COSTA RICA

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Zip-lining through cloud forests and amazing wildlife!

17/07 white water rafting!
Puerto Viejo is a small surf town, the kind of place where there's more holiday-makers than backpackers so it's well equipped with restaurants, shops and tour companies. For us it was just a stopping point to catch a white water rafting tour which included transport to San Jose.

We had bumped into Annie and Adam at the border queue and they'd made friends with another traveller who'd booked a hostel already in Puerto Viejo. So we went with them to see if there was room for us (we were a bit behind with our planning). We thought it was on the main drag but it was down a load of back streets, a bit out the way. But the owner was really welcoming and the atmosphere was warm and friendly, with a big chill out area full of hammocks and a big outdoor kitchen. As we were checking in Adam yells "Danny!". By chance the boys were staying here!

Reunion

We were exhausted but knew there would be no chance of a quiet one with the guys around so we finished off our rum pre mix from Bocas while playing a couple of games. At one point Danny made up a drinking rule where if someone picked up a certain number card they'd have to do a lap dance on the table for everyone. luckily it was near the end of the game and I had worked out that I wouldn't be at risk! Max obviously had also worked it out as a look of panic came over his face, along with Annie and an English guy playing! When it got to Max's go I got my camera ready to hit record, his face dropped and he started quietly pleading with me not to film!! I was cracking up already but unfortunately he was safe and he didn't have to do it. Shame!

Apart from Max cringing another highlight was seeing a huge Rhino beetle the size of a mans palm, pretty cool.



White-water rafting

We had an early 6.45am pickup to go on a white water rafting tour. I'd researched the company and they had 500 amazing TripAdvisor reviews. It was great value, and they had a promotion so cheaper than normal. $70 included 4 hours rafting, breakfast, lunch and a shuttle to San Jose.

We were first driven to the exploration centre where we realised what a slick operation it was. Loads of tourists, all on slightly different packages, but all centralised in this one spot where the various tours left from. We had a great buffet style breakkie, then driven to start point where we were put into raft teams. We were put with an English family, with our guide being Rainer.

There are 40 rapids on the Pacuare river, up to Grade IV. Rainer the guide was crazy, constantly whooping and shouting at other guides, laughing at nothing but really friendly and great fun to be around. The scenery was amazing, surrounded by dense jungle, we passed canyons and Waterfalls here Rainer would tell us about 'his office', he was really knowledgeable about the environment (in between his crazy spurts).

Backwards rafting

The rafting was amazing fun, at times I didn't know how I managed to stay in the raft, being bounced around all over the place, luckily I fell into the raft and not outside it. Near the end of the day Rainer asked if we could play games, by this he meant everyone turning around so that we we facing backwards then going down a rapid! He was making scared faces and trying to make us nervous, everyone was laughing though and we all managed to stay in the raft, was pretty daunting though losing your sight!

It was good to see so much safety in place, with kayakers following the group in case anyone fell in and all the rafts looking out for each other. We saw one raft go over and a few people drop in but nothing major.



San Jose - capital of Costa Rica

At the end of the day we were driven to San Jose, where annoyingly we were dropped at the wrong Hostel Urbano. After what we'd heard about San Jose we didn't want to go (it was only because of our day trip tomorrow we had to stay...). We'd heard it was unsafe, dirty and generally not a nice place to be. We were on high alert as we walked through the city to find out actual hostel.

We were staying in a good area, a student town known for being a bit more upmarket than the rest of the city. The hostel was nice (a recommendation from another backpacker), clean with good facilities. The dorms were big and the manager Claudia was amazing. So helpful with really good English. She made the stay so much easier by also helping us sort our day trip the next day.



The risk of staying in dorms - sharing with morons

The only issue with dorms is the risk of who you're going to be sharing with. The most annoying backpackers we've met have been Americans (apart from Annie and Adam). This place was no different, there was a group here who acted like they owned the place, and had zero respect for anyone else. When I went to bed there was a dickhead in a single dorm bed together and I could hear them kissing. From what he was saying they were clearly having a holiday romance, he was saying really pathetic stuff and being really wet, blurgh. I tried to hold back but I had to say something because I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep as I was grossed out. I told them politely to cut it out and to get a private room if they wanted to carry on. They acted really sheepish and went deadly quiet, job done!

Max has a theory (that he heard from a backpacker on a previous trip)....always assume other backpackers are c**** until you get to know them! The crowd in Central seem generally less c***ish than in SE Asia but there's definitely a few out here!

