Cahuita

February 19: It is 90 degrees every day

When we first decided to visit the Carribean coast, we thought about staying in Cahuita.  This are was recommended by many people that we met as more laid back and beautiful than the busier Puerto Viejo just south.  Instead, we screwed up our reservations in Cahuita and ended up staying in Puerto Viejo for quite some time.  Today, we will give the town of Cahuita a try.

A quarter-mile walk down a dirt and rocky road from our house in Playa Negra lands us at the bus stop.  It is hot and humid and there is not much of a breeze coming from the Caribbean Sea to our left.  Looking around we don't find anything that looks like a bus schedule.  Instead, we sit and wait.  Ten minutes pass. Then 15 minutes and still no sign of a bus.  Mandy bravely starts a conversation in her best Spanish with a local beside her.  Here, she discovers that the bus should be coming in about 10 minutes.  Assured a bus is coming, we are still not sure it is the right bus ...the one that will take us to Cahuita.

Sloths seen in Cahuita National Park

A bus comes around the corner and starts to slow around our stop but then, the driver gestures to the local standing with us and drives on.  "What the hell just happened?"  "Did we just miss the bus?"  "Where is the sign on the bus stating where it is going?"  Feeling hot and confused, we sit back down and ask the local how he knew this wasn't the right bus.  Understanding about every third word we finally understood that the motion from the bus driver is that he will be turning left ahead toward Chiquita and not straight passed Cahuita.  How the hell would anyone who couldn't muddle their way through the language ever figure that out???  This was one of many examples of the importance of knowing the language, or enough of the language to get by.  There isn't the luxury of well positioned signs, routes and schedules posted for our convenience.

After that little life lesson we finally board the right bus to Cahuita and adhere to the advice from an expat we met along the way.  Don't get off the bus at the first Cahuita National Park sign because at that entrance we would be subject to entry fees.  If we get off in the town of Cahuita we can enter the park from the beach for free.  So we did.

Cahuita was a quaint and quiet little town with souvenir shops, restaraunts and a grocery store.  We shared some overpriced but fantastic homemade ice cream as we made our way into the park.  The park path ran just behind the sand of its beaches and in a mile walk we came across lizards, monkeys, a sloth and some raccoons.  The trek combined with the weather called for a dip into one of its beautiful beaches.  The waves are much calmer here and more ideal for swimming than in Puerto Viejo.  Although, I didn't stay in the water long because of all the seaweed touching me. What a p?@'$y!  Es verdad.