Total stay: 27 June – 22 July
Costa Rica is a very lush place with plenty of protected national parks and a rich diversity of flora and fauna. In many places we felt like walking in a zoo. Waiting at a bus stop turned out to be an eye bowling activity with iguanas and exotic birds. The monkeys are not so shy either - especially in Montezuma. Costa Rica is actually on top of the list of countries when it comes to number of species. The country is like a natural pharmacy, with all medical remedies you can find in the jungle, which has been used by the locals for ages. The outdoor activities are plenty, but with the rapidly increasing number of visitors (1 MM tourists a year) we’re not sure how long will the country manage to remain 'green'.
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Fast Facts
Capital: San José
Population: 4 million
Known for: Big surfs, solid export of microchips, coffee and bananas, being green and peaceful. Pura Vida (meaning Pure Life and is using as a greeting).
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa-Rica |
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The eco-friendly brand is already on fall. Deforestation at 4% a year makes Costa Rica one of the world’s most rapidly disappearing forests. More than 30% of country’s forests have been cut to raise low-grade beef that goes into American fast-food hamburgers, TV dinners and pet food. Another sad fact is that only 4% waste water is treated properly before it’s let out into the environment (Lonely Planet). You would expect more eco-friendly focus and execution from a country that enjoys the highest standard of living including the highest education level in Central America. Not to mention the lack of war (it has been without a military army for last 50-plus years) that has helped creating strong exports and even stronger import (tourism).
There is a noticeable difference between the east and the west coast of the country like; music, food, culture and people. The east coast has strong Afro-Caribbean roots descended from Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants who came to work in the banana industry. The black Costa Ricans were not allowed to the other side of the country until after 1948. While the west coast is a huge playground for North Americans as there are a lot of expats and tourists from the USA. The prices are in dollars and many restaurants and hotels are managed exclusively by foreigners and most of the coastal properties are owned by foreigners. We had to have a taste of both sides.
San José
27 – 29 June
The capital San José is the most metropolitan city in the Central America. We were surprise how many fast-food eateries they had and it seems like a family gathering place for many Ticos (Costa Ricans people). We had even a hard time to find a decent place to eat downtown while doing some shopping for the hike to Machu Pitcchu. It's the second time (after Venezuela) that we've seen that long queues at ATM machines. It turned out that it was a pay day for Ticos.
Puerto Viejo
29 June – 8 July
We liked a lot this relaxed village on the Caribbean side - close to a national park.
A short summarize of what we’ve experienced:
½ day visit to Manzanillo Park (Refugio Nacional de vida Silvestre Gandoca-Manzanillo). The German guide was a biologist and had great knowledge about flora and fauna. We had a close encounter with sloths, colorful birds, howler monkeys, termites (Aneta got a bunch of them on her backpack and they bit her), cut-leaves ants (they cut 'everything' what’s green in their way), bullet ants (their bite hurts like being shot by a bullet) and poison (dart?) frogs and snakes. We’ve tasted fresh coconut, sugar cane, water cane, chicklet tree (gum tree – used before in chewing gums, though they are now replaced by artificial ingredients) and some flowers which we don’t remember the names of.
- Bicycling: everyday along the shore.
- Dinners at Jasmine’s and Mario’s place. Mario’s made some great dishes from the Pacific side where he’s from. Thanks a lot for inviting us and being great hosts!
- Illness: Aneta got ill from a seafood soup.
- Wild horses: running wild in the streets of Puerto Viejo Village.
Tortuguero Village
8 – 12 July
In the morning on July 8th, we drove to Moin, from where we took a 4hr long boat journey through the river channels to Tortuguero village. On the way we’ve spotted; crocodiles, caimans, turtles, colorful birds, lizards and bats. There was literally wildlife everywhere you looked.
Tortuguero means 'A place of turtles' and that’s why we’ve chosen this place – to see the turtles laying eggs. Actually of the worlds’ eight species of sea turtles, six nest in Costa Rica and four lay their eggs right here in Tortuguero.
The first night we joined the green turtle spotting tour, we didn’t spot any turtles laying eggs, but we did see the turtle itself and she was huge. The next night Aneta went alone, because Per-Ove got sick after eating something. After a long walk to a pitch black beach and waiting for the giants to appear – the group got luckier this time. The whole procedure of laying eggs took perhaps 30 min and Aneta was amazed how strong and elegant she was using her fins to dig the nest, covering the eggs with sand and camouflages it at the end, before she exhausted make her way slowly to the ocean. She made a lot of noise/moaning during the delivery.
We also paid a visit to the turtle museum to learn about their protective program for the giants.
The private canoe tour we did to the jungle of Tortuguero was a great experience too. Our knowledgeable guide was one of few certificated naturalist guides, if the only one in the village. But what made this tour different from others was that he had a battery driven engine and we could come really close to the wildlife without disturbing it. We’ve spotted; birds (bearthrouthed, tiger hairon), spider monkeys, caimans, flower Pakira Aguatica (can be used to make lifejackets, tooth picks and other fibers). If you’re interesting in this eco-friendly tour, please contact the guide directly: Cloied Taylor, cloiedtaylor1 @ yahoo.com, +506 709 81 02 or +506 709 80 29.
He told us that some parts of the Jurassic Park scenes were filmed here in Tortuguero jungle and they built enlarged replicas of small lizards to appear as big giants dinosaurs on screen.
We also met a local bushman who is running overnight tours to the deep jungle. He is a previous jaguar hunter and we struggle to believe that he is 83 years old. Just ask Cloied for Mr. Bill if this is of any interest. Tortuguero is remote, but not too isolated that you need to buy an all inclusive package to get there. It was more fun to do the logistics ourselves, then you can pick and chose what is best suited for you interests and especially if you want to do it the eco-friendly way. A useful link to the village’s web-page: http://www.tortuguerovillage.com
Montezuma
12 – 21 July
The country is slightly larger than Switzerland, but it takes some time to cross the country, because many of the dirt roads are in bad shape and there are steep hills to be crossed. After 1 boat ride, 1 ferry ride, 4 bus rides and 2 taxi rides we finally arrived on the pacific side. We’ve moved to a small and cozy bed & breakfast house, located on a steep hill (nice view) basically located in the jungle. The first day we got visitors (monkeys) on the trees facing us, but they mainly focused on the consumption of the leaves and we didn’t seem to bother them at all. There must have been at least 5 or 6 of them.
The owners were very cool and made us feel like home. We could borrow their kitchen to prepare meals etc. They even had a butterfly garden on the property, for both guests and non-guests.
We had a nice and refreshing hike to a waterfall nearby. When it comes to the beach of Montezuma, unfortunately it's nothing to brag about. It didn’t seem that someone cared to clean it (regularly).
San José
21-22 July
In the morning we left for San José because of the flight to Peru the day after. We drove on a very steep road uphill, so steep that all the passengers had to move to the back of the bus. A little unexpected was the fact that this bus (full of people) stopped on the way at a gas station to fill fuel.
The Costa Rica photo collection:
http://flickr.com/photos/perove/collections/72157607166421753/
Map of Costa Rica
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