The coasts here in Costa Rica seem to be a bit hot and muggy for our liking but we had to see some of the Caribbean coast before leaving and found the town of Cahuita to be very nice. A bit touristy but we did find a grocery store that catered to some of the comfort foods from back home. We made it a point to only rent places that have AC when on the coast so when we are not out doing things we can be a bit more comfortable.
Signs in Costa Rica announcing the name of a town are often done in colorful cement letters. When we arrived, the T had fallen and was on the ground. The next day we found someone had propped it up. The locals take care of their towns here.
Once again, we found a fabulous house to base our adventures out of. The thatch looking roof was actually made from molded plastic that had supposedly been recycled.
These two 'perro amigos' kept us safe and loved. No names for these two but we did hear about a rescue sanctuary for stray dogs near here with thousands of dogs living comfortably after being rehabilitated. Find the website for the sanctuary at www.territoriodezaguates.com. Pretty cool if you are a dog lover.
At first we drew the line at staying outside but....after a bit of whining, they each took their rightful places during our evenings.
Day 1 in Cahuita found us heading out for a snorkeling tour. On the way we realized we were in sugar cane country during the beginning of the 6 month season. For the rest of the time here and in the mountains we were constantly finding these carts being pulled by tractors, each carrying quite a bit of cane. Amazingly, the sugar cane is often cut down using a machete due to the terrain, Quite a sight to see so many machete wielding people walking around.
Check out the ears on Bessie! She was very interested in the harvesting of the sugar cane.
When we pulled up to the spot the gps took us to we wondered if we were in the correct place for a snorkel tour. At least there were boats and there was the Sea!
Here is where we launched our boat from. A bit difficult for the guide to get the smaller boat out over the breaking waves but we made it....obviously.
Here is a video of the owner of the touring company and his brother, our guide, launching the boat into the water.
We do not have any pictures of the actual snorkeling but, as you can see, the coral reef around here was mighty sharp. Our guide showed us around the coral for an hour, then he told us to follow the fish and he would keep an eye on us from the boat to make sure we weren't swept away by the current. Since we're still around guess we got the hang of it. We both got the worst sun burn in recent memory on our backs as they were exposed to the UV rays for two hours even though the sun was not shining. Great memory because the life under water was amazing!
Took this picture of my face on a lobster at Cahuita Point where our guide paused our trip for a bit so we could have a snack of fresh pineapple. Little did we know that the lobster picture would be appropriate as our backs were very much the color of a lobster.
Not only did we have a pineapple snack but so did this monkey. A fairly polite eater as wild animals go. Most of the monkeys we have seen on our Costa Rica tour have been the white faced capuchin variety. There are also howler monkeys, spider monkeys and squirrel monkeys.
Went for a short swim to cool off that sunburn.
Guess I was sharing the Sea with this reef shark. Not aware of it during my swim but they are harmless anyway.
They call sloths 'oso perizoso' or lazy bear but this little monkey seemed to be fairly lazy himself.
Oh the focus it takes to take a selfie while our tour guide swerves back and forth in the choppy sea. He was quite the character as he 'picked up' 6 more passengers at Cahuita Point charging them to 'taxi' for a taxi ride back to the docks so they could avoid the walk back. He also allowed a 10 year old girl steer the boat for a while. She eventually got the hang of it but had us going in circles for a while. She was both nervous and excited at the same time, her grandfather was just a bit nervous about the whole ordeal. A fun time was had by all.
The next day we hiked our sunburnt bodies out to Cahuita Point. This was mostly in the shade so that felt nice.
We thought this guy needed a haircut. Did not realize coconuts grew hair?
More seashore nature. This was one of many little crabs that we tried not to step on. We think we were successful.
Talk about getting your ducks in a row? How about gulls in a row?
This cute guy is not as naive and pleasant as he looks. As we tried to eat our lunch he launched himself at us and tried, unsuccessfully, to snag Laurie's baggie of slivered almonds. We decided to eat later. Bad monkey!
As with every good beach hike, an hour or two reading in the shade was fabulous.
Our reading spot was not visited by any other people but boy were they missing some peaceful and beautiful scenery.
Here in Costa Rica, many uses are found for used tires. Burying them in the dirt roads for traction is one use and building stairs for tourists to hike on is another.
On our way out of the park we saw another common sight here. Many folks like to ride their horses everywhere. Why not?
Here is the only picture we got of an oso perizoso, or sloth. Not sure he is of the two or three fingered variety but he was 'hanging' low enough in the tree for us to take a picture. What a life! The locals say they like certain types of mangrove trees where they eat the flowers and actually get 'high'. Good for them!
We added 4 new road signs to our digital collection. We have seen all 4 of these critters here in Costa Rica but never crossing the road.
Fresh fish for dinner by the sea and this view PURA VIDA
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