We spent 3 days in Samara doing, well, nothing. We didn´t need to go in search of wildlife as squirrels, various birds and the odd iguana hung out in the gardens at our hotel. We then thought we´d give the Caribbean side of Costa Rica a look-see. We ended up in a small place called Cahuita where reggae rules the roost and the activity of the day is relaxation. Cahuita is a dirt road town with just enough eating and drinking places to keep you going.
We actually did something in Cahuita. The beach, and the forrest behind it, form a national park. We went on a snorkeling trip for a morning and saw lots of fishies and one baby reef shark. We then left the trip and walked back to the town through the forrest. The boat dropped us off on a bit of beach but before leaving, we were given some watermelon and pineapple to eat. The local monkeys know this happens almost daily as we were met by a lot of them. The monkeys were very cheeky - if you stood under a branch a monkey would hang down and pinch the fruit from you. One even climbed up my leg to try to grab the fruit from my hand.
The walk through the forrest was lovely and there were plenty more monkeys to keep us entertained.
Favorite moment: sitting in Coco´s Bar in Cahuita drinking beers while listening to a reggae band sing "Oh oh my demanding wife, she trying to destroy my life..."
We then said goodbye to Costa Rica and took a plane to Guatemala City. We didn´t bother staying in G.City but jumped straight on a bus to Antigua, an hour west of G.City. Antigua is the old capital of Guatemala and is a very pretty city. The old colonial buildings and cobblestone streets make for some nice pics. Also, being so close to Xmas, loads of Xmas lights are decorating the place. Antigua is in the middle of 3 inactive volcanos so the surroundings are also stunning.
Also close to Antigua is a very active volcano, Volcan Pacaya. This time, we were determined to see it and this time, luck was on our side. The volcano isn´t very high (compared to the others we´ve tried to see), reaching approximately 2,500m. We climbed it with relative ease and at the top we were able to stand right at the edge of the crater. Inside the crater another cone has started to develop so you´ve sort of got a mini-volcano on top of the volcano. It was amazing - sulphur smoke is billowing out of the main crater and the smaller one and in the smaller one you can see the red glow of the lava inside. Not only that but every minute or so the small crater would spurt out globs of lava into the sky. It was so amazing to see this close up.
The way down was also fun as it involved running down all the loose lava rocks (you had to run, if you tried to go slow you´d just fall on your bum).
So finally, we get a beach or two and also the volcano experience we were after. Nice one.
Tomorrow we head off further west until just before Xmas and then we´ll be back in Antigua for Xmas day. For our Xmas present we´ve booked ourselves into a really nice hotel with a pool and all the trimmings.
Feliz Navidad.
