Merry Christmas!

A very hot and humid Christmas it was today here in Tamarindo! Probably the hottest day since I've been here.
According to accuweather.com, the high was 84 degrees Fahrenheit, but the heat index was 94 degrees.
The normal is around 82-86 but the lack of wind today and humidity around 88% made it feel much hotter.

I usually sit in the sun on purpose when outside at a restaurant, to tan, but today I had to move out of my seat because I was so hot. Sarah and I looked far and wide for an open restaurant. I really did not want to have another ham and cheese sandwich, especially on Christmas. I've had enough of those.
 Spaghetti with ground beef, scrambled eggs with cheese, and ham and cheese sandwiches have pretty much been my diet lately. I really need to expand on my cooking. It would help having a grill though. The stove in our apartment takes about 20 minutes to get hot enough to cook on even turned all the way up. It's frustratingly slow even when hot.
So everything I make ends up tasting nice juicy and tender due to being "slow-cooked" but if you know me, and know my appetite, I would much rather have the food cooked fast and sacrifice some taste.

We finally found an open restaurant on the beach, a seafood place. The prices for the main dishes were expensive but I asked if they had cheeseburgers and to my surprise the waiter showed me the very back of the menu.  I've only had about 5 burgers since I've been in CR so I felt like Christmas would be ok to reward myself for eating healthy.
I chose the "especial" burger. Get ready for this:
2 beef patties
2 slices of cheese
2 slices of thick bacon
2 squares of ham


and of course the buns and dressing. I know what you're thinking, "that sounds disgusting", but it was absolutely delicious plus I "split" it with Sarah. It was very nice to feel like a full, fat and happy American again. I don't get that "I'm stuffed" feeling too much anymore. Couldn't be happier with our Christmas meal.

For dinner I made scrambled eggs with cheese(again), but threw in a curveball this time, and toasted bread in the frying pan to make scrambled egg sandwiches. yum.

Nothing too Christmasy going on here, every now and then we hear fireworks going off, but that's about it, no parades or Christmas carols unfortunately.

I hope everyone back home had a nice and cold Christmas. Enjoy the food and family.

Update on the rodeo festival last week: Two Canadians staying at Blue Trailz where I work went the day after Sarah, the Canadian couple, and I went. Unlike us though they decided to get in the ring with the bulls after a few beers. They got daring and decided to go up and slap the bull on the rear end a few times.

They got away with it but a few moments later the bull charged them and gored one of the guys in the stomach, flinging him up 6 feet in the air like a ragdoll. The horn didn't puncture but he woke up with a huge swelling bulge in his stomach, signs of internal bleeding. He had to be flown back to Canada to have emergency surgery. Why fly all the way back to Canada when the medical care is good here I wondered?
Because Canadian's govt funded health care only applies in Canada.

Last I heard he's doing fine and expected to make a full recovery.

Hope every has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Downtown San Jose earlier this month. 

tico rodeo

Sarah, another couple from Canada and I went to a local bull riding contest held at the nearest town Villareal located a few kilometers north. The first mention we heard of this event it was mistakengly referred to as a bullfight. Even then I was still interested in going just to check out the local culture but Sarah was horrified that I even would consider it. We were relieved to find out it was just bullriding.

In many ways much different than the rodeo held during the stockshow in Fort Worth every year that I'm familiar with but in other ways very similar. 

Held in a flat grassy field in the middle of town, there were many concession stands selling the carnival staples: caramel apples, cotton candy, fried chicken, beer.

Plenty of fun things for the kids to do as well, bumper cars, bounce houses, obstacle courses, a trampoline. 

I saw just about everyone from Tamarindo there and when we got back earlier than everyone else Tamarindo was eerily silent for a Friday night. That didn't last long though.

The bullriding contest was a thrill to watch. It's full group participation., There are big fences constructing a ring that people sit on and climb on. Many people went into the ring during the rodeo. Mostly teenagers or young men but some women and kids too. Costa Rican cowboys aren't much different from the ones back home. The cowboy hats are rounder and smaller and sometimes fold down instead of up. They still wear the big buckles, jeans and boots. 

The rider comes out of the gate trying to stay on for 8 seconds while the people scatter about. Once the rider gets off two cowboys come out to rope it and get it back out of the ring. This can take a bit of time, and the bull doesn't seem to be having as much fun as everyone else. The locals run past him, touch him, taunt him, make noises at him. A few brave souls attempting to be amateur bull fighters were even waving around leather flags the bulls would charge at. 

