Las Palmas Hotel Puerto Viejo

Y U M M 0- oh!<br><br>The food here is so fresh and flavorful...I haven't had a meal, smoothie or other drink that I haven't liked!<br><br>The breakfasts here are very good - nothing like fresh eggs and fruit from this verdant place. Gallo Pinto is what they call a typical Costa Rican breakfast - eggs, rice and beans, fresh fruit. There are variations at different restaurants and "Soda's" - a Soda is a small ...

... There was dancing indoors and then there was a huge outdoor area, right on the sand, with the waves lapping literally at your feet. Really good night with lots of dancing and drinking.<br><br>The next day, Kim and I rented bikes and we set out on a bike ride towards Playa Manzanillo. What we knew is that we were up for a scenic ride past several beaches and roadside cafes/restaurants. What we didnt know was that it was about 11 km one way! So needless to say, we ...

... The daily chef, Yaki, came every day (except Sunday) and cooked us hearty meals which was great. As for the turtle experience - what an amazing sight to see. Although we took night patrols each night or early morning I never did see a large sea turtle. However, I did ...

... unsafe. That being said, one of the tour members had a camera lense stolen. He talked with Karen, and she talked with our boat captain who grew up in the area. He talked with the locals and was able to arrange for a buy back at $20. A bit sketchy... Over all, the visit to Torgtuguero was very memorable for all the right reasons. It was a mix of education about the local flaura and fawna, mixed with jungle living in a resort style setting. Roughing it in style.

... 1.10 USD). The people from Alto Katsi used to work in the plantain fields in the area. Now they are all out of work because of the flooding. And, according to Danilo, they used to ...

... right outside San Jose. All in all, the trip that was supposed to be five hours by car compared to the ten hours by bus, ended up being ten hours. I was just on time to meet up with my Mum, whose flight was delayed anyway. Like when she came to visit me in Thailand, it was a week of nice hotels and good food to take me out of my backpacking routine, if there ever is a routine when backpacking. We left the dirty, filthy town of San Jose ...

... called and Doka agreed to do a private tour with us when we arrived. We drove back south and eventually found Doka after a few mis-steps via GPS. Apparently the last time Garmin mapped C.R. many of the roads were still unpaved or have moved because Nuvi kept telling us to to take unpaved roads and erroneous turns into fields and buildings where no streets/roads existed. Fortunately we had also obtained written instructions from Peace Lodge ...

... from a 5' long shell, lowering to the sand periodically. She would take three or four swipes of the sand, then a breath or two and rest. I was told that the power of her flipper would break your arm if you got in the way. Her little back flippers help pack the sand down on the eggs. The guides approximated her age at 60-70 years, based upon her size and the number of barnacles they spotted on her back. The guides say that out of the 140 (?) eggs she lays ...

... mile long. We spent several days here, roaming the streets and buying small crafts and exotic fruits from the hastily constructed road side stalls owned by many local inhabitants. I'm told the number of these stalls increases five-fold during the winter season when Salsa Brava is breaking. Obviously a direct result of the five-fold increase in the number of travelers in the area. When we weren't lying on a beach, we were either shopping, riding rented scooters ...