In Costa Rica most tourist go to Monteverde, Arenal Volcano,
Tramarindo Beach, etc., all of which are to the north of San Jose, but few go
to Limon (Limon is considered the entire Caribbean cost of Costa Rica). I was not terribly concerned about
making special trip to Limon if apparently it was not that great. Boy, did I make the wrong
assumption! A friend of Wirlan’s
wife, Vincio, was in-between jobs and applying for volunteer work in the UK so
he offered to help Wirlan out with marketing work and dealing with selling to
businesses before he leaves for the UK. Prior to Vincio, we call him Vini, arrival I had my own
office and there is plenty of space for another person in my office so he was
placed with me. Initially I was a
little bummed about this… who does not want to have their own office? However, after nearly 5 months in exile
in my office at work haha it was really nice to have someone to talk to! Vini’s English is pretty good and he
likes talking to me to improve his English skills… this justifies me blabbing
to him haha One day we were
talking about food in Costa Rica and how I was getting a little (a lot) sick of
plain white rice and beans and how the food is so bland here. Vini understood and said that in the southern Caribbean area
of Costa Rica they used more spices and use coconut milk in their rice and
beans! I then asked where I could
eat that here in San Jose and he said that there are a couple of restaurants
but it is not the same that I should go to Puerto Viejo, Limon (old port) to try it. I explained that I do not have a car
and joked saying, when are we going!? Haha and he followed through! Vincio, his friend Dyane and I went to
Puerto Viejo, Limon on Saturday!
It is about a 4 hour drive to Puerto Viejo but only about 100
miles. The one highway that goes
through Limon has to go through the mountains, rainforest, etc. is very curvy
and narrow. The road is well known
for being the most dangerous road in Costa Rica… no worries, I lived to speak
of it and in my experience it was not that bad but I could see if you were
driving to fast you could very easily get into an accident.
Puerto Viejo is the far right hand corner of Limon less than 30 kilometers from the border with Panama.
On our way to Puerto Viejo we drove through Braulio Carrillo National Park/Nature Reserve that was absolutely Amazing! We were literally driving on a “highway” (two lane poorly paved bumpy road) in the middle of the rainforest! I was in awe! I went to the rainforest in Australia and was relatively disappointed and same to the rain forest in Northern Costa Rica but this is exactly what I pictured when I think of a Rain Forest! I was like a little kid living my dream! Vini and Dyane kept asking if I wanted to stop and take pictures but pictures would not have done it justice they continued on with me in the back seat with my head out the window like a dog in heaven. We did stop at Rio Sucio, Dirty River, to take some pictures.
A little path in the Rain forest to Rio Sucio.
One is blue the other is brown...
Costa Ricans are extremely creative with the names of their
towns and rivers. At one point at
work I had to go through the different towns in Costa Rica and boy are they
repetitive, with their favorites being San Rafael and Concepcion, there are 9
of latter and 6 of the former. They
are also just as creative with the rivers in Costa Rica. Some rivers that I have seen… Rio
Banana Norte, Rio Banana Sur, Rio Sucio, Rio Blanco, Rio Negro, and even a Rio
Concepcion to follow up on one of their favorite town names! Vinico, Dyane and I were joking abou this every time we passed a river with a boring name or towns with the same name.
When we are driving into the “heart of Limon” the biggest
city in Limon which is close to the Banana farms and other manufacturing
buildings, Vini says “there are a lot of black people in Limon”… leave it to
the blunt Ticos. So the only
response to that statement is, why? … Historically, Limon is the center for
Banana production in Costa Rica, which prior to tourism was the biggest aspect
to Costa Rica’s economy. In the
early 19th century, when the land was first declared a major Banana
production site many Americans moved there, you know to boss people around,
exploit the workers… the regular, and many Jamaicans were forced to move to
Costa Rica to work on the Banana farms and build a railroad for the transportation
of goods, people and mainly… Bananas.
Today, many of the residents in Limon have American last names, i.e.
Williamson, Anderson, Smith, ect. because of course the Americans gave them new
names with they forced them to come to Costa Rica. It was kind of strange seeing buildings that said Wilson and
Company or Smith’s Restaurante etc. while driving through the small city in
Limon.
Its like the Amazon! haha
And the Caribbean Ocean!
It’s a third world after all. Where I live in San Jose it is
apparent that some people do not live as well as other in Costa Rica and
especially not that of American standards but it still is not what one would
picture a third world/underdeveloped country to look like. However, when you drive outside you San
Jose it becomes far clearer that it is still an underdeveloped country,
especially in Limon. Limon is
considered one of the poorest parts of the country and it was quite evident
when we drove through the town that statement is true. Because the climate never gets old and
they only protect themselves from the rain some of the houses were virtually a
roof one wall and a few poles holding it up. The houses that had four walls were incredibly small and
probably still housed a small family.
There were no shopping centers or theme parks, etc. but oddly enough
there was a casino? For most parts
of San Jose being so developed it was really surprising to see the large social
disparity within a country.
The ocean in Limon is not as nice as the Pacific side of the
Country and it just looked kind of sad.
Before making our way to Puerto Viejo we stopped at Cahuita
National Park and walked around, climbed some trees, etc. Of course it was raining because we
were in the rain forest! … well and it is rainy season here haha
Oh. My. Best meal of my life! In Puerto Viejo we asked a few
locals where the best place to eat was and they all recommended Tamara’s. They had very typical Costa Rican food
but the rice and beans were cooked differently and they have different sauces
or should I say they actually use spices instead of bland food, no hard
feelings San Jose.
I apologize for the delayed update but when I do not travel it is pretty much just a regular weekend ... I can only write about soup and grocery stores so much! ;) I will probably be updating this one more time before I leave to come home on June 13th. Thank you for reading!
