Kelly Creek Hotel Cahuita

... small banana crops.
On the coastal plain after Siqurres we start to see large banana plantations, Del Monte and Chiquitos and huge sites stacked with container, presumably for the banana harvest.
At Puerto Limon a small container port with just two crane, we see the Caribbean. I think they will be really busy if they are going to clear all the containers we saw.
Then we come across a ...

... rescue, as well as the owner's private residence. It is a large property, set on a calm river canal and the grounds are gorgeous and overgrown.

I found the office, paid the $15 donation and was directed to watch an informative video. Then one of the family members guided me through the property and was a wealth of info.

What an amazing thing this American family is doing....besides rescue, they educate both locals and ...

... learned over the past day that things SLOW DOWN as it is a "chill out", "no problem man" kind of pace. I began to think, "why rush?" The ocean, the beach, the beauty that surrounds the area all come together and makes you want to just sit, watch and listen. The evening ended to the sounds of waves crashing on the beach, tropical warmth and the sounds of bugs that sing, talk and fill the night with music. I find myself sitting, simply ...

... I then proceeded, against my better judgment, to Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio hoping to see some wildlife and chill out a little down there (still on the Pacific coast). It was horrendous. I arrived late in the nearby town of Quepos, thanks to the useless bus service, and ended up staying in an absolute DIVE for the first night. Fortunately I met a couple of other girls to share the experience with. The next morning I found a "better" hostel and headed off for the park ...

... came to pick me up was about 20, and he drove an old Toyota from the late 80s or early 90s. We drove down the steep roads down to Alajuela at breakneck speeds, me clutching the dash and him calmly singing along to the radio. When we got to the pickup place, I was surprised to see the Interbus van still there. Yay! My driver helped me load my luggage and off we went. It was rush hour in Alajuela/San Jose and we were bumper to bumper ...

... hi, so I popped into the bar. Next thing I know the 3 of us have hooked up with this American guy Mike, I've sorted out a room for the night with the bar owner (another Brit called Roger) and we're sitting on Mike's balcony supping beer after beer. En route to the balcony we'd got chatting to an American conspiracy theorist called Cliff, who's a mid-fifties throwback to a forgotten generation. "It was the CIA wot done it, man ...

... netting....though I must say, after the night, I wasn´t as enthousiastic as I was to the idea of sleeping in a hammock. The three of us joined up with Patricia´s friends and company at Punta Cahuita (about 4 km walk from the Cahuita entrance).... I ended up hanging out with a big group of spanish....there were like 9 of us...8 spanish and me... listening to them speak is nothing like listen to the latin americans speak.....it was bullet train fast...but it was ...

... owned by Italian Marco (Marco en las olas). The fish dishes were just fantastic. This was the end of Steffi's 40th birthday celebration. Vero and myself prepared a little surprise for him before dinner, with a couple of candles on beer bottles, and a piñata (a paper mache decoration which hangs from the roof and is full of sweets. The birthday boy has to hit it with his eyes blind folded until it breaks and the sweets fall down....)

... so pretty. We walked for about 4km, but the weather started getting worse and we decided to head back. On the way back we saw Howler monkeys in a tree on the beach, they were so close to us and we got some great photos and we also saw some more Capuchin monkeys on the way back too. Oh and I saw my first hermit crab too. I love Costa Rica!!!! But then the rain set in and it continued until we left pretty much. We were ...

... THEM UP. THEY WERE CUTE LITTLE *******S THOUGH. FARTHER DOWN THE TRAIL I FOULD WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A TREE FROG BUT WHEN I PICKED IT UP IT'S UNDERSIDE WAS BRIGHT RED. THE RULE IS IF IT'S BRIGHT THEN IT'S PROBABLY POISONOUS SO I PUT IT BACK ON THE GROUND AND WIPED MY HANDS QUITE VIGOROUSLY ON MY PANTS. I SAW SAW LOTS OF OTHER LITTLE FROG TYPES. SOME WERE HALF THE SIZE OF THE ANTS HERE, THEY WERE ITY BITY. ALSO SAW 2 TYPES OF HAWKS BUT I ...