The beach in Cahuita National Park, sigh…I wish I was still there!
So we finally made it to the east coast of Costa Rica and it really felt like we were in the Caribbean. It was only about a 4 hr. drive from San Jose to Cahuita but far enough to justify spending a couple of nights.
Cahuita is a very small, laid back town right on the coast with a lot of Jamaican influences. So lots of reggae bars, dreads and caribbean food. There were quite a few tourists there but it wasn’t touristy, which we liked. Very small town and safe to walk around in the day and early evening. Felt like we were on vacation.
Based on the excellent reviews in Trip Advisor, we ended up staying at a small B&B type place called Playa Negra Guest house. Coincidentally, it’s owned by a couple of Canadians. We stayed in one of the double rooms and it was perfect! Had everything we needed including a safe, small fridge (gotta keep the beer cold!) and all the dishes and utensils you could ever need. The other huge bonus was the small pool they had. Perfect place to cool off and hang out with the other guests.
The guesthouse was also right across from what we could see, would be a beautiful, black sand beach. Unfortunately, not so beautiful when we were there, the beach was full of debris that a couple of recent storms had washed up on them. Lots of hard, manual work going on to collect and burn up all wood so I’m sure they’ll get it cleaned up soon.
One of the main reasons we decided to go to Cahuita is because the entrance to the Cahuita National park is within walking distance of just about all the hotels in the area. The park is also right on the coast and has both black and white sand beaches and a 7 K trail right along it.
So we got up early and were at the park by 7:30am. Wanted to get started before it got too hot. That day, with humidity was forecast to be 43C and I’m sure it was at least that hot. Turns out this was out best hike yet for seeing wild life. Started off watching a troop of about 10 spider monkeys, some with babies. First time we’d ever seen them in Costa Rica so that was a thrill. Then, just past the mid point of the hike, a solitary white face monkey found us. Heard a noise in the tree and he very quickly came down to ground level to check us out. Shocked us, he was definitely NOT shy. I was just waiting for him to jump on Dave, if we’d held out any food, I’m sure he would of. But we decided against having to deal with a potential monkey bite or rabies and kept our distance. Strange he was all alone...maybe he got kicked out of his troop for being obnoxious! Turns out he was the scout but more about that later.
Didn’t see any more monkeys on the rest of the trail but there was another, closer encounter. I was in front, as is my usual position “to protect” Dave from those things with no legs (he’s not a fan!) and sure enough, I apparently almost stepped on a snake! I didn’t see it but Dave saw it move and slither off into the bush. Once you see the pictures of it you’ll understand why I didn’t see it on the trail. There’s no way you’d ever see this snake unless you saw it move. Makes you wonder how many of them are just hanging around watching you. Very cool to watch one though!
On the return walk back we saw LOTS of white faced monkeys. At the point, there were about 20 of them and they were getting really close to the people there. Someone, gave them a watermelon rind that at least one monkey was pigging out on and who knows what else they got despite all the signs that say DO NOT FEED THE MONKEYS! That’s why they get aggressive, which I found out first hand. I was focused on taking a picture of a mom and baby monkey and I was probably a little too close because another monkey (the same guy from earlier?) jumped on my back. Within seconds, the little bugger reached in and found a trail mix bar wrapper and he took off with it in a flash. He was licking off every little bit that remained. Luckily no scratches or bites but believe me, I jumped when he landed on my shoulder.
After a 6 hour walk in that heat, boy did the typical meal of red beans and rice with fish for me, and a chop for Dave taste amazing. Not to mention the cold cervesas.
So it was well worth the trip to the east side of Costa Rica, in fact, it’s absolutely an area we’d like to spend more time in. A family we met at the hotel also highly recommended Punta Uva which is a bit further south from Cahuita. Maybe next time....