I didn't see anyone get hurt but there were a few close calls. Some guys were out there running around in flip flops or barefoot. At one point some very small kids were out there playing in between the action. Sarah was horrified but the kids left before the bull came out. 

Our Canadian friend Matt wanted us both to go in and I considered it but the two females with us overruled our testosterone with their estrogen. It might have been for the best though, I have a strange feeling the bull would have sniffed out the two gringos in the ring and charged them specifically. 

There are big wooden bleachers constructed around the ring for people to sit on. We stood by the fence close to the action. There was a small band in the stands that played something similar to what you would hear at a college football game every time the bull came out of the gates. It was hilarious. 

Still I missed the funniest part of the evening when I went to get food and left the others behind. 

Apparently Matt, this goofball from Victoria, British Colombia, decided it would be funny to throw a "Langosta" on his girlfriend Liz. Langostas means lobster but it also what the locals call the huge bird-like grasshoppers. 

Typical Langosta. Wings and stomach are bright red underneath.

He picked one up while Liz wasn't looking and launched it in her direction, and as if on cue flew directly to her face landing right near her month. 

She screamed and furiously brushed it off. Judging by her reaction she didn't think it was funny. Matt came up to apologize and she threw her beer all over his face and shirt then stormed off. 

All this happened while I was getting food but by the time I came back they were off from the rest of the group and he was consoling her, apologizing profusely for her traumatic insect encounter I'd imagine. 

A few moments later they returned ok, her eyes red and cheeks wet from crying, his shirt soaked in beer. 

Can't believe I missed it. 

Giovanni and I joked about how our girlfriends would have kicked our asses had we done that to them.
His girlfriend Marisela is built just like Sarah, short and muscular. She's also a surfer. She's very friendly to me but I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. All it takes is one look from her to let Giovanni know he's out of line.
Luckily for the Canadian guy Matt, Liz is a sweet, polite, tall, skinny, fair skinned girl going to nursing school, I don't think it's her nature to lash out with violence. There's something about the short ones, fuses always half lit. 

island snorkeling

first, let me apologize for lack of updates; on Friday, the property manager decided to rearrange the internet routers because his internet connection wasn't fast enough for his liking on his computer located on the second floor opposite side of me. While his signal may be better, 3 of us on the 1st floor had no connection at all the whole weekend while he was screwing around with it, making me a not so happy camper. I use the internet daily for email, blogging, and most importantly, watching the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Cowboys play online via live web streams. Today he finally moved a router back over here so we have internet connection again. I didn't complain but let the owner know I really rely on the internet. Luckily the Cowboys game was national night game so I watched it on NBC, entertaining game despite the loss.
now onto the blog...

yesterday I accomplished a goal I've had since day 1 in Tamarindo: swim to the little island and back. It's maybe 200 meters from the beach at low tide. Swimming against the waves it felt much longer. I discovered you can swim quite far with just snorkeling gear since the snorkel allows you to maintain air in your lungs consistently, keeping your body afloat.
Later on as I was walking on the beach after the swim I realized I had forgotten one very important piece of snorkeling equipment: FINS!
I swam all that way without fins. Good thing I have big feet. I do not recommend this technique at all, even if it does burn more calories. Using fins would have cut the time of swimming by at least half.
It took about 30 minutes to reach the island and 15 back, swimming alongside the waves to a group of rocks on a piece of shore closer by.
I swam through some very cold dark water, probably meaning it was very deep, how deep I'd rather not know, but when I looked down through my mask all I saw was a deep blue abyss.

Getting on the actual island upon arriving was a chore all to itself. Strong waves pound through the shallow canals of hard rock and corral, then flow just as hard right back out, creating strong little currents.
Some of the rocks or coral have little pockets where these nasty spiky little plants live. I assume the hard needles are there to protect itself from predators. I landed on one surfing one time and had to pluck the needle out from the bottom of my foot.
These little plants make it hard to get a firm grip or footing on the rocks you need to hold onto to avoid being pummeled into the rocky land mass by the waves. I chose to get a few scratches from hugging the rocks rather than risk my head being slammed into a boulder.

I finally made it to the island and walked around on the seashell, rock, and sand filled land. I was told by Steve it was a good place to find big seashells so I found a nice big white conch shell, put it in my one pocket on my bathing suit and brought it back to Sarah.

