Look closely at this tree and you'll see the golden nests of the
Oropendolo bird!
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The southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is completely different from any
other part of the country. The population here is largely made up of English-
speaking blacks - the descendants of Jamaicans who came here to help
build the railroads. This area is much less developed than Guanacaste or the
Central Pacific Coast, and a 4WD drive vehicle is recommended for your visit here.
But it is certainly worth the effort.
This area boasts the world's largest coral
reef. The town of Puerto Viejo offers several very good restaurants, and the
hotels in this area are still relatively inexpensive. This area also seems to be
the new spot for young surfers and counterculture types. When you mix these
kids with the fun loving local rastas, an interesting time can be had by all at the
local disco. My wife and I (who are in our early forties), thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves in spite of the fact that we seemed to be the oldest gringos in
town.
A lot of this area was harvested for timber and left to regenerate.
This seems to have created the perfect habitat for monkeys and green Parrots -
as we found out early one morning when a dozen parrots decided to serenade us
at daybreak. Songbirds, they're not! Don't expect to live in the lap of
luxury here. Just go with the flow and you will have a wonderful time.
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