Hello everyone,
Our previous post let you know about the changes to some of our cell numbers and how to reach us now that we’re here. And it gave you a chance to see some of the views that we’ve been enjoying from our open-air living and dining room / front porch, since we’ve arrived. Here’s an account of some of the highlights of our first week in Cahuita…
Despite leaving the ‘peg on a Friday morning, it wasn’t until Sunday night that we actually pulled up to our place in Cahuita, here on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. After having spent some time finalizing our car rental and getting local sim cards for our phones, we set out from San Jose mid afternoon on Sunday and headed for our house in the jungle…
Having read quite a bit about the nature of driving and the roads in CR, we felt prepared to navigate our way. Kevin has driven in multiple countries and been on some pretty harrowing roads in his travels. But this drive definitely was a ‘white-knuckler’ at times. The last hour was the worst as the sun had gone down and this made things even more challenging as there were a surprising number of bicyclers using this fairly narrow, coastal highway, even at night. We found ourselves able to smile through the clenched teeth by imagining what Grandma Irene would be saying to Grandpa Stan if they were driving that road that night…
Our first impression of our place was a tad underwhelming… it definitely had the feel of a cabin in the woods… a rustic cabin. Sophie and Kevin were less than impressed, but Bo reminded us that things would likely look and feel a lot different, once we could see the place in the sunlight. She was right. It didn’t take us long to feel at home in our new place… and the best way to think of the place is that it feels like we’re living in a ‘Swiss Family Robinson’ tree house. In terms of floor space, about one-third of the place is completely open-air (living room / dining room / chill out section with loungers are all outside on the front ‘’deck’’). The other two-thirds of the cabin consists of 2 bedrooms, 2 bathroom and a large kitchen, which all have shutters / sliding doors that open out to the front porch. We keep these doors and windows open except when it’s bed time, so the whole place really does have an open / airy feel to it. Surprisingly few mosquitoes to deal with means that we can sit out on the front deck till late and enjoy the sights and sounds of the jungle which is literally 10 or 15 meters out from our cabin. This place comes with a large private pool just a few steps away from our cabin and it has been a blessing to be able to swim and cool off at all hours of the day and night.
Those sights and sounds of the jungle are difficult to properly describe. Our first morning breakfast literally went cold because of the various things that were catching our eyes in the trees around us… howler monkeys and white-faced capuchins are fun to watch as they jump and fly through the air from tree to tree. The birds are incredibly beautiful, both to hear and to look at and even giant lizards sunning themselves high up in the trees are able to elicit calls of “where are the binoculars?” as much as the beautiful butterflies that always seem to be fluttering around the yard. It has been 15 years since Bo and I last travelled in Costa Rica and it had been 15 years since we’d heard the ominous sounds of howler monkeys. Now our proximity to the jungle means that barely a day goes by where we aren’t listening to them do their thing and it has already begun to feel normal… and yet, when it’s pitch black outside and you know the jungle is only meters away…. The sound can still raise the hair on the back of your neck…
Our first week has mostly been spent under self-imposed ‘isolation’ to ensure that we are Covid-free. But this hasn’t stopped us from being able to stroll along various beaches and explore the local national park and some of its jungle trails on our own. We’re going to have to pull out the thesaurus as the word “beautiful” is going to get old pretty quickly. The flora and fauna of this place are everything we could have imagined and more. We’ve already seen so many sloths we’ve lost count! And there are a couple of trees that we’ve discovered where one or two of them seem to always be slumbering, so it’s become a part of our regular walk to the beach to go check on our furry buddies and see if they’re ‘home’. The ocean is amazing and ranges from areas of crystal clear and calm waters to serious wave action that Kevin plans to learn to surf ASAP. Our restaurant and bar activities have been limited thus far but in the open-air / al fresco environment that characterizes nearly everywhere here, we’ve managed to have a few drinks while listening to either the sounds of the ocean surf or calypso/ reggae music that characterizes most establishments in this part of the country.
Sophie has purchased a boogie board and while it has started its days as a pool toy, the ocean beckons…