Breaking habits

Since being in C America we've had to remember to put toilet paper in the bin, not the toilet. It's actually a really hard habit to learn, each time it went down the loo is feel guilty. Surprisingly this hostel asks that it goes down the loo as they have special biodegradable paper - it's so hard to now remember to put it in the loo!



16/06 'Land of the Strays'!! 600 dogs in one day!

I'd seen a viral video a couple of months back about 'Land of the Strays', a place in Costa Rica where hundreds of rescued stray dogs lived together. I told Max we'd go and I guessed he thought I was joking, he later told me that as soon as he saw the video he knew we'd be going one way or another! I thought it might be difficult as they only open to public on about 4 days of each month. Luckily for us (me) we could incorporate it into our itinerary!

It was the Only reason for us staying the night in San Jose and I was under pressure to make sure it happened, id messaged the owners loads of times to arrange a bus but heard nothing. Luckily Claudia the saviour from the hostel was a dog lover and had been! She called them up and arranged the visit for us! We had to get a taxi to the town nearby and the dog people had a shuttle bus that took visitors to the farm.

There was a lot of faffing around and waiting, but I was so excited. I couldn't believe the number of people there, Most were locals but a few whities too. As soon as we drive through the gates to the farm we were greeted by dogs, they were everywhere, literally lining the road as if they were waiting for us! They ran around the entrance and kept us entertained while we waited for the walk to start.

The day consisted of a 3km walk with the dogs and staff through the countryside, then you can adopt one at the end. There's between 600-900 dogs at any one time, only 3-5 get adopted per week. They don't charge entry and run solely on donations. The owner started taking in strays at her home but there were too many to save so she took over her grandfathers farm and it grew from there. They took only the really needy dogs, the ones who were less likely to get a home so easily. They were in all kinds of health, some really old and mangy, others covered in cuts and scars. Some were really friendly and craving attention while others had clearly never really been touched or shown love so they were quiet and stayed away.

Little did I know that max was there just to watch my reactions-unbeknown to me he was laughing at me all day! At one point he said he thought I was going to cry as I looked so overwhelmed, he was actually right as there was a couple of times I wasn't sure if I was feeling really happy seeing all the dogs or really sad knowing they'd had a bad time of it and may never have a proper home.

I spoke to the owner about them and she had so many stories, and incredibly every dog had a name! Max doesn't normally touch strays but today he did. His favourite was a scruffy one with an undercut than he named 'lips'. There was another one that had narcolepsy that kept falling asleep on the walk!

At one point we stopped and we heard a yell, then rolling over the hill came hundreds of dogs legging it towards us! Amazing!



Game of Thrones!

By chance our hostel had a good TV and people staying had put a note on it saying it was reserved for GOT! We were excited to get to see it, and quite a few from the hostel settled in to watch.

Casado

The equivalent of Panamas 'meal of the day' is called a cascado (meaning 'married man's lunch'. This is typically rice, beans, salad and either beef, chicken or fish. It's delicious and more importantly filling, and always under $5.

We kept our eye out for signs saying 'soda', these were the little local eateries where'd you'd always find a Casado. This became our meal of choice wherever we went and so far hasn't become boring. It's a good way of saving money as typical tourist/western options would be at least double the price.



San Jose first impressions

Although having not seen much of the city it was cleaner than I expected and didn't feel too unsafe. Every building had bars on the windows so it's clearly has crime issues but the people are very friendly and It was a better experience than I thought it would be.



1706 - Manuel Antonio (National Park)

We took a public bus to Manuel Antonio, which was about 4 hours. It was a big comfy coach, and the journey didn't feel long as the scenery was so good. We stayed at Backpackers Manuel Antonio, a locally run hostel just a short bus ride to the national park. Max had proper hanger today and it was interesting to see how he changed after a cascado. He's always had it but suffering more while we're away - must be because we're on the go a lot. We've always got snacks on us too-usually crisps, biscuits or sucky sweets.

Beach time

It was too late in the day to do much so we went to check out the local beach. What I thought would be a quick stomp was a knee wrecking steep hill. The beach was nice enough though, had a swim then marches back up the hill.

