Puerto Viejo

5. May: It was a sweaty night. They did have mosquito nets but thankfully there was no need for them. They had a ceiling fan (which was practically useless since it hardly turned very fast) and a table fan, which was so-so. I slept without a T-shirt to make it bearable. I took a shot of the Cola mixture, which I had bought in Guatemala, but I'm not really sure if it works.

We walked towards the beach for a coffee and stopped at a rickety 'Soda' place. I had a Mango/Milk Batitda drink, which was quite good. We walk back to get some more of the Mint biscuits we had had last night and then we're off to the beach. The first part of the beach is white and then it turns into jet black with great mixtures in-between. This was the first large patch of black sand I've ever seem and it is wonderful.

Jet-black sand at Puerto Viejo beach	Black Sand meets white sand at Puerto Viejo beach

We stop at a sunshade-hut in the middle of the bay. The water is nice to swim in, the black sand is exceptionally hot and not really possible to walk on without sandals. The water is warm on the top and has cooler layers below. I'm a bit concerned about sharks (perhaps from the report that there were sharks in the waters off Tortuguero). There are few people to be seen, I'm very lazy and have a bit of warm breath (must have caught a minor cold or something).

Lunch Restaurant has directions to all sorts of faraway cities	Vultures prefer to walk on Puerto Viejo road

We have lunch at the restaurant which is just across the road from the hut (I guess the hut has been built by the restaurant owner), I have Bombay Chicken, in a place run by a seemingly American woman. It is a nice place, although the food was just good, not excellent like at Tamara's. Annewien slept a lot, she's not feeling too well, poor girl.

After that we went back to the hotel to defecate (!), pack our stuff and then we head off on foot to the south in the direction of Cocles beach. It's a nice walk along the road at first, then we cross over to the sandy beach. There are so many crabs along the road and in the grass and bushes on the side of the road. Remains of many more lie on the road, crushed by vehicles.

Cocles beach has a bit grainier, although whiter sand. There is an rock-island to be seen at the place where we crossed to the beach, and we walked a long way on the beach till a river inlet didn't allow us to go any further with our small rucksacks. Since dusk is gradually creeping on us we decide to return, by the time we are back in Puerto Viejo, it is practically dark.

We are amazed to meet the two American guys from our Catamaran Trip in Guatemala while strolling on the street into town. They're thinking of going to Colombia and then on to Venezuela.

We're counting our Colones money to make sure we don't have too much when we leave the country, since it is practically worthless outside. We check out e-mail at the local Internet shop and then decide to go for some pizza. The first place we tried was expensive and had too many people, the second was better, although the young black waitress had a brain like a sieve and was quite a pain. Annewien is tired and wants to go back to the hotel, I'm keep to see a free live Reggae Festival in progress on a large ground behind town. Puerto Viejo is overflowing with young people from all over Costa Rica, who are here to see the concert. The band is very good and they do play world-class Reggae. A lot of beer is being drunk (a main sponsor seems to be a beer company) and I'm a bit concerned about youth violence.

Continue to 6.5 Trip to Bocas del Toro (Panama)