Costa Rica 2023
Costa Rica – San Jose
Up at 5am to get our 8am flight to Costa Rica. The flight took about an hour and a half so we were in our hotel before lunch. Decided to have a quiet day since we would be touring the city tomorrow. We went for a walk and found a hotel offering the perfect lunch including a wild selection of cream cakes. After lunch we continued our walk through a small park and found an attractive looking church which we decided to explore. It had beautifully decorated wooden pillars supporting an amazing wooden roof. An early night tonight to catch up on sleep as it’s an 8:30 pickup in the morning.
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City Tour and Coffee Plantation
San Jose is situated in the central valley with mountains on each side, the ones on the Atlantic side are often cloud covered. We started the city tour after breakfast at a sensible 8.30. The first stop was to see the cathedral with its colourful stained glass which had been imported from Europe. The highlight of the morning was a visit to the National Theatre where we had an extensive tour of the elaborate interior. Much of the artwork and marble were imported from Europe, as were their seats. When it was built a big opening was planned, which was delayed several times. One thing was missing when it eventually opened – the seats, and so the guests for the opening were instructed to bring their own chairs. The building was damaged in an earthquake in 1991 and statues which we saw inside had been removed from the top of the theatre for safety and replaced by replicas. Our final stop in the city was the Museum of Pre-Columbian Gold. The museum contains over 1,600 gold artefacts dating from 300 AD up to the Spanish conquest in the 1500’s. There were also pottery and explanatory displays about the people of that time. From here we were driven out of the city and began to climb to the higher ground, arriving at the coffee plantation in time for lunch. We had time to walk in the gardens and see the butterfly garden before we started our tour of the plantation. The coffee harvest had just finished the week before, but the processing of the beans was in full swing. We were taken through the process from seed to the final product and shown the working processes. The plantation has the oldest wet mill for processing the beans which was imported from London 120 years ago and is still in full time use today. At the end of the tour we sampled the various types of coffee they produce and of course bought some to bring home as well as some dark chocolate coated coffee beans which may well be eaten before we get back. An early night tonight so we can be up early in the morning tomorrow.>/p>
Arrival at Tortuguero
An early start this morning, up at 5am to be picked up at 6.20. Our drive was to take us to the Caribbean coast and as I said this is the side of the country that gathers the heavy clouds. As we climbed higher we got into the clouds and what should have been stunning views looking down into the valley were obscured by clouds. Then the rain started. We passed through a small tunnel and began our descent. We stopped for breakfast at about 8 am by which time the rain was off and the skies were clearing. While we were at the restaurant we saw a sloth hanging from the branches of a tree, barely moving. We continued on the road eventually reaching a level fertile area with banana and guava plantations. Finally we arrived at the place where we were to board the boat to take us to the lodge where we will be staying for the next 2 nights. A 90 minute journey on a winding river watching the scenery pass by. We arrived at the lodge in time for lunch. Leaving our cabin for our afternoon excursion, we saw a large iguana on the side of the tree as well as large spiders and spider monkeys. (We were told the monkeys had been playing on the roof of our cabin). We took a 5 minute boat ride across the river for a tour of the village of Tortuguero. A colourful village, we saw the school, church and local shops. Tortuguero is an important breeding site for sea turtles as they come to lay their eggs on the beach. It used to be that the main industry here was based on harvesting the turtle (turtle soup for the UK market etc). One man realised that the turtles were in danger of extinction, and slowly persuaded the local people that the future lay in conservation and tourism. We visited the sea turtle conservation visitor centre for an insight into the work being done and the life of the turtles. We also saw some Toucans and other birds and insects including lots of leaf cutter ants which are always fascinating to watch.
Exploring Tortuguero
Set the alarm for 4.45 am, but we didn’t need it as we were woken up by the rain beating down on the metal roof of our cabin. Just time for a cup of coffee before joining our guide to take a boat trip on the canals leading off the main waterway. This time in the morning, we were told, was the best time to see the wildlife. We were not disappointed, being able to get up very close to some of the birds as they dried their feathers. By this time the weather was alternating between heavy showers and dry spells. We saw a variety of birds as well as spiders, and a basilisk lizard. This took a little over 2 hours so we were ready for breakfast before rejoining our guide for a forest walk at 9am. By this time the weather was bright and sunny, but very humid. We were fortunate to see a couple of sloths, one of which was a bit more active than normal. We saw a howler monkey and lots of spider monkeys swinging through the trees, plus many more giant spiders. We also went for another short walk just before dinner as it was getting dark to look for night frogs.
