Blogs from Puerto Jimenez, Osa Peninsula, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Advertisement


I heard of Bolita from other travelers who had been there. As I was considering going to Corcovado National Park, they suggested Bolita as an alternative, a hostel inside a primary rainforest, accessed from Puerto Jimenez. What attracted me to Bolita (apart from traveler reviews) was this was an individual effort at conservation and it's remoteness. To get to Bolita (and to return from it), you have to stay in Puerto Jimenez one night each way (unless you are comfortable hiking in a rainforest in the night, I met a guy who actually did that). Puerto Jimenez is mostly a transit town, but like many places in Costa Rica, it boasts of brilliant sunsets. To go to Bolita, the first thing is to pack stuff you need into a small bag (the hike is short but ... read more
Puerto Jimenez Sunset
Bolita Sunrise
Bolita


It’s our third and final day in Puerto Jiménez. I’m not sure if I love or hate it here, but with hindsight, two days would have sufficed. The all pervasive dust is giving me a sore throat and headache. I’ve done a lateral flow test as I know a sore throat can be a symptom of Covid. It’s a test I brought with me – there are no medical facilities in Puerto Jiménez. In fact, the welcome pack in our room suggests that in the event of an emergency, we contact the vet! Yes really. The first night I felt unwell and took a covid test (which was negative), but the next day it subsided. The next night, the same happened, only worse. I assume it must be because the room smells of mould. We get ... read more
My spot on the balcony
Macaws
Macaws


I awake at 6 am – rush hour in Puerto Jiménez as planes and 4x4s ferry visitors towards the National Park. I get up and prepare breakfast; as we have a kitchenette, I’m going to have a go at cooking plantain. At least, I think it’s plantain – as the Spanish for plantain is plátano, and the Spanish for banana is also plátano, there’s a 50% chance I’m cooking plantain. We don’t have much planned for today; we have aborted our original plan to visit Corcovado National Park as it would have cost $85 each for the opportunity of a long off road drive (check) to hike for several hours in the heat and humidity (check) to possibly see some wild animals (check). So instead, a quiet morning. The old man plays candy crush while I ... read more
Almonds for breakfast
Making friends at the pool
Warning sign of the day


Lapa Rios - rediscovering the child from within!You know when I research where to stay I read a lot of trip advisor , blogs and so on and so on.. but if someone would ask me where to go in Costa Rica i would tell them - that if you only have enough time for one place - this is the place to go . Lapa is the Spanish name for the macaw while rio is the word for river. The owners John and Karen first visited the future home of the ecolodge, they witnessed a number of majestic scarlet macaws flying across the jungle, appearing to form a river of red above the canopy.... read more
howler monkey - the sound of horror
jeff and Edwin
IMG_3244


On our way to Lapa Rios a National Geographic Eco Reserve at the end of nowhere ..we realised it would take us 7 hours to get to the next destination. We decided to break up the trip into two sections - using our resting place as Manuel Antonio a popular beach resort half way down the coast. I forgot to mention that Costa Rica is in the rainy season so we drove more than 4 hours in torrential rains that were refreshing but definitely slowed us a down especially since the highway is in reality a two way road with no shoulders and a lot of small and large moving trucks. As we entered the intersection towards Manuel Antonio I was so proud of Jeff as he and the Gps help me drive and manoeuvre our ... read more
small houses in small town
more
women walking across street


Before arrival in Costa Rica, reports I had heard from other travellers meant I hadn't been expecting it to be quite to my taste – I.e. a well developed country with very expensive prices, and huge numbers of American tourists to boot. As usual the reality turned out differently to the rumours, as my first journey was to the out of the way Corcovado national park, on some pretty rickety buses across some pretty rough roads! I also got introduced to levels of bureaucracy that would have made Venezuela proud! To gain entry to the national park you couldn't just pay at the entrance like virtually every other national park in the world, you had to hike across town to their office to register your preferences, then take this form to their bank on the other ... read more
Corcovado national park
White faced monkey caught napping!
Yellow bellied snake


Up with the roosters & chickens again. I love the treehouse! There was a moment in the middle of the night where I think a group of dogs went through the yard. I couldn't see well enough to be sure. Maybe it was pigs...who knows. There was a lot of sniffing going on. Today we are heading out to Bahia Drake on the Osa Peninsula. We're going with Barron & Julie. It's always fun to have a travel team. We did the usual morning stuff: shower, eat, pack, drink too much coffee...We watched this guy make a spin on a baleada & we are totally intrigued & going to try one ourselves today. Basically it involves putting the mixed up egg in the pan, cooking it with the tortilla laying on top of it & flipping ... read more
Wayne, I didn't know your Tracker could pull a boat...?
Kassandra already hiding from the sun.
Pretty!


These are mainly Alice's photos Lots of jungle love Yaz and Jack... read more
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 45


UNA BUENA CARRETERA ASÍ SOLO PUEDE CONDUCIR A UN BUEN CHORIZO 7h30- Nos despertamos para lo que acababa de ser nuestra última noche en este hotel. Por fin... se acaba lo malo (en parte, claro). A Sonia le cuesta muchisimo ponerse en marcha, le recuerda un poco la sensación de somnolencia de cuando se toma el myolastan... Algo no va bien. Vamos a desayunar en el hotel, el desayuno es humilde y sencilo, pero está bien: frutita, gallo pinto y café. Nos ponemos en marcha y nos damos cuenta de que nos olvidamos unos zapatos de Sonia en Montezuma... es lo que pasa cuando se sale deprisa y corriendo a por una mermelada... que uno deja atrás sus zapatos... es una pena, pero son cosas que pasan. Nos prometemos revisar siempre las habitaciones antes de irnos ... read more
Habitacion Iguana Lodge
Habitacion
Sonia y el Blog...


This summer I was lucky enough to visit Costa Rica on an entomology field techniques class offered at my university. We were in the Osa Peninsula which boasts some of the highest animal (insect - in particular) biodiversity in all of Costa Rica. We flew in to the capital city of San Jose and immediately departed on our long drive to the west coast of the country. The drive was insanely beautiful, tons of hills beautifully decorated with the rich flora of the tropics. Driving was quite intimidating though, as the roads through the large hills were very narrow and littered with speeding semi-trucks all seemingly carrying over-sized loads of lumber. Our place of residence was Casa dos Rios, an amazing and enchanting 2-story house that comfortable accomodated the 8 of us. Sitting literally feet away ... read more
DSC00135
DSC00162
headlamps




Tot: 0.12s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 10; qc: 74; dbt: 0.0602s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb