Day 10-12. We are now further down the Caribbean coast and it has a very different vibe here – an interesting mix of Caribbean and Costa Rican. We’re staying a couple of kilometres outside of the small town, and as everybody seems to get around by hiring bikes, we’ve done the same. They took a bit of getting used to as they have no brakes, and you have to backpedal in order to brake. They also have no lights fitted, so cycling at night is pretty dangerous as there are gaps in the streetlights making it pitch black. We rely on cars headlights to illuminate the road (and us!) and there are times when you can’t see the road at all, and either end up cycling in the middle of the road, or going off the edge onto the rough gravel. Fortunately, because there are so many cyclists, all the car drivers expect to come across wandering pedestrians and cyclists and drive slowly and give us a wide berth. As we didn’t want to eat at our hotel though we decided to risk it and found a great beach bar in town with live music which ate at a couple of nights.
The sea is a beautiful temperature and colour and we enjoyed swimming in it on our first day here.
The next day there appeared to be a storm brewing and it was not so calm, but our hotel is on a surfers beach, so it’s only to be expected.
Our hotel has a lot of wildlife in its grounds. We’ve seen toucans, spider and howler monkeys, and tiny poison dart frogs that call to each other. They really are tiny – only half an inch in length, and weighing only 1 oz.
We were wandering round the grounds looking for any wildlife when Jayne hissed ‘Julie, Julie, here, quick, be quiet’ and there on the ground was a 3 fingered sloth, slowly, slowly, slowly making its way towards a tree. We were lucky enough to watch it for ages and its movements are bizarre – like watching a film in slow motion.
We visited a wildlife rescue centre that has a good reputation and release success. People bring animals here from a long way away, and we saw quite a few 2 fingered sloths. They have a very different look to the 3 fingered, as the 2 fingered have piggy noses and no smile.
Orphaned howler monkeys
A pelican
A baby squirrel who likes eating hibiscus flowers
And various snakes, an anteater, some deer, owls, hawks, caimans and a blind crocodile.
I’m still on the hunt for the red eyed tree frog, and found a baby one hiding between two leaves.
And nearby was a beautiful dragon fly.
All in all, our time here has been a relaxing break, and it’s now time to move on to San José for the final leg of our journey.