Midterm Break: Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Toro

I was surprised to find that there were only eight of us staying in San Jose for the first night of break. The hotel we stay at whenever we’re in San Jose is pretty far from where we stayed during our homestays so we weren’t familiar with the bus system there. This meant we spent far more than we intended taking taxis to buy bus tickets for the following day and finding a place to eat. Being so far from everything we didn’t want to go back out in the evening and we were leaving early the next day. We didn’t have anything to do so regretted not bringing our computers and not leaving with the 2:30 bus earlier that day.

We woke up the next morning around 5 to take the 6:30 bus to Monteverde. Around 6:20 someone walked into the waiting area and informed us that the bus would not be running. He couldn’t tell us whether the 2:30 bus (the only other one scheduled for that day) would go. Now we really regretted not leaving the day before. We didn’t want to wait another day in San Jose and heard some English speakers talking about going to Puntarenas and then taking a bus to Monteverde from there. Some guys volunteered their cars to take us to the other bus station. If only all the buses left from the same station. So we took him up on the offer although we were a bit sketched out and may’ve paid more than it was worth. We finally got on the bus for Puntarenas which was packed and fortunately managed to situate ourselves right in front of a child who threw up multiple times. We hung out in the bus station for four hours until we found out that the bus to Monteverde wasn’t going to come. A guy and his son came up to us with a torn up map offering us advice about how to get to Monteverde but we weren’t convinced that it would work. They kept following us everywhere trying to tell us where to go which was frustrating because we didn’t want their help. As we were leaving they asked for money. I felt bad when we didn’t pay them but we were already annoyed about losing lots of money on bus tickets and I had prepaid the hostel in Monteverde. Realistically a few dollars probably wouldn't have set us back much. Maybe we were just being stingy tourists. Wanting to escape the rain we decided to go back to San Jose and then to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast, where we had been planning on going at the end of break.

The hostel we stayed at that night in San Jose (Hostel Pangaea) was really nice. For $13 we had key card access to our room and really nice new facilities and hot showers. There was also a bar and restaurant that looked out over the pool and the city. The only downside was that it was pretty cold and the hostels tend to only provide a single sheet. The next morning we left at 5:30. It was quite a relief when we were finally on the bus. When we arrived in Puerto Viejo it was super hot and humid and we had to walk over a kilometer to our hostel with our bags. We dropped our stuff off in our room and headed straight to the beach.

That evening we met up with some other girls from our program for dinner and then hung out at our hostel. The place had been swarming with people when we arrived but apparently it cleared out during the week (it was Monday) because there was hardly anyone there that night.

Punta Uva beach in Puerto Viejo

I suppose turning 21 in Costa Rica seemed a little bit anticlimactic. But having vacation and spending the day on the beach was an unexpected benefit. That never happens during October in New England. After going for a run we ate breakfast at a little restaurant where I had eggs benedict and a passionfruit smoothie. Then we rented bikes and biked half an hour to the beach. It was my favorite biking geography – so flat that the bikes didn’t even need gears. On our way back we stopped at a delicious organic restaurant/market. We had more smoothies- this time almond milk (which I hadn’t had since I left the states) with papaya and shared an incredible plate of lasagna, salad and garlic bread. It seems that at nearly every restaurant there’s an American who came and then never left. It’s a pretty cool place but I’m not sure it’s for me… it’s almost too laid back. The next day included more time on the beach and at least one more smoothie (the best food for the hot weather).  

The following morning we headed to Bocas Del Toro in Panama. We again experienced positive discrimination at the border since the couple from Israel who was traveling in the same van with us had to have our bags searched. We were waiting in line too but when they found out we were from the United States they let us go.

At our hostel we told the woman at the front desk that we were waiting for four friends. There was another guy at the desk who was also waiting for four friends. It turned out we were waiting for the same people. He had been neighbors with one of the girls in our group in New Mexico but was from Panama and living there. We got pizza for lunch for fairly cheap. It was nice not to have to do currency conversions but weird to be paying in dollars again and even stranger to get US change back. After using colones for so long quarters look TINY!!

That afternoon the others arrived. After we had dinner people on the street came up to us with a bunch of flyers advertising whatever events and bar specials were going on that night. It seems like it’s lady’s night at some bar somewhere every night so we drank pretty much for free. This town doesn’t seem like it’s dead even on weeknights. I’ve never been to a typical spring break event but I’d imagine this is somewhat similar. The bars are even directly on the water. One is called Barco Hundido (sunken ship) and it’s actually built around a small ship. You can even jump in and swim around it if you don’t mind getting wet. From there you could see another bar across the water. We had to take a water taxi to get there.

During the day on Friday and Saturday we took boat tours and explored the other islands of Bocas. We saw dolphins and macaws, went snorkeling, and later got dropped off at what was nearly a private beach. It was unbelievably gorgeous. My favorite was riding the motor boat. In the US I think I’ve been trained not to like them because of the noise and fuel pollution. Among the people I know there seems to be a preference for kayaks and canoes, but I’m not going to lie, I was a big fan of the motor boat. Having the wind and water spray across your face is a really enjoyable feeling.

A lot of people seem to be traveling around together. We saw one woman who had been trying to get to Monteverde at our hostel in Puerto Viejo. Others who were at Puerto Viejo we saw in Bocas. Some people even were traveling alone but met up and befriended groups of people wherever they go. A lot of them were Europeans taking a year off before university. It’s an interesting lifestyle but I’m glad it only lasts a week for us.

See the dolphin fin?

It’s incredible how focused this town is around tourism. I talked to a local Panamanian for a bit who complained to me that no one stays in Panama. Everyone just seems to be on vacation from Costa Rica. I suppose that is a valid point. He made fun of the Costa Ricanisms too like “Eh, mae! Pura vida.” It’s interesting how different the Spanish is from country to country. I think the worst is the different verb conjugations like vos and vosotros. Although Australian and British English sound different and there are some minor regional differences within the United States at least we don’t change our verbs.

The cat calls here and in Puerto Viejo were about equivalent to those in Nicaragua. They kind of dissuade me from running on my own. Also, being in Central America, particularly outside of the city, has made me more aware of my Asian appearance. First of all there weren’t many Asians in Costa Rica and I don’t think I saw any when we were in Nicaragua or Puerto Viejo. There were surprisingly a lot in Bocas del Toro but I’ve been told that the construction of the canal made Panama somewhat of a mixing pot. Getting referred to on the bus or street as China/Chinita and then being greeted by ni hao in Bocas aren’t things that I expect in the US. I wouldn’t say I minded but I definitely noticed that there isn’t quite the focus on being political correct as there in the US, or at least not in super liberal Amherst, MA. Later on in the semester while I was running some guys pretended to speak Chinese. I didn’t appreciate that.

We spent Sunday getting back to San Jose. Although the week in the heat and on the beach had been fun the cool temperature of San Jose was a welcome change.