Back on the Caribbean side

Last Saturday we missed our bus to Cahuita so we ended up staying the night in San Jose at the Hotel Don Carlos. It is a really charming small hotel with lots of nice artwork throughout. Two paintings I really liked are above. I like the way the moon and night sky are used in the paintings and the deep reds used!

 On Sunday morning we went walking around downtown San Jose and went to a park (see photo) where there was a national museum. And then we went to a public market where there were hundreds of booths inside a large building with people selling everything imaginable! It was very fun to browse the booths.

Then we got back to the hotel in time to catch a shuttle bus. We arrived in Cahuita in the afternoon. We really like it in Cahuita. It is much quieter, cleaner and friendlier than Puerto Viejo. Although it is the slow season now and we hear it really changes during the high season with so many tourists in town. There are a couple main streets there with lots of little shops and restaurants. We stayed at the Hotel Jaguar and enjoyed the beach directly across the street! There is a National Park at the far end of town with a trail through the jungle that goes out to the beach. But unfortunately since the Hotel Jaguar had their high speed internet down, we decided to go back to the Hotel Guarana in Puerto Viejo. It felt like coming home because they gave us our old room back. And since everything was so familiar to us, it felt really nice to be back! And we're really enjoying the sunshine! I'll post some more photos later.

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

We've been exploring and getting to know this small town of Puerto Viejo. At first when we got here we weren't too sure about it. It is smaller than I thought it would be. There is one main street that most of the restaurants and shops are on. There are side streets too of course and the Hotel Guarana where we are staying is on one of them. The more we explore, and go to the restaurants and talk to people, rent bikes and ride around, go to the beaches and hang out, the more we like it. We snorkeled one day and have been going swimming everyday too. We especially like this one cafe called "The Bread and Chocolate". We've gone there 3 days in a row now.

We're starting to get familiar with things and meet people who live here and now, I will say we really like it here! Yet we are looking forward to visiting the next place. Montezuma which is on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. We've met two different persons that have said Montezuma is their favorite place in Costa Rica. It has been great staying in one spot and being able to explore the area for a week. We will stay a week in Montezuma as well.

It has rained some here. In fact, we've been caught in a couple down pours. But we haven't needed our rain gear at all and we're thinking we won't need it...but one never knows. It is so warm that it feels good to be in the rain. There are lots of beautiful trees, plants and flowers everywhere....very lush and green!

The Hotel Guarana has a Treehouse (see photo)! And it was fun to climb to the top and check out the view! There are also lots of cool art touches around the Hotel that we are enjoying discovering. As well as lots of mosaics around the town.

Travel to Puerto Viejo

We went to Austin, Texas first for 2 days and enjoyed the music scene. And then got up early to get to the airport to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica. We had a long travelling day yesterday. After we landed in C.R. we took a 4 hour bus ride to Puerto Viejo. We had got up at 4 a.m. to drive to the airport. Puerto Viejo is a small town/village on the Caribbean coast. It has a jamaican feel to it. Very laid back and artsy. We're staying at Hotel Guarana, a very nice, charming, comfortable place to stay with little cabinas. There is lots of green jungle surrounding the area with beautiful beaches. I'll try to post some more pics of the village and beach soon.
I liked these boat images and I'm thinking of putting it into a painting with boats in it.





Also, here's a good link to a packing list for Costa Rica. It came in handy for remembering things to bring.