Costa Rica - Playas del Coco

Hello Playas del Coco!! After a 2 day, 8 hr bus trip up the Pacific coast we have arrived at our second destination. We left Manuel Antonio last Tuesday, Oct 4th with the plan to break up our travel over 2 days instead of trying to power through in one day. BEST decision ever!! Left Quespos on the 12:30 bus and made it to a port city called Puntarenus, took about 3 1/2 hrs.  The bus doesn't stop to let you off anywhere so we all were basically dehydrated in fear we would have to pee along the way!! We made it though!! Found ourselves a little hotel down from the bus station with the help (kind of) from a guy who pounced on us once we stepped off our bus.  He obviously gets money from certain places if he takes you there or gets you to book things through him.  We didn't need him but you feel a bit pushed into things, he was pretty pushy but nice to us and he saved us a bit of money.  Doug is the one who spotted our hotel after the other guy tried to get us into a hotel which would have charged us $240 for a room for one night, no thanks!! Great hotel in the sense that it had 4 beds and it had a great pool with a mini waterslide for the kids.  Never take the first things that crosses our path, our new rule!!

After settling into our room we headed out to explore and to find some food before dark.  The feel in Puntaranas was very different from any of the places we have been in CR.  Simular to Jaco, where we felt a bit uneasy and watched but in Puntaranas it was a sad, almost depressing feel.  Streets were very dirty and the people looked lifeless. After meeting a student who was studying abroad in town we found out more about the area.  It is a quite poor city with no real tourism, it's a port city so people are in and out but never stay for long. It is tough for locals to survive and they are desperate to make ends meet. Life has been very hard on them so the feeling we were having was just a reflection of their hardships.  I feel for them, life can't be easy. We did come across one of the best sodas around though and it was ran by the sweetest lady ever!! The food was amazing and kindness oozed out of her, we felt like we had just had a meal in her own private home. Amazing!!

After a good nights sleep, some fun pool time and then a bit more touring we were back on the bus by 11:00 the next morning.  Liberia was our first destination then we switched busses to head to Playa del Coco. Had the keys to our new place by 3:30 that afternoon, not bad at all!! 

Our place for the month is a townhouse style home with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms.  It is newly renovated, finished up the morning we arrived actually, and it was right across the road to the 2 pools provided in the complex. Kids are in heaven!! We are all happy to be here, to settle in to our new home to start exploring the area.
Walked down to the main beach on Thursday to see where everything is and to see how long it would take us to get places.  Found that it is all very close, beach, stores and restaurants. We have been debating if we should rent a golf cart or not but we realized quickly walking isn't a problem here!!
Coco is one of the oldest beach communities in the Guanacaste Province and it well known for its party environment during the busy season, fishing and it's laid back beach life that lasts all year long.  Coco beach is in a horseshoe bay with a darker brown sand cover which is different to see.  Almost looks like wet mud but yet it is dry and soft to the touch. Quite beautiful!!

The town of Coco is a busy little place full of shops and places to eat, no shortage there!  Street vendors line the streets and you can here music wherever you go.  The vibe on the street is good and we feel very safe wherever we go. I value that the most!! Good place to be. :)

As I was packing up and preparing myself to leave Manuel Antonio I had this nervous feeling within.  I absolutely loved our time in MA and all that it had to offer us.  I was so nervous about our next stop! So nervous to leave what we loved, to who knows what??  Would we like it?  Would we feel safe?  What would we find to do?  Where is the best place to get food?  What is the new house like? All these "what ifs" were swirling around in my head making me feel ungrounded.  Not a feeling I like to have, yet  I needed to make myself push through my bubble of discomfort and see what else was in store for us. It's crazy to think I felt that way now that I'm here and I'm sure I will feel that way again next month! Haha  So glad we moved on and tried it all out!  Can't really compare the two places seeing that they are so different in so many ways or can I say I like one place better than the other.  I do feel like MA is a little more rustic where there is more of an emphasis on the environment, beautiful beaches and all of the animals.  The national park brings in many tourists wanting to explore, where as in Coco I get the feeling that many come  here to relax and to retire, which is fine too! lol  Coco also feels a little more modern and we find it easier to get around even with no buses.  The streets are wider and there are sidewalks, which is nice with the kids! I haven't seen any backpackers here yet but in MA we saw them all the time. Here we see golf carts everywhere but in MA we didn't see any!  Both wonderful in their own ways!!  Differences are good. Differences always bring out an awareness in ourselves that we didn't know existed until we are faced to see them.  I love that!! I love different things and I love that we have been pushing ourselves
to see the differences in this world!! 
                                                                        Adios por ahora!

PURA VIDA!!!!!