My second weekend in and I was 'feining' for the beach or at least some sun. San Jose is a sprawling, dirty city that is completely landlocked. There are parts of it that are very beautiful, but all in all the neighborhoods in the valley look very similar and the highest building is no more than 10 stories. It is winter here and therefore, it is usually somewhat sunny every morning while I am in school and then the wrath of God pours down every afternoon and sometimes well into the night. For some reason, it is usually warmer and rains less on the coasts. I love the rain, but was ready to leave the house without coming back soaking wet! I am posting the pics of San Jose at the bottom of the page, which links to my flickr account.
Puerto Viejo was my first and so far, only experience with Costa Rican beaches and the Caribbean coast. It is one of the more rugged, but also less populated places to travel in Costa Rica (because it involves traveling through the heart of the Costa Rican jungle to get to). Much of the Caribbean coast, Puerto Viejo being no exception, is heavily populated with hippies and Jamaican-Spanish that speak Spanish and/or a dialect of Creole. The town itself was small with overpriced food and a somewhat crappy beach. However, myself and the other 8 'independent' students still managed to have quite a bit of fun. Watch out: The drinks here were definitely overpriced. I bought a rum and coke for myself and my friend to share and was not happy when he told me that it was 5.000 colones (just about $10)!!!!
On Saturday we decided to go snorkeling at a somewhat questionable establishment. The Jamaican-Ticos took us out on a boat in the middle of the clear Caribbean water. Unfortunately, I did not have a good mask and so swallowed some sea water, which was followed by my becoming sea sick on the ride back to land. To top it off, there were not very many exotic fish. First experience snorkeling = Not FUN!
The next day we took a 10 min. bus ride to a different beach that was desolate and absolutely beautiful! There were a few other surfers and the waves were the biggest that I have ever seen :) The beach and the sun FINALLY!!!! Check out the pics at the bottom of the page.
Puerto Viejo was my first and so far, only experience with Costa Rican beaches and the Caribbean coast. It is one of the more rugged, but also less populated places to travel in Costa Rica (because it involves traveling through the heart of the Costa Rican jungle to get to). Much of the Caribbean coast, Puerto Viejo being no exception, is heavily populated with hippies and Jamaican-Spanish that speak Spanish and/or a dialect of Creole. The town itself was small with overpriced food and a somewhat crappy beach. However, myself and the other 8 'independent' students still managed to have quite a bit of fun. Watch out: The drinks here were definitely overpriced. I bought a rum and coke for myself and my friend to share and was not happy when he told me that it was 5.000 colones (just about $10)!!!!
On Saturday we decided to go snorkeling at a somewhat questionable establishment. The Jamaican-Ticos took us out on a boat in the middle of the clear Caribbean water. Unfortunately, I did not have a good mask and so swallowed some sea water, which was followed by my becoming sea sick on the ride back to land. To top it off, there were not very many exotic fish. First experience snorkeling = Not FUN!
The next day we took a 10 min. bus ride to a different beach that was desolate and absolutely beautiful! There were a few other surfers and the waves were the biggest that I have ever seen :) The beach and the sun FINALLY!!!! Check out the pics at the bottom of the page.
Another good update...I suppose it takes experiencing a few ups and downs to give you an idea of what you like and don't like when you travel. I want to go to the second beach you described!!!!! Heck, I just want to go to any beach at this point. :0) Soon enough.
I'm off to check out the photos...thanks for posting them!