Costa Rica - a few concluding thoughts

So it has been a few days since I left Costa Rica, and I figured it was time for a few concluding thoughts!Costa Rica as a whole is one hell of a charming country, it has been running on only renewable energy for all of 2015, which granted has only been 3 months, but I consider this to be one hell of an achievement, as to my knowledge, no other country has been able to do this even for only a few days, let alone a few months at a time. Add the facts that Costa Rica has had no standing army since 1949, and that essentially the whole country is organic in its farming efforts,  and you have one hell of a peaceful country!

Food over there was always delicious, mostly due to the fact that it’s all organic as mentioned above, and you can live a very healthy life there! Of course poverty is still an issue, as most locals do not make a lot of money, and their main diet is rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but they are nonetheless much happier people than what you see in so called developed countries! In this domain the story that struck me most, was that of the owner of La Colina in Manuel Antonio. The owner an American expat who used to live in Russia where he met his wife and where they had a child, who turned out to be pretty much allergic to everything, and was sick most of the time. They then moved to Costa Rica where there child has since been pretty much allergy free, and she can even eat foods that back in Russia would have sent her straight to the hospital.  Decide for yourself whether organic is worth the trouble or not, in my humble opinion it sure pays off for the country as a whole, as well as for the people that live there.

The Pacific coast in my opinion is a little overdeveloped as far as tourism goes, and somewhat too Americanised, but still is very charming, and has some of the best sunsets I have ever had the pleasure to witness! The national parks as well as the abundance of private reserves make it clear that as a whole the country has recognized that preserving nature is the way to go. Costa Rica, despite being relatively small has about 6% of the worlds’ biodiversity, and they work hard to maintain that level!

The Caribbean coast seems a little less developed and thus for me had even more charm than the rest! So if you want to experience raw and well preserved nature, be sure to head down the east coast of the country, especially down to the Manzanillo Wild Life Reserve where I got very lucky and saw what was probably a free living black Jaguarundi, something quite rare to happen, so take some time, and just quietly walk about the reserve, you may just get lucky!

If you plan on visiting large parts of the country, my recommendation would be to start on the Pacific coast for the sunsets, and then to head east through the country, as if you do it the other way around, the Pacific coast might turn out to disappoint you a little, but if you start there, you have memories of amazing sunsets, and all the rest just gets better the further east you head.

If you have food allergies or intolerances, consider visiting Costa Rica, as you might just be able to enjoy foods that you had to avoid for quite a while, in my case as I do not digest wheat very well, in Costa Rica I had my first slice of Pizza in forever and did not get sick at all. So that is a big plus! I am currently in Peru, and already miss the healthy cuisine of Costa Rica!

The people whether the local Ticos or the expats are all more than friendly, and crime seems to be at a very low level, not sure how it is in the capital, San Jose as I did not spend any time there, but for the rest I can assure you that it is as safe a country as it gets.

The only thing I mildly regret is not having seen the Tortuguero National Park, and the rest of the northern Caribbean coast, as I stayed longer down in the south of the Caribbean coast than I had planned, and I was coming to the end of my 90 day tourist visa but that is at least one reason to eventually return to Costa Rica at least one more time!

So whether you are setting out for a vacation or considering leaving your country behind for good, I think Costa Rica is an excellent choice!

Costa Rica - Puerto Viejo & Manzanillo

Following a few days in Jaco, I decided it was time for a change in scenery and hopefully a slightly less touristy destination, which as it turned out is the south of the Costa Rican Caribbean Coast. I drove straight to Puerto Viejo, and had a nice little dinner and a quiet first night there. In the morning I decided to drive down to the Manzanillo Wild Life Reserve, which is by now my favourite reserve, at least of the ones I have seen to date. There is no admission fee which is a bonus, and there is no map nor are there any signs pointing out the trails, so you are actually in nature… You can get a little lost, but considering that the sea is close by for orientation, you are never truly lost. Besides the 1 main trail I found, there are a ton of small trails, which sometimes are barely visible going left and right, a lot of them end up at very secluded and quiet beaches, I spent a few afternoons there, and often did not see another soul for a few hours.

