puerto viejo, costa rica

my incredibly kind, and dashingly handsome, roommate alejo, invited me to costa rica with him to escape the cold, snowy DC weather and to visit his friends brian and yency.  how could i say no?  we arrived into san jose, then hopped an $8, 4.5 hr bus ride to puerto viejo - a little town on the caribbean coast.  we arrived early evening and stopped at brian and yency’s restaurant ‘loco natural’ for the YUMMIEST food and my very first ‘guaro sour’. i shared a sip or three of alejo’s pina colada too. i mean, a girls gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…

the next morning, i woke to this vew from my bed at 'casa de miguel’ (yency’s brothers house. gracias miguel!)  eyes open to sunshine, warmth, tropical foliage and… LIFE.

                         

 

fresh fruit for breakfast and we were off to the beach, which is just a short walk across the road :

 

 

there were dogs cruising the beaches and hanging with us while we frolicked. i loved it, so did alejo, as you can see :)  the labs in the second photo are actually fishing! it was amazing!  bijou could totally do that.  totally.

 

brian and yencys dogs canela and flaco would come with us to the beach and wait while we surfed. love that.  heres canela nuzzling her way in for as many pets as alejo would give up:

 

besides surfing and lazing about on the beach with the doggies; we spent our days biking up and down the coast exploring and taking in the natural beauty of this AMAZING place - where the jungle greets the sand:

 

one afternoon, we rode south to manzanillo, just a stones throw from the panama border, for some fresh fruit smoothies and a quiet spot to relax and read/write.  YUM:

 

as ‘ALICE’ says in her famous movie:    ‘when i get home, i shall write a book about this place’:

this kitty was trying to sneak some of my smoothie. check that devilish glare:

puerto viejo is new on my list of ‘favorite places’, and i get the feeling it will stay high in the ranks for a while.

i love the caribbean flavor of the town with its brightly colored buildings:

but of course, the part that really makes a place special is its people.  i knew that any friend of alejos would have to be a good soul, but brian and yency proved to be much more than that. what amazing spirits. so much love for their friends, family, coworkers, and the beautiful life that surrounds them.  the good news: its infectious!

pura vida.