TRAVEL: Costa Rica - snakes, storms and not a single sloth

There are many reasons to visit Costa Rica, perhaps most prominently its vast array of indigenous wildlife - sloths, frogs, snakes, insects. This was a key reason why it's been on my bucket list for a while now. I was also interested in visiting the country due to its sustainability credentials, being one of, if not the most, green country (in both senses of the word) in the world. 

Most visitors will arrive into San Jose airport, an airport which isn't actually in the district of San Jose but was moved outside over 40 years ago. This means that you have to drive from the airport along the inter-American highway, US 1, which I believe takes you from the United States all the way through Central America. There's a road trip plan if you need one! 

Our hotel for our first night in Costa Rica was just outside of San Jose, called The Bougainvillea which, due to its name, had lovely vibrant bougainvillea growing outside. The hotel was very pleasant and has an absolutely massive garden of its own of about 10 acres. We were tempted to explore it, but the weather had other plans. Being in the tropics, Costa Rica is no stranger to tropical storms, but thankfully here they're fairly predictable, occurring every day during the rainy season at about 2pm. Sure enough, at 1:45, the heavens opened - one second no rain, and then BAM, here comes the flood alert. It was quite a spectacle. The lights in the room began to flicker until suddenly they all went out. I stepped outside into the hallway to see they had the emergency lights on - quite an eerie experience. 

However, true to form, the shower was short and sharp and cleared up soon enough. Due to its location, there wasn't much to do outside of the hotel, so we spent the afternoon there and ate in the hotel's restaurant. I went for 'casado', a Costa Rican dish of rice, beans, vegetables, potatoes, fried plantain, a tortilla, and your choice of meat and fish. Very filling but a nice array of flavours to get your teeth into. 

The next morning we were to leave the hotel at the ungodly hour of 6am, but I'd already been woken by one of CR's delightful tropical birds singing outside my window as soon as dawn broke. We were collected in a minivan to head to our next destination, Tortuguerro. As the drive is a good few hours, we stopped midway for breakfast at the Suerre hotel in Guiapiles. The selection was similar to yesterday's dinner - like Mexico, beans and rice are some of CR's staple foods. 

Along the way, we got a glimpse of life in CR, much of which is based around tourism or agriculture. This meant lots of coffee and pineapple plantations, and most interestingly, banana plantations - this is where your Chiquita and Dole bananas come from. It's a proper system here - workers must find and cut bananas at just the right time so they'll ripen when they arrive in our stores, and cover a huge amount of ground, dragging the bananas back to the cleaning station along long wires.

On we went until we reached the main river point to Tortuguerro, where we transferred to a small boat which took us about an hour and twenty minutes to get to the Manatus Lodge, apparently the only lodge in the Tortuguerro area with air conditioning and TV's! Manatus refers to the scientific name for manatees who do still roam these rivers, although spotting one is very rare. The rooms are large with beautiful designs on the sinks and ceramics - parrots, frogs and butterflies. We're also right in the middle of the rainforest here - I just had to stop blogging to take photos of some spider monkeys eating in the tree outside my room! 

After our 3-course a la carte lunch (Manatus is full board - not good for your waistband if you spent too much time here!) we were back on the boat for a quick trip to the main village of Tortuguerro. Walking just 20 metres from the river side of the village to the other side and you reach the Caribbean Sea - my first glimpse of this Sea. Whilst lovely and warm, the waves were quite something - two kayakers trying to make their way beyond the breakers were having a very hard time! 

Tortuguerro is a souvenir paradise and almost every shop is a souvenir shop. Every other is a restaurant. CR thrives on tourism and they had some lovely crafts - all the wildlife in whatever form you wanted them - soft toy, magnet, wooden carving, jewellery. A pleasant place to spent the hour. 

We had a late night that evening having signed up to see Costa Rica's famous sea turtles. However, visiting the protected section of the beach that they nest in is done by a lottery, with possible slots for our hotel being between 8-10pm and 10-12pm. We got the later slot! At 9:30, we caught the boat across the river to Sector 2 (out of 6) where visitors are allowed to see the turtles, with the rest of the beach area reserved solely for the turtles. Unfortunately (but understandably) cameras are not allowed so I have no photos for you, so I've interspersed this section with extra wildlife photos instead!

We were met in darkness by one of the National Park rangers who brought us to see one of the turtles, a green turtle. The turtle was much bigger than I'd imagined, only slightly smaller than a giant tortoise so she'd created a large hole in the ground to accommodate her body. The aim in Tortuguerro is to disrupt the turtles as little as possible, so visitors are not allowed to see the first two stages of their nesting - when they arrive and make their way up the beach, and when they dig a hole in which to lay their eggs. However, we managed to see the following 4 stages: 

1. Laying eggs: We got there just in time to see the turtle laying her eggs, which basically involved dropping eggs two at a time into the hole she'd dug. On average, turtles will lay over 100 eggs at a time and lay eggs 2-3 times over the 4 month nesting period. Shortly after we'd arrived, she finished laying her eggs, and began the next stage. 

