Merry Christmas from Costa Rica!

So now we are back in Costa Rica, in the Puerto Viejo area on the Southern Caribbean side of the country.

Coming back into Costa Rica from Bocas went well except for the pouring rain; this time the boat crossing was really smooth and we got to travel through canals built by the banana plantations, which were very cool. After the boat crossing, we made our way from Bocas to Puerto Viejo in vans through miles of banana plantations both on the Panamanian side and the Costa Rican side. The border crossing between the two countries was done on foot on a former railway bridge across a wide river; the bridge was all wood and metal and the crossing should not to be attempted on a drunken day or you might just end up in the river below! ☺

We are now settled in a hotel about a mile away from Puerto Viejo town, across the street from the beach known as Playa Cocles. Apart from the property manager of the hotel, who is a loud obnoxious American that talks and drinks too much, the place is really quiet and secluded and all we normally hear are the crickets and the frogs. A couple of times now we’ve been woken up at 4 am though by the property manager creating havoc in his own hotel after a night of drinking in town! ☺
So the hotel’s good enough and we’re getting a good deal, which around the Christmas season apparently is hard to get in Costa Rica; but the area around us is, well, really stunning… a little jewel of clear blue waves, pristine white sand beaches bordered with palm trees, and miles of beautiful rainforest behind the beach, so tall still and so healthy looking… So in conclusion, it’s a really amazing place here.

Playa Cocles - looking north

Playa Cocles - from the same spot, looking south

And the people are also generally very friendly and mellow. A large portion of the population is Afro-Caribbean and so there is kind of a Jamaican feel around (well, as far as I can guess…) with plenty of Rasta guys hanging around at the beach and surfing, or selling red, yellow and green knick-knacks; and reggae playing everywhere.


So this is the place where we’ll be spending a very non-Christmassy holiday season, but I think it will be pleasant anyway. ☺ I hope everyone has a great Christmas as well and a Happy New Year.