Costa Rica 2019 Day 12 - Cahuita: Jaguar Rescue Center, Puerto Viejo, Punta Uva

An interesting night of sleep...there was a howler monkey that stayed in the trees right above the Airbnb, and it was periodically loud throughout the night.  Sounded rather scary.  And, as it ate or moved through the trees, the branches would get thrown onto the roof, startling me.  Definitely close to wildlife here!

Anyways...my first full day on the South Caribbean side today!  Instead of sticking around Cahuita, I made a day trip to Puerto Viejo and the beaches southward. 

After breakfast at the Airbnb, I walked less than 10 minutes to the Cahuita bus terminal for the 9:15am bus.  Gave myself an extra half hour in case I had trouble with the tickets or navigating.  It was a very straightforward system though.  Head up to the ticket counter, state the destination and agree on the departure time, and paid 820 colones.  The ticket has a gate #, which corresponds to where the bus will pull up. Very easy.

Example of bus pulling up to the appropriate "gate"

Local bus schedule at the ticket booth

The bus was late though...did not end up leaving until 9:40pm, so 25 minutes late.  25 minutes later I was at the Puerto Viejo terminal, which is in the middle of town.

While I didn't spend much time here, you could definitely tell there is more going on in Puerto Viejo compared to Cahuita.  More shops, restaurants, people.  It would probably be nice to try a restaurant here, but I'm glad I chose Cahuita to relax and get away from too much noise.

Unfortunately, it started to rain...and I had planned on biking. Didn't let that stop me though!

Tuanis bike rental is a block or so away, and it was only $5 for a day rental, which came with a lock.  Inexpensive!

There is only one main road that travels south towards the other beaches, and there are many other people biking and walking along here.  I was originally a little nervous about the cars, but most take it slow and go around you.  Except the large trucks never seemed to slow down and that was nerve racking.

The rain eventually cleared within 15 minutes, and at this point I reached Playa Cocles.  There happened to be a surf competition going on, so that was exciting!  I only watched for a few minutes, since I wanted to get to the Jaguar Rescue Center tour early.  I also figured I would be passing the area on the return trip anyways and could watch more then.

I'm not sure the total time it took to get to the Jaguar Rescue Center since I made stops, but I got there around 11:10am for the 11:30am tour. You really cannot miss the entrance, there is a giant sign with a monkey on it.

When I got there, a ton of people were already waiting, maybe already 25.  As it got closer to 11:30am, even more people showed up.  It was a huge crowd, 75 people or so.  Yikes.  We were all directed to another area, where they split us into smaller groups of 18.  Our tour guide was a woman from the UK (unfortunately cannot remember her name though).

Crowds waiting for the 11:30am tour

My initial impression of the facility: clean, maintained, green, and large exhibits.  This had a very different feel from Projecto Asis.  This was more lush (makes sense, Caribbean side vs Fortuna), and the enclosures were just nicer and larger.

We started off with the perfect animal -- sloths!  Babies! There must have been at least 15 of them in this "sloth kindergarten".  I was so happy to see them up close, cannot describe how cute they are! Everyone there had continuous smiles.  Unfortunately, all of these babies did not have mothers...all lost due to accidents with electricity wires (after the insultation has eroded away) or cars. 

Sloth Kindergarten.  My life is complete.

Its crazy, so many sloths end up at a rescue center for rehabilitation.  On average during one year, 650 sloths are rescued across both this and the Sloth Sanctuary.  Sadly, the tour guide said that because sloths cannot quickly adapt to changing conditions, like those humans inflict on them, they will be extinct in 50 years if the current rates continue. So incredibly sad.

In addition to the sloths, we were shown all three varieties of monkeys.  They had some extremely active Capuchin monkeys.  I didn't realize the extent of how smart they are -- apparently they know how to make their own insect repellent.  They crush millipedes, fruit juices, and add urine to spread on their fur.

There were also a couple North American alligators, a non-native species for CR.  Unfortunately, they will never be released into the wild.  The rescue center has no choice but to build a larger enclosure for them.

