Costa Rica - San Jose, Turrialba and Osa Penninsula

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As I'm actually writing this from Colombia I'm quite behind on the blog so I'm going to make the next couple of posts quite short to bring it up to date. I also passed through Costa Rica and Panama relatively quickly. From San Juan Del Sur I took a cheap local bus to the border where I had a fairly laborious border crossing. I had overstayed my visa for something like two weeks as I was advised by other travellers that, rather than getting it renewed in Managua ($20 per month) or crossing to Costa Rica and returning (more or less $11), I could just pay $1 a day when I leave the country. That's true but I queued for my stamp only to be told I needed to go to another place get a photocopy of my passport then to another building to pay, and then back to the original place with a receipt to get my stamp - quite a lot of hassle.

I then took a bus from the border to San Jose and checked into a nice hostel called 1110 Hostal. I spent the next day shopping and looking around the centre. The following day I took an expensive day trip to Turrialba to do white water rafting - but it was worth the money. I heard that the Pacuare river is one of the best places in the world for white water rafting, and whether that's true or not, it didn't disappoint. The river is a mixture of grade 2 to 4 rapids along beautiful ravines and untouched rainforest. It was one of the best activities I have done on the trip so far.

The next day I took an 8 hour bus ride to Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Penninsula in the South of the country in order to trek in Corcovado National Park. I arranged in the National Park office the permits and then took the 5am pick up truck to Carate at the border of the park. From there it was a tiring and long but spectacularly scenic walk to La Serena ranger station, deep within the park and the best place for observing wildlife. The walk was a combination of idyllic deserted palm lined beaches and lush tropical rainforest to a soundtrack of flocks of Scarlet Macaws, Howler Monkeys, and crashing Pacific surf.

It was made a little more exciting by the time pressure of having to cross two rivers at low tide when the water is only knee deep. At high tide it is very dangerous due to strong currents that could sweep you out to sea and Bull Sharks that swarm upstream to feed. Mistiming the walk could result in being stranded in between the two rivers which are about 10km apart. I was also warned to watch out for snakes - deadly poisonous Fer De Lance and Bushmasters are very common. I was torn between wanting to stop to watch the wildlife but needing to keep going to make the river crossing, and wanting to scan the canopy for wildlife but needing to keep my eyes on the path to avoid snakes. But anyway I didn't actually see any snakes and saw plenty of wildlife

I spent two nights at the station, walking the surrounding trails during the days. Although less travelled than other parts of Costa Rica there were other tourists there so I wasn't on my own. I spent time with and walked part of the way there with Erik and Espe, an American couple on holiday. I also hung out with Chris and Matt - two American backpackers I originally met in the hostel in Puerto Jimenez.

I saw all four types of Monkey, Peccary, Deer, Coatis, many beautiful birds, Bull Sharks in the river mouth, Iguanas - but sadly no Tapir (but many people did). Two other tourists saw two Puma on the beach too, but this is quite rare. No one saw Jaguar or Ocelot, which are common in the park but very elusive. The wildlife in the park is very abundant, diverse, and up close (unconcerned by human presence). The park is, in my opinion, a must see for Costa Rica.

I didn't hang around long in Costa Rica for reasons of expense (it is significantly more expensive than the rest of Central America), excess tourism (full of Gringo expats and tourists), and time (I was keen to get moving towards South America). I would say that the two things I did stand out as being highlights of my trip and the country is very beautiful, environmentally well preserved, and teaming with wildlife. It's a great place for a holiday as it's easy to travel around, safer, and full of activities and excursions. As a travelling destination I didn't find it as interesting culturally as Nicaragua or Guatamala, but a lovely country nevertheless.

After returning to Puerto Jimenez I took a boat to Golfito and then a bus to the Panamanian border....

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Photos

Volcan Turrialba
On route to Turrialba

Scarlet Macaw
Came to say hi on pick up on way to Corcovado

Corcovado
Miles of deserted beaches

Comments

[Lesley Stableford]

Looks amazing. You've certainly packed a lot into a short stay! x