{"id":526924,"date":"2026-04-12T13:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T13:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526924\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T13:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T13:34:13","slug":"we-saw-sloths-on-the-unspoiled-coast-of-latin-americas-happiest-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/526924\/","title":{"rendered":"We saw sloths on the unspoiled coast of Latin America’s ‘happiest’ country"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s just after midday and we\u2019re bathed in dappled sunlight. The weather is warm in early March while walking through the rainforest of Cahuita National Park<\/a>, on Costa Rica\u2019s Caribbean coast.<\/p>\n

Already we\u2019ve had encounters with a cheeky, white-faced capuchin monkey leaping about in bushes, a racoon asleep on the branch of a coconut tree, and a green iguana creeping its way on the canopy above us. Such are the riches of this country, which has 6 per cent of the world\u2019s biodiversity despite making up just 0.03 per cent of its land mass.<\/p>\n

Natural beauty is a source of contentment in Costa Rica, the first Latin American <\/a>country to rank among the top five \u201cworld\u2019s happiest countries\u201d in this year\u2019s World Happiness Report.<\/p>\n

\"\"White-faced capuchin monkeys were among Roger and Eileen\u2019s wildlife sightings (Photo: Four Agency)<\/p>\n

Cahuita National Park is among Costa Rica<\/a>\u2019s lesser known \u2013 and least visited \u2013 protected areas. It covers 2,600 acres, includes a five-mile coastal walking trail and blends dense tropical rainforest with the nation\u2019s best-preserved coral reefs.<\/p>\n

We are keen to get a clear view of the country\u2019s most recognisable creature \u2013 the two-fingered (also known as the two-toed) sloth. Up to now we\u2019ve had tantalising glimpses \u2013 a hairy backside in an almond tree and fingers wrapped around the branch of a coconut tree. But we are about to strike gold.<\/p>\n

Our guide Justo is hurriedly training his telescope towards the upper branches of a cecropia tree and beckons us to look. Peering into the lense reveals a mother sloth pulling herself up to nibble on a succulent leaf, while her baby, wrapping its legs around her fur to cling on, snacks on the branch below.<\/p>\n

\"Cahuita,Cahuita National Park\u2019s sloths were the highlight (Photo: Oscar Espinosa\/Getty)<\/p>\n

To witness these curious looking creatures, with their big eyes, black noses and seemingly gentle smiles, is more than we could have hoped for<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For our first visit to the country, this was a great introduction to the pura vida (\u201cpure life\u201d, the Costa Rican catchphrase for a laidback style of living).<\/p>\n

Many residents in Cahuita and other seaside towns are descendants of Jamaican workers who came to Costa Rica in the late 19th century to build the Jungle Train railway, which carved through 100 miles of forest from the capital, San Jos\u00e9, to the port of Lim\u00f3n, in aid of the \u201cbanana boom\u201d.<\/p>\n

They joined the indigenous Bribris and Spanish-heritage Latinos to make up a diverse population mix on this coast, later supplemented by a growing community of North American \u2013 and some European \u2013 immigrants.<\/p>\n

\"Limon,Puerto Viejo de Talamanca offers a laid-back pace (Photo: Salvador Aznar\/Getty)<\/p>\n

A fuller taste of the area comes with our visit <\/a>to the busy town of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, 10 miles south of Cahuita. Here, Jamaican heritage is celebrated, including with a mural of Marcus Garvey, whose political activism was shaped when he worked on a banana plantation in Lim\u00f3n province.<\/p>\n

On the main drag, shops and caf\u00e9s, often made of wood and framed by a veranda, are painted in vibrant colours: yellow, lime green, coral, salmon and red. We stop for excellent coffee at Caf\u00e9 Gustitos. Later, we eat at Soda Chitos (sodas are small, family-run restaurants offering home-made cuisine), sampling a spicy chicken dish with beans.<\/p>\n

\"???The town has a lively nightlife, including bars with live music and dancing (Photo: Wirestock\/Getty)<\/p>\n

At night in high season (December to April) Puerto Viejo\u2019s bars hum with the sound of reggae. By day, one of the town\u2019s main draws is surfing as its sandy, palm-tree fringed beaches have some of the biggest waves along the Caribbean<\/a> coast. We walk to the southern end of the town and watch in admiration as, on a choppy morning, about 20 surfers struggle with the \u201cLa Salsa Brava\u201d, a wave known to reach 12 metres high.<\/p>\n

Our hotel is four kilometres out of town. To get to it, we take a bright red tuk-tuk, our driver sharing the road with the many bicycles and scooters that predominate in Puerto Viejo.<\/p>\n

We are staying at Aguas Claras<\/a>, an ecologically minded, boutique hotel comprising rooms and bungalows in a lush, wildlife-filled jungle setting. Macaws screech at dawn, howler monkeys hop among the palm trees, and agoutis (guinea-pig like creatures) amble along the winding pathways.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe bungalows at Aguas Claras are surrounded by greenery<\/p>\n

The hotel is the creation of San Jos\u00e9 artists Elizabeth Steinvorth<\/a> and her daughter, Elena Rohrmoser. Their watercolours, bright mosaics, and other artworks enhance nearly every room.<\/p>\n

We walk a few hundred yards from the hotel to the Jaguar Rescue Centre (there are no jaguars here at present), which aims to rehabilitate and \u2013 if possible \u2013 rewild injured or abandoned animals and birds. Although illegal, it is common in Costa Rica for people to keep wild animals as pets.<\/p>\n

Paco the spider monkey is a case in point. Tied up at home for 27 years, he had become obese, unable to climb and suffered from severe muscle atrophy. But with the efforts of volunteers, Paco, now on a proper diet and with greater attention, can clamber round.<\/p>\n

We find it hard not to fall in love with a country that has such beguiling wildlife. And, on this still relatively unspoilt Caribbean<\/a> coast where the ma\u00f1ana, y ma\u00f1ana (\u201ctomorrow and tomorrow\u201d) philosophy reigns, the pulse slows, but the senses stir.<\/p>\n

Booking it<\/p>\n

The writers were guests of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (visitcostarica.com<\/a>). They flew with BA, which offers direct flights from London to San Jos\u00e9 between October and March. Flights (45 minutes) are available from San Jos\u00e9 to Lim\u00f3n, around an hour\u2019s drive to Puerto Viejo.<\/p>\n

Alternatively, it is about 3hr 45mins\u2019 drive from San Jos\u00e9 to Puerto Viejo, with car hire available from the airport. Hotel Aguas Claras has doubles from \u00a3200 per night, with breakfast (hotelaguasclaras.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s just after midday and we\u2019re bathed in dappled sunlight. The weather is warm in early March while…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[182786,23050,90,387,56,54,55,6899,4407],"class_list":["post-526924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-americas-travel","tag-iweekend","tag-science","tag-travel","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-walking","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}