We are currently down near the Panama border on the Caribbean side and are considering a run down to Bocas del Toro which is in Panama and is reported to have great snorkeling and diving. There is also a reef south of here (Cahuita) which is reported to have good diving.
We went snorkeling today on the nearby Cahuita reef which was fun albeit a bit murky as it had rained hard overnight. On the plus side it was overcast still so the sun wasn't able to take it's usual toll on my skin.
Yesterday we went for a 20k hike through the rain forest along the edge of the Caribbean - fantastic. Saw two different kinds of monkeys (howler and white-faced capuchin), five 3-toed sloths, an iguana, a jesus christ lizard (walks on water) rafts of other lizards, little blue ground dwelling crabs, a couple of amazing huge spiders, two snakes (a little tiny yellow one and a much larger brown one), birds of various sorts (names unknown to us) and then we went swimming in the ocean for a refresher since it is pretty hot and humid and thus sticky. Most of the time this is tolerable but it does sometimes seem overwhelming.
Tomorrow we are either going to stick around one more day and head up to the sloth sanctuary or perhaps we will head south to the next village, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, and dig in for a few days of beach, surf and such.
From there we are thinking about a few more days further south in Manzanillo where we can go diving and have the opportunity for more sweaty hiking. After that we either physically cross the border for a few days or so or take a day trip by boat down to Bocas del Toro (Mouths of the Bull) for snorkeling.
Cahuita is tiny, mainly serving the tourist trade – there are many places to stay, eat and drink at but nothing quite as fun as the hostel in San Jose. Place is swarming with tourists though. Not so swarming as to be unpleasant. Seems to be a large contingent of northern Europeans (Dutch, Swedes, Germans, Netherlands and so on) also a lot of French and a sprinkling of Americans.
Other than the park and swimming/snorkeling there isn’t much to do but lye in the hammock and chill, figuratively speaking since it is far too humid and hot for anything else.
Next week sometime we will head back to San Jose and then up to the Montverde Cloud Forest for some cold and clammy hiking, lol.
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