Puerto Viejo

This weekend, we loaded up the bus, as normal, at 1pm on Friday to head to Puerto Viejo.  Typically, the drive is about 4+ hours over a stretch of roads covered with pot-holes toward the end (in Costa Rica, pot holes are really more like miniature Grand Canyons).  On the way there, it was raining, and it was neat because beside the road there were steep cliffs covered with plants, trees, and, when it's raining, waterfalls!  I wasn't able to snag a picture, but it was neat.  After this however, the trip went slightly downhill.  We came upon an accident and were just stopped in traffic. Instead of a little over the 4 expected hours, the trip took 8 and a half! And while we were stopped, we couldn't go outside because of the rain (and when I say rain, I mean RAIN).

But eventually we made it to Puerto Viejo, which is completely different from last weekend's Tamarindo Beach.  Tamarindo, while gorgeous, is very geared toward Tourists.  Puerto Viejo has a definite Caribbean flair to it and is a little more 'authentic.'  We were a little bummed at first because while we were expecting a weekend at the beach, the pouring rain was not exactly cooperating.  But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as because of the rain, we took a tour of a 'chocolate factory,' which was really a lady's house who makes chocolate and some other natural products.  It was so cool! I bought a few chocolates but unfortunately they did not make it home =) Also during this trip, we got to see a few sloths and some other animals.  It was neat because the backyard of this lady's house looked basically like a rainforest!

The rest of the time we mainly spent exploring Puerto Viejo. This morning the sun even decided to say hello, so we got our day at the beach after all =)

toucan!

the lady who makes the chocolate holding the cocoa plant.

sloth!

roomates for the weekend :)

streets of puerto viejo

this captures the laid-back atmosphere of puerto viejo =)

these colors speak to the rastafarian influence of the caribbean side of costa rica.

at a cute little crepe restaurant :)

haven't had many desserts while here...that changed this weekend. yumm :)

even while overcast, the beach was still beautiful.

puerto viejo has black sand beaches!

remember the lady who makes chocolate? this is her backyard. 

there was a plant with red coloring that we all put on our faces =) she uses it to make red garlic spice stuff.