Costa Rica: Puerto Viejo & Manzanillo

We spent the first week in Costa Rica on the Caribbean coast staying near the town of Puerto Viejo. We stayed at an old banana plantation house right on the Cahuita National Park. Touring the park we got to see monkeys, snakes, and sloths in the wild. Every morning we were awakened by howler monkeys, which probably sounds a little cooler than it actually is. They're really loud and start to howl around 4am!

We also visited several beaches in the area - in the town of Cahuita, Playa Negra in Puerto Viejo, and our favorite in Manzanillo. Manzanillo had the best waves for boogie boarding, so this was for sure one of our favorite things to do.

We also visited the Jaguar Rescue Center, an animal rescue center that rehabilitates injured animals and re-introduces them into the wild. There we got to learn about and see up close sloths, frogs, tucans, snakes, deer, maccaws, monkeys, and hogs.