Monkeying Around in Puerto Viejo
White-faced monkeys in Cahuita National Park
Just a few hours from our beachy retreat in Panama, we found another Caribbean paradise - this time, just over the border. Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is a laid-back town on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, and life didn’t change too much from the week before.
As with Panama and Brazil before that, Costa Rica is at the top end of our budget - which is why we are only here for 2 weeks, and plan to spend most of that time enjoying nature. It’s always a low cost option and is one of our favourite things to do!
We spent a few days visiting beaches in the area. At Punta Uva we got our first glimpse of local wildlife when we saw a sloth hanging about in the trees! Complete with a tiny baby sloth clinging to her front. Of course, I didn’t have my camera on me at the time, typical. But hopefully we will see a few more during our 2 weeks in the country.
We also walked from the town to Playa Cocles along a path renowned for being a sloth hang-out… but no joy. They are really hard to spot! Locals have the best eye and will always point them out, but as we went on a cloudy day there weren’t too many people around.
The beaches in the area are lovely but, having come from the paradise of Bocas del Toro, our standards were a little high. The area is a magnet for surfers and we had fun watching them on the huge waves from the shore, but it also meant there was nowhere suitable for us to have a dip.
By far the highlight of our time in the town, for us, was our trip to Cahuita National Park. Entry is by donation, which is rare for Costa Rica’s national parks, but the payment is worth every penny as it helps protect the park and wildlife in the area. The 8km path follows the coastline to Puerta Vargas, a beautiful beach, and the park itself extends into the ocean where there is a vibrant reef to discover by snorkel.
We followed the path along the shoreline and saw so much wildlife! Lots of little colourful birds and lizards, huge spiders, a family of racoons and several groups of white-faced capuchin monkeys. It. Was. Amazing.
We’ve never seen wild animals so close before, and to see them in their natural habitat going about their daily life - munching on fruit, swinging through the trees - was incredible. Every time we heard a rustle of leaves we would stop and search the tree line… I genuinely had a sore neck the next day from looking up so much!
We really enjoyed slowing down in this little corner of the world. We have spent most of the last two weeks relaxing on different beaches and having lazy days - it makes a change from how action-packed our days were in South America! The second half of our time in Costa Rica will be a little bit faster paced as we head into the centre of the country to the famous cloud forests, but we have time to squeeze in just one more beachy retreat before then, as we head cross-country to the Pacific Coast.
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