Blogs from Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

On Monday, May 7h, Rebecka and I got up at 5AM to take the 6AM bus from San José to Puerto Viejo. I was super tired, because we had been drinking with Rick and Clark until 1AM and this would not be a good day. Well, I’m not 20 anymore... ^_^The bus ride was ok, but I couldn’t sleep at all, so the 5h were quite long. We arrived to Puerto Viejo pretty early and went straight to our hostel, the Oasis hostel. We relaxed on the hammocks until we could check in at 11:30AM and then went to get lunch. It took us quite some time to find a nice place where Rebecka could find some vegan food as well. It was quite good, but nothing special. I spent the afternoon on the beach, just ... read more

The second week was pretty exciting. The first week of University was a big party. Free concerts all over the campus - e.g. "Malpais" or a Salsa night. After literally 10s everyone was dancing! Then I had the first classes - at the end mainly instructions and information about the courses. It seems, like there will be a lot to do during the semester, but actually pretty nice projects. I did not understand that much, but the Ticos in the class (I'm the only exchange student) helped a lot. For the weekend the whole group of exchange students went to Puerto Viejo, which is at the Caribbean coast. My weekend starts on Thursday, that why we (Aroa and me) left a little earlier and arrived Thursday afternoon in Puerto Viejo in a huge hostel named Rocking ... read more

What a busy day! After breakfasting at the Crazy Lobster beach café where Malcolm met his soul mate Rasta man, we hired bikes from Café Rico and cycled down the coast until we nearly reached Panama – at least it felt like it! Lisa took us to a fabulous isolated beach on the way, where Malcolm brought out his selfie stick for the first time. If we have the technology we will show you his photo. There were coconuts and almonds on the beach and the views were idyllic. We lunched on the way back at another superb café (we have eaten well here!) where we discovered Rondon – a Caribbean fish and crab soup. Barely had we returned to Café Rico when we were up and off with Roger, Lisa and Ruthie to a nearby ... read more

Today we are better organized. We arrive at the bus depot in plenty of time to catch a ride to the Jaguar Rescue Centre. There had been a hard rain just before dawn but since it is always humid, it didn’t cool things down any. The buses must have been made in China. The seats are not very wide, considering the mean size of female posterior here. Nor is there adequate leg room, even when sitting up straight. Thankfully the bus trip was for less than a half hour. We were let off at the entrance to the centre but were too early for the tour. It was suggested that we hang out at the nearby beach for the next hour. It is a narrow white sand beach (I don’t know at what level the tide ... read more

Costa Rica is a wonderfully beautiful country that deserves it’s progressive and environmentally-minded reputation. This was a short trip and we were only in the Puerto Viejo area, on the Caribbean coast south of Limón, but we saw and did so much, I have plenty to write about! The three-toed sloths, the bottlenose and tucuxí dolphins, the beautiful beaches, the two-toed sloths, the frogs, the jungle humidity, the delicious Caribbean food, the friendly people and especially the sloths, made for a fascinating trip. I learned so much about sloths on this trip that I may be more obsessed than before. But before I get to the sloths, and even to the trip itself – in all its Caribbean splendor – I have to introduce a few people. Amanda – A friend from Boise. We have known ... read more