The snorkeling was amazing for the Pacific. Great clarity, which can be rare. I could see clearly to a depth of at least 20 feet. When I first arrived in Tamarindo, with all the rain and the clouds over the Pacific, I couldn't see a few feet with a mask on. Conditions were perfect. Clear sun, no rain in quite some time, great snorkeling.

I saw all kinds of fish, small neon blue ones, flat grey and yellow ones, schools of light blue sparkley fish with sharp looking tails that swam right by me, black fish with yellow highlighter tipped tails, and one fish that really stood out, a fat bright yellow fish with small fins. It reminded me of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine.
The experience was almost like snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean.

After about a half hour of avoiding being pounded into hard corral I decided to swim back. I picked perhaps the unfriendliest piece of land to get back on; a tide pool of rocks and large crashing waves. In between waves I made several steps/swim strokes to a larger rock, grabbed it and braced for the wave to come in and rip out, then repeated. This whole process took about 20 minutes. Quite a workout.

I told some of the locals about swimming there and they thought I was crazy. I've heard of people paddleboarding and arm boarding out there before but not swimming. I'm sure plenty others have though.
Paddleboarding is like standing on a huge surfboard with a paddle. Arm paddling or whatever it's called is like being on a long skinny torpedo shaped surfboard which you kneel and use you arms to row your way.

I've seen some locals go around the river mouth and come back with lobsters. This is my next goal. Diving for lobsters. What could get better than a free fresh lobster dinner you caught and cooked yourself???

On the way to the beach Sarah and I ran into some Iguanas. He was by far the largest I've seen since I've been here. Looked like a tiny Kimodo dragon. He stuck around long enough for us to take some snapshots of him.

His smaller friend. 

Sarah made some friends while I was snorkeling. 

They liked to play fetch with a coconut.

Playa Langosta

Sarah and I arrived around 9:30 last evening to Tamrindo on the "chicken bus" or public bus. 6 and a half hour trip squeezed into a bus seat. My ride in to San Jose was much nicer in the back all by myself in a Toyota Land Cruiser. That trip only took 4 hours.
I took Sarah for a 3 kilometer walk up the coast from Playa Tamarindo to Playa Langosta, a smaller, prettier beach with bigger waves. She didn't enjoy the walk too much, as she kept sitting down and pouting "can't we just relax for a second?". No. Must get to the beach. She loved it once we got there as I knew she would.
She especially had fun watching the dogs splash around the ocean. They LOVE to play tag on the beach with one another, and love to jump into the waves just like people do. The waves were so big there, but sadly I had no board with me and there was nowhere to rent one. I will bring one next time for sure. The water was freezing today but I got in anyway.
Here's some pics taken today. Thanks to mom dad and sister for sending down a new digital camera with the care package via Sarah. Click pics to enlarge.

Beautiful Playa Langosta

Sarah about to embark on the grueling 3 km trek to Playa Langosta

Christmas card? 

Local walking her dog 

Near the river mouth at Playa Langosta

Playa Tamarindo

wannabe surfer with no board

Very tall palm trees in Tamarindo

Playa Tamarindo

Dog party at Playa Langosta

Hill on the way to Langosta

Dusk at Langosta

mucho frio!

it's so coooooold here in San Jose valley! 60 degrees right now and a strong breeze. My group came from the hot beach wearing flip flops, t shirts, shorts, and beach jewelry. I'm sure we looked ridiculous walking around the DMV of Costa Rica. They were getting their driver licenses. Huge line. I took a cab to my hostel. All the locals had on winter attire, jackets, boots, scarfs.

I sat upstairs watching the mavs game on my laptop and about froze my hootananny off. I did bring winter clothes with me to Costa Rica, two flannel shirts, some jeans, and a sweater, but left them in Tamarindo of course thinking I wouldn't need them.
When I came to San Jose for the first time, it was warm enough to swim during the day and we had the fan on full blast at night.
The second time, a little cooler that we didn't need the fan, just the windows open to let in a cool breeze.
This third time, the windows will be shut and if the room had a fireplace I would definitely use it.
First time in Costa Rica my teeth have been chattering and my body shivering.
I only brought shorts and short sleeves shirts here. I'll know better next time.

Sare bear comes in tomorrow at 12:46. I arranged for me to ride with the shuttle to pick her up.
Then we will stay one night here in San Jose, after that get the heck out of here and head back home to the hot humid beach that I'm really missing right now!

heading to San Jose

three hours from now I will be one of seven people packed into an SUV headed to the capital of Costa Rica. 

