Just a short 45-minute bus ride from Puerto Viejo is another little beach town with an incredible national park, Cahuita.
Cahuita is slower paced than Puerto Viejo. More people living, less people visiting. Although it is smaller than Puerto Viejo, without a doubt, it is worth a visit for a few days. The beaches aren’t quite as pristine and crystal clear as those in Puerto Viejo, however, the wildlife and nature more than make up for. It also helps that it's rather cheaper than Puerto Viejo.
The national park here is a one way trail that stretches about 5 miles.
The trails are very well kept and easy to navigate. The entrance to the park is free, however they do ask for a donation. These donations go toward the maintenance and upkeep of the trails and beaches along with research initiatives to restore and protect the wildlife that lives there. Another awesome program they have is the collection of bottle lids and other small plastics. With these recycled plastics, they are building paths along the sandy beaches to make them accessible to those in wheelchairs or who have other disabilities. What a great idea!
The trail has many different shelters to stop to take in the beauty of the local flora and fauna or stop for a quick snack (being sure to take ALL of your trash with you). You can also hire local guides to take you through the park who know all of the spots that are best to see monkeys, sloths, and all kinds of indigenous bird species. They can also point out snakes, lizards, frogs and other little creatures who have made their home on the jungle-esque floor.
We decided not to hire a guide, how hard could it be to spot animals anyways? Along the way we ran into a group who did have a guide and he gave us warning that because we had food, which we planned on stopping at the end point to eat, the monkeys had been conditioned over years and years of tourists coming through to take food from them. I always heard monkeys were conniving, however I didn’t really believe something so adorable could be so deceiving. We met a little monkey on the path who followed us, expecting to receive a little snack. After a while of us not giving him anything, he swang gracefully back into the trees and left us alone.
The story was a little different when we came upon a troop of monkeys. There were six adults with their babies on their backs. Let me just tell you, hungry monkeys are really heckin’ scary when you’re the holding the bag of food. They’re even more scary when you’re trying to protect your food and they rip it open, while still in your hands, and take whatever they want. Those cute and cuddly, adorable little animals all of a sudden became devilish thieves. Who knew.
We promptly decided to take what food we had left and had back to the beach to avoid this type of run in again. Things were going well until we were on a bridge and a rather persistent monkey dropped out of the trees onto the bridge, in between us and the other side. Thankfully, this time, I was not the one in charge of the bag of food. The monkey and the bag of food entered into a pernicious tango. We finally distracted the monkey long enough for my friend to run to the other side of the bridge to what we thought was safety. However, the monkey chased her down the path for a solid five minutes before finally giving up. These damn monkeys are incessant.
Once we finally reached the safety of the beach, we hopped in to swim for a while then came back to the beach for a nice sun-induced nap. This nap was fantastic and just what we needed after a long day of hiking and outrunning monkeys. We were abruptly woken up when a family of raccoons came our way. Once again, our food was on the line. It turned into what seemed to be a century long stand-off. No one willing to make the first move, no one taking their eyes off the food. Eventually, they gave up and ran off to the next group of beach-goers to see if they could get away with anything and we returned to our nap (after hiding our food under blankets and clothes).
The food in Cahuita was amazing. Normal Tico food with a Caribbean twist. Coconut flavored everything, cheap drinks, and cold beers. Because the town isn’t as much of a tourist destination, the food is cheaper than most and comes in huge quantities. All in all, we had a fabulous and relaxing trip to Cahuita and the National Park. I will definitely be back to visit the black sand beaches and return to the tranquil being of the Caribbean waves.