Cahuita, Costa Rica

Cahuita National Park

After our Cuban visa success we were chuffed to pieces and set off down the coast to a quiet little seaside town of Cahuita. With our plans constantly changing we decided to head this was as we had heard good things about it being off the touristy track, having an abundance local wildlife and Natioal Parks to wander in. 

We arrived in to the sleepy town of Cahuita just before sunset and found a basic but comfy hostel. This would be our home for the next 4 days. 

A stone´s throw from the hostel was the beach and the start of really nice National Park, so we were up early and set about walking the 12Km round trip through the park. It was a lovey walk, with only a handful of other people along the way and the track was adjacent to the beach, so at various intervals, allowed us to pop out on to the beach and enjoy the view. We took our time and managed to see some brilliant wildlife. Sloth bears, monkeys, spiders, snakes, crabs, lizards and birds. All of them just there in front of us. A great walk and very rewarding. 

Jail Breaking Monkey

Baby Sloth Bear

The next day we wandered along the coastal road in the opposite direction and headed for a animal resuce sanctuary called the Tree of Life. This was a local run place to rehabilitate monkeys, sloths and other native animals that have been hurt of were previously pets. We spent a good few hours here, just observing the animals. The weirdest bit was when one of the monkeys managed to unlock the padlock from its cage and open the door....we just stood there and gave each other a look of "did that monkey just open the cage door.....". Whilst the other monkeys went mad at the prospective jail break, Kip went to get one of the guides to alert him to the cheeky monkey.

Goldie - The Howler Monkey

The sanctuary had a range of animals, but by far the best was a young howler monkey called Goldie, that we sat and watched for about 45 minutes. We had the space all to ourselves and it was just fascinating to sit and watch a lovely little monkey play, eat and do monkey things. After the Tree of Life, we wandered slowly back to town, along the coast road, stopping for a lovely little lunch on the beach. 

Cahuita is not a big or busy town, but just relaxed and tranquil; a great place to wind down, chill out and just enjoy some sunshine. 

Puerto Viejo

The last day there we took a short bus ride down the coast to the neighbouring town of Puerto Viejo, a slightly larger and more busy village, also on the coast. It was nice to see a different place along the coast and we spent the afternoon chilling on the beach watching the surfers master the large waves on the coral reef.(well i was watching the surfing, i think Kip was more focussed on the surfers....!)

After a lovely few days chilling and winding down, we changed our plans once again and instead of heading further south, through a quick round trip to Panama, we headed back to San Jose and all the way over to the opposite coast, for a place called Manuel Antonio. So cue another long day of buses and travelling.