Cahuita Costa Rica Feb 2011 vacation re-cap

[ASammy1]

Ok, here we go…

Saturday Feb 12- flew down and were upgraded to 1st Class for free (what a way to start vacay!). Landed around 10ish pm and got to the hotel in San Jose around 11. Grabbed a quick dinner and went to bed…

Sunday Feb 13- The Interbus shuttle picked us up at 7:30 to take us to the Carib coast (about a 4 hour drive). It was an 8 person shuttle and we were full. Stopped at the halfway point at a little café for a bathroom break and snack. Finally got to our B&B around 12. The grounds were gorgeous-exquisite gardens everywhere. Our bungalow was all natural local hardwoods which were varnished to a shine. Our bathroom had hand-painted double sinks and mosaic double headed shower. Everything about the place was beautiful… So we were starving by the time we got settled in and the B&B owner suggested a restaurant about a half mile down the road. The food was AMAZING and right on the black sand beach! We got back to our bungalow around 3ish and immediately fell asleep. Woke up around 5:30 and got ready for dinner. We stayed a little closer for dinner and was back in the room by 7:30 and sound asleep by 9… Around midnight we started hearing all of these crashing type noises. It sounded like someone was repeatedly dropping a shampoo bottle in a tub. Finally we figured out that there were monkeys in the tree above our room and they were using our roof to get to the next tree or throwing coconuts on the roof! They finally quieted down about an hour later. Then around 5am, they started howling… it is the most pitiful sounding moan you’ve ever heard. It sounds like they are dying, but it’s the way they communicate with each other. They shut up about a half hour later. Please note that this was not a big deal to us-we were expecting these interruptions and loved being right in the middle of nature!

Monday Feb 14- After the constant interruptions the night before, we were up around 7:30 and headed to the main house for breakfast (breakfast was served daily from 7-9). We were presented with huge plates of tropical fruits, and then a platter of whole grain breads with homemade mango and pineapple jellies, and then the focacchia/egg dish of the day. I swear the food just kept coming! And then we were asked what we wanted for breakfast!!! It was crazy. The owners, Joe and Chris(female), were tremendous hosts and I would recommend the establishment to anyone. We also got to meet some of the other guests at breakfast and guess what? Everyone else was from the Midwest too… One couple was from central Wisconsin, another from Minneapolis, and another from Iowa… There was another couple from Montreal, but they didn’t really associate with us ugly Americans  After breakfast, we decided we would take a walk into town which was about a mile down the road for a few provisions. It’s a sleepy little Caribbean fishing village where nobody does anything quickly. Perfect. The walk into town is just lovely… The side of the road closest to the ocean is completely empty with nothing built on it and the other side is dotted with tiny B&Bs, internet cafes, and a soccer field along the way. We had lunch in an open air restaurant in town after hitting up the bank to exchange some money, grabbing some snacks for the room, and picking up a big bottle of sun block. We went back to the B&B and the owners helped us book our adventures for the week. We then changed into our bathing suits and headed to the black sand beach for a few hours which was about a 100 yards from our room. All in all, a great day! Oh, and we saw a few of the local surfers too!

Tuesday Feb 15- We had to be up a little earlier today because our shuttle was picking us up at 7:30 to take us to the Veragua Rainforest and Research Park. We were just happy that we could still get the super yummy breakfast at the B&B! The ride to the rainforest was about 2 hours. When we got there, we were introduced to our guide and then went on our way. We were the only visitors for the day so we got a private tour! Our guide, Ed, explained to us that their busy days are when a cruise ship is docked for the day in the port of Limon and there weren’t any that particular day. It’s interesting because we got there and the sun was shining and the sky was blue. 15 minutes later-a 20 minute downpour. We were happy we packed rain ponchos for the day. Ed, our guide, looked at us, shrugged his shoulders, and said “It’s the rainforest!” Anyway, the first part of the tour was a ride on an open air gondola down a mountain. We saw an owl, and then a 3-toed sloth hanging out in a tree and Ed told us all about the rainforest. We got to the end of the gondola ride and decided to make the trek to see the waterfall which was about a 10 minute walk down about 400 wet, slippery, steps. It was worth it-gorgeous. The hard part was the hike back up-ha ha! The next part of the tour took us to the labs. Ed explained that the Park was doing butterfly research and that they just started researching other insects and spiders. We saw beetles that with the wingspan were bigger than my hands! I’m pretty sure I would have freaked out if I had seen any that were still alive… We then got the opportunity to spend some time in a butterfly garden. This was really cool. One butterfly landed on the camera and Zack got a close up view! Next up was the frog and snake exhibits which were really interesting and then we were done. We had lunch at the park and then headed back to Cahuita. I would definitely recommend going to the Veragua Rainforest Park if you are interested in the Biological Sciences… If not, you might be a bit bored. Personally, I found it fascinating.

