The New York Times ran a story with 45 places to visit in 2012. Topping the list was Panama, mentioning Bocas del Toro and the capital, Panama City. This should help increase tourism on both sides of the border, and with more transportation options coming soon between Bocas del Toro and Puerto Viejo / Cahuita, San Jose, Arenal and more, Caribe Shuttle is poised to help tourist get between Costa Rica and Panama easier, faster and in comfort.

Way down the list at number 41 is Nosara, Costa Rica, noted as a great place to learn surfing.

Check the full story at http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/travel/45-places-to-go-in-2012.html?pagewanted=all

Interesting that Oakland, California beat out Nosara by a bunch, coming in at number five. Oakland was noted in the article for it’s sophisticated restaurants and smouldering night life. You can experience Oakland’s coolest chef’s and Oakland’s hostess with mostest right in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica! Yamu and Poppy transplanted from the Oakland hospitality scene about ten years ago and are still cooking up some of the best food in Costa Rica in one of the most intimate settings at their Jungle Love Garden Cafe, junglelovecafe.com. You can find it just south of town in Playa Chiquita. And because Jungle Love is now open for lunch again, it is perfectly situated for a refreshing stop on your bike ride between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo. Although Yamu’s cuisine is famous for it’s high class palette, his nachos are the best I’ve tried in all of Central America.
-john

Check out this awesome video of a day in Puerto Viejo!

We all love chocolate, and so many of us indulge on a daily basis, but do any of us actually know the history of the chocolate bar? I visited Caribeans Cacao forest in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca on the southern Caribbean side of Costa Rica to find out more.

Before the Banana plantations arrived, the Southern Caribbean was full of Cacao trees plantations. A disease (which still today is not fully understood,) led to many Cacao trees dying. Farmers turned to growing bananas instead. There are still alot of wild Cacao trees in the area and a few different plantations where people are continuing to produce chocolate in the traditional style.

I went on a tour in Puerto Viejo called the Caribeans Chocolate Forest tour. It was a lovely few hours spent walking through the forest where Cacao trees grow wild, seeing the beans drying in the sun and then eating as much chocolate as you possibly can manage whilst looking at the incredible view of the Caribbean coast. Caribeans uses the old Mayan style method to make chocolate, from the drying of the beans through to the  setting the chocolate.

What I found incredibly interesting is that chocolate is full of antioxidants and is incredibly healthy for you. We all know that chocolate releases a happy hormone, but I wasn’t aware of the anti-ageing properties or the thousands of antioxidants found in pure chocolate. So what happened that turned chocolate from a healthy super food to a fattening devils delight?

On the tour I learn’t that many manufacturers of chocolate separate the Cacao oil from the rest of the Cacao bean, and then sell the oil on to cosmetic companies in order for them to make Cocoa butter. This way is more financially rewarding for the chocolate companies. They then replace the Cacao oil in the chocolate bar with emulsifiers, all the bad fat that we shouldn’t eat! Que pena!Of course sugar is added to the mix, but Caribeans use natural cane sugar instead of refined sugar like other companies.

I got to try chocolate with chile, mint, cinnamon, curry powder, garlic and oregano to name a few. It was a real treat and I found myself really enjoying the chocolate with garlic! After the tour and eating my way through quite a bit of this healthy anti-ageing product, I found myself feeling incredibly high, happy and full of life. It was like I had drunk 2 coffees, and the feeling went on all day without that crash that you feel after drinking too much coffee.

I always find it a shame when profit comes before anything else and I am so glad I went and experienced the traditional way chocolate should be made. It is only $26 per person and the tours lasts for as long as you want to eat chocolate, but normally for 3 hours.
Written by: Emilie Witham.

If you are thinking about travelling between Costa Rica and Panama tomorrow or this weekend at the Caribbean Sixaola/Guabito border crossing, think twice, and be smart about it. Travellers going both directions today overburdened an already inefficient system at Panamanian immigration. One of our clients on the afternoon shuttle travelling between Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Toro estimated the line at 200 people! This client reported that only one immigration official was there to stamp passports for travellers going both directions.

Many people did not make it across the border before immigration closed. Many were caught in “No Man’s Land,” having stamped out of either Panama or Costa Rica but not able to get stamps in to the next country. All of those travellers will have to return to the border tomorrow to get immigration stamps.

Also, many more travellers missed the last boat from Almirante to Bocas del Toro and were either forced to stay in hotels in Almirante or Changuinola or to take an expensive private boats if they could find one. (The private boats may or may not be safe and legal with proper permission, lights, papers, insurance, etc, but, regardless, it is never a great idea to travel by small water craft after dark if it can be avoided, and this is why our official ferry boats are not permitted to depart after 6:00pm).

If you are travelling across the border this holiday weekend, go early and avoid getting stuck in No Man’s Land or missing the boat.

Better yet, let Caribe Shuttle help you reduce the stress. We will do the driving for you and our guides will make sure you get where you need to go safely and as efficiently as bureaucracy will allow. Our Bocas Shuttle leaves daily in the morning and the afternoon. For schedules, rateas and reservations click here:  http://caribeshuttle.com/rates-schedules/.

For those travelling independently, remember that immigration offices close at the same moment on both sides of the border in different time zones,  at 5:00 pm in Sixaola, Costa Rica (which is 6:00 pm Panama time) and at 6:00 pm in Guabito, Panama (which is 5:00 pm Costa Rica time).

The last boat from Almirante to Bocas del Toro departs at 6:00 pm Panama time (5:00 pm Costa Rica time). Don’t miss the boat!!

From all of us here at Caribe Shuttle, we wish you happy travels and a safe fun New Year’s celebration and all the best in 2012!