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Published: February 24th 2010
We are staying at a great organic farm called Finca Loco Natural in a small bungalow, named La Casita. Its in the Playa Negra neighborhood of Puerto Viejo, which is just about 1km outside of town. The cabin is really cute-beautiful hardwood floors, big windows that open to lovely view of the garden and forest, and a great porch with a hammock, chairs and tables. When we arrived, one of the owners-Pamela, greeted us and showed us around the property. She took us up to their house, to meet her husband Carter and to find out if they had a router we could use so that we would have wireless internet during our stay. Turns out, they were having problems with their wireless-Edward was able to fix the issues and get their spare router working for them! Definatly a win win for everyone.
Our first morning, we awoke to the sound of a howler monkey just outside the cabin. takes a bit of getting used to-as its even louder than the roosters we've encountered on other areas. We spent our first day in the area doing a bit of exploring - we walk into town on the beach. Puerto
Beach walk
Cahuita national parkViejo is a bigger beach town than nearby Cahuita and Playa Hermosa where we were in January. Its not as built up as some of the beaches on the Pacific side (not any condos or high rise hotels) but it does have alot of interesting restaurants, shops, bars and more than one grocery store. It also has a hardware store-so Edward picked up some supplies to stain and varnish the walking stick he got in Cachi at the dreamers house.
Tuesday was a sunny day, so we decided to head back to Cahuita to hike in the national park. We were going to take the bus, but as is often the case-it was very late. We lucked out and shared a cab with some other travelers heading that way. The park is right on the beach and has an 8km trail that starts at one end of the park, and ends at the other side, Playa Vargas. The trail is a winding sandy path throuh the jungle. We saw monkeys, sloth, coati, racoon and lots of crabs along the way. There are lots of small beaches to explore all along the path. The water is calmer in this area,
Gnarly roots
Cahuita national park and there is a large coral reef in the park. Snorkeling is only allowed with a guide in order to protect the reef. It took us about 3 hours to make it to he other side of the park, and on the way out the park ranger showed us 2 snakes that were in the tree ouside the ranger station. We saw a yellow palm pitviper and an eyelash pitviper. They were up on a branch in the tree and we would not have seen them without the rangers keen eye. We wondered how many we had walked past on all our hikes without even seeing them. On the way out of the park-there is a great little restaurant &bar called Boca Chica. they have tables under thatched huts, a swimming pool, friendly staff and a cute cat that looks just like Beard After our hot hike it was just what we needed before catching the bus back to PV.
We arranged a tour to go to the Bri Bri indigenous reserve and a cocoa house. We were also to hike to a waterfall, but because it was raining, we were not able to make the trek. The
reservation is not far from Puerto Viejo, and is just outside the town of Bri Bri, which is the capital for the region. The reservation was seperated from the city, and people were not allowed to enter. In the 1980s when ecotourism began to take off, the reservation was opened and visitors were allowed to enter. The BriBri have their own language, agriculture is their main activity, and they believe in living close to nature. Our first stop on the tour was to a medicinal herb garden. We met a medicine woman, who showed us plants and trees and their different uses-remedies for headaches, colds, stomach ailments, etc. The medicine woman used to be with the Shamen, who can have multiple wives. Our guide explained to us that she had left the shamen and claimed that he put a spell on her. We also got to see how they are able to make rope from plant fibers and the plants that are used to die them red, yellow, blue and green. Next, we went to visit a Bri Bri family and meet one of the elders-a man who is 109 years old! To reach the house, we followed a path
Yellow Palm Pit Viper
Cahuita national park and crossed a hanging bridge. The house is a traditional wood house with a thatched palm roof and is raised on stilts. The palms are scorched, which is done to help keep mosquitos away. The stilts help keep critters out of the house and also help to keep the house dry. The kitchen has a big wood burning stove, and there are hammocks for sleeping. The wood floor is well worn and the wood is flexible, so it feels like you are bouncing when you walk on it. Near the traditional houses, there are also small more modern concrete homes. As part of a project, world bank has built homes throughout the reservation. Our guide explained that the houses have received mixed reviews-some families like the comforts of the new homes, but others-still prefer the traditional homes. We were introduced to Don Sevala (probably spelled all wrong) however, maybe because of the rains, he wasn't feeling well so we didnt stay too long. Usually he plays a song for visitors, which would have been fun to see. The family was very kind and patient allowing us a glimpse into their lives. After our visit we had a little lunch in
White faced monkey
Cahuita national park the town of Bri Bri at a very charming little restaurant overlooking the main drag, then it was off to the cocoa tour. The cocoa farm and house is owned by a Bri Bri family, who chose to live outside the reservation. The daughter demonstrated the steps involved in making chocolate-starting with the big podlike bean (we got to taste the actual fresh bean, yuck not like chocolate), drying the beans, crushing/grinding the beans, seperating the oils (resulting in cocoa butter), forming cocoa paste and making chocolate. Of course we got to sample a variety of flavors-unlike anything i have tried before, delicious! We bought some samples, but I can't promise that they are going to make it home. Our final stop was at a small art gallery owned by a husband and his wife. His speciality is wood carvings, and his wife crafts jewelery from all natural matierials found in the jungle-such as seeds, shells and wood. It was a fun visit and always interesting to meet the artist.
Thursday was a bit rainy, so we enjoyed our quiet space at our cabin, and had a long walk on the beach. We also met our neighbors staying in
the house next to ours, they were having computer problems, and Carter introduced us hoping we could help. Frances and Garrett live in Canada but are origionally from Holland After fixing their computer issues, we had a nice visit with them and they shared some grapefruit with us, which taste much less bitter than the ones we are used to. They have been letting us use their lap top, which is a real treat. They have a great sense of humor and we've enjoyed talking with them.
There are several beaches in the area along the road that leads to Manzanillo, where the other national park is Friday we explored more of the area, and walked to Playa Cocles, the first beach area past PV. There is a walking trail that heads out of town to the beach, which is nice - as usually walking is just along the side of the road. Playa Cocles is pretty with some big waves! The road is lined with small hotels, pulperias (small grocery stores) and restaurants. We had a cold drink at one of the beachside places and watched the waves roll in and folks surfing. Sunday, we decided to
explore a bit further and rented bikes. We wanted to check out Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva. Bike riding is very popular for exploring this area and we were able to rent a bike for 2000 colones(about $4) Bike riding was fun and we were able to check out the next 2 areas very easily. Playa Chiquita had a funky feel to it-we passed yoga studios, vegetarian restaurants and neat shops. Punta Uva had a beautiful calm beach-we are definatly going to head back down to that area for a day of swimming! We returned the bikes and having worked up an apetite, stopped for lunch at a restaurant called @Es. The restaurant is at a hostel called Rocking Js-the whole place is done up in mosaic tiles and bright murals. guests sleep in hammock dorms or in tents -its all open air and is right on the beah. Really quite a sight. Last night Pamela and Carter had a potluck get together for the guests. It was a fun evening-good food and lots of funny stories. Everyone here is incredibly nice. Lots of yummy food - guacamole, fresh cheeses, homemade bread and a incredible deep dish banana pie.
Lizard
Cahuita national park We got some good tips for some fun things to check out this week, including the Jaguar Rescue Center and the organic farmers market.
Hopefully we will have a chance to do one more installment before we head to the turtle volunteering next week-where we will not have internet access. Its hard to believe that only have 2 1/2 more weeks before we head home!
Hope everyone is great! Is it spring yet!
Pura Vida!
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Linda
non-member comment
the good life
It looks like it is the good life, the beach looks really nice for long walks. The park seems full of animals and trees that have neat roots. I like your little home, it looks cozie to me.