Tuesday was the day we crossed back into Costa Rica. It also happened to be the day Panama celebrated their independence from Colombia. The 1 boat and 2 buses it took to get to the border were uneventful, but the walk to the border was somewhat interesting. A parade was taking place along the main street, so we weaved through sparse crowds and enjoyed being stared at.
The immigration formalities on both sides were fairly easy and soon we were waiting in a clean bus station. Ninety minutes later we arrived in Puerto Viejo, a small surfing town that is very quiet in the low season. We were expecting the high Costa Rican prices and were pleseantly surprised with a nice room at Cabinas Larry's for $28 per night. The rest of the day we did the usual eating, walking, and shopping. That night was not the usual. I awoke at 1am, itching bites on my hands, and soon woke Julia up as I could see she was itching as well. The next hour was spent killing numerous mosquitos in all corners of the room and applying calamine lotion to bumps. This was the worst we have experienced, and the next day we attempted to fumigate our room with a mosquito repellent coil but only really succeeded in making everything smell like smoke.
Despite the rough night, Wednesday we rented bicycles for the lovely 8km trip southeast to Punta Uva. Surrounded by jungle the whole ride, we rolled through small mostly expat filled settlements every kilometer or so. It was peaceful with not much traffic and soon we arrived to the beautiful beaches. We had heard the snorkeling was good and tried a few spots before finding the good stuff. Unfortunately we also saw a lot of jelly like creatures. If the water clarity is good and there are only a couple, than we are fine. But when visibility is poor and there are many, we swim scared and are no longer enjoying the underwater sea life. On our last attempt at snorkeling, I felt the whip-like sensation on my arm that Julia had described from her previous encounters, and decided I was done with snorkeling the Caribbean (for this trip). It was probably a small Portugese man-o-war but there were multiple varieties of jelly things in the water, so it could have been something else. The pain and red marks quickly went away, but the damage had been done. We settled for sitting in the sand, strolling the beach, taking pictures on a palm tree swing, before biking back toward town and hitting one more swim beach (Playa Cocles) with decent waves.
Back in the land of high restaurant prices, Julia made delicious fajitas that night and we sipped homemade sangria. I had just finished my 7 days of antibiotics for the infection on my chest, so that was the first alcohol I had tasted in over a week. The infection is gone now and the remaining hole is filling in nicely. It is a manly place to have a scar and I will probably refer to it as a bullet wound to enhance my street cred, which should help my rap music career.
Thursday was a lazy day. No major issues with mosquitos the night before. A nice big decently priced lunch. A little laundry done in a plastic bag in the shower. Some catching up on the Internet. Some souvenir shopping. Giant empañadas and kabobs for dinner. At night, finishing the sangria and watching the new season of "Fargo" on the iPad.
Friday started off with us making giant breakfast burritos before checking out and hopping a bus to the town of Cahuita, about 30 minutes further up the coast. We looked at a few accommodations before finding Cabinas Calipso for just under $20 a night. Shocked a little at the cheap prices, it seems that despite the town sitting right next to the Cahuita National Park, most tourist now prefer to stay in Puerto Viejo and day-trip up here. The main road has its share of nice restaurants but it is a far less touristy town, lucky for us. More walking and grocery shopping that day, splurging on canned mushrooms, peanuts, and sugar snap peas for the making of a ramen stir fry that would feed us for 2 nights.
Saturday we packed a bag with snacks and walked into Cahuita National Park, the only free park in Costa Rica. A jungle lined trail follows the coast for around 9 kms, passing by sandy beaches and then Cahuita point which is surrounded by reef. Unfortunately they only allow snorkeling with a local guide, which I guess is good if they are keeping people from destroying the fragile ecosystem. Although I had sworn off of snorkeling, I couldn't help but be curious what was out there and if these waters were swarming with jellyfish like the others not far away. The land wildlife was good enough for us, with big howler monkeys, little capuchin monkeys, lizards, snakes, hermit crabs, and a sloth almost within arms reach.
Capuchin Monkey
The sandy beaches were soft and we played in the water, although I got a small sting in my other arm this time, which may have answered my previous jellyfish question. The day was easily wasted away, realizing that this was our last day on the Caribbean for the foreseeable future. It was a little sad despite the numerous attacks on me by sea creatures (a crab bit my finger on Isla Grande, and remember the eel that tried to kill me in Belize, the stingray attack was in the Pacific but they were very present in the Caribbean). I am intrigued now by this large sea with clear warm waters and white sand. I find myself searching for Internet rankings of beaches and checking prices for flights to tiny islands. The Beach Boy's song "Kokomo" plays in my head as I wonder if there is a cheap way to see these places. Julia and I admittedly didn't expect so much Caribbean beach time and really had little knowledge about this popular sea, but plan on soon writing a post about our favorite spots and snorkeling sites, which may be the best backpackers like us can afford.
Today (Sunday), I am writing from our 4.5 hour bus journey inland to the capital of San José. Plans for this town are fluid; we may be here for 6 nights, we may leave after 3. We will do some more shopping and checkout a volunteer opportunity. This we know for sure; 1 week from today, we will meet my dad at the airport in San Carlos, Nicaragua. We will take a river journey and hike around the jungle. What we do until then will be revealed soon on this blog.
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