Originally I had planned to stay a total of 3 nights, 2 of which in the Casa Merlin, a nice little B&B right in the middle between Puerto Viejo where I went for most dinners, and Manzanillo, where I spent most of my day time. I ended up adding 2 more nights at the Casa Merlin, as it was cheap, and quite well equipped, besides having been recently renovated the location is unbeatable, a little way from the main street in the jungle, but with easy access to everything in the area.

The second day I started off by going to the Jaguar Rescue Centre, where they take in injured and/or orphaned animals, and do what they can to set them free in the wild again. Quite a nice station, and entirely living from the tours they give, and donations they receive, so while you are here, worth checking out, and at the same time supporting a good cause! They have a lot of monkeys, snakes, some sloths, and birds. Their private reserve La Ceiba may well be worth checking out as well, but I did not go as the tours start at 7 in the morning and I have always been more of a night time guy.

One morning as I was driving to Puerto Viejo I ran into 2 girls I knew from language school so we had decided to hang out on a Thursday, and since they had no car, I took them down to Manzanillo, where we walked a bit along the beaches, discovered a nice cave that I had not seen before, and ended up hanging out at my favourite beach for a couple of hours. On the trail back to the car is where it got really interesting as we saw what was most likely a black Jaguarundi one of the wildcats still at home in Costa Rica. We saw it from about 20 to 30 meters away, and it was quite an impressive sight! Right there is when I knew why I had kept on adding nights to my stay here, it was to see this beautiful cat before heading out of Costa Rica and into Peru.

A few concluding thoughts on Costa Rica will come in the next couple of days, and by then I should also have arrived in Iquitos, Peru.

Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio & Jaco

I set out around 10 in the morning, and other than knowing that I’d head down to the pacific coast again, I had not real plan or idea as to where to go, so first I drove down to Puntarenas. The drive down the mountain was actually quite fun, and for the most part was on a very dusty dirt road where at time I felt a bit like Raoul Duke, lost at the race track in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as I could not even see the hood of my car. I arrived in Puntarenas, around noon or so, and after one drive through the town, I decided to keep on heading south, as Puntarenas is not much more than a hub to connect other parts of the country, as in my opinion was actually quite filthy.. On the way down to Jaco there were a few nice views that I took in, and even saw a couple of parrots. In Jaco I went down to the beach, but did not enjoy the vibe of the town all that much either, so I just kept on driving, and ended up in Manuel Antonio around 5 pm, so I checked into La Colina, a nice little restaurant with sunset view rooms, one of which I got and very much enjoyed the sunset from there! In the evening I ate at their restaurant, a nice little Steak House that is open on all sides, and they actually use a wood BBQ grill.

The next day I drove down to Manuel Antonio National Parc, which turned out to be relatively small, or let’s rather say, the official hiking trails turned out to be quite short, but nonetheless make for some great views of for example the Hidden Harbor. The beaches on the other hand are very beautiful, and probably make it worth going to Manuel Antonio National Parc in any case!

I spent one more night in Manuel Antonio and then headed back to Jaco, as I had heard about a festival there, the Jungle Jam, a review of which can be found here.

Costa Rica - Monte Verde

So following a couple of rain filled days at Arenal, which were quite fun, it was time to move on.From Arenal over to Monte Verde was about a 4 hour drive, more or less, as usual in Costa Rica, there is no telling when you’ll actually arrive at your destination, sometimes it’s faster than your GPS tells you and sometimes, well it takes a lot longer.

I arrived in Monte Verde in the late afternoon, as I had opted to throw in a few stops along the road to take in the panorama sights!

After a relatively early dinner I was in bed early, in order to make the most of my time the next day. Early in the morning I went to one of the few free attractions, a tree located in small stretch of forest in Monte Verde where there is a hollow tree (still alive) that you can climb all the way to the top, the peculiar aspect is that you are climbing through the tree trunk so to speak! I hung out at the top of the tree for a little while until more people arrived, and as the space is limited I went back down, an amazing experience nonetheless!

Following the tree climbing I wanted to go the Monte Verde National Reserve, but arriving there saw a lot of cars, and a few buses.. And as I was not in the mood for a lot of people decided to instead go to the Santa Elena Cloud forest, a privately owned reserve that is nice and wild. On the way there I could not resist the temptation and went for another round of canopy, this time in dry weather, which I must admit is somewhat more comfortable! The lines were pretty fast, and some had to be done in pairs, in order to gain enough speed going against the relatively strong winds.

