02 Apr Puerto Viejo: wilderness, wildlife and work

One of the reasons for  us to go and live a while in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca in  Costa Rica, is it’s abundant wildlife. To feel closer to nature, to be in awe by it and  yes, it is a feeling you definitely get when you are in Puerto Viejo! The area is raw, unpolished, and still quiet enough to host howler monkeys, capuccin monkeys, three toed sloths, giant lizards, toucans and all kinds of birds. Nature  is fierce here and respected for the most part. Falling trees are cut and moved to the side of the road, nature can take its course from there. The kids loved  it.

We were all in awe by a sloth we encountered on a walk to the beach of Playa Chiquita in the first week we were there. Seeing a sloth was something I, Diana, was longing for. Such rare creatures and so the encounter with the first sloth was magical. Later we discovered the tree behind our rented house, hosted two sloths. We would go out every morning after the howlers woke us at 05.00am, to see the sloths and say hi. What an amazing country, and the kids just loved it. Vesper could not speak yet (by the time of writing he was 1 year old), but managed to show us every animal he spotted. He became our true wildlife spotter quickly! His first word? ‘Apen’ which is Dutch for monkeys. How appropriate and  how cool to see them in the wild and learn it as your first word.

We rented a place that was located close to the center of Puerto Viejo  and just 100 meters away from the beach. It gave access to a long jungle pathway connecting the villages of Puerto Viejo and Cocles. We loved to take the kids for hikes on this jungle pathway to watch the howler monkeys and the ants making their way by the hundreds from the tree canopy to huge holes in the ground. Sometimes we would go play in the ocean next to  Jonnhy’s beach bar in the center  of town, eat an ice cream opposite of the old town market. Only in the last few weeks we discovered the pool of hostel Selina, a favorite place to swim for Isa. When we come back here in the fall, Vesper is a bit older and we hope to visit the wildlife observatory in Manzanillo and to do a jungle hike with a guide. Still so many things to admire here!

Below: Isa’s favorite pool at Selina

Wilderness, wildlife and…. WORK!
Our work travels with us and at the time of writing this post, we just concluded a intensive five-day business bootcamp training setting up business ideas with aspiring location independent entrepreneurs. It was our first training hosted in Costa Rica, after nine editions in Mexico and definitely worthy to repeat in the future when we come back to this area. Are you interested to learn more about the business and lifestyle coaching we do for a living? Take a look at our (Dutch only, sorry) business page.