Cahuita (day 5)

I was supposed to get up when my alarm goes of at 6:30 AM, but I was already awake at 4 AM so at 6 AM I got out of bed. So I went to the reception to go online (the wifi only works here)... I exited my bungalow and took a look at the water stream in my 'backyard', right away a saw a crab standing in front of it's hole. After looking some more at the water stream I saw something swimming in the water, at first I thought it was a caiman. But when I took a better look at it, it turned out to be a turtle (check!)... Unfortunately I didn't had my camera with me, so I rushed inside to get my camera and when I got back I wanted to take a picture of it... it's gone! So I deciced to wait a bit, maybe I will see it again? It takes it's time... After a while I saw some movement, not in the water but up in the tree... a squirrel! Unfortunately this one was too fast for me to take a picture of it, but later on I have more luck on my side (more about that later on). Now just waiting a little bit longer, maybe I will catch some more wildlife, until the 'return of the turtle' just happens in front of my eyes. Yes, now I could make a picture!

Now it was time to go to the reception (the chairs and tables of the restaurant part was set up around the reception). This is where also the wifi hotspot is located, So I'll just wait here until my parents have woken up come for breakfast. During our breakfast we also informed about snorkeling. It turned out that you have to arrange it the day before and only early in the morning. Too bad... But it was also told that in the village (that would be Cahuita) you can ask by the boats if it's oke if you can come along for snorkeling. After breakfast we were getting ready for snorkeling and we went to Cahuita by car! Upon arrival by the boats we asked around and it was oke to come along in the boat! We just had to sign in and pay and then it was time to go! In the boat there were 3 Americans (the father with his daughter and son) and ofcourse the captain / skipper of the boat who came along with us. This trip would take 2 hours and the plan was to go snorkeling at 2 different locations. At the 1st location there was a circle shaped reef where you could swim around it, the sight condition was about 80% (according to the skipper, who first gave instructions). This looked pretty nice with beautiful but small fishes. At the 2nd location it's snorkeling for more skilled swimmers, because there is a strong current in the direction of the beach. Here are 5 hotspots around the boat, where we saw big shoals of fishes including big fishes (about 30 to 40 cm long).  Here it's also possible to see reef sharks, barracudas,  squids, stingray and a lot more. Unfortunately I didn't saw one of them while snorkeling, however once I was on the boat I did see a shark (at least 1,50 m long) swimming underneath the boat (the water was crystal clear, you could see the bottom which is 2 m deep). After this snorkeling experience (for me it was the first time snorkeling from a boat, so that's a scoop!) we sailed to the nearest beach, for a small bite (pineapple) at a picknicktable that was located exactly at the transition from the beach to the jungle. I wasn't even standing for 10 seconds by the table when two raccoons joined us. I took a picture of the raccoons and I wanted to walk back to the boat when suddenly a squirrel crossed my path and climbed in the tree, finally I could take a picture of a squirrel ('two flies in one clap'). After this break we had the choice to go back by boat or walk back through the National Park (the park only has 1 path where you shouldn't wander of, because in this park there are a lot of (venomous) snakes!). Not such a hard choice to make if it was up to me, we walked back! During this trail of a few kilometers long we spotted some wildlife, besides hermit crabs and (sand)crabs we also encountered lizards, salamanders / geckos, capuchin monkeys and birds. Also I saw a 'Jesus lizard' running on it's back legs crossing the path! Exhausted we finally arrived back in civilization, where we had lunch and after that we went back to the car and drove back to the bungalows. After freshning up it was almost dinnertime, at the same restaurant. After dinner the tiredness hit us hard so we went back to the bungalows. A little bit of wifi'ing and then it was time to sleep. Tomorrow we're leaving the Caribbean part already and we'll be heading to Sarapiqui, more in the North-Western direction of the country. Adios and see you next time!

Day 4

Travel overview

Day 6