Playa Chiquita Lodge Puerto Viejo

... Puerto Viejo was about 6 hours away on a bus with no toilet!<br>Anyway, arrived in Puerto Viejo to the usual ambush at the bus terminals of guys wanting to take you to hostels and hotels. Ended up getting dragged to a fairly good, cheap hostel by this guy, so gave him a small tip chucked my bags in and headed out for a look around.<br>Town was pretty dead, so wasnt too impressed at this stage, but little did I know how BIG a week it would turn into. Ended up ...

... had a really nice driver and he gave us a lot of information about the scenery that we passed. We took a different route back than we took to get to Puerto Viejo so we got to see new things.<br> Conair and Firestone have opened factories in Costa Rica and we passed them on our way home. U. S. companies can open factories in CR, pay workers $5 an hour and not pay any taxes. The workers and the ...

... months ago. After three days of endless rain, 18 shelters were opened last week to welcome rescued people from their endangered areas. In total 18,000 people were affected by the flooding, 125 communities are ...

... is according to the book because all we could see was dark grey clouds. We could not even distinguish the swimming pool of the hotel that was 200m from our bedroom, never mind fancying a dip. No wonder the Lonely Planet mentioned that it takes time for Volcan Arenal to peek out from the cloud forest! We gave up on La Fortuna and drove to its neighbouring sister town, Monteverde. The town neighbours on the map, but not in actuality timewise ...

... lemony, more like coconut and banana. After lunch, we hiked up a twisting, unmarked path to a cliff from which we could see for miles. He pointed out the island (more like a boulder with some grass growing on top) off which he and his friends liked to dive. He and his friends are a lot gutsier than I am. Although we established this both through that story and the fact that he made this trek barefoot, over sharp coral, while I could still feel the branches through my ...

... new friends, talking to a knifing pyscho and happily talking to all the other freaks in town. Experienced some lovely coconut rum last night which the mosquitos have been sucking out of my blood all day. Also found out we´re sharing a hostel with Ric************ look a like as well as some cockroaches and several ant nests. Costa Rica is a bug lovers paradise.

After 3 weeks of travel, we have finally arrived at my new home in Hone Creek : a little town out of nowhere, but only 5 km away from the popular touristic reggae town, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. The house is made of wooden structures and is infested with termites, but has managed to not fall apart for the last 15 years. Although there is no hot water, I´ve become used to cold showers and they´re especially great when the weather is hot. In front of the house is ...

... us at around US$30 but where else can you stay on the water for that price? Anyway back to the blog... We arrived pretty late the first day so once we were settled we headed around the town and had a looky, had dinner and called it a day. The next day we headed to the main square and headed on the bus to Boca del Drago. This is a beach on the North side of the Island which has a beautiful coconut ...

... had us wandering through forest close the coast, and past the lively backpacker hostel Rocking Js with its floor of tents and hammocks. Later, we ate good Caribbean fare at Lidia´s though we skipped the jam session on at the bar at 9pm. By then, as usual we´d be tucked up in bed....zzz Next day, took a bus to almost the furthest part of Costa Rica we can go, Manzanillo, and found an even better unspoilt beach to lie on, and pass the day ...

... it is very lush and seems to rain almost daily. We have been lucky though, the rain has been holding off until after sunset. We didn´t know when we planned the trip, but we are here during a religous holiday observed by the entire country. Semana Santa, or "Holy Week" in honor of easter. Many local families spend the week at the beach, so in the past few days it has become very crowded here. We have ...