Monday 08 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Caribbean Costa Rica:
Trade a little luxury
for adventure and low
prices in Puerto Viejo
By Chris Gray
PUERTO VIEJO, Costa Rica
-- Rain-forest
zip-lining. White-water
rafting. Sea kayaking.
Surfing, hiking,
snorkeling.
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The lengthy list of
outdoor activities
posted at Banana Azul, a
beachside lodge just
outside this Caribbean
coastal town, would
please even the most
jaded adventure
traveler.
But Melani Gordon, 31,
an Internet marketing
entrepreneur from San
Diego, is ready for a
break.
"It's hammock time," she
says, grabbing
paperbacks and heading
toward the palm trees
beside a nearly deserted
Playa Negra.
Indeed, chilling out --
albeit amid crashing
surf and seaside jungles
rife with noisy howler
monkeys -- remains the
primary draw for
visitors to the
reggae-infused towns
that line Costa Rica's
southeastern shore.
Long a stop on the
Central American surfer
circuit, Puerto Viejo,
along with smaller beach
towns Cahuita and
Manzanillo, has always
attracted the
international
backpacking set. But now
an increase in midrange
lodging and restaurants,
coupled with continued
interest in the
country's adventure and
eco-tourism offerings,
are luring a more varied
crowd.
That's evident at places
such as Banana Azul, a
whimsically designed
open-air hotel that's
almost always full, even
in the off season.
(Unlike the Pacific
side, which can get
record rains in the
fall, the Caribbean
generally stays dry.)
Most guidebook authors
agree that the best
Italian food in the
country is served at La
Pecora Nera (the Black
Sheep), a restaurant
opened by an Italian
expatriate down the
bumpy coastal road in
Cocles. And in a nod to
those who seek
relaxation at the hands
of others, the first
Western-style spa --
Pure Jungle Spa,
offering products made
with indigenous cacao
and coconut -- opened at
La Costa de Papito
bungalow hotel in 2005.
Still, a trip here feels
like a well-kept secret:
Of the 1.8 million
visitors who come to
Costa Rica each year,
only 282,000 visit the
Caribbean side. While
Pacific Coast provinces
such as Guanacaste are
flush with condo towers,
gated communities and
luxury resorts, the
black and golden-sand
beaches stretching south
of Limon on the
Caribbean side remain
virtually development
free. Prices reflect the
difference: Restaurant
meals are $10-$20 a
person, and even the
more upscale hotels run
$50 to $90 a night.
And that's just fine
with most people who
already live here. In
Puerto Viejo, developers
tabled a proposal for a
luxury marina after
residents and
conservation groups
claimed the project
would erode the town's
laid-back dynamic and
nearby coral reefs.
Likewise, locals have
mixed feelings about
plans to pave the
pothole-ridden dirt
roads leading into
Puerto Viejo.
"It's inevitable, the
development, but it will
be slower here,
hopefully," says Kevin
Reilly, property manager
of Global Creek, one of
several yoga retreats
built in the jungle.
Isolation has pluses,
minuses
The area has its
drawbacks -- for one, a
reputation within the
country for crime.
The perception stems
mostly from economics.
The Limon province is
Costa Rica's poorest
region. The area is also
the most racially
diverse, populated by
descendents of
late-19th-Century
Jamaican immigrants who
lend the towns a rasta
vibe, as well as
indigenous tribes who
still lack electricity
in their hillside
villages.
Colin Brownlee, a
Canadian expatriate who
owns Banana Azul with
his Costa Rican partner,
Roberto Urena, says that
although crime does
occur in the area,
tourists who take
typical Third-World
travel precautions face
little risk -- and reap
the reward of uncrowded
beaches and abundant
wildlife sightings in
two national parks at
Cahuita and Manzanillo.
"The Disney set won't
come here," he says,
noting that most hotels
along the Caribbean
coast lack amenities
such as air
conditioning, pools or
golf courses. "It's not
for everyone."
For some, that's part of
the appeal. "I didn't
want to go where
everyone else was
going," says Charlie
Kitchell of Manchester,
N.H. "You got to have a
little adventure in you.
You can't be concerned
about perfection."
Kitchell, 49, found
adventure by rafting
through the Class III,
IV and V rapids of the
Pacuare River and
careering across a
zip-line nearly 500 feet
above the jungle floor.
Like many Americans,
he's partially searching
for the retirement Holy
Grail: a beachside
retreat that won't break
the bank.
"I need somewhere to
thaw out," says Kitchell,
a landscape company
owner who brought a copy
of Moon's "Living Abroad
in Costa Rica" on the
trip. "Someplace with
good food, good people.
And if I meet a
senorita, hey, all the
better."
Natural attractions
Other Americans come for
more humanitarian
reasons. Claire Trimer,
a forensic scientist
from Newport News, Va.,
visited Aviarios del
Caribe Sloth Rescue
Center on a day trip
when her cruise ship
stopped in Limon. She
was inspired by the
peaceful nature of the
slow-moving creatures,
continually at risk from
destruction of their
jungle habitat.
So when the opportunity
arose, Trimer sold her
house and moved to
Puerto Viejo to work
with the sloths full
time. "I'm convinced
I've added years to my
life coming down here,"
she says, stroking a
baby sloth. "These guys
are my new passion."
A few miles away in
Cahuita, sloths share
the trees with howler
monkeys, whose haunting
barks serve as wake-up
calls for active
travelers who come here
for surfing, fishing and
snorkeling at Cahuita
National Park. Centered
primarily on a single
street, Cahuita's
Caribbean heritage can
be seen in the
dreadlocked populace and
the buildings painted
reggae green, yellow,
red and black -- and
sniffed through the
aromas of
coconut-infused rondon
(soup) and jerk chicken.
A walk through Cahuita
National Park is like
taking a trip through a
natural pharmacy, as
guides point out herbal
remedies for coughs,
colds and stomach
troubles. Both here and
in the lush
Gandoca-Manzanillo
National Wildlife Refuge
down the coast, visitors
are warned against
touching the trees, to
avoid poison dart frogs
and eyelash vipers.
Leafcutter ants march
across the jungle floor,
building colonies that
rival nearby
basketball-sized termite
nests. A river otter
peeks around a tree
before scurrying into
the water.
Such natural attractions
were entertainment
enough for Melani Gordon
and her husband, Jeff,
28, who came to Banana
Azul with Melani's
parents, Vicki and Randy
Broman. The family had
traveled to Costa Rica's
Pacific side before, but
found themselves more
entranced with the
Caribbean, visiting a
native Bri Bri village,
hiking through the parks
and enjoying cheap
seafood at Puerto
Viejo's restaurants.
"My dad said this is
like Hawaii was 30 years
ago," Melani says. "My
mom wants to move here."
Says Jeff, downing an
Imperial beer in the
warm, humid air: "There
are times you don't need
an infinity pool or
swim-up bar." |
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