Pura Vida

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Pura Vida - the life slogan of the Ticos, people from Costa Rica. They use it in many situations and it basically means something like 'todo bien' or 'todo bem' in Brasil or 'tranquila' in Colombia. Relax! Chill! Maak je niet druk!

From Bocas in Panama, we flew with a rather small, but colourful plane to San Jose, Costa Rica. We'd heard that San Jose is not very interesting (Costa Rica is all about nature), so we decided to continue straight on to one of the many National Parks/Reserves, Monteverde. We rented a car and driving was quite an experience, as many roads that lead to the parks are not paved and due to heavy rains there are a lot of potholes. It got even more interesting when we had to drive into the hills on a narrow, steep unpaved road, but it was all part of the adventure and the views along the way were stunning.

When we first arrived in Costa Rica, we were slightly underwhelmed for several reasons. We did realise that was partly due to our own expectations and earlier experiences, but still.

First reason, it's extremely touristy, mainly catering to the American tourist (lots of them), which means you're adressed first in English, you see McDonalds, KFC and PizzaHut everywhere and prices are like in The States. There was even a large Walmart next to the rental car office. Secondly, large parts of the rainforest have been replaced by plantations and farmland over the years, so where I expected to have to drive through jungle to get anywhere, we were driving through more 'normal' scenery most of the time. At least during the first part of our trip.

Monteverde is a cloud forest, which basically means it's an elevated rainforest that gets its water not from rain, but from the clouds due to its altitude. Apart from the crowds, Monteverde is beautiful and we had a great time. One day we went canopying on, supposedly, the highest and longest ziplines in Costa Rica. It was quite exhilirating! We also hiked several trails that were partly walking bridges high up in the trees, so you could view the jungle at different heights and we saw many birds (including a pair of quetzals that were building a nest), butterflies, bugs and thousands of fungi, plants and trees. It was a rather strange experience, as you see plants we have in our homes in their natural habitat and several times bigger. Even on our hotel grounds we saw agoutis and lizzards. Of course we had no idea what these all were, but luckily guides explained everything and there are picture books everywhere you go.

Next stop was Manuel Antonio National Park. According to our guide at the Monteverde Reserve, Manuel Antonio was horrible, as it's overcrowded. He suggested another park, Carara - which means crocodile river, and it truly was lovely (unfortunately, we didn't see any crocs). Quite small, but hardly any other visitors and beautiful fauna quite different from Monteverde. From there we continued to Manuel Antonio and as we arrived, we immediately understood what our guide meant. Imagine a busy beach town on a popular coast anywhere in the world and that's what Manuel Antonio is like. Most people don't come for the animals, but for the beaches, so there is a totally different vibe. The beaches are beautiful though and we did see many butterflies, birds, iguanas, and monkeys (annoying little buggers that steel your food and belongings).

Reading this blog entry again, I realise it may come across as if we're quite negative about the country, which doesn't do justice to Costa Rica, as it is truly beautiful. It's just the crowds in especially the Northwest that make it very touristy. Once you've passed Manuel Antonio and drive further south, it becomes much quieter, more beautiful and more authentic. Probably, because it's harder to get to. We loved it and were excited to go to our next destination, Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park in the Southwest and Tortuguero National Park in the Northeast.

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