We settled into our amazing little place very quickly. Puerto Viejo is a small surfing town, and despite it being off season was still quite busy. That said once you leave the centre of town and head to any of the beaches 5-10 minutes away, you are surrounded by beautiful sand and surf with not a lot of people around. The perfect mix, if what what your looking for is hustle and bustle, or peace and quiet you are sure to find it.
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| Our pet for the week "Kitty" she was on our balcony all week, the girls wanted to take her home. |
Most people get around on bicycles as everything is fairly close, we decided to not rent a car until we left here and rented 3 bikes for the week (Anneka squeezed on with Johnny). Our cautious Nellie- Liv was at first very concerned there was no helmet for her, but after an afternoon of cycling around she loved the freedom of not wearing one (my nerves never quite went away however and we always kept her between the two of us).
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| Cruising with our new friends on our preferred method of transportation ..only really scary at night when there are no lights! |
Throughout the last few years I have been part of a Facebook group for travelling families. Basically it is a forum where we can share advice, tips and ask questions. It has been a huge part of our planning for this trip as well as a continuous support network as we go from place to place. The best part of us being in Puerto Viejo was we connected with another travelling family. It is amazing how close you can become with someone in such a short time. Our new friends are from Belgium (living in Portland) and like us they decided to take their 3 kids and explore the world for a year.
An Stephen, Vincent, Matthias and Elyse, we are THRILLED we met you and hope to see you somewhere else along the way. We spent the week enjoying each others company and were very sad when it was time to say goodbye. To make the week even more special there was another family (hi to Jo, Dan and Esme) staying at our hotel that we quickly invited into our fold and spent the evenings drinking and chatting while the kids ran around...pure bliss!
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| Belgium meets UK meets Canada |
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| the kids |
Many of my friends want to know what we REALLY do on a day to day basis. This really depends on how long we have in a place. We decided to not do a ton in Puerto Viejo- enjoy the local beaches (there are many) and take in a few sites. Livy's birthday fell halfway through our week here, you may remember me mentioning that Liv has been really feeling homesick so we were trying to figure out how to make it really special. She has been begging me to take her horseback riding so I found a place that had great ratings (Caribe Horse) that would take us for an hour and a half ride in the jungle and on the beach. I also booked her into the spa for her first ever massage that afternoon. That evening we went to a local Italian restaurant for some delicious food and of course birthday cake! The De Leeuw's were able to join us and the kids even made Livy some beautiful birthday gifts for her to open. It felt so festive and Liv went to sleep that night very happy (she said she really felt like the day was special and "not just another day in paradise").
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| Happy Birthday to you! |
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| Caribe Horse tour- pretty reasonable-great with kids (I could barely walk after I got off but that is another story) |
The rest of the week past by in a blur. Lots of beach time, Playa Cocles and Playa Uva (our favourite), snorkeling, swimming, visiting a local waterfall, a chocolate tour with Caribeans (totally worth it)...and our absolute favourite, visiting the Jaguar Rescue Center (while you can't touch the animals here you get quite up close and personal all the while learning about the animals and the center itself) .
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| While snorkeling Liv touched a "Bearded Fire Worm" and got a nasty sting! The locals told her to stick her finger in a tomato for instant relief |
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| Playa Cocles |
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| Jaguar Rescue Center: a baby ant eater |
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| Jaguar Rescue Center: baby Howler |
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| Jaguar Rescue Center: Baby sloth |
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| Eating the fruit right from the Cacao plant (the cacao seed is in the center) |
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| Dried cacao ready for chocolate! |
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| Poison dart frog on our walk up to the Cacao farm |
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| Local waterfall |
We really loved our time spent in Puerto Viejo, I think a combination of great weather, an amazing hotel and new friends made this a perfect week. Traveling off season is a bonus as prices are often negotiable and there are very little crowds.