My reason for going is different from theirs though. Steve and the others are going to get supplies and stuff that are cheaper and more readily available there and heading back the same day. 9 to 10 hours of driving for them, I think that's crazy. And it's not like a 9 hour drive from Fort Worth to South Padre going 70 mph the whole way. It's going around 40-55 and around potholes and stuck behind trucks on two lane roads and crossing one lane bridges. 

My reason for going is to pick up Sarah from the international airport Wednesday. I decided to stay for two nights and show Sarah the hostel and some parts of San Jose I'm familiar with. It's weird, this will be my third time there. Many locals don't go there for years. 

It has a really bad rep. You certainly don't want to be in the wrong part. 

The beautiful architecture of San Jose.

There are casinos. Gambling is legal in CR.

Prostitution is also. The "working girls" creep out on the street corners once the sun sets. In a taxi with the windows down, they will call out to you when stopped at a light. 

At one stop when I was on the way back to the hostel with my friend Andy the Swiss, and we were stopped at a light next to a group of hookers. 

I heard one of them call out "How are you doing tonight?" in a less than feminine tone. 

He said something like "those girls looked very strange" to which I replied "those weren't girls, man." 

Experiences like these is why many choose to avoid San Jose all together. The city is rather ugly, all paved with slums and barbed wire everywhere. 

I like going out in the day, walking through the crowded foot paths along the many stores and seeing all the Costa Rican professionals go about their business. 

The crowd in San Jose is almost like one you would see in America. 

Blonde hair, red hair, blue eyes, green eyes, are all common. Strong European influence here. I once had a cab driver here in Tamarindo with light blonde hair and eyes bluer than mine, 100% Costa Rican from Costa Rican parents. 

The locals on the coast look quite different and I'll get into that some other time.

I had some really good fajitas on my first visit to San Jose, first and only time I've had them here, served wiht no tortillas or anything like that.

There's Burger Kings, McDonald's, Wendy's...even a Denny's. 

That's a picture I took of the view from the top of the hostel I always stay at in San Jose. Not in the best area of town but is surrounded by fortress like walls and thick barbed wire. It's the number one rated hostel in San Jose by Lonely Planet and for good reason. Very clean, has a pool, restaurant, dance club, bar, computer lounge. The doors to the rooms even have key cards like a real hotel. All for only 13 dollars a night, for a dorm room. 

The rooftop bar. Most travelers that stay here have just flown into Costa Rica for the first time, so the staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. I might as well mention the name of the place by now, Hostel Pangea, owned by two Costa Rican brothers and run exclusively by Costa Ricans. 

The "solar heated" pool. Kind of cold. San Jose isn't as hot as the coasts and gets pretty cool at night. 

First person I met in Costa Rica, Andy from Switzerland. Nice dude. Offered me a ride in his rental car to Puerto Viejo since he was going there too. He's back in his homeland working at a ski resort right now. 

Here we are enjoying a couple of Imperial beers and jagerbombs. Seriously this is all we had after dinner on our walk back to the hostel. It looks a lot crazier than it was. 

We had some really good in depth conversations about the differences in our cultures back home. He had only been speaking English for two months but we were still able to communicate.

He taught me a few words of German but I only remember one: Probst! (cheers)

I was 210 lbs when this was taken. I weighed myself at the gym today and I'm right at 200 even after whatever muscle I've managed to put on lifting weights again. 

I didn't realize how only 10 lbs can affect the way you look until I saw this picture.

Surfing, biking, walking everywhere, and unfortunately having to eat much, much smaller portions have led to a healthier and happier lifestyle. 

I would, however, kill someone for a bowl of queso from Uncle Julio's right now. 

visit from the howlers

the other day after I came back from lunch there was a troop of howler monkeys hanging around the trees in the apartment complex. I counted 8, more than I've ever seen at one time in the wild here so far.
I laid on my hammock for awhile and watched them move about. Very acrobatic and nimble, these guys are.
Remember the movie 'Crouching tiger, hidden dragon'? Remember the part when they walk and balance on those thin branches....that's what the howlers remind me of.

They will crawl all the way out on these long really thin branches until they bend as far as they can go. They love to eat the leaves on the tree and move from one to another.
The way they transfer from tree to tree is fun to watch. The monkey wraps its tail around the branch being leaped from while jumping to the other limb.
I suppose the anchoring of the tail is like a safety harness in case the branch breaks. I have however seen some of the braver ones just do a flying spread eagle leap from one tree to another.

