After our delicious breakfast at Miss Edith’s, and a French press coffee at the local bakery in Cahuita (see Part 1), we were beyond fueled. Luckily our little car kept its wheels on the ground (because we were ready to take off) and got us down the road to Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is the main destination for tourists on the Caribbean Coast, so you see a lot of Americans, Canadians and Europeans. As for the locals, there is more of a Rasta vibe here. You’ll see people of color adorned with dreads and Jamaican colors playing Reggae and Calypso music. We bought a couple CDs that ended up being our soundtrack for the drive home.
Since we didn’t have a reservation for the night, our first stop was to secure our lodgings. We ended up at the very nice Casa Verde Lodge, which is pretty reasonable and has a great pool. It also has the advantage of being right in town, though on a quiet street, so if you’re planning to hit up the restaurants and bars, you can just stumble on home at the end of the night. Unfortunately our day in Puerto Viejo was on a Wednesday, and we learned later there wasn’t too much going on until the weekend. I recommend you plan your trip for a Friday or Saturday and experience the music and dancing scene – and take me with you!
Once settled we took a drive through Puerto Viejo and then out to Manzanillo, which is the last town in this stretch of the Coast.
Beach in Manzanillo
Arturo has arrived
“
Our friends insisted we try Maxi’s, which is really one of the only places selling anything here. It has a cool “clubhouse” vibe and the walls are lined with soccer shirts.
Maxi's of Manzanillo
“
Once again we got the pescado entero, and this time we had our camera with us so you can see what it looks like.
Pescado entero - muy rico (very rich and delicious)
On the side - Caribbean rice and beans, salad and a margarita
“
After lunch we crashed on the beach for a bit, then explored some other nearby beaches.
Una playa circa de Punta Uva (a beach near Punta Uva)
Arturo doing a great Buddha impression
“
On the way back to our lodgings (the pool beckoned), we met this friend in the trees.
A Sloth!!
“
He pointed the way to a stop we just could not miss, which is called Chocorart. It’s a cacao bean farm that makes artisan chocolate sold all over the country. In their store we ordered a cacao bean juice (very refreshing, if somewhat odd) and two of their cigar-like chocolates. Each color represents a different flavor.
Cacao bean juice
Cigar-like chocolate
Chocorart chocolates - blue=coconut, brown="crunchy" (with cacao nibs)
“
After eating one of the chocolates, we promptly returned to the store and bought 20 more. For “gifts.” Of course.
For dinner we enjoyed sitting in the outside lounge area of Koki Beach with guacamole and yucca chips (wow), then headed to Flip-Flop for sushi (ok sushi, but fun vibe – next time I would order something else on the menu).
Rounding out our tour of Puerto Viejo, we stopped in for breakfast at Bread and Chocolate, which we both highly recommend. And they offer some good words of advice, which tells you a little bit about the vibe in this town…
As a consideration to your fellow patrons...
“
Stay tuned for Part 3: BriBri Land!
Discussion
No comments yet.