"¡Pura Vida in Costa Rica!"

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Hello everybody,



it's been a long time since I wrote a blog, but here we go again with another adventure!

Easter vacation was coming up and since end of last year I’ve been thinking about where to visit. Countries I had in my mind were Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala and Peru. Guatemala actually was my number one to choose, but I’d want to stay longer than 10 days to visit all parts of the country I want to visit. I had the same issue with Peru and Cuba didn’t seem very easy or simple to plan a visit. So, Costa Rica it is!!!

The country enjoys the best quality of life in Central America and Tico’s are proud of this fact, also of the fact that their country is a real beauty with mountains, jungles and the beach is never too far away. "Pura Vida" (Pure Life), that's their motto! The country’s currency is the Colón and one US Dollar equals about 500 Colones.

I flew Copa Airlines from Curaçao to Panama, then a second flight to San José.
San José, the capital and largest city of Costa Rica, has more than 2 million inhabitants. The city lies on a height of 1171 meters within the Central Valley and has therefore a cool, mild climate. It’s never too warm or too cold. At night you need to wear a hoody sometimes. I didn’t find the city very special at all I must say. It has it’s nice parts but in most parts of San José are not very nice and is very chaotic and dirty as there is trash to be seen in most parts. However I enjoyed what the city has to offer. My hostel in San José was located in San Pedro, east of the city centre. It was a short bus drive to the city centre and there was a big mall located nearby, which was very convenient as their foodcourt is not expensive. It was Easter weekend, therefore the city was very quiet because most people leave the city and head to the mountains, the coast or visiting family in other parts of the country.

While in San José I made a daytrip to Cartago, which lies to the east and not far from the well known Irazú volcano. Cartago used to be the country’s capital in the past and has about half a million inhabitants. The climate here is cooler than in San José. Cartago is located in a very active earthquake zone and the city has suffered a lot of damage several times due to earthquakes. It was Good Friday and the great processions were going on. Men and boys all dressed like Romans parade along the streets and further behind there are statues of other saints being carried. In the city there is one particular spot where they have a cross with Jesus on it and a couple of men stay there the whole day as guards. A visit to the Valle de Orosí was also nice, where they had processions too. This valley has many coffee plantations and those who prefer a quieter, peaceful place move to this valley and its area.

Another day I decided to visit the Poás volcano. It’s located near Alajuela which meant that I had to catch a bus to Alajuela first and from there a bus that brings you all the way to the entrance of the national park. From there you need to walk about 600m to the viewpoint of the crater. I was lucky enough that the day was clear and the crater was clearly visible! The height of the viewpoint is 2574m. There was a lot of smoke coming out of the crater. A hike of about 15 to 20 minutes brings you to the Boto Lake, which is an old (dead) crater of the volcano.

Easter Sunday I took the bus to La Fortuna, which was a ride of about 4 hours. It is a very small, touristy town of about 8.000 inhabitants. The town is popular by tourists seeking adventures such as waterfalls, canopy/zipline, kayaking, volcano hikes, rafting, biking etc. It rained at many points along the way. Once I arrived in La Fortuna I went to my hostel and went to get some food. I arrived at this small, local place and they had menu’s lying on the table. I looked like a tourist and looked at the menu. They charged me 4500 Colones for a meal with a drink. I had a “casado”, which is a local dish consisting of any meat you’d like, rice, black beans, salad, vegetables and potatoes. The other days when I had lunch at this place I immediately ordered “un casado porfavor” and then they thought I was a local and charged me just 2500 Colones for the same meal and drink! Great, huh?
In La Fortuna I did canopy/zipline, which incluced a 980m long line. It was an awesome experience going along waterfalls and above the lush, green rainforest. After the canopy I hiked down to the Fortuna waterfall which was just great. I spent some time here, just relax and not much to think about. That’s why I love waterfalls so much!
Not very far from the waterfall there is very small settlement of the Maleku indigenous people. They don't live there all the time, they have a bigger settlement a bit further out of La Fortuna. At this place they sell the handmade artwork and stuff. Nice little place to visit. They'll tell you about their work; they make some wooden masks and every mask has a meaning.

I did a hike not far from the Arenal volcano. The hike itself and the place were nice, but I was very disappointed as we didn’t go as close to the volcano as hey explained and I found the hike/tour way too overpriced....ridiculously! I was quite upset and had to say something about it. And I’m usually not a person that complains much or gets upset at all! After the hike it was time to relax again and I went to the Baldí hotsprings, which is a resort built around some natural hotsprings and they have several beautiful pools filled with this warm water. There was dinner included too and it was all you can eat!!! All these things I did them together with other people from the hostel, so I never felt alone. That’s the way it works when you travel like this. You’ll always encounter others who are also travelling alone.

From La Fortuna I took a bus to San Ramón, then another one to Puntarenas and then one to Quepos and I got off in Jacó, my next destination!
Jacó is a little city on the Pacific coast, popular by surfers because of the waves at the Jacó Beach. The city is very small and doesn't have more than 10.000 inhabitants. There is one long, main street in Jacó which runs parallel to the Jacó Beach (the Avenida Pastor Diaz) where almost all hotels, motels, restaurants, bars etc. are located. I'm not a surfer but I took a bodyboard from the hostel and went with two other guests to the beach, where we saw a beautiful sunset! The hostel I stayed is was very cool...it's actually a house turned into a hostel and the owner, a Hungarian girl, was is very kind and outgoing!!! One night we went out with a big group from the hostel. I must say the in Jacó I didn't do too much. Most of the times I just slept in (till late), relaxed, hang around the pool and talk to the other guests.

One day I went to Manuel Antonio national park, further south of Jacó with a guy from the hostel. The park has a couple of paths that leads you to different beaches. Many birds and monkeys could be seen along the way. Some of the beaches are very rocky, but other ones were just nice, without high waves, where you could just swim, relax and enjoy the water. It was a great day!!!
When I left Jacó I went back to San José, where I met with José Varela Cortés. He participated at The Amazing Race Latinoamérica 2011. I'm a huge fan of the show and would love to participate one day. It was a pleasure meeting him, we spoke a lot about the show of course! I spent my last night in Alajuela, which is close to Juan Santamaria international airport.



One thing that really caught my attention was the amount of US Americans visiting the country. It's been a long time since I've met this many American tourists visiting a country I'm visiting. It started at the airport at arrival, but especially in La Fortuna and Jacó they were many. Nothing against it, it's just something that caught my attention! Many of those I spoke to were students who just graduated from college and were doing such a trip for the first time!
I truly enjoyed Costa Rica and hope to be back there one day. I really needed this vacation to relax a little bit, to be in another environment for a while. It really triggered my eagerness to travel again, can't wait to leave again soon!!!



Kind regards,

Elton

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Comments

[Adrienne]

Nice going! Keep it up! I want to go to Costa Rica now!