The reason seems to be the illegal immigration of Nicaraguans into the country. Many were given amnesty in a campaign a few years ago, but now the government is much stricter. They walk over the mountains or swim the San Juan river to enter Costa Rica. Most of them get the worst jobs on the coffee and banana plantations, they work long hours for little money. Nicaraguan women work as cleaning ladies and maids.

Usually when I tell people here that I'm going to Nicaragua, many say that it's an 'ugly' country or something like 'Why don't you go directly to Mexico instead, there's nothing to see in Nicaragua.' Of course, most people with that opinion have never been there and don't know what they're talking about, but that doesn't come as a surprise. To some extent I can understand why people have that opinion.

Costa Rica is a small country with 3.5 million inhabitants, of which more than 500,000 are immigrants from Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan government doesn't do very much to prevent their people from emigrating. They will get rid of the poorest population and won't have to take care of that burden. Many Costa Ricans judge them as thieves and troublemakers, when most of them are just coming with hope of getting a somewhat decent life.

February 26 - Reggae
These last few days I've been on the Caribbean coast. Part of the road leading there from San José cuts directly through an incredibly dense rainforest. There was still mist in the valleys when the bus went through in the morning, which gave the trip a somewhat mystical feeling to it. I stopped in Limón a couple of hours to stretch my legs a bit, before I took another bus down to Puerto Viejo.

A big part of the population on the Atlantic coast is black. They were 'imported' as workers on the banana plantations, mostly from Jamaica. They brought a lot of the Caribbean culture in terms of cooking and religion. The climate is much more humid and it rains more, which makes it a lot greener than the Pacific coast during summer. The rainy season is about to finish and the water will return to the clear blue color that you can expect from tourist brochures.

Puerto Viejo was only a small fishing village twenty years ago, before it was discovered by the tourism industry. Now there are a plethora of restaurants and hotels, even if it's still a small village with a bumpy gravel road as main street. The feeling I got was that Americans and Europeans have more or less taken over the place and are trying to make it into a paradise for tourists. Most hotels are owned by foreigners.

Except surfers and backpackers, which you can find in abundance, there are black locals with rasta hair and knitted Bob Marley hats. The atmosphere is relaxed, almost sleepy. Everywhere you hear reggae and that's also what is played at the discos at night.

With the hippie and rasta culture also follows plenty of drugs. I was offered marijuana many times, on the beach or on the street. It seems that they accept a friendly 'no' as an answer, and I never had any problems with it. The main philosophy, which I was told a few times, is that if you're cool and flow with the rhythm of the place, you're ok. Troublemakers are not welcome.