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Puerto Viejo

I'm having a hard time getting used to the money in Costa Rica. We were able to use American dollars in panama but here they use the Colon. The exchange rate is 500 colons to the dollar. Yes, that was 500! It's hard to wrap your head around paying 1500c for water or getting 200,000c out of the ATM.

I'm gonna catch up with some pictures now. Here is La Costa de Pepita front desk area and restaurant.

Our front porch and Cora in her bunkbed with a mosquito net.



Yesterday morning we had a delicious breakfast here at the hotel then walked about a kilometer to the Jaguar Rescue Center. Absolutely amazing! We got to hold and play with monkeys, pet several different types of sloths, Tate made friends with the little squirrel, Lino, and it rode on his back most of the time. This is the most I've ever seen Tate interact with an animal.




Cora was in absolute heaven. Some of the monkeys were babies and would just crawl up on our shoulders. We also saw a hawk capture a mouse, a gigantic iguana, and an ocelot (a type of wildcat). The guide couldn't get the ocelot to come out so he brought out a live mouse. We thought he would just let it go on the floor of the cage but he put it on the cage wall right in front of us so the ocelot pounced on it just inches from our faces. Tate got a good video of that. Overall the center was very impressive and we loved it. I think Cora has found her job choice in life. Taking care of monkeys next to a beach.

We spent the afternoon at the beach. There is a strong undertow here and many red flags (don't swim areas) but we found a yellow flag area with waves just right for the kids to be happy and for us not to have to worry too much. They were in the water for about three hours. Tate was tired at the end but Cora had to be dragged away.



We made a Costa Rican snowman. He's 6 inches high.

In the evening I walked into town to try to find a bike small enough for Cora. No luck but I did get a tandem. Tomorrow we are going to ride out and explore more beaches and go on a chocolate making tour.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow! The animal experiences sound awesome! I would have loved to see the baby monkeys! Anxious to hear about the chocolate tour.....G
February 23, 2011 at 8:15 AM
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