 

2. Covering: Using her powerful back flippers, she began flicking sand backwards into the whole to cover up the turtles. Whilst tiny when born, the baby turtles will still be able to break through all of this sand as she leaves it loose and not tightly packed.

 

3. Camouflage: Then it was time to use her front flippers to flick more sand all over the place to cover the hole she'd dug as much as possible to make it more difficult for predators to find. To give you an idea of the power of her flippers, we were occasionally hit by rogue flying sand standing metres behind her, sometimes even in the face! It's amazing the amount of energy these turtles have, particularly after having just laid 100 eggs.

4. Return to the sea: After spending an hour of so covering and camoflaging, the turtle is ready to return to the sea. She turns herself around in the whole and then drags herself back to the shore (flippers work much better in water, so this is tough work) until she's carried away by the sea. 

During our time at the beach, we saw 3 turtles nesting, and one who came onto the beach before deciding it wasn't the right place for her and turning around, leaving a fascinating u-turn shape in the sand. Admittedly, I had thought we would be seeing the hatched baby turtles making their way back to the sea, but had come at the wrong time as hatching season is between October and November - keep that in mind if you'd like to visit CR to see them. Right, back to relevant photos.

My tiredness wasn't helped by the early start the following morning for our morning boat trip. We saw a few snake birds (so called because they don't have the water-resistant oil in their feathers that a lot of diving birds do, meaning that once they surface their body doesn't float, leaving only the neck and head sticking out of the water like a snake), iguanas, a caiman and a particular highlight for me, the wonderfully named Jesus Christ Lizard, so called because it can run on water! 

We had another trip that afternoon including more iguanas, toucans (including the fantastic Kill Bill toucan because of its vibrant yellow colouring), tiny adorable bats, herons, and apparently a sloth, though you wouldn't know it. Far away towards the back of a tree was a grey mass, which using maximum zoom on my camera I could make out arms and legs. I was hopeful that we'd get a better view of some sloths in the following days! 

We had another excursion planned for that night - a night walk to look for more nocturnal animals. I was a bit annoyed that this activity wasn't included in the cost of the hotel stay as the boat trips were, and cost us an additional $30 per person in spite of the fact that I'm sure most guests would be interested in doing the night walk. The turtle excursion had also been an extra charge, but this is because it is run by the National Park folk, which makes the fee a bit more understandable. 

The walk was a success to a certain extent in that we saw a number of frogs, including the green tree frog which has become the symbol of Costa Rica's ecological endeavours and the 'blue jeans frog' so called as it is red with blue legs; a number of scary looking spiders you wouldn't want to find in your bed; and a variety of insects, mostly grasshopper types. We also saw, way up in the trees, three raccoons - still cute even when you can only just see them. I was also pretty impressed with my own tracking ability in spotting a number of frogs and insects even the guide didn't see - if this whole blogging thing doesn't work out, maybe there's a job for me there? However, I do think our group of 9 was too large to have a fully enjoyable experience - but hey, if you're getting $30 a piece it's not like you'll turn people away! 

Another early morning the following day (lie-ins don't seem to exist on wildlife holidays) as we were catching a flight from one of the world's presumably smallest airports and perhaps least equipped - the airport building contained nothing but two toilets, sans doors, and one sans toilet. However, that may have been better than the other which was covered in about 30 years of moss. Needless to say, none of us felt the urge to use it. Check in was also done at a foldable table outside the building without a computer in sight. We then boarded a 12 seater propeller plane to much bigger than a Cessna. I liked the feel of it - almost like a private jet but, you know, without the beds, waiting staff, TV's etc etc. 

30 minutes later and some wonderful views of a nearby volcano as these planes can fly at a much lower altitude than commercial planes, and we arrived in San Jose airport again. We collected our bags from the marginally more equipped small airplanes section of the airport and met a driver to take us to our next destination, 3 hours away by car. En route, we stopped at a pleasant restaurant come cafe 'Macadamia y cafe' where everything is handmade, a welcome stop in the long journey. 

The landscape began to change as we made our way upwards in altitude until eventually we rose above the clouds. We'd made it to Monteverde - the cloud forest with the apt name translated as 'green mountain'. After checking in at our hotel, the Hotel Belmar, a large lodge/chalet complex with pleasant views (well, they would be if the sky ever cleared) we headed in to the nearest town, although there wasn't much there aside from a variety of overpriced souvenir shops. Speaking of, most things in Costa Rica seem overly expensive, so bear this in mind. However, having a captive audience allows them to do just that. 

We had lunch at Cafe Orchid which was nice - my meal included retried bean and cheese empanadas, pumpkin soup, grilled cheese and garlic sandwich, and a delicious homemade pineapple and orange smoothie. I would absolutely recommend. On the way back, I managed to pick up some more dogs who began to follow us around, something which seems to have become a bit of a habit of mine. We did try to shoo them off (these roads are no place for dogs to be running around!) but thinking it was a game, they just became more attached. I can't say I minded the company though.

