Limon City
LIMON TOWN CENTER
As we walk around Limon we get a sense of very happy people enjoying a simple way of living. The central area of Limon consists of just 3 main blocks made up of every kind of shops one can imagine; supermarkets, clothes and equipment stores, numerous fast food outlets, bars with outside seating or standing area, music and video shops, etc. all filled with people most of the time, especially on weekends and early evenings.
Other than a few small modern complexes, businesses are mostly operated in run-down wooden buildings, which give it the small town Caribbean feel. The buildings come in a range of colors from deep reds to blues, and are generally two stores high, some have balconies with simple tables for meals and drink. Signs are everywhere. The center point of the town is a modern church, by modern we mean it was built in 1970s style architecture rather than colonial. The seafront city park is obviously the focal point for recreation and social life; courting couples, families with kids and groups of youngsters all gather here throughout the day; they come to stroll on the promenade, take in the ocean view, watch sunset, chat and watch their kids play. On weekends a stage is put up for one kind of performance or another if not live music.
At one of the street corners, super large fresh prawns are being sold at US$13 per kilo, less than half the price we normally see in supermarkets in other cities. The bars and restaurants are all very basic; the Pizza Hut Restaurant is about the best we come across with air condition and comfortable seats. The restaurant at the seafront Park Hotel offers a wide range of international standard dishes but prices are formidable. Chicken fast food outlets seem to be the most popular with the locals. There are bakeries and the ever present Chinese restaurant opposite the park.
Limon is not a tourist destination in the same sense as, say, Jaco or Manuel Antonio, which have the full array of tourist attractions, with restaurants and bars tuned to the taste of foreigners on vacation. Limon is purely geared to the local population and with that visitors are exposed to what Costs Rica is really like outside of tourism. There is a kind of zing to life here that we do not sense elsewhere in the country. The impression one gets on a walk through town on a Saturday evening is an exciting mix of vibrancy and rowdiness; in the nails and barber shops, young people are busy getting spruced up for a night out in town; music coming out from every corner; bars and eateries full of happy faces. The atmosphere is truly different from any other parts of Costa Rica.
Due to the high percentage of colored people and the absence of tourists, it is understandable that some visitors may feel conspicuous and apprehensive; it is however reassuring to see that policemen are very visible in this town; there are policemen in the streets as well as those patrolling on motorcycles.
