COSTA RICA - Cahuita

This is very much a Caribbean style of place located on the south eastern coast (about 45km southeast of Puerto Limon) and having a very laid-back atmosphere and relaxed cultural diversity. The protected parkland area contains coastal rainforest and lowlandsemi-mangrove with much wildlife including sloths, snakes, crabs and howler monkeys. It also includes one of the few living coral reefs in Costa Rica - about 500m offshore and this is a particularly popular area for snorkelling. South of Cahuita, before the small village of Puerto Viejo, some of the countries most picturesque beaches are attracting increasing numbers of visitors (especially for the surfing).

We stayed at Shawanda Lodge in Puerto Viejo and were visited by the local tree frogs. They jump huge distances and make an alarming ‘splat’ noise when they land (as their suction cap toes take grip).  The land where the forest meets the beach is alive with a myriad of creatures including bright blue and orange crabs, tree frogs and a variety of lizards. Slow moving sloths (either two-toed or three-toed) are common in various parts of Costa Rica. The trail within the national park is easy walking and our guide stopped to show us how to cut and drink the juice of the coconut. Just north of the park lies Black Sand Beach where the sand has been turned black by rich mineral deposits.

The coastline  still shows evidence of the earthquake which hit the eastern coats in 1991 with fallen trees and driftwood littering the shore. Indeed, during our stay, we experienced an enormous tropical storm which clearly shook even the locals. In the morning, we discovered part of our bungalow’s roof had been severed by a falling tree and two lodges which were fortunately unoccupied, had been destroyed. The roads were waterlogged making our onward journey rather slow