It is the end of May. Josh and my parents left this morning to fly back to Florida. They visited us for a quick 6 day trip. The weather was cooperative, and even though we are "supposed" to be in the rainy season, it has been incredibly hot and not all that rainy.
We took two trips into the country. The first trip took us to the Arenal area to visit two places we had not yet explored. The second trip took us to Cahuita on the Caribbean. In Arenal, we stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge. It was a very lodgey feeling place, no A/C, no TV, but great views, quiet, secluded, and clean. The lodge is situated on a large tract of land that backs up to the Arenal National Park.
We checked in and then made our way to The Springs Resort for hot springs, tasty beverages and a walk through their nature preserve. All the animals in their preserve were rescued from private ownership and the wild animal trade. Costa Rica implemented strict laws on taking animals from the wild. It would be nice if they could be released back, but they have grown accustomed to being fed by people and would be a nuisance to local farmers. But, it was nice to get to see them anyway.
They were sweet and curious. They had a cougar also.
The reserve had monkeys--which was nice except one slapped me on the head.
We had dinner at Benedictus Steak House. Which was very good. And after a 2 bottle of wine and steak dinner, we headed back to our lodge to settle in for sleep.
We woke to howler monkeys in the pine trees. I had never seen them in the pines before, but they were definitely up there. There was plenty of exploring to be done, but as usual there is never enough time to do it all. We chose a modest hike to the waterfall and back after exploring the grounds. We came across a giant tree full of Oropendola birds and nests. The tree was too tall to get a very good shot, even with the telephoto.
I doctored this picture up so the detail shows better. Here is a link to the songs they make. They are loud birds. We located the trail head to the waterfall and after going back to the rooms, retrieving the cameras, and making a water purchase, we commenced to hike. I searched for snakes, but had zero luck. I did find the cutest little snake skin though.
Costa Rica has some neat trees.
Mom and Josh braved the jungle and the stairs.
The Waterfall
Hilarious
Iguana and a Super Cat
Money!
-------zoomed--------
Moody lighting, just for my teacher
Sloth
JC Lizard Male
After the hike we went for refreshments and laughed ourselves silly about the menu translations, then took a drive to Puerto Viejo. Think conscientious hippies meet 80's surfers meet locals then add in Rastafarians and a bunch of teen missionaries trying to save the world all on a beach bordered by jungle and you have got it!!
Puerto Viejo is just south of Cahuita. We decided that we needed to do further explorations in the morning as it was getting dark and we were getting hungry.
We drove back to Cahuita and walked into town to have dinner at the Cha Cha Cha. It was delicious and I shared my fish with a cat. The cook must be 7 feet tall easy. After dinner we walked around town a bit then back to the B&B in the rain to get ready for bed and to make preparations for leaving the following day.
When we got up we decided to head to Puerto Viejo to spend the day before heading back to Escazu. It was hot at 7am and we needed breakfast and a beach ASAP.
We rented a stand up paddle board and headed to the beach for some fun. We had a great time playing in the warm, crystal clear water and exploring on the paddle board. The sea floor is soft sand, not rocky like the Pacific side. There was a decent surf there with nice quad sets coming about ever 10-15 minutes perfect for a long board. After wiping out a number of times Brian and I figured out how to surf the board back into shore, it took both of us to do it. I didn't want to leave, but it was hot as hell and we were all burned, even though we used 50 SPF sun screen, and had beach umbrellas. We drove home through Braullio Carillo (BC), a cloud forest. We will need to explore the BC soon.
It was a great time and over too fast.
As a side note, I am not sure what the Ticos have against the Caribbean side, but I really like it there!
It is laid back.
Way back.
Like in a hammock back.
Like worm bite specialists back.
Like pink shrubs in bread scrubs back. (which incidentally I ate for lunch)
We took two trips into the country. The first trip took us to the Arenal area to visit two places we had not yet explored. The second trip took us to Cahuita on the Caribbean. In Arenal, we stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge. It was a very lodgey feeling place, no A/C, no TV, but great views, quiet, secluded, and clean. The lodge is situated on a large tract of land that backs up to the Arenal National Park.
We checked in and then made our way to The Springs Resort for hot springs, tasty beverages and a walk through their nature preserve. All the animals in their preserve were rescued from private ownership and the wild animal trade. Costa Rica implemented strict laws on taking animals from the wild. It would be nice if they could be released back, but they have grown accustomed to being fed by people and would be a nuisance to local farmers. But, it was nice to get to see them anyway.
