On Wednesday afternoon we left for Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. After previous travels which had included two busses and a ferry, the direct, under-five-hour bus ride to the Carribean coast was a breeze. Not to mention that it was through the mountains and jungle and thus was also fascinating and enjoyable. We arrived after dark and checked into our hotel before getting dinner. Cabinas Jacaranda featured uniquely painted rooms, a communal kitchen, a jungle garden and mosaiced EVERYTHING! This was the front entrance:
And here's the path from the entrance to our room.
Between the two was a garden with an amazing variety of flowers, orchids, and other tropical plants. These, in turn, attract all kinds of lizards and birds. We ate breakfast here every day!
After breakfast we usually went to the closest beach, which was about a five minute walk through town from the hotel. Here we swam, played, read, and ate papaya. There was an old sunken dock with trees growing out of it! And in some places there was black sand, which is made out of magnetic particles.
We had plenty of opportunities to sample the local food, and the following two sodas featured the best casados (a house plate of chicken, fish or meat accompanied by rice, beans, salad, and sometimes fried green plantain called patacones).
Evenings gave us time to expore the nightlife, and Kerry tried local favorites like the national beers: Imperial and Pilson,
and a local favorite, Cuba Libre (rum and coke in a can).
Because it was his last weekend in Costa Rica, Kerry wanted to really take advantage of it. This time instead of bikes we rented a motorized scooter. I was a bit of a timid driver but Kerry had no problem - trasportation became way faster!
Thus we had the opportunity to cover a lot more ground, and we rode to Cahuita, Cocles, Playa Chiquita, Punta Uva, and Manzanillo.
All of these are part of the 'Refugio Nacional de vida silvestre Grandoca-Manzanillo' a valuable and protected stretch of land that has suffered from the side effects of tourism since before the 1950's. During that time there was a lot of debate about permitting tourism and what types of 'eco-tourism' could exist in the reserve. There was (and in some cases still is) a lot of corruption in the land-use approval process and much exploitation from international companies.
It is a historically important place for Costa Rica and it was cool to see so much of it. What's more, I was assigned a novel for one of my classes about the fight against exploitation of the reserve and I got to read it WHILE I WAS THERE!
Although the biodiversity in the area has been impacted by exposure to humans and tourists and environmental degredation, there are many forces working to combat the negative effects. One is the Jaguar Reserve in Cocles, where they rescue animals who have been injured or who's habitats have been ruined and rehabilitate them. Once they're in good health they're kept in open cages and encouraged to adventure out into the jungle in hopes they will stay there. But the reserve is open to them as long as they feel they need it.
It's a nonprofit organization, but you can pay a small fee (for a good cause) to go on a tour there and interact with the animals. On Friday we did, and what fun we had! We got to play with monkeys
and two-toes sloths
and saw three-toed sloths,
toucans,
wild cats,
owls, frogs, snakes, spiders, a hawk, and an iguana, to name a few. WOW, right!?!?
We also rode the scooter to a few secluded beaches. This is Punta Uva, where the jungle begins literally as soon as the sand ends!
Our next stop was Manzanillo, where there is a big coral reef really close to shore. So close that you have to stay really close to the surface of the water or you'll scratch up your knees because the water's so shallow (Kerry learned that the hard way :(...) We rented snorkel gear there to check it out
We saw TONS of fish and coral and weird plants and creatures. One fish was about two feet by two feet! The rest were small but very colorful, and sometimes in big schools. I brought my underwater camera but it had a hard time capturing the bright colors through salt water. Here's a good shot though!
What a day!
On Saturday we went to the national park in Cahuita for a hike that included many real-life natural monkey encounters
as well as walks along the beach
and through the (sometimes swampy) jungle.
It was another day full of wild-life: we also saw all sorts of lizards and some really big spiders in addition to the breathtaking and sometimes bizarre greenery.
On Sunday we woke up to rain, and said an extra-wet goodbye to the ocean. We made breakfast, packed up, and returned the scooter before taking the 11 AM bus back to San José.
After such a great weekend not even the bad weather could dampen our spirits!
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