daytrip to Cahuita

IMG_8237, a photo by Brayo on Flickr.

For our second full day at the coast, we rode our bikes to Cahuita, a small town we’d seen briefly from the bus and that was described by several other people as a “relaxed” alternative to the “party” atmosphere of Puerto Viejo. We only had about an hour and we spent it on the beach of the National Park abutting the town. The grocery store next-door had yogurt and diet coke. The fruit seller had bananas and custard fruit. And the best part of the trip was getting there and the places we stopped along the way. As opposed to the road connecting Puerto Viejo, which passes small hotels, beach bars, and café’s, the area going north to Cahuita is inhabited by local families. Light industry—for instance, a lumber yard—is also there. We stopped at a cocoa farm, and although we didn’t go for a tour, we tasted delicious fresh chocolate. It had a fruity taste and a nutty consistency, not from anything added, but from the cacao fruit itself.