The Atlantic Coast

Hola Todos,

Friday and Saturday I was on the Atlantic coast of Costa Rica, in the city of Limón and the town of Cahuita. It was really nice to get out of the house and have a change of scenery, even though I had to work on a paper.

On Friday, Heidi, Erika (one of Heidi’s housemates), Maya (Erika’s 5-year-old daughter), and I left around 8:30 and got to Limón around lunch time. After a quick tour of Limón, we were back in the car and on our way to Cahuita. During this leg of the trip, Maya finally decided that I’m not so scary and talked my ear off, claiming that I am her BFF. Once we were in Cahuita, we went to the beach and played in the water. We never went past ankle deep because of the strong rip tides, and we couldn’t make it to the green zone before the beach closed at 5 pm. Maya and I played in the sand and dug a hole all the way down to the water (not very far). She especially liked that she was almost as tall as me when I stood in the hole. After a short “rest” (read: homework time) at the hotel, we went out for dinner at Soda Sola Fe. A soda is a small, family-owned restaurant.

On Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and saw (and heard) howler monkeys at the hotel. There was even a mom with a baby. I wish I had had my camera, but my phone was in the room since I didn’t want it at breakfast. After breakfast, Heidi and I went on an animal tour with Fernando, Heidi’s favorite guide. We took a boat to Cahuita point and then hiked back into town. On the hike,  we saw: monkeys, snakes, more than enough spiders, crabs, a sloth, and a basilisk. It was amazing!

Fernando was able to spot all these animals that Heidi and I only saw with a telescope or when he pointed them out. At one point, Fernando stopped and said, “there is a poisonous snake; you have ten seconds to see if before it sees you.” It was a Yellow Eyelash Viper sitting on a tree less than 15 yards away, and I didn’t see it until I looked through the telescope and then followed the telescope to see it with my bare eyes. Fernando took the following picture, without a zoom lens.

We also saw a two-toed sloth with a baby! It was really cool.

If you are interested in playing a “find the animal” game, feel free to go to my personal blog at:  http://caylynsstudyabroadadventures.blogspot.com/2016/10/atlantic-coast-one- weekend.html