Costa Rica Day 8: Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve
Today was our day for Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve, Costa Rica’s first nature reserve. Beth and I got up around 7:00, quickly had some coffee, and went down to town to catch the bus to the Reserve. After a 15 minute bus ride, we got off the bus in the village of Cabuya (the town right next to the Reserve) to get some breakfast, then purchased some snacks for lunch. We walked down the main road through town to the Reserve gatehouse.
It was $10 to get into the park, paid at the gatehouse. The walk into the beach took about an hour and half, along a forest trail. It was a very scenic walk, but very hot. We passed by a couple brooks, went up and down some steep hills, and saw lots of trees and other flora. The beach was very pretty, but not very good for swimming. There were lots of small rocks on the beach and the waves were very powerful. I got a couple bruises on my legs from rocks being tossed into my legs by the waves. It was quite windy, so it’s quite possible the swimming would have been better on a calmer day. Needless to say, I only stayed in for a few minutes to cool off.
We spent about an hour at the beach before we had to head back to Cabuya and catch the last bus back to Montezuma. I got quite dehydrated on the way back. We brought 3 liters of water between the two of us; another liter or two would not have been a bad idea. I was a little foggy when we made it back to the gatehouse and signed out.
We walked back to Cabuya and ducked into the first marked we passed for some much needed water. I downed more than half of a 2-liter bottle very quickly. We waited for the bus back to Montezuma on a shaded bench in front of the market. The bus dropped us off at the bus stop in Montezuma, then we went back up the hill for a shower and to get ready for dinner. By the time we went down to town for dinner, I was feeling exhausted; My brain was not firing properly during dinner.
After dinner, I had to head back up to the hotel and fall asleep. Everyone else went out to Reggae night at Chico’s for a little while.
