Provincia de Limon

Our trip to Punta Uva was our very first to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica (so that is the sunrise above). The beaches there are widely regarded by most Costa Ricans to be the most beautiful in the country. After passing a couple of days in Punta Uva's white sand, calm surf, and perfectly clear water it is hard to disagree. Despite the renowned beauty, often the eastern province of Limon considers itself to be largely forgotten by the booming tourist industry which sends most of its business to the northwest in Guanacaste. Nevertheless, it is truly a blessing in disguise seeing as how the lack of steady tourism leaves the beaches clean and quiet and perfect for a day or two of relaxation. The shore is also packed full of wildlife, we spent time chasing crabs, watching birds, and even came across a rare Hercules beatle. We also spent some time exploring small tide pools that acted like natural aquariums for the tiny fish starting their lives there. The other beaches around the cities farther north may not always be as clean as the southern most beaches but are still better than some on the Pacific coast.

We also had the opportunity to spend a short evening in Puerto Viejo where we were able to experience the heavy Rastafarian and Jamaican influence. Limon is as famous for its beaches as it is for is Caribbean way of life. There you will find the population of Afro-Caribbean peoples who immigrated to Costa Rica to work on the construction of railroads during the 1870's and 1880's. Their Jamaican heritage is particularly present in the food, music, and abuse of marijuana that is prevalent in the urban areas. Nevertheless, while some drug problems exist, as tourists we had no issues and ultimately enjoyed our short stint in the town of Puerto Viejo where we enjoyed listening to some reggae while sipping on cervezas at the beach bar.

Our last day in Limon was spent at Cahuita National Park where we went snorkeling along some of the parks famous reefs. The coral reefs at Cahuita are the largest in the country and provide some of Costa Rica's best snorkeling. Sadly, a huge portion of the reefs have disappeared over the past 50 years mostly due to damage done by humans and agriculture but also by a 1991 earthquake that forced the sea floor upwards exposing large portions of the reef that eventually resulted in their death. What reefs remain support a great variety of sea creatures including many species of fish, sharks, and sting rays along with 27 species of coral. In our snorkeling adventure we were startled by a barracuda, two nurse sharks, and a handful of sting rays skating along the sandy ocean floor. A few species of sea turtles also make their home at Cahuita, however, we didn't stumble upon any during our time there. In a month or so they will begin laying their nests in the parks sand and we will regrettably be back home in Michigan. Either way, it leaves us something to return for and I know Limon will definitely be one of the places I will go back to during my next trip to Costa Rica.

The island where Cristopher Columbus landed and discovered Costa Rica in 1502.

Pictures below are from Google but give you an idea of what we saw while Snorkeling

Semana Santa and Jacó

Sorry this post is coming late.... but, hey, we have been sort of busy! Semana Santa, on the other hand, was not so eventful. Although, we did get to participate in one of the towns more lively holy week processions. The procession began with a church service at the cathedral in Santa Ana central and made its way slowly and hour and a half up to another cathedral in a different part of town. The procession was lead by the drum beats of a small band of men fully adorned in Roman solider costumes. A few hundred people showed up to follow the soldiers and walk among the wooden sculptures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saints Peter and Paul. Amidst the people a minivan outfitted with large speakers and microphone lead us faux pilgrims in hymns as we walked. It was a serene and meditative experience as most people walked in silence hand in hand our arms around their children and loved ones, and while some of group members didn't complete the walk in its entirety, I am glad that a few of us stuck it out.

Later in the week, lacking plans for Easter, we decided to make our way to the nearest beach, Jaco. While I have never heard anything to nice about Jacó from Ticos I found myself pleasantly satisfied with our day spent there. Unlike Costa Rica's nicest beaches the shore is mostly lined with high rise condos and hotels. There are, however, a few smaller places offering more plenty comfortable and more economic lodging options. Restaurants tend to be a tad more expensive but if you look hard enough you can find some great places right on the beach serving high quality seafood at decent prices. At night we walked the main drag and wandered in and out of the shops, each one selling the exact same goods, and pondered how they individually made enough money to support their owners. All things considered Jaco makes for a perfect day or two day trip from San Jose if your looking for a beach seeing as how with the new highway it is less than an hour away.

Better yet that Jaco was our morning spent at Playa Herradura, Jacó's quiet neighbor. Herradura is home to merely one luxury resort on its northern end with virtually no civilization along it's southern few kilometers. Only 20 minutes north of Jacó, it is a great place to get away from busy tourist industry and truly enjoy Costa Rica's sun and sand. While the central Pacific beaches may not be the best they are the easiest to get to and from when you are in the San Jose area, and Herradura is a great example of a more typical Costa Rican time you can spend there.