They don't seem to mind humans, I've walked up to them within 10 ft. That's about as close as they'll let you get before scurrying away. Sometimes if you make noises in their direction they'll answer back with a little howl.

The mothers carry around the babies around their stomach until they're old enough to move around on their own. Seeing a baby howler follow its mother around from limb to limb is one of the cutest sights one will ever behold Sometimes the mother will move at a much quicker pace onto another part of the tree, and the little baby will get nervous and make little chirping noises. So far I've always seen them able to make it up where their mommy is even if it takes them awhile.

I was able to recruit a Norwegian couple to the hostel I work for on my second attempt to the bus stop. Glad to get the first one out of the way, I was mad though that five guys from the same bus walked in afterwards. I would have made a lot more money since I get commission based on how many people and how long they stay. The ones I brought are only staying til tomorrow, the others a week I think.
Oh well, it's getting busier so I should be able to pull some more in. Still I was happy to get the first one done.

Sarah flies in to San Jose on Wednesday! First visitor here in Costa Rica. The owners of Blue Trailz happen to be going in to San Jose on Tuesday so I will be riding in with them, saves me like forty bucks and 3 hours sitting on a bus.

Sarah in South Padre, TX

They, like many others, refuse to spend a night in San Jose. I'll be there for two nights, I actually like going in to San Jose. A lot of travelers skip it all together by either flying in to Liberia or just hopping on a bus straight from the airport. I'll cover what I like about San Jose in the next entry.


Cowboys won another game and the Mavericks have been on a tear recently. Still watching all the local sports down here.

just what i did tonight

I met up with only one bus today to recruit guests for my hostel, after I got the schedule from the bus office. Only eight backpackers got off and all had reservations elsewhere. There was a local waiting at the bustop trying to sell rooms also, a known cocaine dealer. He didn't seem to mind me being there though. My friend Giovanni from the hostel I work at tells me these locals will try to intimidate me and that if I don't stand up to them it will just get worse.
So far, I haven't had any problems, all of the locals have just been friendly.

I've started reminding a few of them that bug me everyday to buy pot that I don't smoke, and they need to remember that. They reply with 'oh sorry, don't remember, the party is at so-and-so see you there later'.
After being here over a month I really don't understand how they can't remember the same gringo that walks the street daily and says no to buying weed every single time, but we're talking about guys that start drinking around noon, start smoking weed probably earlier than that. Local surfers that get by financially on this.

My boss invited me to hang around the hostel tonight and later to a sports bar in Playa Langosta to play foosball and ping pong. Before we left the hostel, he told a group of Canadians and me about a backpacking experience he had in Vietnam in 2006. It did not have a happy ending. Maybe someday I'll retell it, but it is so unpleasant and gory I'll refrain for now.
I never planned on visiting Vietnam, but after his story, I'm absolutely positive I will never visit that country and its corrupt government. If they treat a Canadian the way they did him, I can only imagine what they would do to an American. Screw that, don't care how pretty the land is.

At the bar, almost all American men playing poker. Gambling is legal in Costa Rica.
My friend Giovanni and I played foosball instead. Only seven balls, so whoever gets to 4 first wins.
I won the first, he swept the last two.  Costa Rican foosball tables are ridiculous. They have little ashtrays by the score and are really low to the ground. The ball kept getting stuck. in the corners.

Gio is one of the best surfers in Tamarindo, he rides a short board and has been surfing for six years. He does tricks on the top of the waves and all that. Front side spins, 360s.  I'm still at riding through a barrel swell all the way to shore.
You would think his good coordination on the surf would translate to the ping pong table but apparently not. After he beat me at foosball I challenged him to a best of 3 series in table tennis...the guy could barely make contact with the ball. I won the first two by 10+ so there was no need for a third.

My boss came later and played a few games with his wife and some travelers staying at the hostel.
He said "why don't you and Giovanni be on a team?" and I replied "because we would win every game." this is true...if there's two bar games I'm good at, it's foosball and ping pong.
Pool and darts, I'm terrible.
Later he asked his wife for 100 colones to play a game and challenged me. He said "I hate to do this to you, Jeff."
Whatever. I beat him by a point. Completely opposite styles...his was finesse and precision and mine was all power and spinning. I couldn't help but think this is resembles the Canadian vs United States culture.
He even pointed out he was the tortoise, slow and steady, and I was the hare.

