[pale42]

Ok, here comes the story.

My girlfriend and I went for a a two and a half week vacation to Costa Rica. We started in Puerto Viejo. We both loved it and the surrounding forests were full of birds. I was blown away about the diversity of species and animals. Made some nice photographs. After a few days we went to Cahuita and stayed in a a small lodge. We visited the national park la Cahuita. It was amazing. So much animal life Sloths, monkeys, Raccoons etc.I would say the nicest park I visited in Costa Rica. . It was so good, we decided to do the trip to puerto vargas on foot the next day. Some 8 km in total. Next day we went of and donated some money at the reception and wrote down our names, as they asked us to do. We saw beatifull things. It was a paradise. At a certain point we reached another ranger station. We passed this and a few hundred metros after the ranger station it all happened. 4 masked guys jumped out of the jungle. All four armed with machetes. My girlfriend was taken apart by one of them and I was threatened by the other 3 to give everything we had, if not they would kill me. So after the panic reaction, we gave them all we had. (Not much money, but.a lot of photographic gear. and a 4 gig memory card with two photos to make left.) We had to run back from were we came from at the end and they disapperared in the jungle. It all took a few minutes, but it where the longest minutes during our vacation. With bouncing harts we reached the ranger station.

There we encountered a very unhelpfull situation. They could not bring us back to the hotel as they had no car. Could not call a taxi, as we did not have money anyhow. They were going to call the police., but we had to go back the same way we came from they said. (a 3 hour walk) My girlfriend refused to go back the same way being scared to death. But at the end we had too. So we decided to go back in a small group. A couple of American girls were shocked too and afraid to go further on alone. They offered us some water, something that did not ocurred too the rangers from the station, we were exhausted! Luckily two spanish tourists joining our group offered us a trip back by boat from punta Cahuita, after we told them the story. They paid for the trip etc. We were embarrased not being able to pay anything as everything was stolen. Back in Cahuita we went to the police. The same treatment as before at the ranger station.

Despite all this we decided to stay and follow our vacation. We loved the country. And even met a Costarican couple who brought us on a daytrip and showed us all kinds of things with their car.


We will go back, and we shall try to Forget what happened.
but I would advise the following for at least Parque nacional La Cahuita
• go in a group or with local guides
• do not pass the Punta Cahuita point ( all the wildlife can be seen before this point)

Hope this story helps other birders to be aware of the potential danger. I know a lot of people told us the contrary and maybe it was just bad luck. Bu I heard stories that it happened frequently at least at Cahuita national park.

Regards Perry

[chowchilla]

First of all I would like to say how sorry I am that this happened to you and your girlfriend; I'm glad you are both safe.

Costa Rica is the only country in which anyone has tried to mug me (I fought back however and he fled empty-handed). I went on to have a wonderful holiday and like you, was amazed at the diversity of the wildlife and how lovely so many of the people were. I truly hope your experience is not an emerging trend in CR as such a wonderful place would greatly miss the lost tourism if this became a major problem there.

Do any Ticos wish to comment on this?

[hjvandijk]

Originally Posted by pale42

Ok, here comes the story.
• do not pass the Punta Cahuita point ( all the wildlife can be seen before this point)

pfffffffffff. I've been there, and did'nt pass Cahuita point because I had Diarrhea. Didn't know it could be that dangerous, however I didn't like the city of Cahuita, expecially the atmosphere. Marihuana is all around, also way too much alcohol, tourists welter over the streets. The park was lovely, but there are better parks in CR!

[Birdingcraft]

Hi Perry,

I'm so sorry to hear about your robbery in Cahuita National Park. Upon hearing about your experience, I would advise people not to visit that particular national park, at least for the immediate future. I say this because the police, nor park guards, didn't sound very helpful, so probably won't do enough to keep those criminals from robbing someone again.
My point of view comes from living in Costa Rica. Being married to a Tica and only "speaking" English in forums like this, you could say that I am pretty much embedded in the culture here and my comments about this reflect local, and my non-alarmist opinion about crime in CR.
Crime against tourists has mostly been limited to pickpockets and non-violent crimes. Locals, though, confront the threat of armed robbery in the urbanized areas, and it is of common enough occurrence that a lot of people just don't go out at night. What makes things worse is that criminals can actually make a living off of robbery because they get so little jail time. Law abiding citizens are truly fed up with this and crime has become a major issue. The government has responded with at least more police patrols and San Jose has become safer. That said, I am surprised to hear about an armed robbery occurring in a national park as most crime occurs in the Central Valley. I think it's still safe overall to visit Costa Rica but would avoid Cahuita for the time being (I know I will).

[costaricafinca]

I, too, am very sorry that you had to experience what you did in my adopted country. Yes, there are problems here, with pick-pockets etc but I have never heard of a similar attack in the national park. Personally, I don't like the area where you went, and never felt comfortable when we started to enter the park, so decided against it.
Please, come again, and visit other areas of Costa Rica.

[DiamondD]

Sorry about your troubles! I have had similar struggles there, not with robbers, but with park rangers and police. Even speaking Spanish does not warrant more attention. Your best bet is just like you said, go with a large group EVERYWHERE