Journey to the Arenal volcano
Woken up at 2 am by the heavy rain. Was still raining when we went for breakfast, but had cleared before we left the lodge. While waiting to board the boat out ( we were doing the reserve journey we had taken two days ago) we saw an adolescent sloth hanging from the tree. We had a fast , dry sunny ride back along the waterway to rejoin our guide and our bus. We travelled for about an hour before stopping for an early lunch at the same place as we had had breakfast on the way to Tortuguero. After lunch we diverted from the road which would have taken us back to San Jose and headed to the North . We made an additional stop at a service area where we got good views of lots of large iguanas sunning themselves. Just before we got to our lodge for the next three nights we made a brief stop at the town of La Fortuna where we saw the church and a small garden with lots of colourful plants. A busy two days to come
Waterfall and chocolate
We are staying at a beautiful lodge. The accommodation is in individual cottages set in colourful gardens full of plants and birds. We have a clear view of the Arenal volcano from our room but we are still in the rain forest so up to now the clouds have obscured the view of the top of the volcano. Early breakfast at 6.30 and an amazing choice of food. We left for the waterfall at 8.30, pausing to watch a male, female and baby sloth. A short drive to the waterfall which was very spectacular with a massive amount of water dropping vertically to the pool below. About 500-600 steps took us down to the pools at the base of the falls. The waterfall was too powerful to swim near but we could swim in the clear and very cold water of the further pool. The current was very strong, but the water was crystal clear and we could see the fish we were swimming with. Our guide showed us an interesting optical illusion – we stared at a point midway in the falling water for about 15 seconds. When we transferred our gaze sideways to the rock face it then appeared that the rock was moving in the opposite direction to the falling water. It was a long climb back up the steps in the heat and humidity. We had a good lunch here and then moved on to a cocoa plantation to hear the history of chocolate and to see how it is produced. We tasted raw chocolate and participated in preparing drinking chocolate. We experimented with combining different flavours with chocolate and then made our own chocolates.
Returning to the lodge we had a walk around the grounds to see some of the plants and birds and got a good view of a Toucan. In the evening some of us made a trip back into
La Fortuna for dinner.
Zip Line adventure, the hanging bridges and the hot springs
Rain and low clouds greeted us this morning and no chance of a view of the top of the volcano . After an hour early breakfast a small group of us joined our guide and driver for a short journey to the volcano where we were going for a morning zip-lining. We were taken by an aerial tram (essentially a cable car) to a high point for the start of the course of 7 zip lines. The lines passed backwards and forwards across a valley giving us some splendid views as we descended and we looked down on the man made lake we could see from here. The zip lines were quite long and very fast and we enjoyed the 2 hours we spent here despite the intermittent rain. We had a quick lunch before returning to the hotel to pick up the rest of the group to be taken back past the lake to a forested area in which a walking trail had been set up to enable views of the forest and wildlife from high up. There were a series of suspended (hanging bridges) to cross. These gave very good views, but were very wobbly to cross. During the day we saw a variety of birds including a Mutt Mutt, Toucan and other brightly coloured birds. We wondered what was attracting a number of birds to one spot until we saw the vast number of ants on the Forest floor and it was explained that these birds were anteaters. We also saw a sleeping bat resting on the bark of a tree and several coiled snakes in the trees waiting to catch a bird. After this it was a short drive to some thermal springs where we could swim in water heated by the volcano. There were quite a number of pools all set in a landscaped garden and we enjoyed being in warm water while the rain continued above us. We had a meal in the restaurant here before returning to our lodge for the night. Tomorrow will be a quieter day as we have just a short journey to our next lodge.
Arrival at Monteverde Cloud Forest
A late and leisurely breakfast this morning at 7.30 as we were not leaving until 11.30. We had time for a few last minute photos before leaving. A short drive took us back to the town of La Fortuna where we stopped for an hour for lunch. Previously we had found a nice bar selling local craft beers so we returned there for a snack lunch. A short walk down the street took us to the local ice cream shop, so we made a brief stop there. Then we had a roughly 2 hour journey to our hotel for the next two nights. The road took us back up into the mountains and into the cloud forest. We stopped along the way to a place our guide knew would enable us to see some cloud forest birds. These were very colourful tiny birds called Tanagers and we spent some time watching them. Finally we arrived at the entrance to our hotel and then had a 40 minute dive (about 8km) along a narrow bumpy road to get to the hotel. We are now writing this in our own small cottage complete with its own wood burning fire which we intend to light tonight.
