I know, "Pura Vida Costa Rica" is not the most creative title for a travel post. But it just represents perfectly what Costa Rica is to me: a wonderful, eclectic country with fantastic people and a relaxing atmosphere, a country where you can relax, enjoy, refill your batteries and "living the sloth life". Three years ago, I visited Costa Rica with my sister. And because today the weather outside is so cold and grey, I really feel like I have to warm myself up by thinking back to this fantastic trip to "pura vida Costa Rica". Maybe this post helps you to feel warmer and to forget about winter for a while too?
In february 2015, my sister and me started our trip to Costa Rica. When we arrived in San José, we were welcomed with warm temperatures. We checked in into the hotel and were surprised: it was not the cheapest hotel at all! :-) Later we found out that we had booked a "comfort tour" without noticing it - which meant that we slept in wonderful hotels and lodges for the whole trip. Quite a good surprise, don't you think? :-)
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| Happily arrived in San José - and enjoying the view over downtown San José by night |
We started our day with a yummy breakfast - rice, beans, tropical ruits, cakes.... Great! What we didn't know at this time: rice and beans will be our everyday-breakfast for the next 2 weeks! :-)
We had a whole day to explore San José before we met our future groupmates in the evening, so we left the hotel and walked up and down downtown San José. The city is not very spectacular but we enjoyed the warmth and spent a lot of time observing the people from the balcony of a restaurant while drinking an icecold "Imperial"-beer.
We walked to "Parque Savannah" where we relaxed and officially initiated our "pura vida"-lifestyle. Our highlight: The salted mango slices that we bought from a man walking up and down the park with his "mango trolley".
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| One happy tourist - or: Give me some mango and I'm happy! |
As my sister and me both are curious to try new and local food, we were looking for a local restaurant for dinner. We found one, hidden in a little street off the tourist-path (those are always the best ones, don't you agree? :-) ). It was quite a special atmosphere, as we were the only guests, the hosts didn't unterstand our English and we didn't understand their Spanish... Nevertheless the host was very chatty and was laughing a lot with us, while his wife was preparing a delicious dinner: plantain chips and cabbage salad. We really enjoyed the meal, the dinner and our first Costa Rica experience. I just love travelling-moments like this one!
The next day we started our trip and headed off to Tortuguero, a nationalpark at the caribean coast of Costa Rica. While riding along the canals by boat, we were impressed by the landscape of the rainforest! The canals, the unknown plants and flowers, it was magical! And when I spotted the first sloth, my day was perfect anyway!
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| First sloth spotted! |
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| First caiman spotted! |
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| Public transportation Costa Rican style |
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| Do you see it? |
After a fantastic boat ride, we arrived at our first lodge called "Turtle beach lodge". We had no idea where we are and off course we had no Wifi - two facts that made this stay incredibly relaxing. Our room was a bungalow directly at the beach. Could it be any better?
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| Our hotel"room" |
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| One happy tourist practicing her "pura vida" lifestyle |
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| Relaxing in a hammock is never boring if you just look up... |
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| Do you know how pineapples grow? |
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| Hello, Mr. Toucan! |
We did another tour by boat to explore the rainforest. Again, we were amazed by the flora and fauna!
I could have stayed in Tortuguero much longer, but we continued our trip towards the Pacific coast. On the way to La Fortuna, we stopped by a coffee plantation called "Mi cafecito". A guide showed us around and explained us the production of the drink that most of us all enjoy several times a day without knowing how it is produced. It was really interesting!
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| Can you believe that this will be your coffee bean one day? |
We arrived in La Fortuna, a city famous for its volcano "El Arenal". We checked in into our lodge "Arenal Paraiso" and immediately jumped into the hot, natural springs. Natural wellness I would call it! :-)
In the evening, Alan and Louise, two of our groupmembers, celebrated their birthday. Our guide had organized a surprise birthday cake. Isn't it lovely?
The next day we wanted to explore the Arenal-volcano. We had been warned that it's very possible that we don't even see it because it's often surrounded by clouds so we were very happy to see at least a bit of it!
We wanted to see more of the Arenal-National Park so we joined a bike ride. In our group was a woman that sat on a bicycle for the first time this day. You can imagine that we didn't move forward for a looong time... Finally the woman admitted that it's maybe not the best idea to join the group and gave up. After that, we started a very nice bike tour along the Arenal lake.
