Anhelo una reina

I spent this past weekend in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. It was a long bus ride, but part of it was through the mountains. It was foggy out and it made the view look very eerie. The Caribbean Ocean is so warm! It was the first time I ever actually swam in the ocean instead of simply wading. The hotel was nice with hammocks outside the rooms and the beach across the street. Showers in Costa Rica are huge, probably twice the size of ours.

Puerto Viejo is a small beach town on the Caribbean Ocean. There were 2 strips of shops and restaurants, as well as a long line of beaches. Lots of the beaches have coral reefs right off the shore and you cannot swim in them very well. We went to Parque Nacional Cahuita on our first morning. We walked the trail there and saw a few cool creatures! There were lizards, crabs, a purple locust as big as my hand, monkeys and sloths high up in the trees. We swam for a while and walked along the beach. The water was unfortunately too rough to go snorkeling.

For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Maxi's and I had chicken that just fell off the bone. We walked along the beach again and enjoyed the digestion time. There was a man selling cheap fresh whole coconuts along here. I bought one for the experience! He used a large machete to slice off the top and I poked a straw through to sip our the milk. It was not what I expected. When we had drunken the milk, he chopped it in half and sliced off a bit to be a spoon to scoop out the inside fleshy coconut. They were baby coconuts and the inside had a texture sort of like fish. I can't say coconut will be added to my grocery list, but it sure was an experience! The man was very interesting too. He told us about how he has a nice relaxing life, but "anhelo una reina," he craves a queen to share it with. It was quite sweet.

On the way back to the hotel, one of our program directions just pulled off to the side of the road and said "follow me." It was a little creepy, as he then led us seemingly in no direction through the selva! But when we emerged at the ocean, we were on a huge cliff with the waves crashing below us. It was absolutely beautiful.

Today before leaving we went back to the beach to lay out and swim. It was cloudy all day Saturday and cloudy when we left on Sunday, but the sun came out finally! I got a little burnt, but nothing too bad. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Bread and Chocolate. It was owned by a man who used to live in Pennsylvania and moved to Costa Rica. Best food I have had yet!

I ate a bacon, avocado, cream cheese, and tomato sandwich with fresh fruit on the side. They put avocado on so much here and I am starting to really enjoy it. I also had to get dessert since the place was called Bread and CHOCOLATE. He had caramelos, chocolate covered caramels. It was absolutely to die for. The caramel was the richest I had ever had. I was resolved to stay in Costa Rica for my whole life simply for these chocolates. I also had some blackberry and passionfruit ice cream scoops while in Puerto Viejo. They were also quite delicious.  The five hour ride home went by much faster as I slept most of the way.

Pura Vida!