Puerto Limon, Costa Rica- Hence the Puerto

A while back there, in a fit of pique/boredom, I licked the screen of my cellphone. Never you mind why. Just suffice it to say that it tasted like stew. Really, really good stew.

Now, while this story will no doubt have the unintended consequences of a)icking you out, and b)preventing you from ever borrowing my phone, perhaps it can also serve as a bit of a moral tale, as it did for me.

Here is what I learned: I learned that sometimes, when you do something that shouldn't work out, it does.
It should fail.
You should fail.

But neither happens.

It works.
You succeed.
And you discover something new.

And while you look back and wouldn't perhaps defy common sense and logic by repeating the deed, you are glad you took the chance. With determined hands, a dusty pearl has been unearthed from the callous soil of common sense.

Which brings me to my visit to Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
Here is why:
Upon arrival at this port city (Hence the "Puerto"), I questioned the sanity of my decision. "Why am I here?", I asked. "How long am I here?". "Why does this place smell like bananas and grain?".

I found out why it smelled like bananas and grain. Because it is a main port for the exportation of bananas and grain. As for the first question, it took a little exploration to discover the answer. Go past the port, past the smell of the sea, in-country just a wee bit, and a beautiful country greets anyone willing to take the chance. The land surrounding Puerto Limon is gorgeous. It is lush rainforest, and you can expect it to rain often, around 100 inches in a year. Areas in the mountains can get as much as 25 feet. Explains the bananas and grain, don't it?

What explains the economic depression of the area are the frequent hurricanes. They get hit often, being on the eastern coast of Central America. Look past the derelict harbor, though, and a terrific country with terrific people is what you will find.

You will also find that the language is Spanish, the predominant Religion is Catholic, and the currency is called the Colon. I can't tell you how much I love a pun-friendly currency. It should be a law, I think.
Put five Colons in the shape of a letter, and you've got a "Colon-E"!
And if you break up a Colon, you've got a semi-Colon!
And washing currency is technically called "Colon Cleansing"!. Ha Ha!

Don't go away.
I'll stop now.

While there, I had the opportunity to river raft. Don't ask me the name of the river, because I don't remember, but I will tell you that it was a category 3, perhaps a category 4(but was later was downgraded to a tropical river) in spots, and it rained. There are few things as enjoyable as river rafting in the pouring rain. I highly recommend it. Afterwards, I ate lunch, which consisted of grain served on banana leafs. It makes sense, no?

If I had to do it over again, I would visit more of the National Parks, and visit during Columbus Day. Columbus founded Puerto Limon in 1502, and every year they have a carnival in his honor. It is called "Dia de las Culturas", Spanish for, "Day of the Culturas". I didn't know that people in South America/Central America had such things as carnivals, but there you are.
This new tidbit made me change up the poem a little bit:
"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
In 1502, Columbus ate banannas too."

So, summing up, Puerto Limon is a fascinating place to visit. It doesn't look like a wise decision to visit, but the pay-off is worth it, like a certain cellphone that tasted like stew. I mean REALLY good stew.