Headed South and loving life at Kaya´s Place

We headed down to Puerto Viejo on the Southern edge of the Caribbean Coast. We found a great eco-lodge called Kaya´s place and loved it so much, we decided to stay for a week. It´s owned by a great couple from Vermont and is the perfect place to relax on the patio watching the waves roll in. We loved their two huge dogs and three sweet cats and the great conversation with everyone there. If you head to Puerto Viejo, you definitely should check out Kaya´s Place.
Puerto Viejo was a nice, very relaxed beach town. A lot of people from Jamaica were brought over as slaves in 1872 to work on the railroads that were built to transport bananas. Many of the people stayed and so this area has a completely different feel than the rest of Costa Rica. Bob Marley is played almost everywhere you go and the Caribbean food is great. One thing that we didn´t like was the separation that we continued to see between the locals and the expats living and working in the tourist industry. It seems that people move down to this area and open businesses, but then mingle among each other and not as much with the locals. It actually kind of reminded me of some of the separation between races in the South, but this could just be my own perception.
In any case, people have been dissuaded from visiting this area because of safety concerns, but we definitely recommend the area as a great laid back and safe beach town.



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