Puerto Viejo es me amor nuevo...

Oh where do I start about Puerto Viejo?! I loved the beaches, the ocean, the music, the laidback atmosphere and the beautiful people.
We spent the weekend of the 7th at a bungalow style hotel in Puerto Viejo.
We visited a library in Limon on the way to the Caribbean and a local man by the name of Mr. Barton gave us a presentation on the culture, customs and history of the many people who make up the population there.
After that visit we got a tour of the local Dole Banana Plantation.
During the day we also had the pleasure of getting a personal tour of a local Cocoa plantation run by the indigenous women of Limon, the Bribri-Cabecar.
The following two nights consisted of dinner, shopping, beachlaying, coconut sipping and lots of late night dancing! I got to meet some locals that I really enjoyed my time with.
We ended our weekend excursion with a stop at a local Botanical Garden where I took the most amazing pics of my trip thus far...

¡TERREMOTO!

In other news...I got to experience my first major earthquake today in Costa Rica! It was a very scary and thrilling experience...I'm just glad there were no major injuries, deaths or damages so far....
7.6 magnitude earthquake shakes Costa Rica - ContraCostaTimes.com

Mas aventuras...

In the last few days I have been very busy here in and around the town of Turrialba.
Over the weekend we visited a small village where a very special event to the Catholic community was taking place. The people made a pilgrimage to return an image of a virgin woman to one of the churches in the town and join together for communion. There was also a parade and art made from flowers.
We also visited the valley city of Orosi to tour the very first church constructed in Costa Rica.
Below are pictures of both churches and a little animal who is the cousin of our American raccoon, called a Cotumandi or Coati.