Added benefits of the Belmar include it's private nature trail, which takes about 25 minutes to walk through and was very enjoyable particularly as there's no one else around; a large pond from which you can watch the hummingbirds buzzing around the tropical plants (and attempt/fail to take photos as they move too fast) and complementary yoga twice a day which I tried and am still aching from. 

Another early start for our main adventure in Costa Rica - a guided wildlife tour around Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Unlike many places of natural beauty, Monteverde is not a National Park, but a series of private reserves so it's up to you which section of the forest you'd like to visit. We were collected at 7am by our guide Oscar, who looks more like Tom Hanks than Tom Hanks does. To be honest, that fact was more interesting than most of the tour. He spoke as if presenting a nature documentary: "Sometimes...in the forest...we hear sounds...If I hear this...'ch ch ch ch'...I know it is a bird...There are many trees here...all of which...hold secrets..." Nonetheless, he knew his stuff. 

Unfortunately, we seem to be pretty unlucky with wildlife lately and in our four hour trek, only saw the back of an agouti (a large guinea pig type creature), a couple of birds, a dead wasp (interesting apparently because it had been paralysed by a parasitic fungus) and many hummingbirds, most of whom we found in the artificial environment of sugar feeder stations. But, as they say, nature is as nature does. What we hadn't been aware of is that sloths, the animal we were most keen to see, are very rare around these parts and are only spotted 2 times a month maximum. So there you have it folks, you can spend a week in Costa Rica without seeing a single (complete) sloth! 

As the tour was shorter than we'd anticipated, we needed something to occupy ourselves for the afternoon. Having visited the town the previous day, this left pretty much only the adventure park where you can zipline etc, a frog terrarium, visiting some of the other reserves but probably seeing nothing without a guide, or going on a tour of the Don Juan coffee plantation. We chose the latter and were collected by representatives from the plantation who drove us to the other side of town. In fact, we ended up getting a better view of an agouti from outside one of the hotels than we'd had in the reserve...

The tour was a good way to pass the afternoon, although expensive as has come to be the norm in Costa Rica. 60% was dedicated to the coffee plantations, and we were shown how they grow from bean to plant, how they are harvested and dried, and how the beans are extracted and roasted. Whilst not a coffee drinker myself, I did learn new things about coffee, for instance that the darker and more bitter the coffee, the less caffeine it contains, although most consumers probably think differently; and that Finland is the largest coffee consuming country in the world.

The next 10% was dedicated to sugar cane where we had the opportunity to juice some sugar cane and try some sugar water, first plain (as you'd expect sugar water to taste) and then with a special Costa Rican citrus (like flat Sprite). Tasting is always the best bit of any food-related tour (for further proof - check out my Mexico travel blog!)

They saved the best til last - chocolate. We were brought into a room where we were told how a cacao pod becomes chocolate, and given the opportunity to taste the beans straight out of the pod where they are covered in a fruity pulp, crushed cocoa nibs, a lovely paste of cocoa, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper, and finally as the finished product - dark and white varieties and milk chocolate covered coffee beans. The tour finished with coffee tasting (in the gift shop of course) and we were then sent home, full to the brim. 

Our final activity in CR was a last night walk. As it was organised through the hotel, we were able to go to a private reserve that only the hotel uses, meaning it was just us and 2 or 3 other groups which was much nicer than loud voices and torches everywhere. To be honest, our guide wasn't particularly good and only spotted a few sleeping birds and a frog himself. Yours truly actually managed to do better spotting including some scary-looking spiders, more insects than you'd care to find in your room and most spectacularly, a scorpion. This was very cool as we turned off all the torches, shone a UV light, and it flouresced. Very very cool. Thankfully we did run into some of the other groups whose guides pointed out a kinkajou (raccoon-like creature up in the trees) and a snake. Not a mega successful trip but I was pleased to have found so many creatures! The following morning after a quick walk around the hotel to spot a coati, we got back in the car to San Jose, and to home.

Tips for Costa Rica: timing and location is everything. If there are specific animals you want to see, check when and where they're likely to be, and plan your trip around this. Furthermore, plan as much as you can in advance. Whilst it might seem like you can't be bored somewhere as exciting as Costa Rica, in places where there's not much to do aside from visit nature reserves, you'll want to know there are things to fill your time when you're tours are over. Finally, bring dollars as well as the local currency (colones) - CR is expensive so depending on the exchange rate you might do better with one currency over the other. ¡Pura vida!

Thank you for joining me on my round the world trip! Don't worry, that's not all the travelling I'm doing and they'll be more very soon - stay up to date by following me on Twitter @CiarasCountry I'm choosing where to travel to next and I'd love your opinions - leave a comment below!