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Published: April 2nd 2010
Cabinas Arrecife, Cahuita Costa Rica
A view to our lodge from the sea shore, and this time we're gonna tell you about
Cahuita National park of Costa Rica.
I - Omer go first:
From the village of Tortuguero, we took a motor boat to a town called Pavona, from there we took
another bus to another town called Cariari, from there we took
another bus to a town called Guapiles, and from there
ANOTHER BUS to a city called Limon. We got there at about 6:30 p.m. But the problem was that there are no buses to Cahuita at that time, because the last bus to Cahuita leaves at 6:00 p.m.
We had no choice, but to sleep there, in Limon, and take the bus in the morning at 9:00 a.m. So we started to look for a hostel, soon we found one next to the other, and dad looked in one of them and said it was ugly and the bathrooms were shared. So mom looked in the other hostel and she said it was a little bit better, he had 2 rooms for us, in each one of the rooms was one double bed, but what made our dad and mom angry was that
he took half price for Shachar and he didn't give us another towel for him, he said it is because he uses the bathroom... We were very hungry so we asked where is the closest restaurant, and he told us there is a Chinese restaurant at the corner, so we ate there.
Then, in the morning we took a bus to Chauita, It was about 1 hour ride.
When we got there dad went to look for a hostel, and he found one that was called
Arrecife Lodge(in English: “coral lodge”), it had a pool and view to the sea. After we settled in the lodge, Nitzan, Shachar, and I went to the pool. When evening came, we all went to look for a restaurant to eat dinner. It was a local restaurant and we ordered local Caribbean tasty dishes.
Nitzan continues: The next morning we ate breakfast and then we did some learnings. Then we went to the pool, but suddenly my dad shouted:
A SLOTH, A SLOTH!! on the trees beside our hostel, so we brought the camera and took pictures of it. The sloth went from one tree to another and he
White Faced Capuchin Monkey
Cauita National Park, Costa Rica walked fast, usually they almost never move, they just sleep, or sometimes eat - that is why they are also called in many languages "lazy" (in Hebrew - Atzlan; in Spanish: Oso Perecoso).
At the afternoon we decided to go to the national park just besides the village so maybe we could see more sloths, monkeys, and more. So we walked to the entrance.
Right when we entered the park we saw a whole group of
Howler Monkeys; they are called howlers monkeys because they howl a lot when they are afraid, or calling to the rest of the monkeys. When they howl you can hear it from a few kilometers away!
After we saw the monkeys we walked more and then we saw people gathering around something and taking pictures so we walked to them and saw they were taking pictures of
Racoons; Racoons are like the Coaties we saw in Iguazu falls. There was a mother and a baby, and both were
so so cute!!!!! Of course we took many pictures of them.
We kept on walking, and then saw
Capuchin Monkeys, the monkey is called White Throated Capuchin. They look pretty small, their body is
A Capuchin Mom & Baby - looking for food
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica, just after we finished our pineapples... black and their neck is white.
After that we kept walking and had to cross a river that runs into the sea. So I crossed it in the water, my mom and dad did too, Omer and Shachar had shoes so they crossed it on a log that was already there. There we ended the trail and went back the same way.
After a while of walking back suddenly my dad shouted again
A SLOTH, A SLOTH!! We all looked up and it was the 3 Fingered Sloth (there are 2 different types of sloths, one that we saw now, and the one we saw in the morning which was a 2 Fingered Sloth). Then we kept walking and walking and then again we saw a sloth, this time I do not remember which type it was. Again we kept walking and again after a while we saw another sloth, this time it was starting a bit to bore me. Again I do not remember which 1 it was. A few minutes from the last sloth we saw on a tree a very very little snake with a real shining yellow color. Then we were out of the park.
Racoon
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica The walk in the park was beautiful, not only because we saw all these animals that we wanted so much to see, but also because it was right on the beach - on one side we had the sea and its waves, and on the other side the tropical forest. Sometimes we were walking really on the beach and on the sand, and in some other moments we were walking more inside the trees. All along the trail, we also saw a lot of crabs and their holes.
And mom is joining: Upon exiting the park, we got to see an amazing sunset. Though we could not see the sun “fireball”, the skies tinted in amazing red and orange colors; coupled with the palm trees that are all around the town - it was a marvelous sight, even its photos do not fully transmit.
We ended the day, with our favorite activity - eating. This time we elected a restaurant called 'Palenque' and we had 5 great dishes. Sea food and coconut were the dominant ingredients of our plates - Are we in the caribbean, or not?! Omer had rice with Shrimps in coconut sauce; I had a
Yellow Palm Pitviper
It was waiting for us on the tree, right as we exited Cahuita Park mixed sea food platter in Caribbean sauce; Tal had a special sea food soup called 'Rondon' it was spicy with ginger flavor; Nitzan had vegetables in coconut sauce over rice and Shachar had a very very tasty chicken in garlic sauce.
