HOME → RTWINFO → Jepson Trip → Cindy's Blog → Post #010

Cindy's World Trip Blog

September 26, Month 4

Life In Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Time is going so quickly with three weeks in Costa Rica already under our belt. This place is very much what it's name implies "rich coast" It is rich with natural beauty and a large amount of plant and animal diversity. The place is incredible so it is no wonder that tourism is one of their top industries. Part of the adventure of travel is enjoying a new culture - seeing how people live and do things in other places.

We are on the East coast in the small, laid back, coastal town of Puerto Viejo. Ellie commented after we had been here a couple of days that it is peaceful here. It's true, it is peaceful. Maybe part of that is that things move at a much slower pace. We have adopted the philosophy subconsciously. Life is peaceful and simple, but comfortable.

Even the beach house that we are renting is rustically simple, but comfortable and maybe even fancy compared to what we have seen others live in. We rent the bottom of our 2-story, wooden house with a metal roof. Wild grass that is groomed with a weed-whip runs from our front gates to where it meets the beach in the back. We have wild horses walk through the yard from time to time. Tropical plants border the lot and tropical noises fill the air. We hear these noises through the open-air windows that contain only a screen and decorative metal security bars.

Inside we hear the soft background noise of the ocean waves, the frogs, crickets and who knows what else. In the morning the unique and exotic calls of tropical birds sound. It is a pleasant way to wake up unless one particular bird with a call more like an alarm clock sounds. This unusual bird, that I have yet to see, starts out with one note that progressively increases in pitch and rate until it stops as abruptly as it started.

The locals are unusual too in their composite of people - indigenous people, people of Spanish decent, people of Jamaican decent, and a fair amount of expatriates. Those of Jamaican decent give the place a fun dose of reggae and dreadlocks. It is a nice blend. Puerto Viejo is a big tourist town so it is common to be spoken to in English and hear English being spoken around us.

The merchants widely accept USA dollars or the Costa Rican Colones. The ATM at the bank also gives you the option of getting either, but if we need money it is wise to get it early in the day because it sometimes runs out by evening. Colones currently trade at about 500 to every one dollar so to get a price on an item we have to times it by 2 then divide by a 1,000. It was disturbing at first to see prices in the ten-thousand range, but hey, in colones it is a whole lot easier to be a millionaire.

In San Jose fast-food chains and brands of other items from the states have spread like wildfire. Here in Puerto Viejo, it isn't the case. Everything is still mom and pop with a lot more charm. The grocery stores are stocked only with pretty basic stuff and food prices are high. They even charge for eggs by the weight - can't get an extra ounce for free, now can we? The expatriates boast that their taxes and utilities are very low though.

We can see why utilities are low, they save power by flickering off from time to time. We were provided with matches and a flashlight to combat this common problem. It hasn't been too bad, but one night they flickered on and off so many times it became comical. I became superstitious that when I lit the candle and got it set up for the dark, the lights went on. When I blew out the candles trusting that the power was now on for good, they flickered off. After a while I just decided to leave the candle on. Wouldn't you know it - the power stayed on. Still let the candle burn until I went to bed just to make sure.

The locals and many tourists save on transportation too. They don't usually use cars instead using bicycles or feet. Locals often make good use of their bikes by putting more than one person on them too. The most entertaining (and also the most frightening) is how they carry their babies in their arms, baskets, or occasionally in a baby seat. No one uses helmets. The roads are narrow and full of potholes to make the ride even more challenging. I have tried to get pictures of the bicyclists, but I get embarrassed. I wouldn't want a random person suddenly take a picture of me. The babies are so cute though - happily riding along.

We see the school-aged kids in their uniforms coming and going to school on their bicycles too. Schools here are small and open-air. The elementary school kids (and maybe the older kids too - I'm not sure) go to school in shifts - morning and afternoon. The kids don't just get one shift and keep it all year either. They switch the kids shift back and forth somewhat randomly. Another random thing is that they never stay in school for the whole 4 hours. Each day the parents just check and find out what time the kids will be done. My neighbor, an American with a child Ellie's age, was telling me all of this explaining that she is thinking about home schooling. She was asking me for advice. Bahahaha. Ask me at the end of the year.

So what else have we done since being here? Visited another animal rescue where we got to hold baby howler monkeys and a sloth. Now that was cool. We went snorkeling while Richard dive certified (see his post) and we visited an amazing botanical garden. Mostly, we have enjoyed the practically deserted beach in our back yard and the other local beaches.