I won now buddy, ay?
It's hard to talk crap to them because anywhere else in the world takes everything literal. As a country, the USA is the most sarcastic and mocking country in the world. That's something I've really had to adjust to. If I joke about something it has to be good-natured or else it's considered rude, no matter how funny.
Honestly, I wish we were more like other countries in this regard. We mock and make fun of each other way to much, it's unhealthy socially.

I think I'm repping our country well so far. Almost every traveler I meet has a negative opinion about United States' foreign policy.
One traveler tonight in the group sharing traveling stories talked about how the Americans dropping Agent Orange in Vietnam is still causing cancer and birth defects in babies born there, and how he saw the pictures in the war museum.

These moments of negativity directed towards American foreign policy are common and usually I just let them go. There is really no use arguing our case and in some instances, we were wrong.

Also, apparently we are about to start World War III in Korea, and backpackers are advising each other not to go there, whether North or South.

scorpion encounter

so as I was just sitting here on my bed about to make a blog about the howler monkeys that visited the trees in my complex today, a big scorpion turns the corner out of the bathroom and starts walking along the wall by the bed. He hid behind a water bottle and I grabbed a can of Raid.

I give him a thorough dousing and he didn't move for a few seconds then scurried a few more inches before he was swimming in Raid.

Apparently Raid for cockroaches works on scorpions too. In Texas I had only seen one scorpion alive ever, so this was a bit of a surprise. I have no idea how he got in, all the windows are shut and they all have screens anyway. The only thing I can think of is the drain in the shower, it's just an open pipe a couple inches wide!

Good thing I wasn't in there taking a shower like I thought about. 

I don't really know anything about scorpions or how aggressive they are or what their sting does to you but don't want to find out the hard way. 

here's  a picture I found on the internet of someone else holding one from costa rica:

new job

I got a job recruiting backpackers and tourists straight off the bus  to to the hostel I stayed at for a little more than two weeks here in Tamarindo. The compensation is purely commission, based on how many travelers and how many nights they stay. It's not much but should help me bridge over to peak tourism season when I can hopefully wait tables again or something.
Also, I may help with selling tours inside the surf shop and on the street. The commission for that is much higher so hopefully I'll get started on that soon.

I kept in touch with the young Canadian couple that owns Blue Trailz surf shop and hostel, dropping in to say hi after my daily walk searching for work. They told me I could work for them if I couldn't find anything else last week, and I still haven't. Most businesses are still slow and tell me to come back in a couple of weeks or after Christmas.
Previously my friend from Quebec had been doing this job for them, but he was just here on a surfing vacation.

Convincing backpackers to stay here shouldn't be too hard, since it's much closer to the beach than any others and much nicer. It's the #1 rated hostel on tripadvisor.com in Tamarindo, and I knew that months before I even came to Costa Rica.
Check out their website: http://www.bluetrailz.com/
They do all sorts of cool stuff, they even have a boardwalk that leads to a small outdoor yoga studio. The surf shop is in the front and has sand for flooring. I miss staying there, meeting new people all the time and hanging out. Don't get me wrong though, I love my apartment and it's a definite upgrade.

With this job I'll be able to meet new people from around the world and hang out there once again! Very excited about that.

There's the the front.

I'm watching the clamation Christmas classic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". The Christmas songs sound a little out of place blended with the hum of the a/c and howls of the monkeys.

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looking back on puerto viejo

Puerto Viejo is a funky little town in the province of Limon on the Caribbean coast near the Panamanian border.
It's south of the town of Limon, a port city, which has the distinction of being the ugliest part of Costa Rica I've seen. Limon is where all the shipments of supplies come in and go out, so there's trailers and warehouses everywhere. The streets are filled with trash and litter, and they just burn big piles of it on the side of the street.
Burning piles of excess foliage is very common on the Caribbean coast but this was the only place I saw trash piles. Limon is the only place Cruise Ships can dock. That may contribute to the bad rep many tourists have of the Carribean coast in Costa Rica. Some things are true, others exaggerated. The crime is worse and there are more drugs, but if you take the proper precautions you'll be fine.

I lived in Puerto Viejo for 10 days or so. Time kind of stands still there so I lost track. I really mean this, time passes by at an extremely slow pace. No one is in a rush to do anything really. Most of the locals have Jamaican blood, their ancestors were shipped in to work in the banana fields long ago. Jamaican flags fly everywhere along with Rasta colors. You can find images of Bob Marley on anything and everything. He is a God there.

