Puerto Viejo

I didn't expect to spend as much time as I did in Costa Rica as I did but I did have a fantastic time. Met and spent time with some wonderful people, saw amazing landscapes, gained a new appreciation on travel, cold showers and life in general. Now it was time to move on. Puerto Viejo was one of the top places I wanted to visit in Costa Rica. It is a very common place to visit when crossing over to Panama.
I knew it would be more expensive to go on a shuttle but I was willing to pay for the convenience and security since it was really my first long distance travel on really on my own. I went online and requested a seat on a shuttle from Alajuela to the hostel in Puerto Viejo. The cost was $35 and it was a seven hour ride. Its still difficult for me to wrap my head around taking seven hours to drive 80km but that's the terrain of Costa Rica for you. I got an email back from the transportation company requesting that I pay with a credit card with the agreement that I would be refunded on the card in a week or so, since the bank transfer via PayPal would take a few days. I ended up coming down with a bad cold and was unable to make the bus the next morning and slept right through my deadline to call and cancel. Great. Now I have lost my $35 and will have to pay it again when I am ready to go. Fortunately I was only sick for a day and was ready to go the next day. When I emailed the transportation company and asked if the previous payment could be credited towards this trip, I was not surprised when I was denied. *I WAS surprised when I received an email from them about a week later explaining the PayPal transaction was completed and my credit card would be refunded. No complaints here.*
I normally do not prefer to stay in party hostels but I knew I would meet fellow travelers who were going to my next intended destination if I stayed at Rockin J's. Not to mention I received a raving review from Kelly about this place.

Rockin J's is a 'hammock hotel' right on the beach.

They are most known for the hammock rentals, which is basically a large open covered area with nothing but rows and rows of hammocks with lockers for your personal belongings.

If you don't want to sleep in a hammock, you can pitch your own tent, rent one of their tents or sleep in a bed in a proper room. I opted for the bed since I had been sick the day before but I could definitely sleep in a hammock on a regular basis. My bunk mates were Trine from Norway, Katey from UK and Shaun from California. Turns out we were all planning on Bocas del Toro for our next stop and we all had the same idea on transportation to get there.
Laying on the beach, soaking in the sun and salty air.

A different definition of beach front property.

The coconut man, Andres, who kept telling me how beautiful I was.

William, a really cool guy I met from San Jose that plays guitar, sings, loves Metallica and is in a band called Eternal.

Incredible decor.

Amazing sunsets over the Caribbean Sea.

Winding trails through the woods that ran parallel to the beach and the main street through town.

Sloths in the trees.

We sat on the beach late at night and listen to the guys sing, play guitar with the ever soothing background of the crashing waves. Only bad thing is I got probably 200 sand flea bites and my legs looked horrible for the next two weeks.

There were all ages of travelers staying at Rockin J's including an 79 year old man who was riding a home made bicycle around and writing a book about it, a family with their two small children and all ages in between.

PURA VIDA!! Hasta luego Costa Rica!!

Playa Nosara

Kelly is a writer for the Tico Times and the Voice of Nosara and was asked to cover the making of a film. Tico film director, Miguel Gomez, was filming his newest work, El Fin. She invited Max and I to go with her for a weekend of work and fun in Playa Nosara. The three of us piled in the front seat of Max's single cab, stick shift Ford Ranger and we were on our way.

It's about a seven hour driveand about half way through, I decided we would all be more comfortable if I made a bed in the shell of the truck and laid down and watched a movie. We stopped at a convenice store and before we even walked in, we stopped this guy and asked him for a photo because we thought his shirt was so funny. Even more funny was that there was a good chance he didn't know what it meant.

Josh and Marcia welcomed us at Hostel Refugio Sol in Playa Pelada. They are friends of Kelly and Max who moved down to Costa Rica from Savannah, GA to open this hostel. There's a calming garden, a bar, furniture made of wood and hammocks that line the front of the hostel and it's only a ten minute walk to the beach.

We had breakfast the next morning at Olga's, walked down the beach and went over to Playa Nosara through a shortcut in the woods:

The beaches aren't crowded. They're perfect.

There are sand dollars everywhere.

Costa Rica seems to have horses everywhere, especially on the beaches.

Monkeys.

That afternoon, Max and I went with Kelly and Marcia to the filming. Since the girls wanted ot take the golf cart, Max thought it would be a good idea to follow them in the truck just in case he wanted to leave early.

This part of the filming was set in an abandoned resort called Hotel Villaggio on Playa Pavones.

It was obviously vacant for some time but when I saw it, my mind went running wild with images of how incredible this place was when it was active and how amazing it would be if someone wanted to put some time and effort into reviving it.

There were multiple buildings that used to be sleeping quarters.

A pool.

What used to be an outside bar.

It was right on the water and I was mesmerized.

Kelly was interviewing the cast and crew between scenes and we were all getting a really good inside scoop on the movie and the ideas behind it.

There is so much that goes into filming, especially when it is taking place outside. It started raining a few times and they had to start over each time.

After a few hours of watching and interacting with everyone involved in the filming, we all headed back to the hostel.

Apparently, the golf cart was not fully charged before they took it out and it died about half way back. Luckily, Max had some tow straps in the truck and hooked them up so we could all get home.

Max explained that they needed to make sure they stayed behind the truck far enough so that the straps remain tight...

aaannnddd the straps broke when Marcia got too close to the truck and the strap went under the tire of the golf cart and SNAP!!

We had to tie it back together to get it back to the hostel.

That night, a group of us got together at the hostel for dinner, drinks, video games on the projector and to go out on the town.

Kelly and I got all purtied up to go out after she had me buy a dress and some heels, seeing as how I didn't have any going out clothes.

Good times at Tropicana where everyone got to shake a lil some'

Our last day was filled with morning pool time at the Green Iguana with some poolside jugo and lunch, the final filming pieces, photos and interviews of El Fin with a beautiful sunset...

Too bad Kelly has to get back to work... I could waste a lot of time just relaxing here.