Hola amigas and amigos,
We´re just finishing up our third week in Costa Rica. Instead of heading to Drake´s Bay, we decided to explore more of the Caribbean coast, which we heard was getting less rain and has more of a Jamaican influence (jerk chicken, anyone?). We took the boat taxi back out of Tortuguero and a few tico buses down to Cahuita. A few of them were the express type - which has less stops than the tico buses and some even play movies to pass the time. The last one, though, from Limon to the small town of Cahuita, was a true tico bus...and the first one we had to stand up in. Let´s just say we gained a new appreciation for the older women who stand for hours on those bumpy roads in heels. And for rear doors on buses that close completely...
By the end of that adventure we arrived in Cahuita, which is a very, very small town with a few beaches and a great park. Within a few hundred meters of the trailhead to the park, we´d already seen tons of wildlife, including raccoons, neurotic little squirrels, a bunch of sloths (including a baby), and a whole troop of howler monkeys up close (with a little baby swinging from the trees as well). We swam on a beautiful stretch of beach and checked out some of the fishes in the coral near the shoreline. We can´t wait to go diving!
We also arrived on the eve of their Carnival, so we got to check out the town in all of its shoddily-constructed carnival ride glory (there were at least 15 vultures hanging out next to the dilapidated ferris wheel set to go insanely fast). We got some chorros, which´re tubes of fried bread dough filled with caramel, and went to watch the bullfight. Cowboy culture is a big influence in parts of Costa Rica, but they don´t hurt the bulls here, so we just sat back and watched a bunch of drunk locals from the stands jump into the ring with the bull. And they love to blast their music here...we can hear the music from the local bar, Coco´s, all the way on the other side of town.
Overall, it´s been great, but we´re itching to get on the move again. Next stop, Manzillo, where there´s tons of scuba diving and sea kayaking trips for dirt cheap. We hope this finds you all well and having fun!
(after Manzanillo we´re planning on heading through San Jose, which means we´ll finally be able to download our pictures!)