Cerro de la Muerte and the road to San Vito

Last weekend we made our much anticipated trip to the Guaymi Indigenous Reserve, but our long day of travel beforehand proved to be as interesting and eventful as the reserve itself. Our first stop on the road consisted of a short a short hike in El Cerro de la muerte (Mountain of Death), Costa Rica's highest point, which received its daunting name during the colonial times when unprepared travelers often died during the treacherous journey through these mountains. It may be hard to believe, but at its highest points there is typically ice and snow on the ground during certain parts of the year. Thankfully we didn't climb that high, but where we did hike just of the highway offered some spectacular views of one of Costa Rica's most beautiful landscapes.

After our venture up the mountain and a hearty lunch, we headed down to a calm, undeveloped beach, one of Costa Rica's many beaches named Playa Hermosa, where we remained fairly isolated along with a few surfers and other sun-bathers. We enjoyed the tranquility of a beach not lined with lawn chairs and umbrellas of high rise resorts as we played in the strong surf and lounged in the shade of the green trees that lined the shore.

After a couple of hours in the sun we continued our travels along the Rio Grande de Terraba following the river inland to our destination in San Vito. Along the way we stopped at a couple of shops where indigenous families of Terraba and Boruca heritage sold some of there artwork. A majority of the pieces now cater to the aesthetic appeal of tourists; nevertheless, it is still possible to find some traditionally styled artwork as well. My favorite pieces where the masks made by the Boruca that are used to celebrate La Danza de los diablitos (to the right you can see which one I purchased for home decoration). The seemingly innate skill and artistic ability of the indigenous populations is truly something worth seeing and is well worth any money you can spend on it. However, it is sad to see traditional style art disappearing from these shops and being replaced by improvised artwork forced in by tourism.
The night before our trip up to the reserve we spent in San Vito, a small town founded by Italian immigrants who came to jump into the coffee business. We enjoyed some great Italian food before making our way to bed in order to build up a reserve of sleep that would be much needed the following night.

Brasilito and Playa Conchal

Following our two nights in Liberia we caught a bus to the beach. Just south of the overly commercialized Playa Flamingo lies a sleepy little town called Brasilito. Although Playa Brasilito wasn't the nicest beach in Costa Rica, it's neighbor Playa Conchal very well may be.

Playa Conchal is home to two fairly small resorts and over half of it is part of nature reserve. Opposed to a typical sandy beach, Conchal is entirely made up of little shells (Concha = Shell in Spanish). On calm days the water is perfectly clear and great for snorkeling and there is practically no surf. During our stay it was mostly windy so, we didn't get to dive in with the snorkel gear, but we did enjoy the strong surf rolling us along the shore's surprisingly soft, tiny shells. On our last day the morning was calm so we were able to take some kayaks out before it got to windy, we planned on snorkeling in calm cove out on a point about an hour out from the beach. But once we arrived we saw that the off shore wind had blown in a bunch of sea snakes and it started to get a bit choppy so we decided to turn around and head back.

We stayed in Brasilito and vegged out on Playa Conchal for five awesome days of filled with sun, shells, and saltwater. Conchal is truly one of the best beaches Costa Rica has to offer, and while it can get busy it is never anything like its neighbors Playa Flamingo and Playa Tamarindo. Also,if your willing to do a little walking to Playa Conchal, Brasilito was a great place to stay due to its quality inexpensive lodging. Although we contemplated hanging around a few more days in order to indulge in relaxation, we decided to press onward. Nevertheless, it was a very difficult decision.

In this picture you can see the point out to which we kayaked. It is just in between the point and the the seemingly small rock in the distance.

Being buried in shells is much better than sand. I can attest to that.

Playa Hermosa

We spent this past weekend at Playa Hermosa in the Guanacaste region, which is famous for its great beaches. For the most part this weekend we focused on relaxation and spent most of our time enjoying the sun and the water right out in front of our beautiful hotel. The hotel we stayed at was the nicest one we have been to so far, and was a great place to simply relax. Saturday we were able to go snorkeling and on Sunday we took a ride on a banana boat around the gulf. The hotel had 20 dollar per hour massages right on the beach. Moreover, every day before sunset a family of Howler Monkeys would descend upon our hotel. The receptionists let me go up to the third floor which was under construction, so that I may be right in the level of the tree tops to take photos. I'm not much of one to advertise for places we visit, but I definitely hope to return to Hotel Playa Hermosa Bosque del Mar (despite the convoluted name). Mostly because of the swan-shaped towels but also because of its great location in a none to commercialized town on a great beach that offers a lot of little adventures.