I arrived in Puerto Limon on the Caribbean coast yesterday and was just in time for the last day of Carnavale. And, holy cow did I walk into a party. I knew that Carnavale was last week but I actually thought that it was over so I was surprised to see the mayhem in full force.There are only a couple of hotels/hostels that are worth staying at in Limon and they are all right in the middle of the Mercado (market). I am at Hotel Miami, which is pretty good – very secure, all the necessities but right in the middle of everything. Generally that is a good thing but when you are a single, white female it’s best not to go out at night alone. So, that meant that last night I could hear the people partying all around me and couldn’t participate :( I did venture around in the afternoon though. I went to Parque Vargas and watched a reggae show, which was very cool seeing as I love reggae. I felt so content to be sitting on the caribbean coast with the beach as the background, temperatures around 85 degrees and watching a live reggae show. Life is good! I also walked around the Mercado and checked out all the cool stuff for sale. There were a couple of things that I would have liked to buy but they were giving me ridiculously high prices so I left empty handed.
I haven’t done much today. Walked around the town some more and that’s about it. I wanted to go for a run this morning so I got up around 6:30am and went out to the balcony that overlooks the street and there were still people everywhere so I didn’t go. I already stand out so I thought that putting on spandex and going for a run in the middle of it all was probably not the best idea! The closest beach, Playa Bonita, with adequate swimming is 4km away so I think that I will go there tomorrow.
As for meeting others – I haven’t really seen any other obvious travelers in Limon. Usually, you can spot other foreigners or hear their accents when they talk so you know that they are not local, but I haven’t seen anyone yet. It would be cool to meet some people so then I could at least have a meal and a drink with someone.
I will be here until Thursday morning. I will then either go north to Nicaragua or back over to the Pacific and continue exploring over there. I am not sure yet. I have new ideas every day! I am leaving the rest and the best of the Caribbean for when Nikki and Scott get here next month.
