West from Montezuma, the dirt road snakes up and down to Cabo Blanco Absolute Wildlife Refuge. The gateway to the reserve is Cabuya, a tiny hamlet nine kilometers west of Montezuma.

From Cabuya, a rough rock-and-dirt track leads north over the mountains to Malpaís (seven kilometers, 4WD essential and passable only in dry season). Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary (tel. 506/2642-1265, www.rainsongsanctuary.com, 8–11 A.M. and 2–5 P.M. daily, $20 pp two-hour guided tour), one kilometer north of Cabuya, is a rescue center for animals such as monkeys, porcupines, raccoons, and kinkajous.

They can be viewed in cages, and you can pet many of them; most were confiscated from illegal owners or were rescued after being injured in the wild. Its primary focus is education, as well as rehabilitation of animals on a 31-acre rainforest plot linked to Cabo Blanco. Volunteers are needed.

Hotels and Restaurants

El Ancla de Oro Jungalows (tel. 506/2642-0369, www.caboblancopark.com/ancla, $25 s/d rooms, $35–50 s/d bungalows low season; $27 s/d rooms, $40–55 bungalows high season) has three delightful thatched hardwood A-frame cabins on tall stilts (one sleeps five). The restaurant serves tasty treats such as fish curry with coconut milk, shrimp curry, and garlic herb bread. The owners, Alex Villaloboso and his English wife, Fiona, rent horses ($20), mountain bikes ($10), and kayaks.

Café Restaurante El Coyote (tel. 506/2642-0354), 200 meters along the dirt to Malpaís, has WiFi and serves pizza, seafood, and smoothies.

Getting to Cabuya

A bus departs Montezuma for Cabuya and Cabo Blanco at 8:15 A.M., 10:15 A.M., 2:15 P.M., and 6:15 P.M. daily ($1 each way). The Cabuya–Montezuma bus departs at 7 A.M., 9 A.M., and 1 P.M.