Puerto Viejo – Day 6
I woke up early to write a bit in my journal and read. Colin had told us that coffee started around 7am and breakfast would be ready around 8am, so I had some coffee and sat in one of the chairs by the turtle pond. The birds were very active and their sounds alternated between squawking and singing. The ocean breeze was wonderful and hearing the waves made me feel so peaceful. Jay and Andrea found their way back for breakfast and James was soon up and about, so the four of us went upstairs to eat. Colin and Roberto employ a lovely woman named Cleaver who cooks breakfast and cleans the guest houses. She’s a great cook and we had a big plate of rice mixed with eggs, vegetables, and bacon, amazing homemade bread, homemade granola and yogurt, fresh fruit, and jams. The pineapple jelly is definitely my new favorite! Nearly everything was purchased or made locally, and we were all stuffed.
James and I decided to hit the beach after breakfast, so we gathered our stuff and walked the short path to the sand. The water was clear and clean though it had a bit more force than the Pacific beaches we visited. We only went in up to our knees to cool off, and then got some sun and read our books. Colin had mentioned a hammock, so I went back to pick it up and hang it on the trees by the beach. That was 100% pure heaven. The breeze made it sway just a little bit, and I know I fell asleep for a few minutes. Jay and Andrea soon joined us, and the four of us went into the water. The waves were much, much bigger than the Pacific side, and I felt like a kid again. I dove and swam and body-surfed…my hair was a tangled mess and was full of sand, but it was so. much. fun.
We all decided to go to town again to check it out in daylight hours. We changed and made the walk into town (about 20 minutes).
This is one of the roads from Banana Azul to PV:
On the way to town:
We did a bit of window shopping to see what the town had to offer, and ended up at a little bar that was blasting reggae music. They had happy hour specials (2-for-1 deals on mango daquiris and two other things)…we were SOLD.
Mango daquiris:
The downside to this place? Tax and service tax were not included, so our bill was 23% higher than we expected. We learned to double check both items (tax is 13% and 10% is always added to bills for service) so we took it as a lesson learned.
We walked more and found a local art shop that Colin told us about:
I bought a little carved wooden turtle, but most things in there were very expensive. It’s definitely worth checking out though! After more walking and a bit of shopping, we decided to get a beer at a beachside bar…
After only a few minutes, an old, stringy-haired, skinny white guy approached our table. He was wearing a tattered Rasta hat and had a look of either doing many drugs or a hard life (or both). He asked if we wanted to see magic tricks, but it was more of a “if you look at me or acknowledge me in any way, I’m going to show you magic tricks even if you don’t want me to”. Andrea and I were a little miffed about this imposition, and we were careful to watch our stuff (petty theft is pretty common). I don’t think I would have cared so much, but he was extrememly rude (he was from NYC) and sarcastic. When he was finished, he flopped his old hat on the table and asked for tips. I reached for some colones – I had about 750 in coins – and he told me that he didn’t like coins and wanted paper (which start at 1000 colones). That was just too much for me. I told him that if he wanted a tip from me, he would take the coins, and that he should stop being so picky if he wanted it at all. He really pissed me off. I sort of turned my back at that point and talked to Andrea and he eventually went away (after asking if we needed any ‘really good herb’). No thanks dude. He walked over to another table, but they completely ignored him and he went away after only a few seconds. If we only knew.
Some pictures from the bar (excuse my super shiny face in the first one)
Andrea and Jay. Jay has a kick-ass mohawk.
James and me again:
The beach in front of the bar:
We then decided to take some beer back to Banana Azul and went to the liquor store. I also picked up a small bottle of Costa Rican rum and some Coke, and we took a taxi back to the house. We had a great time just drinking and talking around the table…about music mostly, which was really fun. Around 10pm, we were all hungry again, so we thought we’d walk to La Perla Negra, which is the closest hotel to Banana Azul. We went up to the bar and it went like this:
Bartender: Are you Dutch?
Us: Noooooo….
Bartender: Are you stay here?
Us: Noooooo….
Bartender: Where you stay?
Us: Banana Azul
Bartender: Okay! You can stay!
We were a bit confused, but I think it had to do with the Dutch tourists staying there and the hotel not having a public license or something. Carl (the bartender) is a very fun German man who can probably tell great stories. Unfortunately, they stopped serving food, so we had to take a taxi into town again. The few minutes we spent with Carl were great though…he seems like a cool guy. The hotel was really pretty, but when I later checked my guidebook, it was also expensive (about $120/night).
We took the taxi to El Loco Natural, but they were closed, so we walked to Hot Rocks. They have a big screen on one part of the restaurant and “Collateral” was playing with Spanish subtitles. Our waitress was another German and she was a bit spastic, but really sweet and great at recommending things for us to try. James and I ordered a pizza and it was really, really good. Colin later told us that Hot Rocks had gone downhill but had recently changed some things, and we were happy with our service and the food.
We wanted to find a taxi for our trip home and were pointed to Standford’s disco, where the taxis are supposed to hang out. We walked down a dark road and had a dog following us, so I kept giving him pizza to stay with us. The disco was dark and closed…so no taxi. We walked back to Hot Rocks, and our waitress called her friend (he’s a taxi driver) to take us to Banana Azul. I went right to sleep as soon as we got back. It had been a long, hot day.
Tags: Puerto Viejo
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