Costa Rica was the perfect place to be in
January when temperatures were way below zero in Minnesota and the snow fell
and fell. I traveled for three weeks with my friend, KatieTrotzky, who has a
cabin near mine. This was the third time I was in Costa Rica, the first time in
1969 when I was returning home from Chile by land and the second time in 2001
with a group of Girl Scouts.
We hiked, swam, soaked in hot springs, traveled
by boat, horseback, and walked on hanging bridges above the canopy. We
saw sloths, coatis, a possum, an agouti, an olingo, peccaries (wild pigs), a
tapir, and the four different monkeys: howler, spider, squirrel and white-faced
or capuchin, crocodiles, and of course many birds, including toucans and
scarlet macaws.
We hiked several times at the base of the
volcano, Arenal, which erupted in 1968 with significant lava flow that
destroyed several villages. We found an excellent and fun guide, Isaac, who
took us on a couple of hikes near the base of the volcano. He spotted animals
and birds and was a very knowledgeable naturalist. The green lushness of the
tropical forest continually impressed us, especially when we saw huge plants
that we struggle with as house plants at home. There are many hot springs in
the area, and we spent an afternoon at a lovely commercial place with twelve
different pools of various temperatures and gardens all around. The setting was
very nice, but an even better setting was the natural hot spring river where we
soaked following a morning of hiking.
From Arenal and the very touristy town of
La Fortuna, we traveled by jeep, then boat across Lake Arenal (which was
created after the volcano eruption to both flood the destroyed town as a
peaceful memorial and to generate power at a hydroelectric dam), then two hours
on horseback through beautiful rolling countryside, followed by van to the
Cloud Forest area of Santa Elena and Monteverde. It was windy and there were
many windmills on the hillsides. In the Cloud Forest the clouds hang low and
provide moisture to the plants that grow and intertwine with each other. The
plants collect nutrients and moisture from the air, rain, and debris. We
learned more about plants, animals and birds from the guide in the Santa Elena
Reserve. We also went on an excellent night walk and saw a green venomous palm
pit viper snake, the tiny red-eyed frog (Rufous-eyed stream frog), a sloth, a
possum, an olingo, and a tarantula. The town of Santa Elena was more pleasant
than La Fortuna which was very commercial in a negative, tacky way.
We next spent a couple of days in San Jose and
went to several impressive museums, the Jade, Gold, and the National Museum.
The gold items were small, but exquisite usually with tiny animals in the
design, mostly charms used by shamen and jewelry. I also had a fun reunion with
a Girl Scout leader who had stayed with me in Minnesota over 15 years ago;
Katie went on a free walking tour of the city.
From San Jose we traveled south to Drake’s Bay.
It was a four hour van ride to Sierpe, where we then boarded a boat on the
crocodile infested Sierpe River for 45 minutes to Drake’s Bay, part of the
Pacific Ocean. The “town” was small and built on hillsides. We stayed at a
“hotel” (with maybe 8 rooms) up a hill that had a lovely outdoor eating area
where we could loll in hammocks and bird and monkey watch. One day we took a
boat to Caño Island to snorkel in clear warm water. The best was being in the
midst of a large school of Big-eyed Jacks, slim silverfish about a foot long,
hundreds of them weaving back and forth. We also saw many of the brightly
colored little fish, just like in Finding Nemo! Another day we took an
hour-long boat ride along the coast to the National Park of Cocovado. On the
way we watched four male humpback whales lined up putting on a breaching and
blowing show. They were incredible. The hike in the National Park again was
superb because of the great guide from whom we learned even more about trees,
plants, and animals. Besides birds and monkeys, we saw a crocodile, peccaries
(wild pigs), and a huge juvenile tapir.
Our final destination was a beach in the north
where it was very hot and dry. We ended up at Playa Potrero after a few false
starts. We first spent a night in Tamarindo, a surf and party town, and knew we
had to escape that atmosphere. We then found the very pleasant Hotel Isolina
near the beach and with a very nice pool so we could alternate between the pool
and the beach. Again there was a lovely outdoor eating area where we could bird
watch. Down the beach within walking distance was an excellent restaurant.
One night we went to see female green sea
turtles come ashore to build nests and lay eggs in the sand near the tree line.
The process takes about three hours for them to clear the area, dig and then
lay about 100 ping pong ball size eggs. We watched three huge turtles, about a
meter in length, laboriously return to the water before they had even laid
eggs. We were told they would return in several hours after we tourists left the
beach. Survival rate is very low, 1 in 1000. Adults can live to be 80 years old
and weigh 100-200 kilos.
All in all it was a fabulous trip. Costa Rica is
known for ecotourism and they have an excellent park system and guides. Almost
30% of the land is in parks, reserves or refuges. Costa Rica has a long history
of democracy, and they provide free education and health care for the people.
The literacy rate is 97.6%. They have no military. Almost everyone has running
water and electricity and a dish on their roof and sometimes two. As an example
of public health, every single restroom we saw, no matter how remote/rural was
the location, was immaculate, had flush toilets, toilet paper, a sink with soap
and paper towels and a placard with reminders of the proper way to wash your
hands AND to conserve water. Way better than the average SuperAmerica in the
US. Over 98% of the energy produced in the country is from renewable sources,
from hydroelectric to wind, solar and geothermal. The fruit was amazing,
especially sweet and juicy pineapple. Bananas historically and currently is the
main cash crop, with pineapple a close second. Coffee is also a major export.
The county has also evolved economically beyond agricultural exports and tourism, to export electronics and medical components and IT services. Beyond the fruit, we ate delicious seafood and fish.
People were wonderful, very friendly and very
helpful; Katie attributes this to the result of a living in a long standing
democracy providing education and health care to all. Costa Ricans use the
phrase “pura vida” to describe their lifestyle. While the phrase merely
translates to “pure life”, it refers to the world view of the people: slow
down, be aware of your good fortune, don’t take things for granted, and
appreciate life around you. Good advice!
3 comments:
Wow Darlene, it sounds like paradise! I think I want to go there for a holiday one day, your description and writing painted such a wonderful and inviting picture.
Great photos and a great trip! You really timed this one right! Glad it was all you hoped for and more.
Hello Darlene,
Thank you for yet another travel blog with vivid descriptions of your adventures. The list of scary wildlife is impressive. Could you manage to stay smiling at such close quarters with poisonous snakes and enormous spiders?
Your photographs are as always truly beautiful.
love corinne
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