The next day, was one of our best days in the trip - Snorkeling!!!
We went on a boat that took us snorkeling in two different points along the shore of the national park. In the first point, we saw a lot of corals, small fish of all colors and shapes. We were also lucky and got to see a
Nurse Shark.
The second stop was in a much more open area, with not that many corals, but we got to see a few
Manta-rays, hovering gracefuly over the corals.
We do not have an underwater camera - Yes, I am guilty of that mistake, as I have resisted buying one before leaving for the trip - but there was a nice Slovakian dancer with us on the boat, who had an appropriate camera - and so with his help we have photos of some of the
underwater wonders we have seen on that day.
Nurse Shark
Hard to see in the picture, but believe us it is there! The snorkeling trip ended on the beach in Punta Cahuita, inside the National Park. From there we walked back to the hostel, following again the same lovely trail inside the park as we did the day earlier. Shachar has returned back to the hostel with the boat, and skipped walking - he waited for us ALOnE in the hostel - what a brave boy (and parents...).
To all worried grandmothers / and others -
- 1. he is safe and sound, so no reason to be worried now a few days after.
- 2. we informed the housekeeper of the hostel over the phone that he is going to arrive and asked for her help putting an eye over him.
- 3. The boat man made sure he goes back to the hostel with a life jacket, so if he does get into the pool of the hostel alone he is well equipped for it.
Anyway, walking this trail again, we have managed once again to observe the Capuchin monkeys, the Racoons, some Howler monkeys, more sloths and a huge Iguana up on a distant tree. Even the Yellow Palm Pitviper (snake) was still waiting for us on the tree right
Yellow Starfish
Cahuita National Park waters at the exit - I guess snakes are even lazier than the sloth...
The next day, we intended to leave Cahuita. Yet, it rained the whole night and most of the morning, so we have decided to stay at “home” for another day.
Though the rain did not completely stop over the next morning, we decided to take the risk and continue with our plans - going further south - to the little village of
Manzanillo. We had no idea what to expect, and indeed there was not much to expect... Well, we got there, found someone that was willing to keep an eye on our staff and went for a walk in the local reserve area - but though the location is very similar to Cahuita: same sea, same type of forest next to it etc. we saw no animals, the trail was very muddy and we were left disappointed. Yet, it was a nice calm walk along some beautiful beaches. After a couple of hours, we went back into the tiny town, picked our bags and hopped on the last bus leaving the town at 17:00 - reaching the hippy-party town of Puerto Viejo, just as
day light vanished at around 18:30.
Puerto Viejo is the “show business” town of the area - it has lots of bars, restaurants, clubs etc. and all are open until fairly late. It was weekend when we arrived, and thus we had really hard time finding a place to sleep, but we finally found something. As it was already fairly late, we immediately went out for dinner - again sea food and coconut sauce were starring on our plates. Shachar fell asleep on the table and had nothing to eat...
Though this is the night life town - yet, when Nitzan and I went strolling around after dinner (it was probably 21:30), all the art and souvenirs stalls along the main touristic street were already either closed or closing - that much for night life....
The next day was spent almost in its full - again - riding buses, awaiting and boat to get to
Parismina - a tiny town out of the tourist beaten track. So,
what has brought us to Parismina? Turtles! Remember we left Tortuguero without seeing a nesting turtle, and we were told that in Parismina the season has already started and
Coconut Kid
I don't really like the taste of its water - but I like being photographed with it... many turtles are being counted every night? Well, to cut a long story short -
we have not seen turtles in Parismina either, and not that we have not tried:
We took a guided tour (it is not allowed to go without a guide);
We paid 54 USD! as fees to the guide and for the conservation of the turtles;
We walked on the beach - back and forth - about 10km;
We walked from 9pm till after midnight in complete darkness (light disturbs the turtles);
We got completely soaked from the pouring rain;
- but no sign of any turtle.
Disappointed (correction: VERY disappointed as well as frustrated) we left the next day Parismina. For a minute we were thinking of staying for another night and trying again, but then we have realized that our chances to actually see a turtle, or more importantly for the kids to see one, are so so slim that it would only frustrate us more to try once again (3rd time within a week!) (and goodness, these are only turtles we're "hunting" for...). We have decided to leave something for the kids to come back for
2 fingered sloth
Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica in the future.
Another complicated, yet simple journey (once again - a boat, and 2 buses) - have brought us back to San Jose, back to "Pension de la Cuesta", the hostel we have left just a week earlier. In a couple of days, we will end our "costa Rica" chapter, heading to
Panama Hasta Pronto,
Omer, Nitzan and Lilach
To view all our photos you are welcomed to click here:
Cahuita In Color
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