Costa Rica - Pura Vida! Caribbean side & short trip to Panama

Lofalitsidwa: 30.05.2017

After Lake Arenal, we had a slightly longer drive ahead of us. We wanted to go to the Caribbean side, to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. We drove for about 6-7 hours. Here, you are in a completely different world. The Afro-Caribbean culture and Caribbean atmosphere are very prominent here. Reggae music is playing in every bar. When we arrived, we had some trouble finding accommodation. We arrived in the evening and looked at a lot of places to stay, but none of them appealed to us. Even though we're not really picky. Then I looked in the travel guide and found a place to stay run by a German. The accommodation was called 'Monte Sol'. It was perfect. A very nice place to stay. Small cabins with shared showers or private bathrooms. They didn't serve breakfast, but that wasn't a problem. There's also a bakery on the street. Currently, their website says they serve breakfast. Maybe they just introduced it recently. The next morning, we went straight to the breathtaking beaches. There are white and black beaches right next to each other. I felt like I was in paradise. My friend took a surf lesson at one part of the beach. He really wanted to try it out. It actually went pretty well in the end :D. We laid our towels under a tree and actually saw our first sloth up close. It was hanging in the tree and was relaxed, like every sloth. My friend climbed up the tree and took some photos. It even smiled at the camera :P.

In the small fishing village, there is also a 'Centro de Rescate Jaguar'. This is home to animals that have been injured, for example. At the rescue center, the animals are nursed back to health and can recover. When they are feeling better, the animals are released back into the wild. Baby monkeys that have lost their mothers are also raised here. The center also has a piece of rainforest. During their break, the staff take the monkeys to the forest for a few hours and let them run around in nature. The monkeys then come back to the center on their own with the people. We were guided by a German-speaking girl. She also told us that one monkey escaped once and opened the enclosure for all the other monkeys :D. There are also snakes, various bird species, a deer, frogs, cougars, otters, and sloths at the center.

We were told that from Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, you can take a short trip to Panama. And it's really easy. From Puerto Viejo, it's only about 40 km to the Panama border. The place at the border is called Sixaola. You can park your car in a guarded parking lot here. Important: bring your passport! A river separates Panama and Costa Rica. You basically just have to cross a bridge and you're in Panama. Of course, you have to get stamped out of Costa Rica and stamped into Panama beforehand. But that usually goes quickly. From there, we took a shuttle bus. We wanted to go to the 'Bocas del Toro' islands. We took the bus to Almirante and from there, we took small boats to the 'Bastimento' island. We were at Red Frog Beach. It's called that because there are actually red frogs hopping around here. We stayed at the 'Palmar Beach Lodge' accommodation. We slept in a small safari tent. We were in Panama for a total of 3 days. The accommodation was right on the beach. Food and drinks were a bit cheaper than in Costa Rica. We went on a snorkeling tour and took a boat to a deserted island. The beach was beautiful. And the water was wonderfully warm. Otherwise, we explored the island a bit and went to different beaches. That's pretty much it for Panama. We were only there for 3 days.

Back in Costa Rica: Since we still had some time, we took a slight detour back to the Pacific side, to Manuel Antonio National Park. We stayed in a hostel, which is very typical. We shared the room with 6 other people. Since we were only there for 2 nights, it was okay for us. After all, you only sleep in the room. And it's much cheaper. The hostel was called 'Manuel Antonio Backpacker Hostel'. Very well-maintained with a large kitchen for cooking. They also serve breakfast here. The Manuel Antonio Park is really beautiful. We saw a lot of animals this time too. The park also has a beach. The beach itself is nice, but unfortunately, it's overcrowded. Many people only go to the park to lie on the beach. We didn't let it bother us and hung our hammocks in the trees. You should also be very careful with your belongings and food here. There are raccoons that like to steal your things.