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Day 202: Onward down the coast
I had a leisurely start this morning, visiting the local cafe for another rather filling breakfast, beginning with a big bowl of fruit and a glass of pineapple juice, with a second course of gallo pinto, a traditional brekkie consisting of a mound of rice, beans, scrambled eggs and toast. It was then a short waddle back to my hostel to pack up my things and take them down to the bus station.
From Cahuita, I travelled an hour down the coast to Puerto Viejo, a rather touristy, but still quite laid back and pretty town on the Caribbean coast. I found a cheapish place to stay owned by a Swiss lady and her daughter, and spent the afternoon, exploring the town (which didn't take too long) and drinking cold beverages under shady umbrellas/palm trees.
Feeling surprisingly peckish in the early afternoon, I visited a fantastic cafe in town, where I managed to resist the many scrumptious baked brownies and other delights, in favour of the giant melted cheese sandwich with homemade bread and a whole heap of salad.
Back at the hostel, I met Judith, the only other person staying
there, and a couple of hours later, we head into town for dinner and drinks at a local bar. Although quite expensive, there is a wide variety of food here, much of it vegetarian, and most of it quite scrumptious. Heading back later in the evening, there were a whole host of hazards en route back to the hostel. For a start, I soon found that I had to negotiate my way around a whole host of wildlife that seemed to be crossing the road here there and everywhere, including a few hundred huge crabs with rather menacing looking pincers, a load of toads, and a pack of mangy dogs, barking at anything and everything. The additional hazard at the end of the road stemmed from the fact that I seem to have chosen a hostel down the road from the hangout of all the local prostitutes and drug addicts, making the last fifty metres walk to the hostel slightly uncomfortable! That said, although asking for money, they didn't cause any problems and seemed quite happy to do what they were doing and leave us alone.
Day 203: Random sightings
Having said goodbye to Judith and had
a coffee with the Swiss lady and her daughter, I realised that funds were looking rather low, and went to brave the local bank. I soon discovered that the only cashpoint in the village doesn't take my card and was very glad that I bought traveller's cheques with me! Having espied a pharmacy, and since I'm absolutely covered in mozzie bites, I also took the opportunity to stock up on antimalarials, which also proved to be quite easily done here. Hurrah for over the counter antibiotics! Chores out of the way, I took a stroll out of town to the botanical garden, where I spent a happy hour or two amongst the native and foreign species of plants and trees, learning all about local fruits and medicinal herbs and plants. As an added bonus, I also saw hummingbirds, red poisonous dart frogs, and about a zillion brightly coloured lizards running around all over the place. On the downside, walking in flipflops through the jungle, I now have bites ontop of bites as every insect seemed to want an ounce of flesh. After finishing the walking trail, I was given a whole load of wierd and wonderful fruits to taste, none
of which I'd ever even seen before, and having had my fill of yummy samples and bought some local organic chocolate, made from only cocoa beans and sugar (but still better than your average bar of dairy milk) I head back into town along the beach.
By a huge random coincidence, as I was walking along the beach, I was called over by a couple who were sunbathing. I vaguely recognised them from somewhere, and they seemed to know me. It turned out that I had met them in Auckland when I went canyoning! Originally from Chile, they had come to Costa Rica looking for work. Very very random! We agreed to meet later on, and at seven, they called at my hostel and we all went out for dinner and drinks in some local bars. They had intended to find work in Costa Rica and move here for a while, but hadn't had much joy job hunting and so are heading back to San Jose to get a flight back to Chile tomorrow. It was nice to catch up, and the language exchange was useful too, and after a pleasant evening, I went back to the hostel to
pack, not arriving back too late, since I have another needlessly long day of travelling tomorrow and I want to start early!
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