I wanted to do two things on this trip to Costa Rica: surf and hike through a rainforest.
Now that I had the first checked off my travel to-do list, it was time to check off the other.
Turns out, where we are in Malpais is just on the edge of Cabo Blanco National Reserve, a 1,172-hectare rainforest. It’s located about a 40-minute drive through the small town of Cabuya on the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula.
The reserve, which is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, boasts dozens of diferent animals, from raccoons to wrens to the howler monkeys you can hear all over this area. There are even pumas and coyote — both of which I wasn’t overly eager to meet on the trail.
We drove there about three hours before closing — not advisable — and was told by the park ranger to stay on one of the two trails. The one being the shorter, Danish trail that looped inside the reserve. The other trail — the Swedish Trail — which was about 4.5 kilometers one way, led to a pristine sandy beach.
“That takes two hours one way,” the ranger said in his best English. “So on the shorter one.”
We took the beach trail.
Thankfully, we made it back to the car about nine minutes before the park would close. We even drove the ranger to the gate, about a mile away.
Here’s what the crazy hike — we did it in record time! — looked like:
Gearing up!
Follow my adventures @thedailydish, #CatTravels
13 Comments
Awesome!
It was! Too bad we didn’t see any other wildlife, though. I wanted to see a snake.
They have vampire bats there. It’s one thing that bothered me before I went. Never saw one, but I did have these little marks…
Now I know how you stay so thin and eat like you do! You go girl!
Thin? Not after this trip!
Hello Cat!
Wow! great hike, amazing fuud and a awesome sunset to end an incredable day!
It was a lot of fun. More hiking in La Fortuna. Blog coming soon!
Hey Cat … I just love the relaxing atmosphere … my kind of laid back vacation …
… I can’t really tell from the pics, but is it hot or humid over there??? …
… and I’m a sucker for sunsets … you think you’ve seen them all, but they have some beauties over there!!! …
… thanks for letting us tag along …
It’s SUPER humid. I don’t normally sweat, but just walking around the hotel soaked my shirt! It’s nothing like in Hawaii!
CAT: Thanks for sharing. Thoroughly enjoyed the hike in the comfort of my home. Aaaiiiyyyaaahhh! Fuud Pix! Tenks!
Thanks! More food pics to come!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a … stop at a good bakery. [ : ^ )==
That’s right! LOL