Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica - Days 24 & 25
Wednesday, March 6
We’re leaving Chilamate today and driving to the East Coast of Costa Rica. Before we left, Andi took Tory and Aden to breakfast in the lobby while I did my workout. I took a very cold shower afterwards (not by choice!) and then hurried to pack our bags before 8:00am. We were rushing because our stay at Chilamate Rainforest Eco Retreat included a free morning hike on the property, and we figured we should probably check it out before we left here.
We should have known that we’d just signed ourselves up for another bird watching tour. Ugh. Before we’d even left the front gates of the property, our tour guide set up the binoculars for us to see a bird perched above the Sarapique River. “Is this a rare bird,” I asked. “Oh, no. Very common,” he said. Ah, I see. So, we’re basically looking at the equivalent of a robin? Cool.
I felt badly, but none of us were interested in this walk. All Andi and I could think about was getting on the road to Puerto Viejo. Aden kept running off the trail into the weeds and Tory complained that she was getting too hot, so about 20 minutes into the walk I told the guide we were going to walk back to the resort. He seemed genuinely hurt that we were bailing on his tour, but I blamed the kids and said they were getting too hot in the sunshine.
Back in the resort lobby, we said good-bye to Meghan (the owner) and her family, and thanked them for such a wonderful stay. We really did enjoy our time at Chilamate Retreat. It wasn’t the nicest place we’ve stayed on this trip, but we really enjoyed the friendships we made there.
Goodness, the drive to the East Coast was a long one! It wasn’t the road, per se, since by Costa Rican standards the road from Chilamate to Puerto Viejo was mostly blacktop. This time, it was construction and traffic! Both the Chiquita and Del Monte banana plantations are near Limon, and the amount of semi trucks clogging up the roadway was ridiculous. To be fair, I’m not sure all the semis were from those two companies, but I do know we sat in stop & go traffic on the two-lane highway for hours without much scenery to keep our eyes occupied.
In one section of our drive, there were miles and miles of banana plantations. Each group of bananas were covered with blue bags to protect the crops. I found these fields to be so interesting! Mostly, it’s incredible to think how far the bananas at the grocery store have traveled. They are grown and picked here, shipped to the United States (or elsewhere) in climate-controlled shipping containers, driven to grocery stores by truck, and then displayed perfectly on the store’s shelves. It’s easy to take for granted the luxury of having all the fresh fruits and vegetables you want year-round without remembering the impact that convenience has on the environment. Those bananas have traveled a lot of miles!
After five hours in the car (we stopped at a soda along the way for lunch), it was a relief to finally see the ocean again! Only this time, the water on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica was a beautiful light blue color and the waves crashing to shore were much bigger.
As soon as we arrived in Puerto Viejo, we drove to our airbnb to get checked in. We weren’t sure what our kitchen situation would be like here, or what appliances we’d have, so I thought it’d be easier to get a feel for our surroundings before we hit the grocery store.
After moving places to stay every few days the past two weeks, we’re planning to stay put a little longer in Puerto Viejo. Andi reserved this airbnb for 5 nights total. This house is very different than any other that we’ve stayed in. The living room, dining area, and the kitchen are open-air; meaning, there’s no doors on this airbnb except for the two bedrooms. I wasn't sure what I thought about this layout at first. It was a weird feeling to sit in the living room outside where anyone walking by could see you. And bugs. I worried about being eaten up alive after the sun went down.
This is an airbnb property. The owner, Isis, lives on site and has four other houses to rent inside this gated community. Isis stopped over after we got settled in to introduce herself. She and her husband are Expats who moved to Puerto Viejo from Chicago 5 years ago. Isis was really helpful in offering restaurant recommendations and told us the best beaches in the area. She also offered to set up a playdate tomorrow with a little girl she knows about Tory’s age. We thought that’d be great.
Andi ran into town to go to the grocery store while I stayed back with the kids so they could swim in the pool. He returned with fresh red snapper for dinner, and the best selection of groceries we’ve seen since we started traveling in Costa Rica. Surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of fisherman or seafood markets in Puerto Viejo despite the community being close to the water. But, the property manager who runs this airbnb (from a company Isis hires to do the bookings) told Andi that if he went to the seafood restaurant and asked for fish, sometimes they’ll sell you some. It worked! For dinner, we ate red snapper and fresh, local cheese that we bought at a roadside stand in Vara Blanca yesterday.
The beauty of outdoor living is that you can go to the bathroom easy-peasy! At least if you’re Aden…
Thursday, March 7
We didn’t sleep very well last night. I, for one, froze to death because we had the bedroom doors shut and the A/C units running. There’s only one thin blanket on our bed and it wasn’t enough to keep my ice cube toes warm! Andi woke up this morning and said he had a stomach ache. He was up most of the night in the bathroom and said he has like sharp, stabbing pains.
We originally planned to get a jump on the day and go explore Puerto Viejo, but instead Andi laid in the hammock all morning while Tory and I did school, the kids lounged around watching cartoons, and I blogged. I suppose we were due for a slow morning anyway.
Later that morning, Andi felt well enough to go into town. We decided on a restaurant called Bread & Chocolate for a second breakfast. Andi and the kids ordered fruit smoothies and I had yogurt w/ fruit and granola.
After cruising around town a bit, we returned to the airbnb to meet Isis and her friend’s daughter named India (Age 10). Isis kindly arranged for India to come over & play with Tory and Aden after school. The kids hit it off right away. Isis made cheese quesadillas for lunch and we contributed fresh strawberries, apricots, cucumbers, hummus, salami and local cheese. She had also stopped by the French bakery in town and bought the kids a piece of banana bread, a chocolate eclair and a passion fruit tart to share.
After lunch, Andi and I hung out with Isis and her husband, Kieran, for the afternoon while the kids played with a huge bag of Legos. Then, they swam in the pool and played giant Jenga. It was a fun, low-key afternoon.
Around 5:00pm, India’s mom came to pick her up and we thanked Isis for her hospitality. We came back to our airbnb and Andi started to cook dinner. Half-way through, he started not feeling well again so I took over the cooking and kid management. We ate chicken and roasted veggies for dinner, and then I read to the kids. They were asleep in minutes after their heads hit the pillow, and so was Andi. I hope he feels better tomorrow! We’ve been really lucky this winter and haven’t dealt with any sickness, but now Andi’s stomach hurts and Aden battling a mild cold. I suppose the germs were bound to find us eventually … even in Costa Rica.
