Trips about Coasts
Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, Costa Rica
Please see the first post on Costa Rica for important details about this post.
We ended up staying in Puerto Viejo for 4 nights, simply because it was a very relaxing town, not expensive, and probably the most beautiful place we had been to in Costa Rica. In fact, we would have probably stayed longer if not for the fact that we ran out of cash and could not get anymore from the town's single ATM. Here's the beach just outside of town with a view of the town:
One of the nicest things about the town was the relaxed atmosphere and lack of visitors. One could hear Bob Marley playing all the time and there were plenty of souvenir stalls and shops everywhere. There weren't any remarkable restaurants there, although just nearby in Cahuita is a great creperie called Cafe el Parquecito that serves crepes loaded with delicious fresh fruit.
One of the biggest attractions of Puerto Viejo is the Guandaco-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. Unlike Manuel Antonio, this is a rather remote area where guides are most definitely necessary. Between the refuge and Puerto Viejo is several kilometers or amazing beaches as well as the small town of Manzanillo.
The beaches at Manzanillo were probably the most beautiful in the country that we saw and luckily they were barely developed. They also yielded some of the best photographs I've ever made. Here's a selection:
California
One benefit of getting accepted to many graduate schools is the opportunity to travel to all of them at the graduate schools' expense. I decided to combine my trips to UC Davis and Caltech and Lydia, my girlfriend at the time, came with me. This was my first trip to California, and the first time I saw the Pacific Coast while in the US.
We started off our trip in San Francisco, where we wandered around the piers and watched the sun set over the bay. The following day, we rented a car and drove up the coast to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, although the park itself was closed. We followed this up with visits to the Armstrong Redwood State Preserve, Napa/Sonama counties, before finally making it to UC Davis for two nights.
After visiting Davis, we flew down to LA, where we spent time at Caltech and visiting some of Lydia's friends in the area before finally making our way back to the east coast. I've included some of the pictures from the trip, although many were lost due to some hardware issues.
Whale Watching off San Diego
Over the President's Day weekend, Lydia, my then girlfriend, and I took a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo, whale watching, and Cabrillo National Monument, among other things. We only saw a few whales, and only far away, But there were plenty of sea lions hanging around as well as a few dolphins who rode off the bow of the ship. Also plenty of Navy vessels due to the military presence in San Diego. Definitely a fun time and cool things to see.
Cabrillo National Monument
Over the President's Day weekend, Lydia, my then girlfriend, and I took a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo, whale watching, and Cabrillo National Monument, among other things. Cabrillo is at the end of a peninsula, with amazing tidepools and wonderful views of both the Pacific ocean and San Diego.
