Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Chill out in rustic bliss in
Cahuita
and soak up its Caribbean creole culture.
5
Overdose on the dangerous cuteness of monkeys, sloths and other con-
valescing critters at Jaguar Centro de Rescate in
Playa Chiquita
.
6
Snorkel the teeming reefs off of end-of-the-road
Manzanillo
.
7
Witness the dramatic meeting of the murky Río Sucio and the crystal-clear
Río Hondura in
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
.
History
In 1502 Christopher Columbus spent a total of 17 days anchored off the coast of Puerto
Limón on what would be his fourth and final voyage to the New World. He dropped an-
chor at an isle he baptized La Huerta (today known as Isla Uvita), loaded up on fresh wa-
ter, and never returned.
For Costa Rica's Caribbean coast, this small encounter foreshadowed the colonization
that was to come. But it would be centuries before Europeans would fully dominate the
area. Because of the difficult nature of the terrain (croc-filled swamps and steep mountain
slopes) and the malaria delivered by relentless fleets of mosquitoes, the Spanish stead-
fastly avoided it. For hundreds of years, in fact, the area remained the province of indigen-
ous ethnicities - the Miskito in the north and the Cabécar, Bribrí and Kèköldi in the south
- along with a mix of itinerant Afro-Caribbean turtle hunters from Panama and Colombia.
It was the building of the railroad, beginning in 1871, that would solidify the area's
West Indian accent, with the arrival of thousands of former Jamaican slaves in search of
employment. The plan was to build a port at the site of a grand old lemon tree (hence the
name, Puerto Limón) on the Caribbean Sea, so that coffee barons in the Central Valley
could more easily export their crops to Europe. The railway was intended to unify the
country, but it was a source of segregation as well. Blacks were not allowed to vote or
travel freely around Costa Rica until 1949. Out of isolation, however, sprung an independ-
ent culture, with its own musical and gastronomic traditions, and even its own unique lan-
guage, a creole called Mekatelyu - which is still spoken today.
Parks & Reserves
Many refuges and parks line the Caribbean coast. These are some of the most popular.