Resident sloth

The best thing about our hostel is the resident Sloth family that live just outside! You can see one clearly from the hostel balcony, and it turned out that we were closer to a sloth here than we would be to any In the national park! We'd watch him a lot, especially when he was active (by active I mean he was moving. very slowly. Turning his head and stretching his long arms out. He's a 3-toed sloth, the funny looking kind (that look like max with the fringe).



1807 - wildlife galore!

We spent the day at Manuel Antonio national park. It's famous for having a massive amount of wildlife concentrated into a fairly small area (compared to other national parks). This of course means more tourists...so we got up early to get to the park just after opening time (and before the tours arrived). There's loads of different walking trails, some up hills and some along the coast to beaches.

It Felt like Jurassic park here (without the dinosaurs). The noise of the howler monkeys was immense! And the bugs and insects made a racket too.

Being cheap we decided to go without a guide. And for the first part we just walked slowly along looking out for animals until a tour group stopped and pointed then wed go and tag along and learn stuff along the way! We ended up seeing loads of creatures that we never would have spotted on our own, like the rainbow grasshopper (small but colourful) and the Jesus Christ lizard (big but very camouflaged). Other animals were easier to see, the monkeys in particular. Some animals were close, others were way up in the trees

A list of the animals we saw during the day:


* Both kinds of sloth
* Howler monkeys
* White faced capuchins
* Squirrel monkeys
* Coati (a rodent, they're approx 1m long and 6kg)
* Toucans
* Raccoons (they're a pest here)
* Iguanas
* Jesus Christ lizards - weird, they look like a big spiky leaf. They can run on water (hence the name).
* Rainbow grasshoppers
* Big spiders
* Halloween crabs
* Pelicans flying low over us at the beach
* Some other big birds, maybe eagles?

This is the second time we've seen toucans now, I'm not much of a bird lover but these ones are impressive to see. We actually heard one before we saw it, it was loud!

Facts on toucans:

* There's 40 different species.
* Their biggest threat is the illegal pet trade.
* The bill can reach 8 inches in length.
* The bill has a low mass as it's made from keratin, plus there are many air pockets which decrease its weight.
* They regulate body temperature through increased blood circulation through the bill.
* The purpose of the big bill: peeling fruit; intimidating predators; attracting a mate.
* The tongue is as long as the bill.


Had enough of dorms...
We're really getting sick of dorms, in Panama we nearly always had a private room as it cost the same as 2 dorm beds, in Costa it's significantly more expensive so we've been trying to cut costs. Monteverde we'll definitely get a private room!



19/07 - to Jaco

To break up the journey to Monteverde we decided to stay at a surf town along the way called Jaco. We had high expectations for this year round surf we'd read about. It's a nice beach, very long, volcanic black sand and a pretty jungly backdrop. But the surf was crappy, we were there too late and it was just a big dumper at the back then whitewash. There were just surd schools out messing around. I would have been happy with the whitewash but it was really shallow and there wasn't much of a ride in it. Max was torn as he felt like he had to go in as that's why we were there, but it really wasn't worth the $10 board fee.

Instead we caught up with travel research, booked accommodation ahead and went for a happy hour beer at Selinas hostel. The national beer is International, not as nice as the Panama local beer (panama and Balboa).

We stayed in Riva hostel, another dorm! This will be the last one! We got lucky and just had 2 really quiet girls who were no bother, but the dorm room was so hot, even the 3 fans blasting air did nothing to cool it down. Luckily we were exhausted as usual so could sleep in anything.



20/07 - travel day to Monteverde

We had a 1 1/2 hour bus journey to Puntaranous then a 3hr bus to Monteverde.
The public buses were comfy and the journey felt quick. In Puntaranous a Friendly local jumped us and directed us to the right bus stop and to a local food place, since no one here hassles tourists or tries to scam we actually thought he was just being friendly and joked that he'd be after a tip. As we boarded the bus he appeared from no where-turns out he was after a tip!

Santa Elena

We stayed at Ninas place, our room was part of a kind of outhouse round the back, with shared bathroom and kitchenette. The manager was a local called Gray and was really friendly (and loved talking about himself and his big plans for the future). He ran around frantically every morning making everyone eggs on toast while booking people's tours and taking reservations.

Monteverde town is lovely, full of tour shops but with a good mix of locals and tourists, it has a real friendly feel. We've found that generally on our travels the mountain towns have a good vibe.

21/07

We took the local bus to Monteverde national park reserve, a misty cloud forest. It was created by a Quaker community in 1972 in order to protect the environment from squatters.

