The Caribbean rocks.

So last week I took some time off work and traveled with my friend Amanda to Panama. I left Bagaces on Sunday at around 2:30 in the afternoon and got a bus to San Jose, a four and a half hour journey which was almost entirely spent standing. I met up with Amanda at Costa Rican Backpackers hostel later on that night. I got some food here and met a few people around the hostel. It was interesting how many people we would repeatedly run into that we had met in previous hostels throughout the entire trip. We went straight to bed and woke up early the next morning to catch a bus to Cahuita, a small surfing town on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. The drive there took us once again through Braulio Carrillo the long winding mountain road I mentioned in my post about Tortuguero.

From Cahuita we took a local bus to the Sloth Rescue Center in Aviarios del Caribe. There we went on an hour long tour on a narrow river where we saw many different types of birds and even spotted a sloth resting in a tree overhanging the river. Once we got back our guide took us to see the baby sloths that were being raised in the reserve. Sloths are seriously the coolest animals ever. We saw them hang out in laundry baskets soaking up the attention while relaxing in positions reminiscent of stoned children watching Sunday morning cartoons. They look like the most content creatures I’ve ever seen. The purpose of the Sloth Rescue Center is to help reintroduce injured sloths to the wild, or provide a home for sloths that cannot survive in the wild.

From here, we traveled to Puerto Viejo and got a room at Hotel Puerto Viejo, a very rustic place with a hostel like feel but with more private rooms then dorm style accommodations. Our room was interesting in that when you opened the door, you climbed a steep 12 foot staircase which brought you to the bedroom which gave it a kind of tree house feel and gave us a good view of the surrounding town(and conversely the surrounding town a good view of us). That night we explored the beach until a dead fish scared my Ichthyophobia (fear of fish) afflicted companion back into town. We went out to dinner at a restaurant called the “Hot Rocks Cafe” that played movie on a giant projection screen while you ate.

The next morning we walked over to another hostel called Rockin’ J’s. This place was really interesting. While mosaic tiles are rampantly found throughout Puerto Viejo, no where else in town uses this art form more abudantly or more creatively than Rockin’ J’s. The atmosphere there was very chill and offered a variety of sleeping arrangements from hammocks, to tents, to private rooms. A friend of ours actually paid only four dollars for a place to set up his own travel hammock he had brought with him. Amanda and I stayed in a tent which was located on the second floor of an open structure. The hostel provides you with a secure bin to store any valuables. We had a few drinks at the bar and lounged around in hammocks for a while before meeting some Australians and playing a little guitar.

The next day was spent at a beach about 3 kilometers south of Rockin’ J’s. The weather was awesome this day and we relaxed pretty much the whole time with nothing more then the waves, a can of Pringles and a few beach towels. I went on a really nice run along the beach where I saw a wild horse drinking out of the ocean.

The food and restaurants in Puerto Viejo were amazing as well. The restaurant Bread and Chocolate is definitely worth a mention for it’s freshly baked bagels, bread and homemade chocolate truffles, brownies and muffins.

Next, on to Panama. We took a bus to the border town of Sixaola and crossed a very rustic (dilapidated might be a better word) bridge into Panama. Walking this bridge really meant looking for the next plank of wood that looked sturdy enough to support you or else risk falling 15 feet into the river below.

We split a cab with some fellow travelers to the edge of a river where a boat came to take us to Isla Colon of Bocas del Toro. While here we met up with two interesting characters, Sean and Daniel, two Californians living in Atenas, Costa Rica. We ended up spending the rest of the week traveling with them. Sean was a really interesting guy who did some really interesting off the wall portraits and provided us with tons of dramatic comedic relief throughout the rest of the trip. Daniel was an incredibly talented musician, especially on the guitar and harmonica which also provided a lot of entertainment. The boat ride to Isla Colon was absolutely gorgeous with tons of birds scattered all around and a tangled mess of tress lining both sides of the river. Once on Isla Colon we headed to a hostel called Mondo Taitu.

This hostel was one of the coolest I’ve stayed in, in the last seven months, and was probably the main reason why we didn’t travel any further past this point. The people there were very friendly and by the end of the first day we had amassed a group of about 10 people who we hung out with for the rest of the week.

Isla Colon of Bocas del Toro was a very interesting place. There seems to be a large community of young entrepreneurs from around the world. From Jay, the ex-mortgage broker from the States turned Sushi Bar owner to the young group of kids running the Mondo Taitu hostel, it was really interesting to see how a little ambition and adventure can really open up a lot of opportunities for you. If you’re willing to give up a few luxuries of North American living you can really get accustomed to a much simpler life doing the things you love to do anyways in another country.

Some of my favorite memories from the trip would have to be:

• Every night finding a ladies night where girls drink free between certain hours
• The Aqua Lounge hostel with a water trampoline and a roof you can jump off of
• A vegan cooking class given by Freda, one of the girls working at Mondo Taitu (I had this strong suspicion I’ve seen her on Suicide Girls.)
• Awesome Sushi at the Blowfish restaurant
• Singing “I will survive” with the Californians
• Spear fishing with a hunting knife tied to a stick
• Peanut butter and banana sandwiches, surfing and Sean’s impromptu yoga class on Playa Wizard in Bastimentos
• The crazy guy who kept demanding Daniel open more pipas for him
• Sloths!
• All the Israelis, Germans, Americans, Argentinians and Canadians we met and hung out with at Mondo Taitu
• All the dancing
• The interesting conspiracy theorist who kept telling me to do a Google search for “Chem Trails”

Man, I want to go back. I’ll try and put up some pictures once I get them.

All for now, Cheers!

Well my time here is quickly winding down so it’s time to pass the torch! If you’re interested in reading more about life in Costa Rica check out my friend, Kate Schamu’s blog.

Cheers!