Chilling in Cahuita, Costa Rica

I've gone all American after spending 3 nights in the Big Apple. I'd love to move there, not least for the friendly people, the delicious food, amazing art, and cool fashion, but also for its proximity to Costa Rica. After a hairy late night arrival in Costa Rica's capital San Jose, I managed to find a bed for a night in an area which all the guide books warn against. Typical me, but with limited Spanish and a small budget I found myself in a windowless room with only 2 cockroaches for company.

I always find that these experiences are rewarded with far better ones, and this time was no different. The next day I found my paradise in Cahuita, a tropical tranquilo resort in the Caribbean. My host was the hospitable Adrian at Cabinas Palmer, a wonderfully chilled resort stunningly situated near the sea. Every morning I would wake to the melodic chirrup of birdsong and the wonderfully aromatic smell of local Costa Rican coffee which would lure me out of my pit. I spent the mornings leisurely chatting with Luca, a B&B owner from Italy, and Amanda & Ranger, a nanny and artist from Oregon, USA. Already I can't believe my luck at the wonderful, inspiring people I've met.

My main passion of food is being well and truly sated. I've been enjoying mouth-watering meals of melt-in-the-mouth chicken in a piquant sauce with spicy rice and beans, or local fish in coconut sauce. The food is essentially Caribbean, a cuisine I don't know much about, so I've enjoyed using this as an excuse to eat as much as possible. Fortunately the men here like a bit of meat on the bones of their women. Instead of being called "Sumo" or fat, like I was in Thailand, or being asked by complete strangers how much I weigh, like in Sri Lanka, I have been told I'm bonita (beautiful). This is great as I can keep gorging myself on fried chicken and plantain. Yum.

After a wonderful three days in Cahuita my next stop was Puerto Viejo to meet Ceri and her colleagues. They kindly let me tag along on a day trip to the Cahuita national park. We swam in the bathwater-warm waters with an amazing view of the beach, fringed with tropical palms and an animal rich forest. We saw sloth and iguanas in the trees, cute baby raccoons , turquoise blue butterflies as big as birds and gorgeous tropical plants.

A weekend with Ceri wouldn't have been complete without a couple of nights of hedonism. On Sunday we found ourselves being woken at 6.30am, having had just an hour's sleep; we'd partied the night away to sizzling salsa and merengue beats on the beautiful beach, illuminated only by the magical light of a full moon.

After a gruelling day travelling, we arrived to meet Viv in the surfers' paradise of Samara on the Pacific coast. Mostly we plan to chill out on the beach with a cocktail in hand, but we may be tempted to surf, especially as the guys are so hot. We might get lucky with a surf dude like I did in Sri Lanka. He was impressed not by my skill in catching the surf, but for the fact that every time I caught a wave my bikini bottoms fell down, thus exposing a large white bottom as I careered towards the shore, landing like a beached whale. I hope my surf skills have improved since then.

Hasta luego

Vic xx