Cahuita and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
After the amazing time at Manuel Antonio it was time to change scenery; What about going back to the Caribbean side?
The trip started once again at 6AM (we have gotten used to it), a 4 hour bus ride to San Jose followed by a stressful 10 minutes taxi ride to change bus terminals. We arrived at the terminal just in time for Helena to hold the bus, while I went inside the terminal to buy tickets. We managed to get our ride, but it was too late to get seats.
Once again we stood, this time for another 4h of bumpy road bus ride to the town of Cahuita.
Cahuita feels like Jamaica! Although I have never been in Jamaica this is how I imagine it to be.
Like if the city is always about to start to wake up, reggae music playing in some random radio,an Afro-Caribbean person in the shadow of a tree, another one just starts dancing to the sound of music, another person passes by riding a bike in slow motion, food is cooked with coconut water, and its hot.
After some minutes of rest in our room, we went to see the beaches, we went to the one further away from the hostel, its called Playa Negra, due to the color of the sand. Palm trees grow very close to the water, the mature coconuts fall directly on the beach as well as the branches of the trees.
On the way back from the beach, people say Hello to us, we are part of Cahuita.
After dinner and back to our room we had a non-invited guest crawling in our shower, the first time during my part of the tirp. In order to have a peaceful sleep without any more disturbances, I had to send the "little" cockroach bastard to another re-incarnation.
Next morning we visited the Parque Nacional of Cahuita, Yes, that is the feeling in Costa Rica, everywhere one goes there is another National Park, it would be easier to have only one covering the whole country... This park is basically a walk in between a beach and a river. Because the weather was a bit rainy we didn't see many mammals, but we've seen a lot of other impressive species like blue crabs, lizards that run over water, some colorful insects (and many mosquitoes).
Here we were on our own, no guides, no tourists, only nature... and believe me its very easy to get 'spooked' with all the noise that comes from the jungle.
The nice thing was that the beach was very close, so we walked for about 3 hours always with the sound of the waves.
And, of course kind of a rule for every park, monkeys! They like to pass over our heads
Next morning we went to the local market, and bough some tasty fruits for the day.
Our trip then followed to another small town called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, just some tens of kilometers South. In these places people are so relaxed and take things so slowly that when we ordered our meal in the local cafe, the young kid that was helping his father in the kitchen took his bicycle, went to the local supermarket and a few minutes later he brought the ingredients for our salad.
Our hostel was just across, yet another, Playa Negra and the views early in the morning were very stressful due to the tall buildings and huge traffic and pollution....just kidding none of that! just a beautiful beach.
The hostel was ruled by cats, that took every opportunity to make us pay our bill in time.
Not only the hostel was managed by cats, but also the local restaurants, this little one I found biting my shoe laces during dinner.
Ahh, remember the fruits we had bought in the market the day before? Next morning we still had a few left, so we decided to go for a breakfast with a view, under a palm tree shadow overlooking one of the most famous surf reef breaks of the region, Salsa Brava.
After our relaxing breakfast which included: youghurt, cereals, bananas, litchis and maracuja (passion fruit). we rented some bikes and went south visiting some other beautiful beaches and villages. On our way down the main street it felt like 'Verano Azul'..until....(mother and helena's brother: think twice before scrolling down)..until we saw this big snake!!
The name of the snake is Boa, this one was after all a small one (about 1 meter, an adult can go as big as 4 meters), and was found inside a garbage bin by the garbage men.
The garbage people asked us if we wanted to take it with us, they said that down the road there was someone to collect it..we said no. Another guy in a bike passes by, and calls the "Snake Removal Service", apparently in Costa Rica they have that, since it is very common for people to find these 'cute' animals playing in their garbage, gardens, or even inside their homes.
So after this incident we got even more careful with where we step, but it sure made our day even more interesting in the 'Costa Rican open Zoo'.
The trip started once again at 6AM (we have gotten used to it), a 4 hour bus ride to San Jose followed by a stressful 10 minutes taxi ride to change bus terminals. We arrived at the terminal just in time for Helena to hold the bus, while I went inside the terminal to buy tickets. We managed to get our ride, but it was too late to get seats.
Once again we stood, this time for another 4h of bumpy road bus ride to the town of Cahuita.
Like if the city is always about to start to wake up, reggae music playing in some random radio,an Afro-Caribbean person in the shadow of a tree, another one just starts dancing to the sound of music, another person passes by riding a bike in slow motion, food is cooked with coconut water, and its hot.
After some minutes of rest in our room, we went to see the beaches, we went to the one further away from the hostel, its called Playa Negra, due to the color of the sand. Palm trees grow very close to the water, the mature coconuts fall directly on the beach as well as the branches of the trees.
On the way back from the beach, people say Hello to us, we are part of Cahuita.
After dinner and back to our room we had a non-invited guest crawling in our shower, the first time during my part of the tirp. In order to have a peaceful sleep without any more disturbances, I had to send the "little" cockroach bastard to another re-incarnation.
Next morning we visited the Parque Nacional of Cahuita, Yes, that is the feeling in Costa Rica, everywhere one goes there is another National Park, it would be easier to have only one covering the whole country... This park is basically a walk in between a beach and a river. Because the weather was a bit rainy we didn't see many mammals, but we've seen a lot of other impressive species like blue crabs, lizards that run over water, some colorful insects (and many mosquitoes).
.
The nice thing was that the beach was very close, so we walked for about 3 hours always with the sound of the waves.
And, of course kind of a rule for every park, monkeys! They like to pass over our heads
Next morning we went to the local market, and bough some tasty fruits for the day.
Our trip then followed to another small town called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, just some tens of kilometers South. In these places people are so relaxed and take things so slowly that when we ordered our meal in the local cafe, the young kid that was helping his father in the kitchen took his bicycle, went to the local supermarket and a few minutes later he brought the ingredients for our salad.
Our hostel was just across, yet another, Playa Negra and the views early in the morning were very stressful due to the tall buildings and huge traffic and pollution....just kidding none of that! just a beautiful beach.
The hostel was ruled by cats, that took every opportunity to make us pay our bill in time.
(me and my friend 'the cat', being flashed by Helena)
Not only the hostel was managed by cats, but also the local restaurants, this little one I found biting my shoe laces during dinner.
(Helena was thinking about bringing this little one for the rest of our trip)
Ahh, remember the fruits we had bought in the market the day before? Next morning we still had a few left, so we decided to go for a breakfast with a view, under a palm tree shadow overlooking one of the most famous surf reef breaks of the region, Salsa Brava.
(Helena, reading)
(Salsa Brava, Classic)
After our relaxing breakfast which included: youghurt, cereals, bananas, litchis and maracuja (passion fruit). we rented some bikes and went south visiting some other beautiful beaches and villages. On our way down the main street it felt like 'Verano Azul'..until....(mother and helena's brother: think twice before scrolling down)..until we saw this big snake!!
The name of the snake is Boa, this one was after all a small one (about 1 meter, an adult can go as big as 4 meters), and was found inside a garbage bin by the garbage men.
It is said that in Costa Rica there are about 120 different species of snakes, including about 20 poisonous ones.
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Bjs Zé e Natalina