Day and night walks in the cloud forest
Well we didn’t light the fire last night, despite the clouds it is still pleasantly warm here. Early breakfast at 7 and met up with the local guide for a 2 hour walk on one of the trails here. Over the 2 hours we learnt a lot about the different plants and trees and the inter-relationship of the different species. Early on we were shown one tree which had 8 or 9 different types of leaf, not a single tree but a collection all growing together. Every available space in the forest was teaming with life, making the best use of the available light and water. We watched the leaf cutter ants carrying 5 times their own weight in leaves , down the bark of a tree and along to the massive nest many yards away. An area had been set aside for a hummingbird garden which was set up with feeding stations making it a little easier to film these colourful birds. We returned to this spot several times over the course of the day. The birds passed very close to us at times, even landing on John’s phone while he was filming. The main part of the hotel was originally owned by a former president of Costa Rica, but was eventually sold to become a hotel. There is a small chapel here with beautifully painted ceiling tiles. We also visited a small orchid house. After lunch we decided to light the fire just to see if we could get it going, just hope it doesn’t make the room too hot tonight. Our night time walk started at 6 and lasted another 2 hours so we were ready for dinner at 8pm. For the walk we were given torches and led off by our guide on a hunt for insects and frogs. We found a variety of frogs close to the hotel, many were the red eyed frogs similar to those we had seen previously. The frogs are quite small, the smallest less than the size of the nail of the little finger. We saw some crickets and moths as well as some birds sleeping in the trees, and lots of the leaf cutter ants.
Travelling to Manuel Antonio
Last night was very windy, which may be the reason that we didn’t see many insects during the walk. This morning the clouds were higher and when we got up we could start to see a little blue in the sky and occasionally the sun would peep through. We had a glimpse of what the surrounding countryside was like and how quickly the weather could change, it was all very dramatic. By the time we were picked up at 9 the skies were clear and we had perfect views. We retraced our journey along the track from the hotel to the main road, passing farms along the way. The journey to the resort at Manuel Antonio took over 5 hours with 2 stops along the way. The first was a comfort stop plus a chance to buy souvenirs from the local equivalent of Edinburgh Woollen Mills, a few miles further on we stopped at a bridge over a river to see the crocodiles. We spent the rest of the day exploring the resort and walking down to the local beach. Very hot here, the temperature is above 30 degrees, so we plan on a lazy few days before another busy few days at our next stop. Finished the day with cocktails again.
Getting wet in Manuel Antonio
We had no organised tours arranged for our time in Manuel Antonio. Last night we decided to book a day out doing something we had wanted to do for a while. This meant we were picked up from our hotel at 8am, meaning we had to get up for breakfast at 5.30 again, but as you will see it was worth it. We were to go white water rafting on one of the rivers. We were joined by two women from London who were on their honeymoon – eventually we shared a raft with them and our rafting guide. We had a bus ride to get to the starting point, this was largely along a bumpy track, but were rewarded with good views of the river. We arrived at the river bank at about 10-30 and then had a couple of hours floating along the river and fighting with the rapids. The water was shallow, but fast flowing. We got soaked, both by the river and the guide. Along the way we saw lots of birds, including vultures, kingfishers and various species of heron. At one point there were hundreds of brightly coloured butterflies, like petals floating in the wind. We rafted about 14 km along the river, stopping at a cooling waterfall for snacks of watermelon, pineapple and beer. We spent over 2.5 hours navigating through the rapids before we were taken by bus to a restaurant for lunch at about 2.30, finally getting back to the hotel at about 4pm. It was all hard work, but great fun- think we will have sore arms and legs from paddling the raft. Rest of the time was spent exploring the hotel and celebratory cocktails as the sun set.
Lazy day at Manuel Antonio
A lie in this morning as we have many early starts and an overnight flight to come. We had breakfast at 7 and saw an iguana up close – we had to tell the woman at a nearby table that she had a visitor and she jumped when she saw it . We saw several more iguana as the day went on, including one very colourful one. A little later did a self-guided tour of the hotel’s Monkey Trail. A short walk of just about a mile, but remember the temperature is high so we were glad of some shade. The trail took us through a small forest. At intervals we had good views of the Pacific Ocean. We did not see any Howler monkeys although we heard them every morning when we went to breakfast. We did see a troop of white faced monkeys swinging through the trees, they were difficult to photograph because of the trees, but we got some pictures. We weren’t sure if it was deliberate or accidental when a branch fell at our feet. It was fun watching the monkeys swinging through the trees. By now it was time for lunch and a cocktail. Later we had a swim in the infinity pool, a few minutes after we left we watched two vultures come down for a drink at the pool. At sundown it was time for another cocktail and we got the photograph we had been missing of a couple of parrots. And early tea, and an early night as we prepared to depart for the next stage of the tour
Journey to Corcovado
Up at 5.30 for an early breakfast and an 8am departure. We then had a 2hour bus journey to take us to the river at Sierpe. It was a pleasant ride and increasingly we got views of the Pacific coast. At the Hacienda at Sierpe our luggage was packed into waterproof bags and we transferred to a small motor boat for a 2hour journey to Casa Corcovado where we will be staying for the next three nights. We started the journey at a fast speed along the Sierpe River. We slowed down or stopped to see the wildlife, lots of birds, white faced (Capuchin) monkeys and had our first sight of Squirrel monkeys (again great to watch but hard to photograph. Up in tree we saw an arboreal boa constrictor. Eventually we reached the mouth of the river and continued the journey along the Pacific coast. We realised this was our first time at sea in the Pacific Ocean. The boat couldn’t take us into shore so we transferred (not an easy job because of the swell of the ocean) to a second smaller boat which took us close in. The final part was a wet landing when we paddled ashore. Our luxury transport (a tractor and trailer) was waiting to take us up a steep hill to the hotel complex. We had a nice lunch at 2pm, then just time for a quick shower before meeting up with our guide to see some of the wildlife in the grounds. Then like everyone else we headed off to the sunset bar to watch the sun go down before our evening meal. A really spectacular sunset accompanied by the sound of cicadas and later the howler monkeys joined in too. These are the sound we listen to as we go to sleep.