One surprise was the resident peccary who acted like a dog!  It rolled over for belly rubs from the guide. With a tongue constantly out, it was cute and goofy.

Peccary looking for cuddle time

Friendly, tongue-out white-tailed deer

The center has a few other tongue-out animals, like the extremely friendly deer and its offspring.

The snakes were a little less interesting to me...there was a velvet snake, which is a type of viper. Vipers are the most dangerous snake in the country, and account for 70% of all snake bites. Of the 140 species of snakes, only 24 of them are venomous.

There were also many birds, like the various species of toucans. 190 animals currently reside here. Birds are so prevalent, that approximately 150 are accepted in one year.

Like Proyecto Asis, this rescue center also had a margay. Although, this one will never be released. They attempted three previous times, but each time it came back, wrecking havoc on chicken farms and killing other rescue animals.  It can clearly hunt but its too lazy.  The rescue center asked Tortuguero for permission to release it there, but they said no, claiming it would likely not be able to survive.

Overall, I loved seeing the volunteers interact with the animals.  There was a woman with a baby howler monkey holding onto her head, and another with a parrot on her shoulder.  They are very close with the animals.  It sounded like the volunteers are all biologists, requiring a minimum of one month time commitment.  So glad I came here, how amazing to be up close with the sloths and support the great work the center is doing!  Highly recommended.

Building for vet checkups and surgeries. 
Has one of the only xray machines in the city.

The tour ended around 1:30pm and I hadn't eaten lunch yet, but I wasn't too hungry yet and I still wanted to check out Punta Uva, the beach more south.  Biking this stretch was a lot quieter.  I even had some doubts if I should bike this stretch because there really were not many bicyclists.  But, cars still went by, and the occasional bicyclist every five minutes convinced me it was still fine.

You cannot see Punta Uva from the main road, and have to turn left down a gravel road.  It was busy here, a packed parking lot.  There were so many locals!  I barely saw any tourists.  There was a little shack selling souvenirs, and a water activity company, but other than that, no other commercial businesses.  The beach looked a little small, but it may have been because it was so crowded.  I did not stay long because it was hot and I wanted to bike back to eat something.

Busy at Punta Uva

On the way back, I happened to see a sloth! Just slowly eating.  I spent a while just looking and trying to get a good picture. So many sloths today, I'm pleased!

The rescue center tour guide had recommended Tasty Waves to eat, which happens to be across from the surf competition.  So, I had a mini lunch (fries with a bunch if toppings, which was overpriced and they clearly cater to tourists) and then walked across to Playa Cocles.  There wasn't a good spot to lock my bike, so I only watched the surfing for 10 or 15 minutes.

Puerto Viejo Open Pro Surfing Competition at Playa Cocles

I figured the 5:30pm bus back to Cahuita was realistic. It was a little after 4pm already, and I assumed I wouldn't be able to catch the 4:30pm, since I also had to return my bike.

Capsized boat at / near Puerto Viejo

While I was waiting for the bus, I saw an outdoor zumba class, and immediately gravitated towards it.  I miss dance fitness so much!  I'm excited that this trip has shown me that I can push through my lower back pain and fatigue and still be okay, so I'll be trying to get back into fitness once I get home.

Zumba!

It was a little after 6pm by the time I got back to Cahuita, and I was thinking about listening to the live music at Coco's that night.  Instead of going home first and then coming back out, I just went to Coco's and figured I could just slowly eat and hang out there.

A surprise, the Airbnb owner is in the band!  While I was just relaxing and waiting for the music to start, a woman next to me tapped my shoulder and invited me to join her table.  She noticed I was a solo traveler, and she was as well. She (from London) also grabbed another solo woman (from Germany) who was nearby, and also at the table was another solo woman whom she met on the bus.  How awesome it is that there are so many female solo travelers! From around the world. I wish I took a picture, ah well.

Eventually two women left, and the woman from London and I had fun chatting for a while and enjoying the music.  I stayed past 9pm, which is much later than I thought I would.  I was a little nervous about walking back in the dark, so she kindly walked with me 85% of the way there.

A very fun, casual day without too many solid plans. Biking around was so fun, and it was an adventurous, full day!