Puerto Viejo...

So this might be a pretty long blog, so get ready! Many of you on Facebook have already seen most of the pictures on here, but there are a few new ones! We went to Puerto Viejo this last weekend for 3 days. It is a town on the south west side of Costa Rica, just north of Panama on the Caribbean. The group included me, Linsey, Sarah, Meghan, Kelly, Kelly´s host mom Flor (who is one of the most fun-loving people I have ever met), Flor´s niece Cati, Kati`s friend Marci, and Flor´s son, Gustavo, who was also our driver in a little minibus that seats nine people. Fun crowd and it was great to be able to hang out with some native Costa Rican`s!

We left super early on Saturday morning, and it was an incredibly scenic drive through the mountains and a bumpy one along the coast before arriving at our first night's accommodations. Rancho Tranquilo was a beautiful little resort with a nice pool, a jacuzzi, and a kitchen where we were able to cook a fantastic dinner and breakfast. After we arrived at Racho, we dropped off our stuff, changed, and headed to the beach!  It was quite literally an entire day of relaxation. We ate lunch on the beach and hung out until  the sun started going down. It was wonderful to be able to just read my book, sit in the sun, and listen to the waves. Sarah, Meghan, and I also wandered down the main street to do some shopping and came across a man selling snow cones. He shaved the ice for it right there off an ice block, and added not only the flavoring, but caramel and some sort of condensed vanilla flavored milk. I don´t even really know exactly what all when into it, but it was by far the best snow cone I have ever had. When it started getting dark, we left to go back to the resort for dinner and get ready for the night!

Dinner consisted of an of grilled corn on the cob, chicken, steak, vegetables, and tortillas prepared by Gustavo. It was all so good! We hung out for awhile and had some drinks after dinner before heading into town. Puerto Viejo is what you would call a hippy, Bob Marley type town. Every which way you look, there are dreads, reggae music, and just an overall laid back and chill atmosphere. We went out on Saturday night and started at a bar with a live reggae band. A lot of fun listening to music, dancing, and people watching. After leaving there, we wandered down to a place with more of a "dance club" atmosphere. The dance floor/bar was open to the beach, and there were tables with candles and a bonfire on the sand for people to take a break from dancing and hang out. It was a really fun night, but wasn´t a super late one since we had all been up since 4:00 that morning.

Casa Cati at Rancho Tranquilo

Breakfast at Rancho

The girls at Puerto Viejo beach

Chillin'

Snow cone cart

Reading

More reading (so nice to be able to read non-school books for once!)

This caterpillar was the size of my finger with an inch long spike thing on its back...I was designated to remove it from the premises

Such unique flowers

The next morning, I was up earlier than everyone else, so I went out to a hammock and dozed/read for an hour and a half. It was so quiet, I could hear coconuts dropping from the trees around the resort. Very peaceful. I have never spent as much time in hammocks as I did this weekend, and came to the conclusion that they are simply wonderful. After breakfast, we went to the pool, and later that afternoon, we headed to the place we were going to be staying that night. It was a cabin of rooms directly on Punta Uva beach. It was quite amazing to be able to walk two seconds out to a huge stretch of white sands and clear blue water. And, of course, there were hammocks :) We played in the ocean, went for walks, and took naps. When it got dark, we got ready and headed to the market to get food and drink for our beach bonfire.

I have only had a bonfire on the beach one other time in Tasmania. This one was just as fun and beautiful, but much warmer than it had been that night in Tazzie. I drank wine and ate snacks that included s´mores and hot dogs--very American style bonfire. The Costa Ricans with us had never had a s`more before, so they were pretty excited about them! It was Meghan`s idea to get the hot dogs, and she even made her own roasting stick (can´t remember the word for those right now) out of a palm tree leaf! However, of the eight hot dogs, only four of them survived to be eaten. The other half were lost to the fire or the sand. She felt defeated by those hot dogs, but the one´s that made it through were delicious!

I fell asleep listening to the waves in a hammock that night. It was fabulous. I was going to maybe just sleep out there, but decided that wouldn't be the safest thing in the world. We were up at 4:45 the next morning to catch the sunrise. It was cloudy though, so we didn't get to see the brilliant reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows. However, there was a blue light that seemed to be all around me us as we waited for a possible break in the clouds. It was like nothing I have ever seen before. There was a man fly fishing along the shore, and although I didn't get to see him actually catch anything, it was a very tranquil and calming thing to watch. After everyone else gave up and went inside to go back to bed, I stayed for a little while longer. I sat there and did a lot of thinking about a lot of things. Quite the powerful backdrop to think about life's mysteries and just be.  

Our cabin on the beach

Another super cool flower--this one was my favorite

Wandering on the shore...and apparently looking at something very intently

In Hawaii, single ladies put flowers in their hair...Meghan and I decided to bring that tradition to Costa Rica

Warming my feet by the fire

Amazingly blue sunrise and the fly fisherman

I thought I saw something cool out in the water...it was just waves :(

Sarah and I relaxing by the bonfire

I know, last flower picture, I promise! For this trip anyways.

I spent Monday morning on the beach after having a plate of native, fresh fruit for breakfast--so super yummy.  Then Linsey and I headed of to the Jaguar Rescue Center. It was a place I found on the internet that takes in and rehabilitates wildlife of all kinds. A few of the animals will live their lives at the center, but the goal is to release them back into the wild. They give tours and their sole source of financial income is from visitors and donations. There are many pictures below from our time there. I will just title them accordingly. The monkey pictures are in the sequence of my "attack". It was by no means vicious, but there were two baby Howler monkeys that were just absolutely loving my hair and the smell of my lotion. I couldn't get the one off until I literally pulled it by its tail off my shoulders. In all the mayhem, I managed to get peed on as well. Then there's a guy next to me that has a monkey just laying peacefully in his arms! I had the two crazy little monkeys after me, but I loved every minute of it and would do it again in a heartbeat, monkey pee and all.

The start of my time in the cage....peaceful and cute, right?

The other monkey climbs on my back

There goes my hair

I think around this time is when the pee occurred, but I can't be sure

I finally got the last one off! And right when she was starting to cuddle up in my arms and relax, one of the workers came to get all of them for "jungle time" to play out in the forests. My time in the monkey cage was amazingly fabulous, but brief and chaotic to say the least.

2 week old baby sloth

Oncilla--wild cat of Costa Rica. This guy was two years old and would be staying at the center indefinitely. They tried to release him 3 or 4 times and he kept on coming back...easier lifestyle I suppose!

Can't remember the name of this tree, but it was gigantic, and covered in these thorns

Spectacled Owls native to Costa Rica. They are very cute and comical looking..check out those eyes!

Me with India the sloth...she fell asleep in my arms

So there you go! The wildlife center was amazing, and a perfect end to the trip. As Brianna said, I was in "Rambo heaven" :) . After we got back to the cabin, I immediately got into my swimsuit and ran into the ocean to rinse off after the monkey incident. I then swam/walked a mile or so down the beach and back before packing up and jumping into the van to go home!

Props to those of you who made it through all of this. I apologize for the length, but there was just so much to show and tell with pictures!

XOXO