I arrived at Santa Elena a little before 3, and the guard at the entrance suggested I should take the short hike of about 3 km. As I was going through on my own, just enjoying the forest, and letting its calm take a hold of me, it took me only a short while to finish that particular track, so I added the 2^nd longest of about 5 km. This trail, as it turned out actually led to a little opening in the forest, offering a perfect view of Arenal Volcano, which for once was not hidden in a veil of clouds!

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is actually quite a nice reserve, offering a little bit of cemented trails in the beginning, but if you go for the longer walks, you are actually getting into a bit of wild nature, although the paths are still very clearly visible, it gets a bit muddy, and that is half the fun!

As I had caught a bit of a cold in the rainy climate around Arenal, I decided that after spending an additional night in Monte Verde I would head back to the Pacific coast where I knew the weather was nice and warm!

More on that in a later post!

Costa Rica – Arenal Volcano

So following an extended period of time in Tamarindo, I was quite glad to get on the road. I left Tamarindo on a Saturday morning, and the beginning of the journey was fun, a warm breeze coming in and the traffic flowing quite well.. Unfortunately I was not supposed to go to Orosi Volcano, as somewhere along a dirt road in the middle of the jungle the GPS battery died, as the charging cable turned out to be broken. Without a clue where to turn to when the next crossroads came up as street signs are relatively rare as well, and very limited water and food supplies, I decided it would be more reasonable to backtrack to the next large town, Liberia to get a new cable, and spend the night.. The frustration did however not stop there, as it turned out, Liberia was fully booked, and as I was making my way from hotel to hostel and on could not find a room or a bed for the night. Finally I decided to just drive back to Tamarindo for the night, and then start again on Sunday.

This time around I actually planned a little bit ahead, and booked a room at the Linda Vista Hotel next to the Arenal Volcano. I got back on the road, picked up a new cable at the car rental, and as the maps on the GPS dated back to 2011, asked if they had something more recent, which it turns out does not exist, so in addition to your GPS, if you plan driving around a little consider buying a paper map as well, and in any case be sure to rent a 4x4!!!! The drive to Arenal was beautiful, and the views of the country side and Lake Arenal were simply stunning! When you are driving around Costa Rica, and have a place you want to go to, be sure to look up the exact coordinates, as even though some roads have names, the GPS might not know these etc.. So the better you prepare your trip the easier you’ll get there. I am not one for loads of planning so usually end up taking a bit longer to get from A to B, having to occasionally throw in a U-Turn, but that is the way I like to go about as I enjoy occasionally getting lost a little.  (Since the first day I now always have a large stock of water, and at least some food in the car, just in case.) The closer I got to Arenal, the more it looked like rain, and as I checked in to the Linda Vista the clouds started to fully cover Arenal, but for a short moment I saw a bit of it, and I very much enjoyed going to the hot whirlpool with a cool shower from above, looking out at the lake.

As it started to really poor, and the dirt road to and from the hotel was quite long, I had dinner there, and went to sleep early in hopes that all the rain would have come down by morning.

Well as the saying goes, there is no bad weather, only poor clothing, I set out to go on a Skywalk and Canopy tour at Arenal in the morning! The hike turned out relatively short, but thanks to the guide quite informative! The sky bridges make for stunning views, and should you visit Costa Rica, be sure to take at least one of these hikes as seeing the rain or cloud forests from above makes for a stunning change of scenery! And standing in front of a 500 year old tree is fascinating, and to feel its serenity is mind-blowing! The hike took about 2.5 hours, and around 1 the canopy tour started with about a 10 minute gondola ride up the mountain to about 1000m height.  From there it took about an hour and a half to get back down the mountain zip-lining down back and forth over the canyon with the highest line being about 200m above ground. Quite a fun experience! Unfortunately I only have a poncho against the rain, which was not suitable for the canopy tour, so I ended up quite wet, and a bit cold, but I had prepared a fresh change of clothes for as soon as I got back down.

