Dying to get away from the cold we left Monte Verde and headed towards the Caribbean coast. On our way we stopped in San Jose where we dropped off Sean, Jordan and Connie who decided to head north to the jungle and we headed south towards Cahuita. Cahuita is a small beachside town dominated by the caribbean culture, marijuana and lots of Reggae, so one could assume that I would love the vibe of the place, but in reality it was very strange, we drove around a bit confused finding people that had done way too many drugs, but decided to stay the night anyways. We stayed at a beachfront building at the top floor which was a rundown penthouse with no really separation for the bathroom and just a very weird arrangement, but with a gorgeous view. The next morning the boys left early to surf, didn´t find anything too impressive, so we had some fish sandwiches for lunch and decided to head to Puerto Viejo, a place I had been waiting for years to visit.
On our way there we passed by a sloth sanctuary and decided we would have to stop and check out these almost mythical animals that live their lives high. At the sanctuary we found out it would cost us $20 each to see the sloths and decided it was time to forget about it when Nath told us he knew where the sloths were and snuck around to take a pick at these adorable animals.
After the our sloth time we headed to Puerto to find a place to stay. We decided to stay at Iguana´s which had nice cabins in a shady beach front property with a great kitchen where we ate most of our meals and where Nath cooked delicious veggie Thai curry 3 nights in a row that made us sweat like crazy. The next week was very mellow and we hung out around town, went to the beach and tried to go out at night although we could never find a place where most of the people were and althoug you saw people in the streets all day the nightlife was a bit strange. I was absolutely loving the Reggae vibe of the place and the nightly live music that could be found in different bars.
I had been wondering for years what Puerto Viejo would be like since my aunt and uncle had lived there years ago and my cousin Moana was born there. It really is a lovely beautiful place that has not become too developed and still holds a natural charm. And the nature still surrounds the place, the amazing greens and tress to the beautiful beach and great waves. It is a hard place to figure out but it is enchanting and an amzing place to relax for a while. One of my favorite days there was when we rented bikes and headed south towards Punta Uva for an awesome day of bike riding, loving life and enjoying ourselves under the sun.
Nath attacking us with his plain chips ninja stars
Happy hour at Iguana´s kitchen Pinneaple and Mint Cocktails
After a delicious Curry dinner
Party Time!
Upon returning home and buying snacks we found a sloth hanging on to a bike rack. Pretty great wildlife sighting
The whole group back together playing games at Hotel Puerto Viejo
Great live Reggae
Playing a bit of B-ball as we dropped off Lauren and Nath at the bus station
Puerto Viejo was sadly the last place where our group was together and were we all said goodbye. Lauren and Nath were back on a bus heading to San Jose to take a flight to Mexico. Jordan, Sean, Connie, Danny and I had our last night together before they left to Bocas del Toro and I stayed behind to meet up with Keone and wait for Moana and spend another great week in the strange town of Puerto Viejo.
Making the most delicious banana cake ever!
final wild sloth sighting