Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [419]
Getting There & Away
There is a regular bus-boat service from Cariari via Puerto Lindo (Click here for details). Likewise, it is possible to arrange a charter boat service from Tortuguero (prices start somewhere in the vicinity of US$50 to US$100 depending on the season and the number of people). Otherwise, most folks get here on air charters arranged by the individual lodges.
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SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN
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The southern coast is the heart and soul of Costa Rica’s Afro-Caribbean community. Jamaican workers arrived in the middle of the 19th century to build the railroad and then stayed on to serve as labor for United Fruit. After the banana industry began its decline in the 1920s, government-mandated segregation kept the black community here (blacks were not allowed to travel freely around the rest of the country). For more than eight decades, they existed independently of the rest of Costa Rica – managing subsistence farms, speaking English and Mekatelyu, eating spicy Caribbean gumbos and swaying to the beat of calypso. Although the racial borders fell in 1949, the local culture still retains its unique traditions.
Also in this area, to the interior, are some of the country’s most prominent indigenous groups – cultures that have managed to remain intact despite several centuries’ worth of incursions, first from the Spanish, later from the fruit industry and currently from the globalizing effects of tourism. They principally inhabit the Cocles/KéköLdi, Talamanca Cabécar and Bribrí indigenous territories.
Naturally, this fascinating cultural bubble wouldn’t remain isolated forever. Since the 1980s, the southern coast has seen the arrival of surfers, backpackers and adventurous families on holiday – many of whom have stayed, adding Italian, German and North American inflections to the cultural stew. For the traveler, it is a rich and rewarding experience – with lovely beaches to boot.
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RESERVA BIOLÓGICA HITOY-CERERE
One of the most rugged and rarely visited reserves in the country, Hitoy-Cerere (2795-1446; admission US$10; 8am-4pm) is only about 60km south of Puerto Limón. The 99-sq-km reserve sits on the edge of the Cordillera de Talamanca, characterized by varying altitudes, evergreen forests and rushing rivers. This may be one of the wettest reserves in the parks system, inundated with 4000mm to 6000mm of rain annually.
Naturally, wildlife is abundant. The most commonly sighted mammals include gray four-eyed opossums, tayras (a type of weasel), and howler and capuchin monkeys. There are plenty of ornithological delights as well (the area is home to more than 230 avian species), including keel-billed toucans, spectacled owls and the green kingfisher. And, you can hardly miss the Montezuma oropendola, whose massive nests dangle from the trees like twiggy pendulums. The moisture, in the meantime, keeps the place hopping with all manner of poison-dart frog.
The reserve is surrounded by some of the country’s most remote indigenous reserves, which you can visit with a local guide.
Although there is a ranger station at the reserve entrance with bathrooms, there are no other facilities nearby. A 9km trail leads south to a waterfall, but it is steep, slippery and poorly maintained. Jungle boots are recommended.
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Getting There & Away
By car (4WD recommended), head west on the signed road to Valle de la Estrella and Penshurst (just south of the Río Estrella bridge). Another sign at the bus stop sends you down a good dirt road about 15km to the reserve.
By public transportation, catch a bus from Puerto Limón to Valle de la Estrella. From the end of the bus line (Fortuna/Finca 6) you can hire a taxi to take you the rest of the way and pick you up at a prearranged time (from ₡17,000).
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AVIARIOS DEL CARIBE SLOTH SANCTUARY
About 10km northwest of Cahuita, this wildlife sanctuary (2750-0775; www.slothrescue.org; 6am-5pm; ) sits on an 88-hectare property bordering the Río Estrella. Here,