Somebody Say Scuba?

Well this Monday we celebrated Columbus Day and even though I think this day is a crock, I still welcomed the day off! A hefty crew of us decided to set sail for the Caribbean this time: destination, Puerto Viejo. We had quite the ride, a bus for 20 or so; there were only 14 of us on the way there. Naturally, I did what I do best and slept most of the 5 hour ride. Sadly, I was unable to sleep the last 45 minutes due to the fact that the so called 'road' was less than ideal to drive upon. Somehow I managed to hold down my dinner and we arrived! Just in time for me to go to bed...again.

Then next morning we embarked on our adventure. After talking to our host, Pedro, all about scuba diving, we headed to the beach. After the beach someone got the grand idea of renting bikes and biking to Puerto Viejo. (We were staying in Manzanillo which is about 14km from Puerto Viejo.) It's funny how you don't notice the hills when you're driving! Before P.V., we were determined to find the chocolate farm we'd past on the the way in. We found the sign and made the turn and then looked up...far. Needless to say, the bikes got locked to a few trees and we started huffing it...literally. Good ole Pedro had assured us we didn't need to make a reservation because "this is Costa Rica." We finally found the place up on the side of the mountain. As soon as one of us were able to catch our breath and ask about a tour we were informed we needed a reservation. Damn you Pedro. Back to the bikes...

We never biked to P.V. thanks to the fact that someone smartened up and realized it'd be quite late and quite dark on our bike back. So, we headed back to Manzanillo. The next morning we headed to breakfast. I asked the man if they had cafe frio. He looked at me for a sec and said sure. Towards the end of our meal, I finally get my coffee. Turns out he was just keeping it in back to cool off before he gave it to me! The next morning we ate there as well. I ordered a regular coffee...it was probably 5 degrees warmer than my cafe frio! Pura Vida!

After the beach once again, we headed to scuba! We had our 'baptism' with our three instructors. It was an interesting experience. Too bad visibility was crappy that day; I only saw a few little fishies. It was rather cute to see Jen and Liz in front of me, swimming hand in hand the entire time! It was impossible to laugh though. As soon as we surfaced, poor Liz lost the Doritos she had eaten beforehand. Then, the ride home brought more of it up! She puked and rallied though! What a trooper!

We're taking a weekend off before heading back to Jaco to sharpen our surfing skills! Until next time...