys running around our American beaches?