Las Terrenas y Limón: parte 2

After our great experience at the Salto de Limón on Saturday, we decided that after spending a little time at the beach we should head back to the little town of Limón for the day. We had heard rumors of a natural spring in the center of town that was the city hot-spot on Sunday afternoons. Plus our friend Natha had promised to show us around if we decided to come back. That was all the convincing we needed. 
The natural spring-fed pool lived up to its expectations as the place to be on a Sunday afternoon. Half the town was relaxing with a cerveza in hand at the small cafés surrounding the pool, and the other half were dancing along the edge and sporadically showing off by diving into the crips waters. 

We met up with Natha at the spring, or the arroyito, as it is called in Spanish, and after we had had our fill of wading in the cold waters, he drove us out to a nearby beach to enjoy the sunset. 

We ended up renting a room in the one and only hostal Limón has to offer. For a queen size bed and a twin bed along with an attached bathroom, we payed $1000 pesos. Sufficient is the best word I can use to describe the place, but that didn´t matter since we didn´t spend much time there. Hot water would have been nice, but that´s hoping for a lot in such a remote area. 
After our cold showers and a little food, Natha took us out to a local pool hall to start the night. 

I can´t say I played my best, but I was a little distracted by all the stares we were attracting. We were definitely the only gringas in town, and although I think Limón sees a lot of tourists because of the nearby waterfall, very few ever stay long enough to enjoy the night life. 
Which is a complete shame because Limón is like the fountain of youth. The main street that runs through the town is pretty much discoteca central, and there were so many young people around that they didn´t even all fit into the discotecas and bars,   they spilled out into the streets and formed a crowd so large, it would have been difficult for a vehicle to pass through. Limón, in my opinion, is probably the most happening town on the Sámana peninsula: an undiscovered treasure. 

After dancing the night away to our heart´s content, we rolled out of bed early the next morning to enjoy Playa Marón. This gorgeous beach took us about a half hour to reach by motorcycle on a muddy dirt path through the jungle. But worth every minute. 
The beach was gorgeous and there wasn´t a soul around. However, a hotel was being constructed nearby and so this nearly virgin beach will probably not remain that way for too much longer. 

A short climb up the side of the mountain, and past the hotel construction site, will bring you to a natural pool made by coral that connects to the sea. (just make sure to wear shoes, because that coral is jagged!)

So awesome!

we splashed around in the waves for a bit until we realized that we were going to be late for our bus, which left from Las Terrenas at 1:00. We rushed back to our hostal, threw all of our clothes into a bag, and then hopped on the back of Natha and company´s motorcycles to race the clock back to Las Terrenas. If we didn´t catch that bus we´d be spending another unplanned night in Limón. 
We arrived just as the bus was pulling out of the station. Wheeeww. Now that´s what I call maximizing every minute of a vacation. Lindsay and I giggled over our good luck and reminisced about the awesomeness of our trip for the first 20 minutes of the ride, and then fell into a deep and much needed sleep for the next 3 hours back to Santiago.