Stephanie in Costa Ricaaaa!: Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, and Manzanilla

After leaving the Chiquita banana plantation, we headed off on our huge tour bus once again for Puerto Viejo, a small town on the southern Caribbean cost of Costa Rica. Puerto Viejo is basically a small version of Jamaica, and you can't walk more than 20 yards without seeing someone with dreadlocks. We got to the hotel, which seemed a little shady at first: it was in an alley and we were warned that Puerto Viejo is relatively not the safest town, just like San Jose. But, it actually turned out to be be pretty nice. The rooms were a decent size and had no bugs in them, which was great because our last hotel at La Selva was full of many of the insects that we saw in the rainforest. We settled in and went to dinner at a small shack at the end of town. We got the option of chicken or beef (standard here in Costa Rica), so I ordered the beef with a Carribean style sauce, which I never would have tried had I not been in the Caribbean. In between ordering and actually getting our meals, a few of us walked to some of the little shops along the beach. Ever vendor had basically the same stuff: lots of jewlery, bracelets, Bob Marley gear, and other fun things. All of us were offered pot at least twice, and a few of the guys were even offered cocaine. It was pretty funny, and we knew that it was a totally normal thing here. Now that I think about it, I don't think we saw a cop in that town the whole time we were there. Anyway, I bought a really cute bracelet that I wear almost every day. After shopping for about 20 minutes, we had to run back to dinner because it started to downpour. We got back to our table just in time for the food to be served. Our meals came with rice and beans, plantanes that tasted like cookies, and veggies. It was delicious and the service was great despite there only being two cooks. Then we all had one of the most delicious chocoalte cakes ever! It has been a while since I've had some good chocolate, because many of the desserts that we get here are fruity or at least somewhat healthy.

That night we went to one of the small bars on the beach, and it turned out to be a kareoke bar!! We all had a blast singing to the most random songs, including One Hand in My Pocket by Alanis, and even a few Spanish songs. You will all be shocked when I say this, but I was up at the mike singing most of the songs haha. Of course iIwas singing with 4 other people at all times, because we all know I could never sing anything solo: my voice is horrendous. We discovered that our amazing bus driver Ronaldo has a great singing voice, and he sang a few English songs with us which was so fun. After about an hour, we noticed that we had a crowd of locals watching us through the windows. I'm sure we looked like crazy drunk Americans, which I'm sure didn't surprose them. I had sooo much fun! But, the night doesn't stop there. We walked from the first bar to a second, which was much bigger, on the ocean, and an intense dance club. We danced all night, and hung out at the tables on the beach. We definitely felt like we were in paradise once again. Late into the night, a laungere show started, which I guess is becoming pretty popular here in Costa Rica. It was hilarious to watch.

Abby, Me, Beth, and Nolan singing at the mike.

In the morning we woke up early and drove to Cahuita, an even smaller town on the coast where we boarded some boats to go snorkeling again! It was cloudy again, but much warmer than our first time snorkeling in Cano Island. This time, we were swimming with the fish, and we had to float as best we could so that we didn't touch the coral, which dies if it is touched. I had a blast and saw some gorgeous fish, including a small black one wioth neon blue spots, and a huge colorful fish that had bright green, blue, purple, and yellow scales. We snorkeled for about 2 hours, and I was the first one in the water and the last one out. It is an experience I will never forget! While snorkeling, I thought a lot about one of the thories we learned in class: that all the fish in the world may be gone by 2048 due to overfishing and pollution of the oceans. It's a scary thought, and I hope the world can find a way to prevent this. After snorkeling, the boats dropped us off further down the coast where we got to hang out on the beach and eat some fruit. There were monkey that would walk right up to you, and we saw a few snakes and plenty of crabs. It was cool to see everything so close.

All of us laying out at the beach after snorkeling.

After snorkeling, we drove to our hotel in Manzanilla, called Las Palmas. We were all shocked when we got there to see a gorgeous resort with its own private beach, a pool, plenty of plam trees, and luxurious rooms, which we had yet to experience. We immediately changed back into our bathing suits and played frisbee in the water. After a few hours of hanging around on the beach, we got ready for the buffet-style dinner in the veranda. It was absolutely delicious, of course, and I had some of the best fish I've ever had, but I have no idea what it was! We were all stuffed so we decided to take a nap. After sleeping for a few hours, a bunch of us decided that it would be a great idea to stay up all night and watch the sun rise at 5:00 the next morning. it turned out to be one of the best nights I've had on this trip, which says a lot. We played cards for a while ( for everyone at Miami we plyed Asshole so it reminded me of all of you!), swam in the pool for hours, and hung out on the beach just talking and having fun until morning. Unfortunately, it was too cloudy that morning to see the sun actually come up, but it was definitely worth it. Despite not sleeping at all, Marty, Abby, peter, and I decided to go for a run at 7:00 that morning along one of the roads and on the beach. It was a picture perfect run: it was sunny and we all felt great afterwards. The next day was pretty eventful as well: I layed out on the beach and relaxed, hung out in the pool, and just enjoyed the sun for the whole day. That night, we partied at the tiny hotel bar, watched some super weird movies, and had a bonfire on the beach. The bonfire was perfect, and Peter is definitely the best person to have if you are lost in a forest. He made a great bonfire out of wood he gathered from along the beach and in the forest. We all had fun talking and laughing at our instructor Glenn who was pretty drunk and told us he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. A few of us then went for a night swim in the pool for about an hour, and this again was a great time. Overall, these 3 days were absolutely amazing, and I will never forget any of it or any of the amazing people that I spent it with!