Me gusta el mar caribe (I like the Caribbean Sea!)

14 – abril

We got up around 7 am and had breakfast shortly thereafter – rice with a little beans, scrambled eggs, and a biscuit-like bread. Of course, there was the prized Costa Rican coffee at every meal as well. And with enough sugar and milk, I enjoyed it as well! After breakfast we said goodbye and hiked back down to the river. We made a quick stop at the new secondary school (like middle school) that was built with the help of a group from my church, Colorado Community Church, when they were here in January. Another team from church will be coming this summer to help build another building to lodge guests. The school consisted of a single room, but they have text books and a television so they can function as a virtual classroom/school. We rode the panga back down the river to our cars and back to Benson’s office, which also has lodging facilities. We changed and headed to the beach – to Manzanillo, which is at the southern tip of the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. There are several popular beaches along the way and because this is Holy Week many businesses are closed and the schools have vacation all week so there were so many people at the beach. It was crazy. The beaches here are very different from the US – there are few restrictions or rules as to behavior at the beach. People pitch tents, camp out in their cars, have all sorts of food and drink, blast their radios, etc. It is kind of like a dance club in certain spots, and people everywhere. Plus all sorts of little stores, shops, and street vendors. We tried to find a less crowded part of the beach to hang out. It was a pretty cloudy, not too hot day, which was nice. Benson was going to go snorkeling so I decided to give it a try. (Which is big for someone who is just fine with laying on the sand and never touching the water!) And wow, let me say, I love the Caribbean!! The water is so warm – it is like a bath! Unfortunately it was fairly late in the afternoon and cloudy so there was not a lot of light to see very far in the water, but it was a cool experience nonetheless. After showering in an outside shower behind the house of one of Benson’s friends, we ate dinner at a great local seafood restaurant where I ordered a filet of fish! (If you can’t tell already, I am really trying to do as much and try as much as I can here…) It came with ‘salsa caribena’ (salsa Caribbean) which is grilled onions, tomatoes and green peppers on top and ensalada (salad) – which really turned out to be coleslaw! Ha! After dinner we walked around Puerto Viejo and the little shops, vendors, and tons of people that were out. We stayed the night at the lodging at Benson’s office. So that makes three nights in Costa Rica and three different beds and three different environments – from the city: Heredia (just outside of San Jose) at Luisa’s house, to the jungle: Yorkin, and now the beach: Puerto Viejo. I know that many people come to Costa Rica for a week or even more and don’t experience even part of the diversity of the country I have seen in just 3 days!