Traveling Together, Puerto Viejo

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We'd been waiting for our friends the Eury's to secure transportation so we could do some traveling together. Down to their last couple of weeks in town they decided to rent a car and we were off to the Caribbean coast on Wednesday, June 28th. We left our house later than planned and ran into a funeral procession of sorts on the autopista all the way to San Jose. Frustrating when you are trying to hurry. We felt bad that WE were slowing things up as we are early risers and normally get up and move pretty quickly. Wednesday was not one of those days.

We met up with the Eury's in Pavas and headed out on the five hour drive to the Caribbean. We passed thru Limon and stopped for lunch in Cahuita on our way south. We had reservations for rooms in Puerto Viejo. It was early afternoon when we finished with lunch so we decided to head on to Puero Viejo and get checked into the hotel. The arrangements at the hotel were not what was expected to getting settled in took a little while. http://www.laislainn.com/

The kids were anxious to hit the beach so we took them to play on the beach. We let the kids play in the sand a splash in the water. It was stormy out so the currents were very dangerous. Luckily, the hotel hires lifeguards for the beachfront they utilize. Not common in Costa Rica. With four children a lifeguard is a good thing to have.

We spent Thursday morning playing at the beach and headed south to see what we could see in the afternoon. We ended up in Manzanillo and had a delicious lunch/dinner. We then headed as far south as the roads would take us as Bill wanted to see if he could see Panama. We didn't. We headed back to the hotel for another evening swim before settling in for the night. This was the first time we used the A/C in the car. That should tell you something.

The adults had a discussion about how comfortable the sleeping arrangements were and decided we'd leave a day earlier than planned. The location was beautiful, the water refreshing and cool but dangerous. We had ALL been appetizers for the local insects the previous night. No one wanted to be the main course. The decision was made to head to a cooler climate for the thrid night.

Cristina was interested in the archeological site in Turrialba so Friday morning we packed up, loaded the cars and were happily off to the mountains. Turrialba was beautiful at night. We had an inexpensive room in town on the third story over looking the main road. It reminded us of our stay in Jerome, AZ. We didn't hear about any ghosts here though. The hotel ran $25 a night and had a kitchen area available and a pool table to occupy the kids. We took advantage of both and had a very pleasant, bug bite free, comfortable sleep in Turrialba.

I'd like to write another blog on the archeological site, Guayabo National Monument but in case I don't I'll just say it is something worth visiting. The cost was $9 each and you can hire a guide who works for tips. I recommend a guide!

We stopped at a roadside soda for lunch after visiting Guayabo. The owners were a nice couple who seemed to enjoy our company as well. Sofia and Callista danced to Irish music with the one owners The husband suggested a route back to San Jose that turened out to be one of the prettiest drives we've been on.

To sum things up... we had a nice time in the caribbean. It wasn't at all what I expected. I heard only faint reggae music at the restaurant in Cahuita. That was disappointing. I'll have to buy a Bob Marley tape to play in the car (our car doesn't have a CD player). Anyone headed to Bookmans please pick up a reggae cassette tape and send it down. We'll have to go back again and stay in an air conditioned room and throughly explore all the sights and sounds of area. Bill says he's not going back without air conditioning!

Pura Vida!
Jen, Bill, Callista and Bear (who was toooo hot in the Caribe)

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Photos

Road to Mar Caribe
Much of the road is full of pot holes. You have to swerve to miss them and the on coming traffic.

La Isla Inn
Our hotel, we had rooms next to eachother with a porch overlooking the ocean.

View to the ocean
We only had to walk downstairs and cross the street to the ocean.

Evening at the beach
Puerto Viejo beach with life guard.

Painted Palms
On the way to Puerto Viejo.

Funeral procession
Don't know if this is really for a funeral or not. I wanted to kill someone after following this procession most of the way to San Jose with people waiting for us!

Road
Semi headed for us dodging the same potholes.

Dancing at the restaurant
We really enjoyed our lunch at this restaurant. I think the name was "Dos Culturas". The bean and cheese burritos were a hit with the kids!