A long hike, 8 kilometers, through Cahuita National Park is on the schedule for today. But last night a storm hit the shore and threw a spanner in the works.
Wearing raincoats and ponchos, we stand at the local bus station waiting for the bus that will drop us off 15-20 kilometers away in Cahuita. On the bus, the heavens open up again and it comes pouring down. We watch our hike disappear into the water. Upon arriving at the bus station, we meet a nice couple with whom we stand and chat for a while. When you are traveling and not bound by time, you suddenly get the space to have wonderful conversations with strangers on the street.
Meanwhile, the rain has changed from very heavy to heavy. And we dare to take a walk to the coffee shop, where we want to wait a bit to see if the shower passes. The coffee shop is on the corner of a street—the street, that is—we cannot see. Every corner is flooded and the puddles are deep. The owner of the coffee shop sees us and calls out to us to wait. We see him get into a car, drive around the block, and pick us up on the drier side of the street. He drives through the large puddles to a spot where the water is shallower, and we are allowed to go into the coffee shop via the car. What service! We are in the right place here. And the cappuccino tastes good too. The shower passes, the sky clears up, and we see the road reappear fairly quickly. Large puddles of water are quickly drained away by the deep gutters we see everywhere.
We are able to do the hike in Cahuita National Park after all. But unfortunately, the path is blocked today after 1.5 kilometers from the beach where we start. There is still too much water flowing from the sea into the jungle, making the path difficult to walk today. The hike is nice, but not many animals are showing themselves yet. It has become stuffy again due to the high humidity.
Rough sea, yellow beach and animals, right in the jungle.
Right on the beach, many little birds and beautiful flowers.
Arjan has learned that there are edible flowers.
Our walk ends here; the small river formed between fresh and salt water is too strong, too deep, and we are not allowed to cross it today.
On the way back by bus, we get dropped off in the center of Puerto Viejo. After a delicious late lunch, we walk back to our cottage and see that the storm has brought the sea onto the street in many places. Black sand lies on the road everywhere. And the sea is rough today. High waves, and in places where people normally swim, there is a red flag today.
Playa Negra near Puerto Viejo, in front of our cottage.
Do you see the lights hanging, almost over the water today? Puerto Viejo beach is 2 kilometers from our cottage.
It is remarkable to see that there are hardly any beaches today. Due to climate change, long beaches here have turned into narrow strips. The beach is receding and is not being replenished here, like in the Netherlands. Today’s storm is also taking up a considerable amount of that narrow strip. It remains a remarkable sight to see the sea, after which the jungle begins right on the beach.
I looked it up: the government does pay attention to protecting the coral reefs, but not the beaches.
Reply