Canó Island
Alarm woke us at 5am so we could be ready for a bird watching trip before breakfast. Last night we hadn’t seen very much wildlife because it was too hot, this morning was different. We saw a number of species of birds including toucans and the smallest hummingbird we had seen (a species unique to this part of Costa Rica). We also saw some spider monkeys which are the most agile of the monkeys. Breakfast and then met up with our guide to be kitted out with gear for snorkelling as our trip out to Canó Island had been brought forward by a day. Rode the tractor and trailer down to the beach, paddled out to the smaller boat, out into deeper water and successfully transferred to the larger boat without getting wet. Our journey to the island lasted about 45 minutes but took much longer because we slowed down at several points to see the wildlife. Firstly some birds out on the top of a rock in the ocean, these were brown footed boobies and there was a white chick with them. We were told that there was co-operation between these sea birds and dolphins. The birds locate fish in the water and this is seen by the dolphins which move in and round up the fish, the birds then swoop in for their portion of them. A little further on it we paused to watch dolphins leaping out of the water. As we neared the island we attempted some snorkelling but left this to more experienced people who got some spectacular views of some of the fish. We just enjoyed our time swimming in the Pacific and seeing a few of the fish underwater. The boat took us into the shore of the island and we paddled onto a lovely sandy beach, where we relaxed for an hour and watched the tiny hermit crabs Surrey along the beach. Back to the boat for the return trip to the hotel, seeing a few more dolphins along the way. Had lunch in the form of a picnic on the hotel beach and saw some scarlet macaws in the palm trees. A relaxing afternoon trying to find somewhere cool as it is too hot to do very much. At 5 it was time to make our way down to the sunset bar for another spectacular sunset.
Corcovado National Park
Up at 5 am again listening to all the sounds of the wildlife around us. After breakfast, we joined our guide for a 4 hour walk into the Corcovado National Park. We walked down the steep hill to the hotel beach and then followed the coast for an hour or so looking at the variety of trees and spotting various birds along the way. Eventually we came to a small beach and were warned to stay away from the water as it was low tide and crocodiles moved out of the adjacent river to go to the seashore. The ranger station at the entrance to the park was here and this gave us a much needed chance to refill already emptied water bottles – it was very hot and humid today. The trail we were to follow was closed but there was an alternative we used. The down side of this was having to remove our shoes and cross the river we had been warned about as having crocodiles – fortunately didn’t see any. Highlights of the walk included spider monkeys (some of them sleeping in the trees, scarlet macaws, a sloth with its baby, pelicans and a whole variety of colourful birds. At the end of the walk we returned to the hotel beach for another picnic lunch. Another lazy afternoon before going to see the sun set once more over the Pacific Ocean.
Return to San Jose
Up at 5 am for an early breakfast, then the tractor and trailer took us down to the beach for the last time on this trip. A quick paddle to a fast boat which had already been loaded with our luggage and then a 45 minute cruise along the coast to Drake’s Bay. Another quick paddle off the boat and we transferred to a minivan for a 30 minute ride along a bumpy road and through a river took us to a small air strip. Our luggage was weighed and checked in and the we were weighed as we were about to fly in a small 12 seater plane. The plane arrived and we had a very enjoyable and scenic flight , about an hour in duration. We flew along the Pacific coast retracing the route we had driven along a few days ago and even catching a glimpse of the previous hotel we had stayed in. At this point the plane turned inland, flying over the mountains and back into the central valley. A short transfer from the airport took us back to the first hotel we stayed in in Costa Rica. Too early for check in, we revisited the French cafe for coffee, sandwiches and cream cakes. A walk around the city to get a souvenir of the trip and then return to the hotel. No chance of a lie in in the morning as we are being picked up at 3am for our flight to Houston, Texas. We spent about 5 hours there at the airport before our flight to London which should arrive at Heathrow early Sunday morning. We have about 8 hours there before our flight to Edinburgh and should be back home early evening. “PURA VIDA” as they say here
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