Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Puerto Viejo...Such a different place from anywhere I have been in this country. It was like being in a Caribbean island, completely different feel, but with all the beauty of Costa Rica. So here is how the weekend went down.
The weekend started with us leaving from Universidad Veritas at 1 pm, as per usual. Because there were significantly fewer of us on this weekend trip, we went in a van, which was nice and cozy, and felt a hell of a lot less touristy, which is definitely an improvement. We drove all the way into Puerto Viejo, and ate dinner at a little soda. The food on the caribbean coast is amazing, the chicken is to die for, and the rice and beans which are made with coconut milk are absolutely incredible. After eating at the restaurant, we went back to the hotel for awhile, then went to this amazing reggae club on the beach called Johnny's Place. It was so much fun. There is a dance floor building with the bar inside, but also outside, there are tables and chairs underneath Tiki torches on the beach directly next to the ocean. So i got to spend my evening there, listening to awesome music, and drinking Cuba Libres (rum and coke). So so much fun.
The next morning we were supposed to go snorkeling, but this was not meant to be, considering that the weather at this time of year is especially poor, so we were unable to do that all weekend. Normally I would have been super bummed, which I was for awhile, but we decided to power through it and not let it ruin our weekend. So we packed up our things, and hiked in the pouring rain about 45 min down the road to a beautiful beach. It was about 9:30 in the morning, was pouring rain, and was out of town, so needless to say, we had the beach to ourselves, which was awesome. We dug our umbrellas into the ground, and put our bags underneath them, and went into the water.
To backtrack a bit, when we were leaving the hotel we made a little friend. In Costa Rica it is really quite depressing, there are tons of stray dogs that just run wild throughout the streets. One of these dogs, a little Blue Heeler, became our new best friend for the day. He followed us from the hotel, all the way down the road (he would walk ahead, stop, wait, then continue with us), and stayed at the beach with us. He sat next to our stuff, came into the water with us, and just hung around and was very very sweet. But it is heart-wrenching to see so many sweet, adorable dogs go neglected and alone. Everytime I see them I give them some food, and die a little inside. The majority of the problem comes from the fact that no one spays or neuters their animals, so they just breed and continue to create more of the problem.
But back to a happier subject. The trek to the beach was an interesting one. Since this was our first visit to the beach, we did not realize that if you walked further up the road, there was an easy access. But after walking for 40 minutes, we had lost our patience, and decided to walk through the jungle to the beach. Talk about scary. Imagine pouring rain, huge trenches full of water, and what appears to be terrain in which snakes would hang out waiting for its Gringo prey. So, after walking cautiously through for awhile, I eventually decided, screw this, and sprinted the rest of the way to the beach because I was spooked.
I never thought swimming at the beach in the rain could be so much fun. Because the climate is so warm, and the water is warm, it is absolutely beautiful when it rains and you are in the water. The clouds were incredible, and the waves were monstrous. We didnt go very far into the water because of riptides and massive waves, but we did see tons of surfers riding the waves. When I had envisioned the Caribbean side, I thought of the Bahamas, but that was not the case. This was much like the Pacific, big waves, amazing.
So that was pretty much my weekend, Sunday was more of the same, and now I am back in San Jose, with two weeks to go till I go home. I'm having an amazing time, getting much better at Spanish, but I will definitely be glad to be back home. Hope everyone is enjoying my blog, and make sure to check out the pictures from this weekend. Chao!!
- comments