Racial segregation laws quarantined this part of Costa Rica until the 1960's, so it is still relatively poor and isolated compared to the rest of the country. The indigenous Bri Bri tribe live in the jungles way back behind the coast and are actually the voting majority. I never met one or took a tour to see them, but I wish I had.

The smell of marijuana is ever present. Just walk through the one main street in town and you are guaranteed to get at least one whiff of wacky tobacky. There is more supply than demand, you will be asked several times a day if you would like buy some. It's smoked openly and non-discreetly. Cops walk right past people doing it. Technically it's illegal, but so prevalent in the culture, and there's much bigger problems to worry about, so they just let them smoke. I'm not a smoker, but I don't mind those that do, and I would love to see the US adopt the same policy. Alcohol is a much more dangerous drug.
I didn't see any violence, but there were guns here. One night out at a bar on the beach, the bartender came out to fire off a few rounds into the air letting patrons know it's time to leave.

 Men and women both have some of the gnarliest looking dreadlocks you'll ever see.
Reggae music is played everywhere, and I saw some really great live entertainment. There is a big party going on every night along the clubs that line the beach in Puerto Viejo.

Further south, 13 kilometers, is Manzanillo, home of some of the prettiest undisturbed beaches in Costa Rica. Crystal clear turquoise water, jungle that goes all the way to the whitish-sand beach, a living coral reef. I went snorkeling there and its an experience I will never forget. Neon multicolored fish, beautiful and unusual looking coral.
Its too bad afterwards my Swiss friend and I returned to find his rental car broken into. My iPhone, locked in the glovebox, was stolen, along with his camera and his laptop. I've since learned, traveling rule #1 : never leave anything valuable in a car. Ever.

The weather was a wet jungle humid climate. I mean really humid, Houston has nothing on this place. Everything you touch is wet. Usually there it would be sunny with several showers in the afternoon or evening.

One night I experienced torrential rain like I've never seen. Literally a wall of water coming down at once, you couldnt see a foot. Nothing like I've seen even in the worst Texas storms. My roof leaked onto my bed that night.
Puerto Viejo and Tamarindo are so different. There's no a/c there, just fans on the floor. The only place I found with a/c was the bank. I LOVED going to the ATM for this reason. As I've said before I adapted to the extreme humidity after awhile, but still, I prefer a/c. The first few days I was covered in sweat.
It does get cooler there at night then it does here though. Several nights I'd wake up cold, and actually turn my fan off!
Puerto Viejo is a hippie's paradise and a great place to visit, I wouldn't want to live there but definitely should be a destination for any Costa Rican backpacker.

Below are several pictures I took before my iPhone was stolen and then several others from an Australian girl I met in Tamarindo who visited several days after me. Remember you can click on the picture to enlarge.

Front door and patio to my first apartment. Thick jungle in the background.

Path to the community sink for the cabinas.

The main street in town, lined with vendors, sodas, and bars.

An abandoned barge that a lot of the local kids jump and fish off.

Near the bus station and town map.

The police station where my friend and I went after getting robbed.

Local fruit vendor.

Fishing boats.

Some native flora. 

Welcome sign to Manzanillo. 

Beach near Manzanillo.

Manzanillo beach. I went snorkeling just beyond here. 

The waves break very close to the steep shore on this coast. This beach is Playa Negra, named for the black sand. My cabina was about 50 meters behind it. 

More of Playa Negra. 

They like to paint the trunks of the palm trees bright colors.

This is right in front of where I was staying.

An island off of Playa Cocles, a beach good for surfing south of PV. If I had stayed longer I planned on snorkeling out to that island. 

Playa Cocles...my favorite hangout spot there. Luckily it was much sunnier when I visited.

Howler monkey in a tree. You never want to stand directly underneath one, because they poop their own weight by the hour. I got to hold a few of these guys at an animal refuge. I'll make a separate entry on that experience soon.

Rasta!

Paradise. 

Tasty waves cantina! Great place for smoothies, tacos, and cocktails run by a nice couple from San Diego, California. They would stay open late every Tuesday and have performers come do fire shows with flaming sticks. 

The cops would come by to ask about the "noise" , usually one armed with an MP-5 machine gun strapped around his shoulder. Give them all Cokes and everything was cool.

I love these beautiful birds. A few have even let me pet them.

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