cAhUiTa by photos

As my trusty LP guide describes, "upon arriving at Costa Rica´s Caribbean Coast, visitors come to a delicious realization--they´ve somehow got into two countries for the price of one." It truly is a different world, folks. Compared to the majority of Costa Rica, the Caribbean Coast (well the little I know of it, to be more accurate) is noteably unique and, for that reason alone, truly intriguing. The climate is one that provokes constant perspiration, the food is popping with zip: spice and coconut milk are the favs, the spanish almost sounds like an entirely different language, the people are black in skin color, the music is reggae, dreadlocks are the norm, and the pace of life is muy pura vida... slow, relaxed, chill. After many months of waiting, I finally boarded a bus and headed to the Caribbean Coast, to the little town of Cahuita, which boasts a beautiful national park, refuge for this coast´s last living coral reefs, unusual black sand, and gauranteed relaxation.

***cAhUiTa by photos***

Cabinas Seaside.... just as the name claims, this great find is right on water front and is a crowd pleaser with hammocks strung beneath the coconut palms.
Total relax---loved it!

Our cabina, complete with mosquito nets for each bed!

Oh to have the ocean as your constant playground....!

My weekend travel pals, Michelle and Cindy, are both graduate students at The University for Peace here in Costa Rica, and Michelle is also a Rotary Scholar. We LOVED snorkeling over the largest living coral reef in the country. We climbed into a little boat at our hotel and were taken to several of the best spots to observe the incredible sea life that exists among coral reef.

After our snorkel fest, we were dropped off at Puntita Cahuita, the point of the area´s National Park. We hiked through lush coastal rain forest, stopping often to watch the many monkeys swinging from branch to branch, playing, munching, checking us out. Wonderfully, there were more monkeys than there were people!

To compliment the start of the photo montage, here´s a final picture showing the rastafari influence on the Caribbean Coast. Yup, that´s Jesus with dreads; rastafari Jesus.