From here on it was on to Monte Verde, which will be addressed in a later post.

Tamarindo - Costa Rica.

Alright having spent a little more than a month in Tamarindo on the west coast of Costa Rica, I can present a little bit of a first impression to you. First off, if you do like sunsets, than Tamarindo is certainly worth a visit, as you can see from a few pictures below. The sunsets are rather fast, but the colour plays are spectacular! The twilight lasts for about an hour, and is so far my favourite time of day, along with the occasional moonset in the morning!

My first week in Tamarindo, I spent fully immersed in the tourist experience which is very predominant here, so as you can guess Tamarindo is a bit more expensive than the rest of the country, although from what I gather Costa Rica is overall a bit more expensive than other countries around. On the upside, there is little to no crime in Tamarindo, which is if you can overlook the hookers (prostitution is actually legal in Costa Rica) and dealers (which, lets's face as anywhere are a result of a failed prohibition), of which there are plenty in town, mostly catering to the American Tourist in town for a week or weekend. Getting mugged is quite unlikely as the town is so small you’d probably run into the mugger the next day at the supermarket.

Nightlife is happening daily in Tamarindo, but the quality of the entertainment varies greatly, and for my personal music tastes, there are only 2 or 3 places in town where I am reasonably comfortable. There is El Garito, which is sort of an Electronic Fusion bar, where on Tuesday nights the DJ is accompanied by a live drummer, which mostly makes for fun times. Saturdays are quite busy here as well, but usually it’s just a DJ spinning tunes, all in all easy going Electronic sound. Then there is the Pacifico which is busy on Wednesdays for their ladies night, and Thursdays for their reggae night, which to me personally is a little better, as the music is more my taste, and the crowd is more local than other nights and places.  On Friday nights there is the Crazy Monkey, with a live salsa band on one level, and a DJ on the lower level. The crowd is mixed, the upper level is more filled with locals, and the tourists gather on the lower level. The other nights and Bars, are in my opinion not really worth mentioning.  If you do like live music look into Glasseye, a little local band playing all over the place, mostly reggae covers with a few good jams thrown in for good measure. The really good thing is that they don’t mind people standing in, so occasionally you get treated to a really good solo or two on any instrument.

The main beach, Playa Tamarindo is quite nice, although for me the pacific ocean is a tad cold, especially at night, the beach is quite popular with surfers, and swimmers alike, but you have to watch out where you go for a swim, as it is quite a rocky area.  The best feature as previously mentioned are the sunsets which are splendid most of the days, and the colour range has to be among the broadest I have seen in any sunsets thus far. So as you can imagine I have spent quite a few days watching the sun set. Night time is quite as beautiful, as even on the beach close to town the sky is magically clear, the only place I have seen it any clearer was in Burkina Faso where there was not a single source of artificial light around for a few hundred kilometres. But this comes in at a close second! The most amazing night time sight to date was a large halo around the almost full moon, which was a first for me as well.  Weather is perfect, considering it is dry season it has been in the low 30's (centigrades) most days and probably in the low 20's for most night, there was 1 night so far where it mildly drizzled.

The last few weeks I have been mostly busy with going to language school, and my Spanish is actually improving though since I came here with no previous knowledge of the language prior to my arrival, overall my ability to hold a conversation is still limited. Understanding is a going quite well which is a good start! At night with a drink or two in me, the fluency is mildly increased, but not sure how grammatically accurate it is. The school itself is part of Education First, and as expected is mostly visited by relatively young people around their early twenty’s at most. Quite a few a very nice souls, and I am sure a few of them I will stay in touch with in the future. The classes themselves are alright as well, maybe a little big for absolute beginners like me, but with a bit of application outside of school I think most people could pick up at least some Spanish in a relatively short time.

Considering that I spend a lot of time studying, as the main goal of my time in Tamarindo is learning some basic Spanish skills, my explorations of the surrounding areas have been limited, but I have some time on my tourist permit left after school, so I’ll most likely rent a car then, and explore a bit more, so you can look forward to a new post sometime in the future, and certainly more pictures.

The most likely next little adventure maybe a trip to Envision Festival about 500 km from Tamarindo, just have to figure out a way to get there, and check the cost, but it sure does look interesting!