From one beach paradise to the next one. I left Bocas del Toro early in the morning to head up north to get a new stamp in my passport. After a short journey – a 30 minute boat ride from Bocas del Toro to Almirante and than a one hour taxi ride to Sixaola – I got my Panama exit stamp and crossed an old bridge to get my entry stamp for Costa Rica. Country number nine!

Crossing the border to Costa Rica at Sixaola is pretty relaxed – the only thing needed to enter the country is a proof that you leave the country, so a return bus ticket or a plane ticket is needed.

From the border it’s another 1,5 hours by bus to get to the small beach village Puerto Viejo. From some friends I got a tip about hostel Pagalu – a German run hostel just one year old and not in any guide book published (even not in the 2009 versions). During my stay here I got really impressed by this hostel. The two German owners designed the hostel them self’s and put some serious thoughts about every little detail in it. The hostel has a great common area with has no windows that can be closed. The hole room is connected to the outside by big open windows. The open kitchen is big and clean, overlooking the common area. There are several dorms with good beds and big lockers where your hole backpack can fit in. And very important, the owner knows a lot about the area and other things you may want to know. So if you come to Puerto Viejo, I highly recommend this hostel!

The next day me and two girls from Israel rented bikes and made a 12 km bike ride along the coast. We stopped at a place called ‘Jaguar’ – it´s a place were abandoned animals are taking care of. By visiting this place and paying 10 US dollars you are helping the animals providing food and special care so they can be released in the wild again. The tour takes about two hours and during this tour you will enter the cages where 4 monkeys are living – playing with them is really amazing – and a cage where a six months old Jaguar is living – playing with him is also an great experience.

Other than that I just hang around the hostel chilling, or went to the beach for a swim. Pretty relaxed being in Puerto Viejo! Check out more photos here!