We arrived just after 8, and by 10 realised we'd seen enough and we wouldn't need the full day! It's a beautiful place, really mysterious looking due to the mist. To get the most out of it you are told to get a guide (which we didn't do as we thought $15 entry fee was enough!). There were few people there but we chatted to a couple of groups who had guides and they hadn't seen a great deal either. They'd spotted a couple of owls while we were loitering. And right at the end a sloth, but really far away.

We walked over a hanging bridge that gave a great view of the canopy, and the guide pointed out the different trees and epiphytes. We bumped into the kiwi couple from yesterday and they mentioned getting the next bus which was in half an hour, so we went for it and legged it for last 30mins, grabbed a quick pic of a waterfall and made it to the bus with a minute to go.



Busy afternoon - zip lining and wildlife night tour!

Now we had an afternoon of no plans, so we to'd and fro'd for ages, getting frustrated about neither one of us making a decision. Next thing I know we've booked up the rest of the day, and the next days transport.



Extreme Zip lining!

A popular attraction here is zip lining through the cloud forest, there's a lot of tour operators doing the same thing and claiming to be the best of course, so we haggled and went with the cheapest!

The company we went with has the longest zip line in Central America, 1.5km! We built up to this one though, with a few shorter ones first. Unlike other more expensive options, this company used a manual brake system, meaning you controlled the speed yourself. This made me slightly apprehensive as I hadn't done it before, and I thought if I'm in control of my own safety there could be issues! Luckily it was easy enough to handle and great fun.

There were 7 cables were we sat upright and 2 where we had the option of doing 'superman', where you go head first. These were for the longer cables. The first one I didn't enjoy as I think I was sat awkwardly in the harness and felt like I couldn't breathe properly! The second was good fun (as I could breathe!). It was a really wet afternoon but it went ahead even in the pouring rain. The cloud was so thick we couldn't see to the end of the longer cables! We were literally zip lining into cloud, above the trees. A bizarre feeling. It was pretty windy too and I felt my harness sway, I tried not to think about the fact there was only a small attachment holding me on. All safe though!

The longest cable (1.5km) went on forever, this was automatically controlled, I guess so you don't brake half way then get stuck dangling above the rainforest. The braking system at the end gives you a massive jolt.

There was also a platform where there's the option of rappelling down, it wasn't too high but high enough for a squeak to escape my mouth and a really strange noise to escape

At the end of the day there was the option of doing the Tarzan swing, kind of like a bungee jump but swinging side to side instead of up and down. I hated the hunger jump I did years back and swore I'd not do it again. When they asked I said no then went to have a look, then changed my mind and went back. But because my harness was now off they wouldn't let me. Probably a good thing, I know I would have hated it!



Night tour - the best time to see Monteverde wildlife.

There was a lot of faffing at the zip lining so we were late getting back and our guide for the night tour was waiting for us with a bus load of tourists.

We decided to go with San Marida tours and our guide was called Alberto. He was brilliant, so knowledgeable. He'd said it may not be the best night for spotting wildlife due to the rain but he found loads for us. With torches and ponchos at the ready we set off exploring a private reserve not far from Monteverde.

Tarantula!

I was excited to see a tarantula so close. Alberto had stopped and told us there was a tarantula nearby. He pointed to the base of a tree next to Max and I and we saw a furry leg. He tapped the ground and most of the body appeared, it was huge! Weird thinking we were so close but had no idea it was there.

Viper!

He also spotted a bright green poisonous Viper, it was curled up in a tree above camouflaged by the leaves. He told us how powerful their venom was, after being bitten we'd be dead in 4-5 hours without treatment.

Mot mot

We were lucky to see a couple of mot mots, the national bird of Costa Rica, they were sleeping but close enough to see clearly.

Sloth

We've been lucky to have seen a good few sloths by now but this was by far the best (closely followed by the sloth at Manuel Antonio hostel). It was because he was so big and so active (by sloth standards) and also my favourite type, the 3-toed one with the fringe. It was windy and he was swaying so much it just shows how strong their arms are. He kept looking down and at one point transferred trees.

Insects

We also saw lots of fascinating insects, not normally my cup of tea but interesting to learn about them. The best was the devil horned insect, very strange looking.




22/07 - To La Fortuna

To get from Monteverde there's the public transport option (our usual choice) or the popular Jeep-boat-jeep tour. The public option would take a full day over a very short distance. The jeep option cuts straight through by travelling over Arenal lake, and is marketed as a tour in itself, not just a way of transportation.

