This past weekend we went to the Caribbean! The Caribbean side is so different but so cool! Our home stay families live in San Pedro which is a city about 10 minutes from San Jose and near our homes is the University of Veritas. We have student ID cards and are considered a part of the university but we only use it as a meeting place, occasionally use the service, etc. This past weekend we joined their group to travel to Puerto Viejo. There were a total of 57 students including us traveling on a tour bus to the Caribbean. The dynamics of the Veritas group were very interesting and reminded me of high school (even though everyone is a college student or recent graduate). They all attend Veritas together and travel together on the weekends so obviously we looked like the new kids. The question of the day was, "Are you guys new?" We explained multiple times that we are not students at Veritas and were working for the summer. We thought it was really funny when they tried to act like they knew everything about Costa Rica when they have only been here for 2 weeks and we have been here for over a month and a half; I feel like a Costa Rican!
We arrived in Puerto Viejo after a 5 hour trip and checked into our hotel where the 3 of us girls shared a room. We went out to dinner and I ordered a "casado" which is a typical meal of Costa Rica. But being that we were on the Caribbean side I should have known that the typical cuisine that I was used to had a "soul food" flair to it. The Caribbean side has a lot of soul food an Caribbean cuisine; one girl was obsessed with this restaurant called "Jammin" because it reminded her of her mother's Caribbean Jerk recipe. Bob Marley was a god in Puerto Viejo, his picture was posted everywhere we went! On Friday night we went to this hostile/bar called Rockin' J's! This place was a sight to see; the entire area was covered in paintings, mosaic pieces and touristy collector's items from all over Costa Rica. The hostile had hammocks to rent for $5 a night that included a locker to put your stuff, campsites, 3 restaurants and a live band. We heard it was a must see for Puerto Viejo so we definitely checked it out before heading to a bonfire on the beach and another bar called Tex-Mex.
On Saturday morning we woke up and went to our complimentary breakfast that included 3 different kind of croissants: chocolate, cream, and ham and cheese, I wasn't really a fan. Our adventure for Saturday began early when we headed to Cahuita National Park where we took a trail to a private beach to catch some sun rays and snorkel. The trail was awesome! We saw monkeys swinging in the trees, different birds and crabs scurrying across the path. The beach was beautiful and we were the only people on it (well, our 57 person group). They divided the group into two and had 2 boats to take people out to the pretty reefs to snorkel. We saw lots of fish, pretty coral and big fish too! The water was pretty clear so we were able to see all of the different fish and creatures!
After our snorkeling tour we went to a private island where we had fresh fruit from Costa Rica and then headed back to the beach. After our day at Cahuita National Park we went back to Puerto Viejo for lunch, ice cream and we watched the beautiful sunset. I could really get used to this...On Saturday night we went to a few local spots and hung out with some of the Veritas students. Sunday morning we headed to the Viewpoint which is a white sand beach that also had a little hiking trail. We decided to lay out on the beach rather than take the hike. :) It was a beautiful day and the ocean was actually kind of warm! After the beach we went to a Caribbean restaurant, had lunch and then headed back to San Jose. Another great weekend in Costa Rica, pura vida!! :)
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