We had dinner at Benedictus Steak House. Which was very good. And after a 2 bottle of wine and steak dinner, we headed back to our lodge to settle in for sleep.
We woke to howler monkeys in the pine trees. I had never seen them in the pines before, but they were definitely up there. There was plenty of exploring to be done, but as usual there is never enough time to do it all. We chose a modest hike to the waterfall and back after exploring the grounds. We came across a giant tree full of Oropendola birds and nests. The tree was too tall to get a very good shot, even with the telephoto.
I doctored this picture up so the detail shows better. Here is a link to the songs they make. They are loud birds. We located the trail head to the waterfall and after going back to the rooms, retrieving the cameras, and making a water purchase, we commenced to hike. I searched for snakes, but had zero luck. I did find the cutest little snake skin though.
Costa Rica has some neat trees.
The Volcano
After the hike we packed up an went back to the Springs Resort for more pool action and hot springs. Brian, Josh and I set off to locate the water slide in the lower springs area, and on the way I saw a black snake and a red and blue frog. After several attempts we all perfected the head first position down the slide (to get maximum distance).
We ate lunch and got back on the road back to Escazu for one night before it was off to the Caribbean coastal town of Cahuita to visit the national forest.
Cahuita is situated on the coast. So, one get the best of both worlds, Caribbean waters and jungly jungle.
We lodged in the town of Cahuita at the El Encanto B&B. We stayed in the 3 bed house on the property. It was nice and comfortable. No A/C, but the rest was lovely. We found green and black poison dart frogs on the property. The B&B has a pool that we made use of and Brian and Josh learned about the fragility of Bri Bri statues when tackled.
The weather on the coast was amazingly hot and humid, but we were fortunate to get afternoon and overnight showers to help cool it down a bit. Our first night we ate at a beachside restaurant famous for whole red snapper and other seafood. Everything was delicious. I made a friend with a german shepherd-ish dog named Max, who became my shadow for the trip. We played dice and swam and went exploring the town that first night. Cahuita is also full of cats, which is awesome!
We rose early and headed out to hike the national forest. We did not see a lot of monkeys, but we did see a few howlers and a few white faced capuchins in the tops of the trees. We saw plenty of sloths but none in a position to easily photograph. The big guns of the day were the 3 yellow pit vipers, and the friendly raccoons that were eating the forest crabs. We also met a local named "Hiker". He told us about the trees and some of the medicinal plants. He pointed out some fruit bats to us that we would have never seen. He told us his grandfather was a famous local musician for, I think he said, calypso music.
--zoomed--
Fruit Bats
Puerto Viejo is just south of Cahuita. We decided that we needed to do further explorations in the morning as it was getting dark and we were getting hungry.
We drove back to Cahuita and walked into town to have dinner at the Cha Cha Cha. It was delicious and I shared my fish with a cat. The cook must be 7 feet tall easy. After dinner we walked around town a bit then back to the B&B in the rain to get ready for bed and to make preparations for leaving the following day.
When we got up we decided to head to Puerto Viejo to spend the day before heading back to Escazu. It was hot at 7am and we needed breakfast and a beach ASAP.
We rented a stand up paddle board and headed to the beach for some fun. We had a great time playing in the warm, crystal clear water and exploring on the paddle board. The sea floor is soft sand, not rocky like the Pacific side. There was a decent surf there with nice quad sets coming about ever 10-15 minutes perfect for a long board. After wiping out a number of times Brian and I figured out how to surf the board back into shore, it took both of us to do it. I didn't want to leave, but it was hot as hell and we were all burned, even though we used 50 SPF sun screen, and had beach umbrellas. We drove home through Braullio Carillo (BC), a cloud forest. We will need to explore the BC soon.
It was a great time and over too fast.
As a side note, I am not sure what the Ticos have against the Caribbean side, but I really like it there!
It is laid back.
Way back.
Like in a hammock back.
Like worm bite specialists back.
Like pink shrubs in bread scrubs back. (which incidentally I ate for lunch)
I L O V E your blog! Thanks so much for putting all this information up for me to follow. You guys are having some cool experiences!
ReplyDeleteDonnie