Wednesday Feb 16- We decided that this was going to be a beach day! After another wonderful breakfast, we headed to the Cahuita National Park (at the opposite edge of town). On our walk through the park we saw about 10-12 monkeys just hanging out in the trees and then we saw a 4-5 ft iguana in another tree. Everywhere you looked you saw wildlife! Eventually we found a spot on the beach which was probably one of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen-completely untouched by humans… The water was warm, but not too warm. It was still refreshing. We spent a few hours there and then stopped at the café just outside of the park to grab a bite to eat before heading back to the B&B. I ended up getting a little too much sun (while using SPF 30) that day…

Thursday Feb 17- We didn’t really have a plan for this day which ended up being a good thing… After walking back into town after breakfast to pick up a few more snacks, I started to feel terrible! I got the chills and was feeling nauseous. I was dehydrated and it was getting worse. I thought I was drinking enough water, as I was making a conscious effort to do so, but apparently it wasn’t enough. The little market in town had PowerAde, so I drank that down on the walk back and started to feel a little better. Because I’m such a planner/nerd, I had packed a tube of electrolyte tablets (I heart REI) and drank 2 more 24 oz bottles of water aided by the electrolyte tabs when we got back to our room. We spent the afternoon out of the sun reading on our porch. This ended up working out really well for us since Friday was going to be a long day spent in the sun.

Friday Feb 18- This was our last full day in CR and we planned to go out with a bang! This was our earliest day as we were up at 6 and checked out by 6:45 am. We said goodbye and thanked our hosts for a wonderful stay. Our shuttle picked us up at 6:50 and took to the base site of the Rio Pacuare. We were going white water rafting! At the base site we were served a hearty traditional Costa Rican breakfast-scrambled eggs, toast, and rice and black beans. We then piled into a bus to take us to where we would launch the rafts. On the bus, we were given the safety briefing, and divided up into rafting teams. It was the exact same safety info and commands that I had gotten going on rafting trips in West Virginia. This eased my mind as the rafting industry in CR isn’t regulated or monitored like it is in the US. Anyway, we had a raft of 6 people plus our guide. Mike and Blair who were on their honeymoon from Vancouver, Agnes and Bridgette-friends from Norway who were on a 3 week vacation touring Central America, us, and our guide Esteban. We had a really good group and everyone worked together really well. I’m pretty sure Zack is hooked and we are now looking to plan a weekend up in Wisco this summer to go again! Rafting really tires you out and we were pretty banged up. On one rapid, Zack fell back onto the lower half of my legs and I’m pretty lucky that he didn’t end up breaking them! Such are the risks of white water rafting  After a fun day on the river we said “Adios” to our rafting team and guide and took the shuttle to our hotel in San Jose. We ordered room service for dinner and fell into bed. We had to get up at 4:30 the next day to catch our 8 am flight back to the States 

Saturday Feb 19- We were up at 4:30, took a cab to the airport, and got home around 4:30 in the afternoon. I was anxious to get Nigel (my pup) from boarding, so we picked him up right away. By the end of our trip, I was missing him like crazy.

Basically it was the perfect vacation! We did a little, and rested a lot. Just what we were looking for!

[spokewench]

That sounds absolutly lovely!

[ASammy1]

Thanks Spokewench! It was exactly the vaction we were looking for!

[smittykitty]

Your vaca sound just like what we are looking for! Would you mind sharing the names of the places you stayed at, etc.? Thanks

[ASammy1]

No problem! In San Jose we stayed at the Holiday Inn Aurola downtown and in Cahuita we stayed at Coral Hill Bungalows. Check out the website for Coral Hill Bungalows. The bungalows are exactly as shown there. Keep in mind that the rooms are all open air. We shared our room with a little lizard the whole week and a few grasshoppers!

[smittykitty]

Thanks! I can't wait to check it out.