Puerto Viejo :)

So we left Friday and returned today from Puerto Viejo, which is a beach town on the opposite/Caribbean side of the country, very close to Panama. This trip included some of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen, my photos won't do nature her justice. We went snorkeling and went on a walk through a national park. There were 2 sharks in the areas we snorkled!!! One was a Nurse shark (yay!) and I didn't catch the type of the other one. There were also sooo many beautiful fish and coral and the water was so clear. In the national park we saw a lot of different animals, includng monkeys that came right over our heads to say hello. After we did all that we went and saw how the indigenous Costa Ricans used to make different products out of Cocoa, most importantly chocolate :) It was a great demonstration. We had really great food all weekend, including "Beans and Rice" which is different than frijoles y arroz because the Caribbean Costa Ricans cook what they call "beans and rice" with coconut milk, so it sweetens the meal. At night we practiced what little salsa and meringue dancing skills we have at the salsa bar next to our hotel, also so fun!! Personally, I think  most Americans don't dance enough!  It was an amazing weekend and I couldn't help but feel thankful the whole time :)

Pura vida!!!

Nicole

Bananas:

 Our hotel:

 Heading to snorkel:

 

Un Mono:

 Iguana:

 Yucky bug pretty color:

 Beach we went to today:

 The inside of these flowers is used to make dye:

 Lizard:

 Pretty flowers:

 Sloth!:

Learning about Cocoa:

 Grilled fish with fried platanos:

 La Playa :)