Cahuita and the Costa Rican Caribbean Coast

---

Our first stop in Costa Rica was Puerto Viejo as our accommodation in Cahuita wasn't available until the following night. It was a good introduction to the Caribbean coast but, as expected, a bit too busy for us, especially on a Saturday night! We stayed at the Cabinas Jacarandawhich was comfortable enough but we still felt it was over-priced for what we got. Russ was, predictably, excited to have a hammock right outside the room and he made good use of it. The sunset was a good one but the small town gets very busy on a Saturday night and the traffic was horrendous. Thankfully we were on foot. The next morning we had a good walk around looking at the black beach and the shipwreck in a mixture of sunshine and showers. Then it was time to figure out the bus to Cahuita. On a Sunday they are few and far between, and we were a bit concerned about having to pay on the bus, but we needn't have worried as it wasn't that busy.

Cahuita was much more what we wanted. It's a small and very laid-back town with enough bars and restaurants to keep you entertained for a few nights if you can afford to eat out all the time! We rented an apartment to keep costs down a little and home cooking for a few days was lovely. We feasted on tropical fruit and fresh salads every day before treating ourselves to a night out on our final evening - the same evening that the tropical rains arrived in earnest!! Our stay didn't get off to the best start though. On our first trip out (to buy the aforementioned fruit and salad vegetables) the lock on the door failed and we were stuck in the street. Our landlady, Angie, was out of town but credit to her as she dropped everything and rushed to our aid. Within an hour we were back inside and the muchacho from the ferretería appeared promptly at 8am the next morning to change the lock. Back in Spain that 8am would no doubt have turned quickly into 11am.

It doesn't take a long time to walk around Cahuita, but you can extend it by walking out alongside the black beach (that's nowhere near as black as the one in Puerto Viejo) and back alongside the main road. We saw so many birds on that walk that we lost count. Just wandering around you see a good variety of avian life so keep your camera or binoculars handy!

The main attraction in Cahuita is the National Park. From the town you can gain access by making a donation. If you enter from Puerto Vargas there is a $6 fixed fee. It's the same park so it's hard to see why that is. We just emptied our pockets of loose change but they count every penny and give you a receipt, so you need a thick skin if you are tight! Local guides will stop you and try to get some business but we were content to walk through and spot the wildlife ourselves. It wasn't particularly difficult, but we were happy to see a guide pointing out a yellow eyelash viper in a hole in a tree, and the sloths took some seeing too. The monkeys did not take any effort whatsoever though! It was an easy walk and there was no wading through rivers either, so they must have improved the route since some of the photos we had seen were taken. Parts of the walk were underneath thick canopy, but other parts were very hot and exposed alongside the beach. Sunscreen and repellent were very much needed. At the far end (Puerto Vargas for us) there is a 2km boardwalk leading out of the park. There we were offered a cheap ride back to Cahuita if we ate in a pizza restaurant but we were not hungry so decided to wait for the bus. While we were waiting another minibus offered us a ride for $2 each which we gratefully accepted.

Cahuita was a great place for some R&R and a bit of nature spotting. We found Coco's Bar to be a good place to eat but it probably wasn't much different to anywhere else along the strip. There we ordered a dish called chifrijo which we loved. Rice and beans are mixed in a bowl then fried pork is layered on top of it. This in turn is topped with fresh tomato and avocado. It was delicious and has given Russ ideas for something to adapt when we get home! We also found Aroma Cafe which just by its name brought back memories of Vietnam as the Aroma Cafe there was at the foot of the building where we lived! So slow-drip Vietnamese coffee here, but delicious mochaccino frappés instead!

It was quite sad leaving a place where we had really settled in after just four days. We used Bookaway to organise our onward travel to La Fortuna. Local buses would have taken forever and even on a minibus it was going to take the best part of six hours. Using an agency turned out to be about 25 per cent cheaper than going directly to Interbus even though we were still using their minibus. Ridiculous! The journey was fine - changing minibus about halfway along and passing endless banana plantations along the way. The road is being upgraded though which explains why it takes so long at the moment.

---

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Making friends
Vibrant colors! Costa Rica has so much to offer.