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Published: July 19th 2008
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Puerto Viejo
One of the typical scenes in the village of Puerto Viejo (our favourite coffee shop is in the background). Hi everyone, it's Liesel here. Your comments and messages have been such fun to read - thank you!!
We have definitely lulled into tropical time - the days all blurring into each other, helped along by the soft steady rhythm of the ocean. We spent three weeks in Costa Rica - a beautiful country known for its lush, green vegetation and cloud forests, eco-tourism, volcanoes and beaches. The local greeting "Pura Vida" literally translates as 'Pure Life'.
We flew from Sao Paulo via Lima to San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, on the 19th June. Despite some mild anxiety that the airline we were flying on had crashed a month previously in Honduras, everything went pretty smoothly. We did have a bit of a bag drama as we found out that my backpack had gone missing five minutes prior to boarding our flight from Lima to San Jose. No-one seemed perturbed in the slightest, and I can only put it down to some seriously assertive negotiation on the part of my seasoned traveller husband that the bag made it onto the plane in the final seconds before take off.
After a quick stopover in San Jose,
Best Iced Cuppacinos
Our favourite coffee shop in Puerto Viejo. All coffee sold was free trade which justified our daily iced cuppacino treat! we took a four hour local bus to Puerto Viejo on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica. Puerto Viejo has a culture quite distinct from the rest of the country because of the influence of nearby islands like Jamaica, It also has black sand beaches because of the volcanoes, and is therefore very different from the turquoise and white postcard scene one would expect from a Carribean beach. Two of our favourite spots in Puerto Viejo were the tiny coffee factory that sold organic coffee beans and the most more-ish iced cappuccinos drizzled with chocolate sauce and a few roasted coffee beans on top, and a local bakery and deli called Bread and Chocolate that made delicious vegetarian food and fresh juices.
We stayed at a wonderful spot called Banana Azul, which we loved from the minute we set foot in there - especially after a 2km walk in the rain with our backpacks on. Banana Azul is a little sanctuary as you will see from the photos (and yes a step up from the Crab Hostel, but we were craving a touch of luxury...just for a few days). It is run by a fantastic team of gay men
- Colin, Michel, Bryan, Eduardo and Augustin. They advertise their place as being 'straight friendly'!
Unfortunately, David had a pretty serious bout of flu while we were there. Michel cut down a fresh coconut for David to sip on as it is crammed full of natural electrolytes, Colin drove us to the clinic to see a doctor when the flu symptoms just weren't going away, and Bryan made him a get well card. So sweet - not sure if I would have got quite the same attention!!
We spent our time playing cards, reading, boogie boarding in the breakers outside our hotel and enjoying the rain storms from the covered deck outside our room. Much needed rest and relaxation after the busyness and work stress of the last few months. On our last night at Banana Azul, David thankfully started to feel a whole lot better.
We then embarked on a white water rafting adventure, and trip to Volcano Arenal and the Monteverde Cloud Forest which David will report on in the next entry. Having spent some time in the highlands of Costa Rica, we headed west to the Pacific Coast to another great little beach town
Mango Daquiri
Liesel delighted with her sundowner at Chico's in Montezuma. called Montezuma.
Having now gotten into the groove of just turning up in a place without any pre-arranged plans, we had to find a place to stay. We stumbled upon Cabinas Mar y Cielo (Ocean and Heaven) which were little wooden bungalows in the heart of the town, yet perched on the rocks and overlooking the crashing waves. A perfect find at $25 per night. Montezuma has instant appeal - the streets are filled with hippies making and selling really cool jewelery, lots of rustic, brightly painted buildings housing bars, restaurants and interesting little shops.
Our first night there we went to a local favourite called El Sano Banano for a bite to eat - we didn't realise that they screen movies in their restaurant every evening. Shortly after we sat down, the place filled up with tables of mostly girls, they pulled down the big screen, and we ate our pasta whilst watching the Wedding Date. David graciously endured the chick flick dinner experience.
We reunited with Lisa and Andy after our second day in Montezuma. We spent our days going to the beach and our evenings on the balcony of our cabins watching the waves,
Montezuma
David strolling back to Mar y Cielo after a tough day in the office. the stars, and the thunder storms - Mother Nature certainly puts on a far better show than El Sano Banano.
After five great days in Montezuma, we sadly bid farewell to Costa Rica and set off by bus, ferry, another bus, yet another bus and finally a taxi, to our next destination - San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua.
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Doug Ward
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Thank you
I'm glad you young hippies are having a blast. I was doing a similar travel route when you guys were in diapers. Enjoy Nicaragua. Its awesome too ! Stay at La Mar on lake Nicaragua. The price is right and the food is killer. Denny Martinez ( baseball hero ) owns it. I wish "they" had listened to our type back in the sixties. It's your turn now. SPEAK LOUDLY !!!! Pura Vida ( down here anyways) Peace. Doug @ the_____ Oasis of the Toucans dot com