Thursday, May 5th, is our last day on the Caribbean beach

Today we feel like a day of leisure at the Caribbean beach in Cahuita and in the beautiful garden of our Playa Negra guesthouse. In the morning, I go for a snorkelling tour with Willie’s. For 25 Dollars. We leave in a wooden blue boat (like the one on the foto) with a couple from Munich, a couple from Madrid and a mother with two daughters from Paris. Not far from here, from the Cape of Cahuita, we have two snorkeling excursions.

Again I love to watch the world below me: I float above colorful reefs as well as larger and smaller fish, some in shining violet, some in blue, some in grey and some with yellow stripes. There are also sharks – harmless sharks, as our boat captain says. The chap from Munich has an underwater camera; he comes across a shark. This was great, but there was a small disappointment: To complete the tour nicely and with a social touch, Willie had promised some fruit salad. But we receive no fruit salad. Hmmm, Willie?

It is very, very hot here in the Caribbean. In the afternoon we use the pool of our hotel extensively, and as soon as we get out of the water, we are sweating again… the best is to go back into the pool again.

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On the terrace of the restaurant “Sobre las Olas” – Ceviche

We finish the day with Ceviche in the restaurant Sobre Las Olas. Ceviche is slices of meagre fish (corvina) served raw in lemon juice. Excellent. And the breeze above the waves of the Caribbean sea (literally sobre las olas) is welcome. Pura Vida. Well, the cook had oversalted the Ceviche of Ursula, but the waitor immediately brought her a new plate, with a lot of apologies. The Sobre las Olas is a place we like.

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Good-bye Cahuita

Howler monkeys somewhere nearby wake us up at five in the morning. The agoutis say hello and the colibri nip at the heliconia in front of our veranda, where we have our last Caribbean breakfast. We catch some early morning impressions from the beach across the road with a view of the Cape Cahuita.

Yes, a beach vacation in Costa Rica is a great option, be it here on the Caribbean side or on the other Pacific side. But be aware – it IS hot here! You will be forced to relax and go back to the water often, in the pool or in the sea.

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Quick visit at Limón

We leave Cahuita around seven in the morning  – and get caught in a traffic jam on the road to Limón. “Our” traffic jam going north holds us back about a quarter of an hour, but the standing line of cars going south is several kilometers long and not moving at all. Good that we are going north now.

We quickly visit Limón, the port town founded around 1850 and connected with the Central Valley and with San José via a railway. It is quite nice with its pedestrian zone in the center, lined up with colonial houses,

Palm trees give shade in the central park. There are various statues – this is the statue of a family and an old man.

Sad that the traditional Black Star Line building has burnt down just a few days ago.

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Back to San José through the Park Braulio Carrillo

Now we head north on the main road to San José. We move forward quickly, with a short coffee break in the restaurant La Costa near Guapiles – yes, this Tucan statue is eating an avocado fruit which also in “real life” is the Tucan’s favorite diet.

While driving uphill through the Braulio Carrillo park, we brush up memories of our tours with Jorge, the driver of our Don Quijote school (the boat trip in Sarapiquí, the teleférico in the rain forest). And at midday exactly the guard of the Bougainvillea hotel opens the gate smiling and waving at us. Leticia greets us – she is the good soul that has organized so much for us. It is like coming home. We give our faithful Terios car back to Thrifty. Kenneth finds the gifts from Sarchí under the seat… no, no, I should not forget them once more! I already had to go back to Sarchí a second time to pick them up with my bag labeled “bolsa olvidada”. Thank you, Kenneth.

We take room number 302 with the gorgeous view of the tropical garden.

We will rest here for another day, meet my cousin and enjoy the pool, before flying back to Switzerland on Sunday.