Hi everyone! Today I will be sharing our Spring Break trip from April! Back in March, Dan and I started planning for how we wanted to spend our Spring Break. We had mainly been on the Pacific side of Costa Rica and we really wanted an opportunity to check out the Caribbean side. Additionally, since the entire school year was virtual, Dan and I wanted an opportunity to disconnect from the internet and technology. Therefore, we found two different AirBnBs in the Puerto Viejo de Talamanca area for the week of Spring Break.
We picked up our rental car in Jaco and left the morning of Friday, April 9th. Google maps showed about a 4-5 hour drive to our destination. However, we forgot one essential Costa Rican rule and that is to double the amount of time google maps says. Our journey was long to say the least. It ended up being about 9 hours and we were stuck in traffic for a few hours of the 9. We got to our first AirBnB safely which is all we can ask for.
Our first stay was built out of shipping containers and it was a little drive into the jungle. The couple who own it and live on the first floor are retired from the U.S. They have a beautiful property and are working towards being fully self-sustainable. The second floor shipping container was gorgeous and had everything we needed for a relaxing stay in the jungle. After all, it was was advertised as a Zen-Rainforest Retreat. We had an amazing time watching howler monkeys swing from branch to branch right in the front yard. We spent the rainy days and nights playing chess and Skip-Bo.
After a few days at the Zen-Rainforest Retreat, we moved over to our second AirBnB which was called "The Green Frog Treehouse". We literally stayed in a treehouse far into the jungle! It was so cool, definitely one of the coolest places I've ever stayed. Again, it was the perfect relaxing stay in the jungle. There was both a suspension bridge and a plunge pool on the property which we greatly enjoyed. Throughout the week in both AirBnB stays, we woke up to the sound of howler monkeys at 5:00 am. If you have never heard a howler monkey, they sound like a dinosaur roar. They sound frightening but look adorable! I actually completed research on howler monkeys during my first trip to Costa Rica. Anyways, the treehouse was absolutely surreal and we had a wonderful stay. Here are some pictures!
Throughout our week in Puerto Viejo, we were fortunate enough to go on some fun adventures! One of our favorite days was when we visited the Cahuita National Park. We hiked an 8 mile trail with majority of it being along the beautiful white sand beach and clear, turquoise water. It was stunning to say the least! It was a hot day so we stopped for a dip in the sea.
On majority of the days, we made our way into downtown Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo was so freaking cool! It had a major rasta vibe and felt like a completely different country than the Costa Rica on the Pacific side. We enjoyed some great meals, drinks, and shopping there. Downtown Puerto Viejo is close to the beach. One of the beaches is called Playa Negra. This was one of the most unique beaches we've been to in Costa Rica. It was a black sand beach. On one day, we went tandem kayaking on the Caribbean! This was a blast but little did we know our kayak had a hole and it was sinking as we were kayaking! We made it to shore and realized the problem. Some very nice local Costa Ricans helped us out and we are so grateful for their help! When we returned the kayak, the manager told us that the girl who rented it to us wasn't supposed to... oops!
Later in the week, we went on a tour to a Bri-Bri indigenous village. We were able to get a tour, learn about how the women make chocolate, learn about medicinal plants that they use, eat a traditional meal, visit a waterfall, and more! It was a very rainy but very fun day! On our final day in Puerto Viejo, we visited the Jaguar Rescue Center. We went on an excellent tour where we saw many different kinds of animals that they are currently rescuing. My favorite were the spider monkeys! The baby sloths (pictured below) were so stinking cute!
After our week in Puerto Viejo, we started the journey back to the pacific side. However, we made a pit stop along the way. We reserved a rustic and cozy cabin near the Poaz Volcano for a night. The following day we visited the Poaz Volcano! It is an active volcano in central Costa Rica. The last time it erupted was April 2017. We had been wanting to see a Costa Rican volcano since we first arrived and Poaz didn't let us down. We were able to have a clear view of the crater for the first few minutes and then everything became foggy, it was wild! After our stop at Poaz, we headed home!
Overall, it was an amazing Spring Break trip! I am so grateful for the opportunities and adventures we went on and the memories made. Thank you so much for reading!
What an amazing adventure!
Those sloths......❤❤ such cool places you stayed at!!