Puerto Viejo Day 2

This morning I got up early to go to the farmers market in town.  I was there by 8 am but I guess it started at 6 am so I missed getting the things that I wanted but had a good time never the less looking at the market and the varying items they sell. 

After going to the farmers market I went back to the surfers beach and just sat for about half an hour since I was early to the Jaguar Rescue Center tour.  Here at the rescue center their main focus is to take in any animal that needs help and to try and get it back out into the wild as soon as they possibly can.  Some animals though they know will not be able to survive in the wild so they keep them at the center for people to see and visit to help educate the public.  They didn't have any jaguars today when I was there but it seems like everyday they get new animals as well as release animals back into the wild.

Here is a red eyed tree frog.  Although the frogs are not brought into the center hurt or anything here at the center they have a large pond devoted solely to amphibians and provide them with the habitat they need to successfully reproduce.

Here is an ocelot they have at the center that is about 7 months old.  It was brought in my someone with a large wound on its head.  They believe someone tried to hit it over the head with a bat but they do not know for sure.  Whatever the case the cat had a brain injury just like any person would have so the cat is here undergoing some rehabilitation.  The cat by this age is supposed to have amazing balance as well as hunting skills but since its injury it has a hard time doing basic things like walking around and such.  They have been working with the cat for a few months now and say that it has made some great improvements and they work with it everyday but they are not for sure if they will be able to eventually release it back into the wild or not.  With all the animals they want to make sure the animal will be able to survive by itself in the wild before they ever think about releasing it.

Here are some pictures of the two and three toed sloth.  I just like how they have a perpetual smile on their faces.

This is a baby howler monkey that was dropped off when it was found abandoned by its mother and was brought here to the center.  The lady carrying the monkey is one of the owners of the center.  If this baby monkey was to be in the wild it would be with its mom 24 hours a day until it is a few months old.  So she has the monkey with her everywhere she goes and she is its new mom.  She has to feed it every 3 hours so she takes it home with her and takes care of it like a newborn baby.  She said she has to do this until it gets older so that it will be strong enough to put with the other older monkeys.  A very large part of the center is monkeys due to many different reasons but one is that there are a lot of people who take monkeys from the wild and keep them as pets which is illegal so when they are found they are brought here.  They help retrain the monkeys and take them out into the forest everyday.  By taking them out into the woods everyday they learn valuable skills from each other and then every once in awhile when a wild monkey troop comes through they pick up a couple of the centers monkeys which is the goal of their monkey program.

After the wonderful 2 hour center tour I rode my bike another 30 minutes up the road to Punta Uva beach.  This is a beautiful beach with the jungle growing just about right up to the edge with the crystal blue waters.  Since it is the weekend there were a lot of locals on the beach and it was crowded so I didn't stick around too long there.   

This is another part of Punta Uva beach just about a 10 minute bike ride further up the coast.  Here there were not as many waves but once again it was full of people.

Here is the wonderful little bike that I have been riding around the past two days.  It is great because it only has one gear and has a great big basket on the front to carry everything I need.  It seems like everyone around here rides bikes around so it is pretty bike friendly and it is so flat you can ride anywhere you want to go with minimal effort.

This was a very small little beach side restaurant that I found on my way back from Punta Uva going back to Puerto Viejo.  It was an amazing chicken sandwich with fresh lettuce, onions, and mushrooms on it.  To wash it down I had a wonderful mora (blackberry) smoothie.  Before I leave I need to figure out how they make the fruit smoothies so wonderful here. 

On my way back by the surfers beach this little old man had his truck loaded down with different fruits and vegetables for people to buy so of course I got some wonderful rambutan which I was not able to find at the market this morning.

Here is a picture of the bakery I have been going to.  The have some delicious breads and pastries here that I have been eating for breakfast!

 This evening I went to a beach side bar to get some drinks and eat dinner.  The best part about it was that it was right on the beach so I was able to see the sunset (which wasn't nearly as beautiful as last night).  They also had this pretty cool band playing.  Below you can see my wonderful homemade chicken tacos and french fries!

Tomorrow is my last day here in Puerto Viejo so I am probably just going to chill on the beach most of the day and then get my stuff packed up to go to San Jose.  Only 4 nights and I will be back into town!