We got picked up at 8am by a 'jeep', they don't use jeeps anymore so it was a minivan... It took 1 1/2 hours to the lake where we got into a boat. We were the only people on the trip so it felt a bit VIP! Seems most people travel the opposite way. The boat ride took us across a lake with an impressive view of Arenal volcano to welcome us. It's a pointy volcano, the type you'd draw as a kid.

I found accommodation (Cabinas Arenal) that's as cheap as chips, half what we'd normally pay, and it was more of an apartment than a room. The downside-near impossible to find! There's no signage and none of the neighbours knew where it was! Max had a bad case of hanger, I thought he may implode. The other downside, it's 2km from the main town, there were enough eating places etc but all the tour companies were in town. Still, a little walk is fine! On a plus, it's closer to the volcano, which looms overhead. Unfortunately there was always a bit of cloud so we never got to see the pointy top.



23/07 - Arenal volcano hiking tour

Although now dormant, Arenal volcano was one of the most active in the world, between 1968 and 2010 it was said to be a natural wonder, producing massive explosions and daily molten rock. People are not allowed to hike on it, only around it.

Turns out there's no way of getting to the hiking trails without a taxi/your own car, and a tour seemed the best way to see more for less. We initially booked a half day tour, telling the guy that our accomodation is very difficult to find. And what happened? They never found us. So we ended up booking a full day tour for the next day. The new tour operator were far more professional and really helpful with information that would get us to the border the next day.

Mudfest

There were 18 people on our tour, with 2 local guides. It was basically a 6 hour mudfest! Pulling ourselves up slippy hills using rope, sliding down the other side, negotiating streams and walking over old lava flows. It was good fun but there was a LOT of waiting around for the slower people.

Venomous vipers and the largest butterfly in the world!

The guides gave a bit of info about the environment and stopped to see a bright Yellow eyelash viper, highly venomous and pretty awesome. Another good wildlife moment was when we were crossing a large tree trunk across water. We saw a huge blue butterfly which we found out was the largest butterfly in the world!

Climbing behind Waterfalls

Later in the afternoon we stopped at a big waterfall, and stripped off our muddy clothes. The guide told us we could go behind the waterfall, there's no way I'd have attempted it unless he went first, the water was really powerful and pushing hard against the rocks. But a few of us hugged the rocks and made our way around. It was so loud with the crashing water, and freezing!

The rest of the walk was an easy paved route through farmland, with lovely rainbow Eucalyptus trees-never seen multi-coloured trees before. We watched sunset at the observatory lodge, fancy accommodation that we could never afford! It was a good sunset, especially with the volcano in the backdrop, but we were quickly ushered back to the bus to keep on track.

Hot springs

The last stop was a trip to some local natural hot springs. It was a weird place, the water flowed under a man made bridge and into a little pool. It was full of other tour groups drinking cocktails from plastic cups! I'd imagine if it were daylight and there was no water it would look like a junkies hideout.

Cocktails

This is when the guides were in their element! They went around the group putting volcanic mud on our faces, as it would apparently make our skin clearer. While Max got his awkward looking facial he asked if they loved their job...! Then while it dried they poured us cocktails. A couple of rums later and there were some very giggly people clambering back on the bus in their bikinis!



24/07 - Crossing the border to Nicaragua

After the last border crossing I was dreading today! But it wasn't too bad. A chicken bus to some place I can't remember, a 20 min wait then another chicken bus to Penas Blancas at the border. Then we had a series of stops at various wooden huts - departure stamps, health check etc and we were through!

We were met with chaos on the Nicaragua side, hassling taxi guys telling us there's no buses etc and people trying to exchange currency. Next step, finding the right bus and heading for Granada!



Costa Rica facts:

* The sun rises and sets at the same time every day due to its close proximity to the equator.
* They abolished their military in 1949.
* One third of the land is protected.
* Pura Vida' is the national slogan for ticos (Costa Ricans), it means 'Pure Life' and you hear it everywhere you go (and it's a popular design for tourist baseball hats!).
* By 2021 they aim to be the first carbon-neutral country in the world.
* There are 230 types of mammal, including 4 monkey species, 2 sloths and 5 cats.
* There's over 850 bird species, some 200+ bird species are migratory, some coming from as far as Alaska and Australia.
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