Survived a slow short hot runs long the coast to kickstart the day. Was hardly enough to reverse all my indulgence but a token effort is something right?
We met up with Becky, our British friend from El Salvador and hired out bikes for the day. First stop we hoped to be this amazing organic cafe a few kms away. Unfortunately when we got there it was closed :(
Had a very mediocre breakfast at a small soda (local restaurant) instead and then got to the Jaguar Rescue Sanctuary to see sloths & other Costa Rican creatures.
The tour was amazing, even though snakes were a prominent feature. Apparently Costa Rica is home to 132 species if snake, 8 venomous snakes on the coast alone & 23 more around the country. Way to freak myself out right!
There was other nature that was less scary & less inclined to hurt you - amazing breeds of Tucans, baby monkeys, ant eaters, sloths, kinkajus, frogs, wildcats & a little croc! All these creatures had been brought to the sanctuary because they were found injured or seized from people trying to keep them as pets. Fortunately most will be able to be rehabilitated & resume life in the wild.
Still stoked about seeing sloths we set out to cycle to Manzanillo & spotted two sloths in the trees along the beach! The day kept getting better when we scored a tasty Caribbean style lunch at this little beachside hut.
Our cycling journey was interrupted by my hilarious bike accident. You see the bikes here don't have normal brakes. You pedal backwards to engage them. That's difficult when your flying downhill, your thongs have both broken meaning your toes are scraping the road rather than the pedals and your trying to maneuver all this in a boob tube dress. As I flew down the hill to Lindy screaming don't panic I knew I had to launch myself off to stop so I embraced the inevitable & ate some concrete. As scary & unpleasant as it was the whole thing was actually hilarious. Left some skin on the road, mangled a toe but survived pretty unscathed & the bike was alright too!
Got back on the bike, made it for a swim at manzanillo beach & headed back to puerto viejo. Back at the hostel we found a crew to head to dinner with & then ended up at a fabulous little cocktail bar.
