Into the Jungle

My favorite day in Costa Rica involved a jungle right next to the beach, pitchers of sangria and monkeys! The four of us set out on an adventure. We walked beyond the beaches of Puerto Viejo and into the jungle. The beach came right up to the edge of the trees and the seaspray lingered above the waves. Thirty minutes into our trek, we spotted a sign 'Pitcher of Sangria - 4500 colones'--only $9!--one pitcher turned into two and two pitchers turned into three. Somewhere during the 2nd pitcher, we spotted movement in the trees above and a band of monkeys were on the move! They swung from branch to branch and before we knew it, they were gone--but our giddiness remained. Then more monkeys came! It was amazing. In the jungle, sipping on sangria with my BFFs with a view of ocean.

We enjoyed this little jungle hut, their sangria and the sweet lady behind the bar so much, that we returned later that evening for dinner and feasted on grilled lobster and sea bass. Our previous nights' of street food meals freed up our budgets a bit and we splurged! Even with homemade guacamole, grilled lobster, dessert, sangria and pina coladas, we still didn't pay more then $30 per person. Oh I love that mysterious little jungle hut. 

The next morning we took the same route through the jungle and paid a visit to the rescued animals at the Jaguar Rescue Center. Highly recommend it! And sloths and baby monkeys are just so damn cute...

Pura Vida in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

After my post last week, I got plenty of kind messages and emails. THANK YOU! 

While losing Julia means great sadness, there is also much to be grateful for: 

that I got to say goodbye, 

that I got to spend so much time with her over the last year and in her last few weeks,

and that we had one last adventure together to a little slice of heaven in Costa Rica.

Five days after we left Costa Rica in February, Julia checked herself into the hospital. I had no idea then that that week in Costa Rica would be our last beach day together, last beer together and last trip together.

Oh how lucky I feel that we got to make these memories. Staying in a bungalow sandwiched between the jungle and the Caribbean, we had no recollection of what time it was or even what day it was--for one week we were all together without the stresses of daily life.

I can't quite remember how I found this rasta-infused town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, but once I started reading more about Puerto Viejo (Mina's posts sealed the deal), I knew that was the chilled out place we were looking for. 

Beach, jungle, monkeys, hammocks, fresh watermelon juice every morning and just my best friends and I lounging around in bathing suits all day.

Perfection. Pura Vida.

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. 

{Lounging on hammocks at Kaya's Place, the bungalow we stayed at right across from Playa Negra}