Reggae, Bike Rides and Amazing Food

Trip Start May 20, 2009

Trip End Aug 13, 2009

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Where I stayed

Totem Hotel Beach Resort Puerto Viejo (aka. Totem Hotel Resort And Restaurant)

(Puerto Viejo hotels)

Flag of Costa Rica Puerto Viejo, Limón, Costa Rica
Thursday, June 25, 2009

Puerto Viejo was a cool spot with some pretty good beaches and consistent Reggae beat coming out of every bar and restaurant. We ate some incredible food, although I'm sure it can be partly attributed to the fact that we had been eating essentially the same tastes for the last 5 weeks at the hotel in Sarapiqui so anything new was a welcomed change! Some of the standouts were Loco Natural, Cafe Viejo, Chili Rojo and Maxi's all the way down at Playa Manzanillo. OUr first day was spent just chillin and getting settled at our hotel. By the time we were ready to go out, we spent some time at Cafe Viejo, had a local buy us some drinks and welcome us to his town and got a real good vibe right off the bat. Kim was exhausted and called it an early night and I of course was not ready to end the night so I headed out with some of the guys from the show for some reggae at a place that could not be closer to the ocean, called Johnny's Place. There was dancing indoors and then there was a huge outdoor area, right on the sand, with the waves lapping literally at your feet. Really good night with lots of dancing and drinking

The Ride from Cocles to Manzanillo

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The next day, Kim and I rented bikes and we set out on a bike ride towards Playa Manzanillo. What we knew is that we were up for a scenic ride past several beaches and roadside cafes/restaurants. What we didnt know was that it was about 11 km one way! So needless to say, we rode and we rode and we rode some more and FINALLY made it to Manzanillo, which was less than impressive. Fortunately, there was this amazing restaurant there called Maxi's which made the trip worthwhile and we scarfed down some incredibly fresh seafood dishes. On the way back we stopped at several of the beaches that we breezed past on the way to Manzanillo like Punta Uva and ultimately made it back to Playa Cocles, where our hotel was, for the sunset. That night we ran into a bunch of friends from the show and had dinner with them at Chili Rojo. After dinner it was back to Johnny's where we did a lot of the same as the night before.

Our last day was a little disappointing as we had to deal with banking stuff so most of the day was spent in town on pay phones and at the internet cafe. We managed to get a little bit of beach time toward the end of the day, but other than that it was an uneventful day. Our last night in Puerto Viejo was great. We went back to Cafe Viejo and had an incredible meal and then headed off to the bar on the corner where there was live reggae. We listened to this guy who sounded just like Bob singing all of his best tracks. Then a few guest MC's and vocalist got on stage and sang along with him and a couple of them were quite good. We called it a night after a very good last impression of PV and geared up for our departure for Bocas the next morning.

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