Stage 49, Uvita, Costa Rica
18-21 July
Not only did the tourist shuttle bus turn up to take us from Jaco to Uvita, it was 15 minutes early! We were anxious – plan B was not attractive at all. We had a smooth two hour ride to Uvita arriving at our “hotel”, just a few minutes before reception opened. We were able to leave our rucksacks and repair to Sibu, a lovely cafe that Jimmy had recommended for a leisurely breakfast.
This required a fifteen minute walk. First past a busy builders’ merchant, with huge flatbed trucks queueing and manoeuvring to pick up their loads, as well as regular customers in cars. Then onto the busy highway, over a non-pedestrian bridge, across a creek. Then past the bus station. We became very well acquainted with this stretch of road, as the breakfast provided by our hotel was at a cafe just past Sibu’s.
We had been advised to buy bus tickets for our next journey to Panama, at the bus station, so visited it after breakfast. We were told that we couldn’t buy them there – we had to purchase the tickets on the bus, with no possibility, nor need, for a reservation. But get there at 11am for a mid-day departure to be sure!
Bus Hub Cool-ish and Charging
Since it was approaching 11am (albeit 4 days ahead of time) and it had a somewhat cool breeze at the rear of the bus station, and we had nowhere to wait inside at our hotel, we thought we’d settle and find out how it all worked. This bus station was a hub for coaches of the same company, where the driver got some food, as did passengers, who all got off, with some new joiners.
The coaches were of four colours, but other than that, there was little signage. Some coaches had working LED displays announcing their route. Most did not. We learned our coach was green (probably) and likely numbered 101,102 or 103 (probably). Finally, after most of the coaches had departed, a green one arrived. “Going to David, Panama?” – “Si”! It had few passengers on it and was not going to leave until well after midday.
Reassured, we made our way back to our hotel. The hotel was really a a small motel, eight rooms with limited facilities, but it did have a refreshing, small pool, provided swimming towels and high speed internet. It also had a high gate, which we found ourselves climbing over, on finding it locked when returning from dinner at 8.30pm!
Bijou Motel Over the Gate
After Jaco, we were spoilt for choice for restaurants. Although we were delighted to find, on our last evening in Jaco, that the beach restaurant attached to our hotel was pretty good, especially in a tropical rainstorm!
Uvita is a curious mixture, with the highway, part of the Pan-American Highway, dissecting the community. It has some very swanky residences in the beach area as well as some low rise hotels. It is spread out with paved and unpaved roads, but was not really compact enough for tourists such as ourselves without a car. We did a lot of walking in little shade.
Ballena Marine Park
We had two absolute highlights. First, Ballena Marine Park, where at low tide, two beaches appear, with a strip of sand separating the water like a whale’s tail. It ranks up there with our favourite beaches, unspoilt by cafes and stalls.
Two Beaches
There was hardly anybody out, at low tide, and the water was warm. A real treasure. At about 11am, groups of tourists began to arrive, on foot and by sea, so we left the increasingly populated nature park, enjoying a smoothie before the hot 2km walk back to the cool of our hotel.
Uvita waterfall
The other highlight for us was the Uvita waterfall, which was a mile north of the highway from our breakfast cafe, in the inland part of Uvita. The waterfall is accessed through private property. We used the original entrance, as a competing entrance had emerged, which doesn’t currently have a path to the waterfall. The path we took was difficult enough – steep, narrow and clambering over rocks. But was it worth it.
The pool below the waterfall is three metres deep, cool and in deep forest shade. We had it completely to ourselves – it wasn’t yet 9 am. We didn’t attempt to climb up to the top of the waterfall and slide down and off. Too many rocks, and tricky to make our way out if somebody got hurt.
There are a number of delicious pools as the stream descends and we swam in all those that were accessible. Each time on our own, enjoying the tranquility of the forest. Our feet even got nipped by fish!
At 10.30 we made our way back up the path to the cafe at the entrance. As we sat there enjoying a coffee, Two 16-seater minibuses arrived and we could hear shouting and squeals of delight from below, glad that we had revelled in the luxury of the place alone.
We enjoyed Uvita, although it was very hot and humid whilst we were there. We wonder whether it will still retain its charm in ten years, or whether it will have been transformed into an upmarket tourist resort.
Overall, we enjoyed our visit to Costa Rica, although it became too hot for us the further south we went.
Costa Rica is geared to welcoming tourists, with all sorts of exhilarating activities in the forests, like canyoning, zip lines, tubing. Water sports, kayaking, paddle boarding, surfing, snorkelling and horse riding, quad bikes and cycling.
In the late 1980’s the Government incentivised reforestation and the country has invested in 30 national Parks, covering 25% of the country. So it’s a great destination for bird watchers, plant lovers and those wanting to encounter various animals, or just enjoy walking in different types of forest.
The cuisine uses fresh fruit and vegetables as well as much seafood.
It’s a colourful place, with pavements decorated with colourful tiles or stones. A lovely country to visit – hotels are not cheap though, but the food is excellent and affordable. We visited mountainous areas as well as the Pacific Coast – next time we’ll need to visit the Caribbean side as well!
