Friday, January 22, 2010 - Cahuita

In a couple of hours I will be leaving for Honduras, but wanted to write a quick blog before going about my time Cahuita. It´s the sort of town where, to use cliche travel guide terms, one could spend a day or lifetime, and you can sit on the beach and let life pass you by. The bus ride out from San Jose takes about three and a half hours, and passes through tropical rain forest as well as banana plantations closer to the coast. The town itself is home to mostly Afro-Caribbean people, though it seems like a few expats actually have decided to stay a lifetime, such as the French fellow who rides his bike around selling homemade bakery items from a basket attached over the rear tire.

I ended up rooming with an Israeli whom I met after getting off the bus in the city. It is a great example of how you sometimes decide to quickly trust people while traveling for the sake of saving a little bit of money. Our hostel was simple, and certainly not sitting on the beach, but we did have a hammock and some great neighbors.

We arrived an hour or so before dark, so there really wasn't time enough for a good look around the beach. Instead, my roommate and I went and ate Casada, a traditional Tico (what Costa Ricans call themselves) dish. It´s rice and beans, a piece of chicken, fish, or whatever type of meat, and salad. It sounds simple enough, but done right is more than satisfying. A few beers at the only bar in town, Coco´s, shared with a couple others and I was ready to call it a night.

I was up fairly early, and ready for a full day. The Cahuita National Park entrance is in the town of Cahuita, making it a convenient and popular day hike for most all who go to visit. The trail runs a good nine kilometers, most all of it skirting the white sand beaches, lined with palm trees and blue water. We of course took time to sit on the beach and take a dip, but some of the real fun of the day was found in watching the various wildlife the park works to protect. Howler monkeys, sloths, blue and hermit crab, iguana, and large colonies of some very busy ants. Though spotting the larger mammals was a treat, I found it much more exciting to see all that was going on right at my feet.

There is certainly more to be said about Cahuita, but time has gotten away from me and I´ll have to cut this one short.