We found the best Caribbean food and it is in a small town of Cahuita! Curry coconut chicken and vegetables at Miss Edith. H and I finished it all even though we were way over stuffed. Also we tried a “Jamaican” drink… not sure what was in it, but it was quite a treat. Que Rico!
Cahuita town is located just outside of Cahuita National Park, which protects a somewhat degraded coral reef (it was once quite healthy but the numerous banana plantations have pumped pesticides and sediments into the nearby ocean) and contains beautifully lined palm beaches. Once H and I actually got into town (our 2 hr bus ride turned into 4 hrs because of an accident which was most likely a turned over semi on the only road into town), we took a walk in both directions of town along Playa Negra and Playa Blanca. We even found a dog to play fetch with us as we walked down the beach (dogs in Costa Rica are the happiest in the world because they frequently take themselves for walks, get to keep all their junk (reproductive organs and what not) and still have actual homes). We stayed with the sweetest lady at Cabinas Palmer with basic facilities for a decent price.
We spent a couple of nights 3km south of Cahuita in the “larger, party” town of Puerto Viejo. Here we hunted for poison dart frogs (found 2 different types), listened to a local band, drank the chocolate milkshakes at Bread and Chocolate, and slept under mosquito nets at the mosaic-ed Jacaranda Hotel.
Our last day in town we rented bikes and after one flat tire, we rode down to Manzanillo National Park for our first taste of snorkeling alongside a “red” river (we were not sure what was causing the red color but it was very striking when mixed with the teal-blue ocean). The Caribbean coral is bright yellow, blue, purple and green all wrapped up together. There were only a few other people on the massive beach so we enjoyed the beach mostly to ourselves. On the way back, we stopped at Punta Uva and Punta Cocles for more beautiful and lonely beaches.
With the Panama so close by we joined up with a shuttle service to Bocas del Toro along with two recent grads from New Jersey and one fellow traveller from Israel… in fact we meet a number of partiers from Israel that had just finished with their military service… Panama must be the destination of choice. Since we were so impressed with the snorkelling, we decided to book a snorkel tour to Cayo Coral and Cayo Zapatillos, which is a national marine preserve. The tour was a mixed bag including a tour guide that was either a funny man or a complete ass (something was lost in translation), experienced a tropical storm on the ocean, earned sore behinds and necks from our race-car boat driver, swam with even more beautiful coral, and saw a small child with a giant fish hook through her eye. We danced the night away after sitting and watching the people of Bocas, which included a horse drawn carriage with an on board bunny. One strange but fun town. We also spent a few hours swimming and lounging at our ocean deck at Hotel Brisas.
H and I decided to get one last viewing of the Caribbean coral and booked a 2 tank dive before leaving Bocas – we decided that the Little Mermaid definitely lived in the Caribbean sea (that was probably clear from the movie but we relived it). After the dives, we hopped a water taxi and a fancy bus to David to make a connection to the mountain town of Boquette… and this last bus was one of the craziest yellow school buses we have ever been on. This school bus included a front grill, strobe light on top, leather ceilings, black lights, and a flat screen playing music videos loudly. We were prepared for a modified school bus, but this was quite impressive. The strobe light did provide a nice flashing view of the jungle as we raced by. As it was dark, I didn’t get a clear picture, but thinking this type of bus was common place, I planned on getting a picture in the daylight; unfortunately, we found out that not all of the schools buses are that fancy. We did, however, find another equally impressive bus today and grabbed a picture of this shark-finned bus – enjoy.
We were picked up by 2 English girls as soon as we exited the bus and brought to Suenos Del Rio for our lodging right by the river. We have spent the last two days walking the beautiful mountain town and drinking the rich coffee! We are headed to Panama City tonight on our first overnight bus to find R early tomorrow morning in the city.
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Rule #2: Don't Die. 