Obviously a lot has taken place since the last time I wrote...so I'll just try to cover the good stuff.
Sam and I, along with a student from Guatemala named Everardo, went a couple weekends ago to Puerto Viejo (ab 2 hours from here on the Caribbean coast) to help the Iguana Verde Foundation. They had been having trouble with local boys coming and trying to steal eggs or just kill the iguanas for sport, so we patrolled the iguana compounds/beach area for 2 days. The foundation is located on a beautiful strip of beach and we got to see so many iguanas! (Now I know that the one I see in my backyard here is an older male since he is an orangish color). Also saw my first sloth! We watched him just slowlyyyy reachhhh for the next branch of a tree. They have the funniest little faces and theyre cuter than I thought!
It was also a good weekend because Everardo didn't speak English, so Sam and I had no choice but to speak Spanish the entire time!
Male iguana at the foundation.
Takin a break
We didnt get to enjoy the actual town of Puerto Viejo since we were on the outskirts at the foundation, but it has the feel of the rasta Caribbean culture, with tiny restaurants facing the beach, live music and backpackers everywhere.
So Sam, Kaia and I, along with three 3rd year guys, Javier, Favio and Luis, decided to go for a weekend and just hang out on the beach. We stayed on Friday night at probably the best hostel I've ever been to. It wins mostly just because it was right on the beach, but it also had two levels- the ground level was just a ton of hammocks for rent, and the top level was rows and rows of tents. Kaia and I ended up staying in a little tent, but if we go back I think I've gotta try sleeping in a hammock for the night! We went out that night to a big party on the beach, danced with some rastas haha...then went to an after party with some people we had met from Sweden until around 3am. That's around the time I realized that I can't stay up late anymore! I'm so used to going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 6am here.
We had big plans to just lay on the beach all of Saturday, but it raineddddd. All day! Sunday we walked through the muddy trails of the rainforest to a beautiful part of Manzanillo beach that we had all to ourselves. Definitely worth it. And I saw monkeys! They were pretty far away, but I saw two of them swinging around up in the trees. I just realized that it's monkeys I usually hear on my way home from dinner at night...
Alright there's much more, but that's all for now
looking out after our walk through the rainforest
We saw this guy crossing the street on our way back into town!!
Is that a sloth? They're big!
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