Coconut milk, reggae music, and thunderstorms.....the Caribbean at last

As sad as it is when there is no new blog post to read over coffee in the morning, consider it a good thing when I fall off the face of the earth for a week.... (Case and point: Bocas Del Toro)
This place was amazing. We arrived early (7am?) on a Wednesday morning, and dropped our bags off at one of the hostels we had read and heard about. There were no rooms available yet (again, it was 7am) so we grabbed some brekky, walked around town, and came back a few hours later to check in to what turned out to be the best hostel thus far. We met so many great people, and basically formed our own little family as we woke up next to eachother, cooked on top of eachother (small but nice kitchen), showered while talking with eachother...you get the point.
We had a great first night out, which included running into our friend Ryan AGAIN and the two sweet Swiss girls whom he's traveling with. It's always quite a riot hanging with them... as the pictures will tell.
Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of rain pounding down above and around me. So THIS is what they were warning about the weather on the Caribbean coast.... After about 30 seconds of being bummed about the day's plans being ruined (biking a few miles to the beach? i think not), I noticed a wonderful sweet smell permeating the air...
Still in my "pj's" (which differ from my day clothes in that I don't wear flip flops), I made it downstairs only to find:
a) it was valentine's day (yes, i had forgotten, and yes i am a girl)
b) a girl was shredding coconut (hence the sweet smell) to make a valentines day cake for everyone
c) a group of 4 boys had made some delicious israeli dish for breakfast and made a plate of the extra for me just as i sat down
d) the hostel offered FREE COFFEE ALL DAY again
Basically it was the coziest, most unexpectedly amazing valentine's day ever.
The rest of the week was great too...a lot of trips to the beach which entailed a 30 minute boat ride and a 45 minute hike through mud (both entirely worth while).
We are in Puerto Viejo now, have been here for a few days, and leave for San Jose tomorrow (ONLY to get a bus the next day, since San Jose is not a place we would otherwise do twice.)
Then its off to Nicaragua on Sunday!




Hopping on the boat after an amazing day at Wizard Beach


Delicious bbq FEAST for Ryan´s birthday!


Bike riding in Puerto Viejo









Coffee and the Caribbean......my two favorite things