Look! A sign just for my family! "Don't feed the monkeys" =D
Dinner on Saturday - Fried plantains, rice, salad and chicken in Carribean sauce (which was amazing!)
They had so many intricate macrame bracelets and necklaces there. I wish I'd taken more pictures for inspiration - but I definitely want to learn how to make these!
On Sunday we decided to rent bikes (it costs about $5 a day here to rent one) and bike around the city. It was fun and nice to see the different places (there's pretty much just one road through the whole city, so you don't have to worry about getting lost). We stopped by the beach fora little bit and also bought bananas from a fruit stand.
The beach we stopped at
This isn't from Puerto Viejo, but I'm posting it for my plant loving friends out there. This is a real bird-of-paradise (not the fake species like I posted on Monday). This was just chillin' in someone's front yard in San Jose.
So until this weekend, I never really understood UV Index. Or really heard of it. I just knew that I burned easily and that meant lots of sunscreen. Where I'm from, Gilbert, Arizona, has a UV Index (which is sort of a 1-10 scale) is a two. The UV index indicates how strong the sun is - it increases with higher altitude or closer proximity to the equator. The UV index in Puerto Viejo (and most of Costa Rica, because it's close to the equator) is 11+. According to Google, this means that "a fair skinned person can burn within five minutes of being outside". Which means for someone like me... putting 30 SPF sunscreen on twice while at the beach is not enough - I have the worst sunburn I have ever had. (It's four days later and I'm still taking Tylenol for the pain). So here are some tips:
1) Bring sunscreen with you to Costa Rica. Although 75 SPF only provides 2-5% more protection than 30 SPF, it might be worth it if you are fair skinned like me. Also, sunscreen is expensive in Costa Rica (the cheapest I've found is about $13 US for a small thing of it... but it tends to cost $20-$25!)
2) If you're gonna be swimming/snorkeling/at the beach, wear a t-shirt or long sleeves. Trust me, it's worth it. To tell if your shirt will protect you against the sun, hold it up to the light - the less you can see through it, the better. Cotton is also a great breathable fabric for the humidity.
3) Reapply often. Twice isn't enough, even if you wait in the shade for the 15-20 minutes it takes to work. And use a lot of it!
4) Drink lots of water. This is more for post-sunburn, to prevent dehydration. Most people don't think of drinking water while they're swimming in it, but it's important.
Anyways, when I go rafting in a couple of weeks, I'm definitely wearing a t-shirt, if not long sleeves. Next time you travel, take time to look up the UV Index!
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