The Horseshoe Journal: From Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo, and back

Ok, I have not been posting anything new since about two weeks ago. Reason is I have been on the road constantly, and when I had access to the internet, it was either too slow or I was just too tired to just type. This week I am staying home spending time with my family, because next week I am taking off to Nicaragua.

These past three weeks I visited Puerto Viejo, Bocas del Toro, Panama City, La Fortuna, Arenal Volcano, Bijagua, Rio Celeste near the Tenorio and Miravalles Volcanoes, and Manuel Antonio. My outdoor activities included zip linning, climbing down waterfalls, hiking in the rain forest, swimming in termal waters and in the warm waters of the Pacific.

It's gonna take me a few days to describe each trip one at a time. The pictures are already posted in Picasa, but it would make more sense to first read a description and then look at the albums.

Here is something new: Picture Contest. Vote for the best cover pictures after I have posted all five trips. The winner gets a picture of his/her choice, framed, and a surprise gift from Costa Rica on the mail anywhere in the world, for FREE!. Leave your vote with a name either in Facebook or in the comments box in my blog. I will pick the winner in a lottery when I am in Nicaragua. Good luck!

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is in the southern part of the Caribbean coast. The beaches are beautiful, the water is crystal clear, and there are plenty of spots for swimming, snorkeling and surfing. For those interested, this is a good place for bird-watching and hiking in the jungle. And very important, this town is way way way relaxed and very much Caribbean. There is reggae everywhere everyday, enough weed for everyone, people are easy going, and Limonese food is amazing.

On my second day I visited Kekoldi, a Bribri indigenous village in the mountainous reserve of Talamanca. They speak their own language, live off of the jungle rain forest and still maintain many of their social and cultural traditions from before the Spaniards arrived. Their homes are simple and have no electricity or running water, which they carry from a river nearby. Families and clans live separate from one another, and have meetings in the communal building every so often to discuss community affairs. On the negative side, the Bribri receive insuficient education and health care, and are among the poorest in the country. My visit was a great experience and I am sure we could learn a lot more from them to better understand nature and the world.

According to the UNICEF State of the World's Children 2011, there are eight major indigenous groups left in Costa Rica, with a total population of approximately 64,000. They all live in similar conditions as the Bribri, and struggle to maintain their way of life while defending their rights as Costa Rican citizens. This morning I saw an interview with Paolo Najera, an 18-year-old boy of the indigenous Terraba. He wrote an article in which he exposes the importance of "respect for [the indigenous people's] human rights [just as] every human being deserves in the world]. Click and check the following link to open a PDF file and read the article on page 12 and other stories: The State of the World's Children 2011.

William and his aunt, Dulce, took me around to show me the village and explore the mountain. William was trying to teach me some Bribri, and all I learned was "bish kena buai" (special marks missing), which roughly means "hello". They showed me many plants, flowers and seeds that the Bribri use for medicine and food ingredients. I also sucked in sugary water from plants and had really good fruit along the way. One of the most interesting foods I had was Cacao beans, fresh out of the fruit itself. The beans have a sweet white coat that looks like wet cotton and taste like a mix of orange, pineapple and cacao - very tasty!

There are a few organizations that assist the Bribri in many ways. Barry Stevens and Nanci Wright are co-founders of a program called El Puente from their home near one of the main entrances to the Bribri village of Kekoldi. They accept volunteers to assist them in various capacities in their school, food and microloan programs. On the day I arrived, I met Alejandro and had the opportunity to teach him how to say "Hello, my name is Alejandro" in English. He did a great job, and that made me feel very proud of him and myself.

During the week I spent a lot of time visiting beaches and looking for my spot. One day, I biked for 16 km (11.5 mi) each way from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo. In between there are two other beautiful beaches, Playa Punta Uva and Playa Cocles. These two are very nice and deserted. On the way to Manzanillo there are lots of birds, different types of trees and flowers, giagantic bambu forests, rivers, a wild life refuge and a chocolate factory. I visited a cacao plantation and learned how chocolate is made from scratch and only with natural ingredients. Once in Manzanillo I stopped for a Rondon Soup at Maxi's, a traditional dish from Limon. It is seafood cooked in coconut milk and Panamenian chile. It is spicy and hot, and it makes the strongest man sweat, but I like it a lot! I also had it at the restaurant in Sunrise Hostal where I stayed at, and it was really good as well. When checking for hostals, take a look at Sunrise first! For the a recipe and history of the Rondon Soup and other info about Puerto Viejo, click here.

Back in Puerto Viejo, something particular about this place is the amount of Europeans that come visit, different from the Pacific side which is mainly dominated by visitors from the US. Here, I met a fun group of Dutch, Belgians, British and Canadians. These guys are something else! On my last night, we went out for dinner at Chile Picante and I had the best ever Filet Mignon.... holy moley! Then we went to Mango for reggae, rock and a minimal amount of salsa music (this is the Caribbean, not Heredia!) Next morning I had a good conversation with Paul and John (UK), and we came to this conclusion:

Two observations:

1) Streets in Costa Rica are remarkably in bad conditions and not well marked since the locals rely on landmarks instead of the street and avenues system. In 2010, Puerto Viejo started using street signs, cortesy of the EU.

2) The government seems to be running a reliable education system. For starters, education is affordable, the literacy rate is among the highest in the world, and many speak at least a little bit of English.

Conclusion: the Europeans can come fix the roads, and the Costa Ricans can use the savings to keep investing in education. Deal!

I recommend coming to Puerto Viejo, and staying at one of the hostals, most of which give a lot of value for your money. The locals are ever present and proud of showing their culture. There are also plenty of oppotunities to do volunteer work with the Bribri, and to help preserve the wild life in Cahuita and the parks around Puerto Viejo. You can also rent a bike and chill on a tree trunk or a chair by the beach and have organic coffee at Bad Monkey or a cold birra (beer) and fries at Cafe Yvonne. At night you can head to Rock and Jay's, Mango, Picante, Tex-Mex, Johnny's and enjoy reggae, classical rock and other songs that get deep into the soul.

Ya Man!

I am a TESL certified instructor!

I took the course at IPED in Heredia, and after I came back from Puerto Viejo, did my last presentation and practice with a group of kids. Mike was my work-partner and we did a lesson on music rhythms and how to teach Salsa steps NY style in English. It was a lot of fun and we managed to make it interesting. At the end of the class Robin played the clarinet and performed a piece of his own.

Back in 2000 I had earned an English certificate from this languages school, and now a TESL certificate after 11 years. Pura Vida!

Photo album this week

Useful links (this can also be found in the paragraphs above)

The Horseshoe Journal

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

From Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo, and back

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