La Perla Negra Caribbean Beach Resort Puerto Viejo

... some ways even more so than in Jamaica.<br>I have not been whistled at or harassed by anyone looking for a vacation romance; there are NO beach vendors here, and if you stop at a vendor stall to look at handmade local items, no one uses guilt to try and get you to buy. That is different than in Jamaica and is a welcome change.<br><br>I like the beauty and verdant lushness of the area further south, at Punta Uva and Manzanillo. More on those areas soon. <br><br><br>

... day was spent just chillin and getting settled at our hotel. By the time we were ready to go out, we spent some time at Cafe Viejo, had a local buy us some drinks and welcome us to his town and got a real good vibe right off the bat. Kim was exhausted and called it an early night and I of course was not ready to end the night so I headed out with some of the guys from the show for some reggae at a place that could not be closer to the ocean, called Johnny's ...

... experience and was great for brushing up on my Spanish! The Sea Turtle Program in Camaronal was an incredible experience as well. I was the only volunteer during my week stay. I lived in the shelter area along with the park ranger, Herman, and the project coordinator ...

... from what the locals are saying. The town of Tortuguero was neat. There is a large Caribbean influence in the culture and food in the area. Most of Costa Rica is latino, but the black and mulato cultures are more common on the Tortuguero coast. The homes are all very small, with rusted sheet metal roofs. They had elevated walk ways through the town where local artisans sold souviniers. Although there is a problem with drugs in the town, it did not ...

... several hours by foot or a combination of hiking, a truck ride that costs the equivalent of about $6 USD (who has that kind of money there?) and a boat ride across the Telire river ...

... helped to have a local with me: I got pulled over by the cops for "he said speeding". I still doubt that as I was being very careful to avoid ending up in this situation and I was following a car that was going much faster than me. Anyway, after a little bit of talking and I got away with a small bribe. Next was the work on the road, which made us stop for a good half hour in the middle of nowhere. Then last was an accident that created heavy ...

... It's hard to explain the type of grandeur and beauty you will see in these five falls, just suffice it to say that both of our digital cameras ran out of battery juice before we had reached the final set of falls! Although we were tired from our hike we decided to spend some time touring the Doka Coffee Plantation which is about half way south back towards the airport. We were running too late for the last tour at 2:30 p.m., but the front desk ...

... Even in the dimmest of moonlight, you could make out the turtle tracks in the sand. Being wet, it was much heavier and maintained it's shape better. Remarkably, the turtle entered the ocean precisely where it came out, within 2 feet, even though it took different paths up and back to the vegetation line (150-200' away from the water) where it deposited its eggs. What a remarkable beast. A large head, almost the size of a volleyball, stretched out about ...

... breaks in winter, however, and as a result there weren't many travelers passing through. The town itself had an interesting mix of Afro-Caribbean, Latino, and Bribri cultures, all intertwined to form a very laid back and relaxed attitude towards just about everything. The streets were hard packed earth, save for one partially paved and excessively potholed road running right through the middle of town. The paved portion of the road was probably only about a ...