The traffic carried on to at least midnight with motorcycles being the worst offenders. Jan says she had an ok sleep but my head was pretty fuzzy.
We had breakfast at the hotel and it was good – the standard rice and beans, scrambled eggs, fried plantain and good coffee.
Dave, Dawne, Barb, Davey, JD, Jan and I headed out on a guided hike and swim at the Cahuita National Park. We were picked up in a chinchima van and because we were the last to board we (Jan and I) ended up at the back of the bus. I’m not sure what the problem was but the noise at the back was unbearable and we both had to keep our ears plugged the entire trip to Cahuita.
Our guide turned out to be a lovely and very knowledgeable young man named Aaron. After paying a paltry $56 which paid for the van rides to and from the park, a wonderful pineapple snack, a full traditional lunch and at least 4 hours of Aaron’s time, we headed out.
Before even entering the park we had seen a two-toed and a three-toed sloth, an iguana atop a dead palm trunk, a black-cheeked woodpecker, a palm tanager and a blue-grey – and probably more but I’ve lost track. We slowly made our way down a well- traveled trail beside the sea while Aaron pointed out the many wonders of his little piece of paradise. We saw yet another sloth hunkered down in a tree, a group of capuchin white-faced monkeys and even some howlers with a baby. There were a couple of raccoon sightings, termite nests in an almond tree and a leaf-cutter ant home. There was a beehive with busy little bees zooming in and out. The honey they produce we were told was rare and expensive. We saw a boat-billed heron and a tri-coloured heron, a black-hawk eagle building a nest in the crook of a tree, an adult jacana on the riverbank where we stopped for a delicious pineapple snack. It was here that we met up with the more energetic of our group who had hiked in from the opposite end of the trail. They cooled off in the ocean with a quick swim then headed out the way we had come in. We followed at a much leisurely place with Dawne plying Aaron with questions.
Lunch was a very typical full meal at a picnic table outside a bar. I had ordered the fish which was mackerel – quite bony but still good – though way more food than I could eat.
Back to Puerto Viejo where we had a dip in their lovely pool. I even saw an agouti scuttle by into the bushes. They seem to be quite abundant here.
Supper was at the Tamara with the whole group – about a ten minute walk into this bustling tourist town from our hotel. The waiter was nice to look at. Yves and Vanessa had a laugh when I pointed out his assets.