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| A lot of interesting encounters along the way |
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| Making new friends in Costa Rica |
In the evening we visited the house of Dona Maria. This lovely woman showed us how to prepare Tortillas. It is not as easy as you think! :-)
The next day we continued to Monteverde, famous for its impressive cloud forest. We had another fantastic hotel called "El Establo". And I asked myself: How can I ever get back to real life after these perfect, relaxing holidays??
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| View from our hotel room |
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| We have a visitor! |
One activity we did in Monteverde was ziplining. For someone who is afraid of heights probably not the easiest thing to do, but it was sooo worth it! To fly above the impressive, green cloud forest in "superman style" was a good adrenaline rush and a lot of fun!
We also did a guided tour in Santa Elena cloud forest which was very interesting - and wet! :-)
We continued our trip to Manuel Antonio National Park by minivan. On the way, we crossed a bridge that is very famous for what is underneath: a river full of (probably hungry) crocodiles. Better not to take a swim down there!!
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| Swimming is not the smartest idea here... |
We often took little breaks while on the way and I always enjoyed to buy things from the little shops we found on the way. Fresh coconut water for example! Delicious!
We arrived in Quepos and checked in into our wonderful "Tabulia Tree hotel". We then explored the small, very touristy but still very nice National Park Manuel Antonio. We saw sloths, monkeys, spiders and at the end we found a wonderful beach where we stayed for a while and jumped into the refreshing Pacific ocean. Pura vida!
One of the highlights of our trip was the catamaran cruise we did one evening. Drinking, eating, go snorkeling, dancing salsa and enjoying the sunset and the views... It was perfect! Or simply: Pura vida!
The next day, we already had to return to San José and finally back home to Switzerland. Costa Rica is a really amazing country and soo worth to visit! I still miss the "pura vida"-feeling a bit!
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Planning a trip to Costa Rica? Here are my tips...
Our tour
- The tour we did was called "Costa Rica Explorer" and was operated by G-adventures (a company which I can really recommend!). We started in the capital city San José and headed to Tortuguero National Park at the Carribean coast. We then continued to La Fortuna (Arenal volcano), Monteverde and National Park Manuel Antonio at the Pacific coast before we returned to San José. We did this in 2 weeks, which is the absolute minimum for a visit in Costa Rica. I could have stayed much longer!!
The regions
Costa Rica is very eclectic and has a lot of different climate zones and landscapes. Here a short overview:
- San José: big city, not very charming but still funny to explore
- Tortuguero: Carribean, sea, canals, rainforest, warm, sun --> Pura vida! :-)
- Arenal / La Fortuna: volcano, forest, rainy, foggy
- Monteverde: rainy, colder, hilly, cloud forest
- Manuel Antonio: a lot of tourists, sun, sea, Pacific, warmth, hippies and surfers
Where to sleep
- San José: Hotel Park Inn Raddisson (--> Link)
- Tortuguero: Turtle Beach Lodge (--> Link)
- Monteverde: El Establo (--> Link)
- Manuel Antonio (Quepos): Tabulia Tree Hotel (--> Link)
To do
... in San José
- San José is not very beautiful and there are not soo many things to see and do. Nevertheless it is good fun to walk up and down the streets, to observe the people and to enjoy the warmth - especially while sitting on the balcony of a restaurant with an ice cold "Imperial"-beer!
- In the park "Parque Savannah" you can stroll around and relax perfectly. Make sure to taste the salted mango slices or coconut water! It's riquisimo, as they would call it there!
- Eat at "Café Mundo" (Av 9, C15), a wonderful, colorful restaurant, somewhere in the middle of San José. It's quite crowded and the food is delicious (a bit pricy, but soo worth it!).
... in Tortuguero
- Tortuguero is a supercute, little village, a bit hippie, colorful, small and in the middle of the rainforest. You can feel its carribean charm and lifestyle very well.
- Tortuguero is surrounded by a lot of canals. If you explore them by boat or kayak, you will find interesting flora and fauna: turtles, caimans, tucans, snakes, frogs... Highly recommendable: a boattour by night, because it's that time of the day when the animals are active!
... in La Fortuna
- Do a biketour along lake Arenal with a great view of the volcano (if it's not hidden in the fog!!).
... in Monteverde (Santa Elena)
- Eat at "Tico y rico" in Santa Elena: a small, very cool restaurant downtown Santa Elena. Quesadillas, Burgers, fries, sandwiches - I loved it!
- Eat at "Tramonti Pizzeria" in Monteverde, Puntarenas. They serve great pizza (believe me, after some days with rice and beans you would kill for pizza!!). Not very cheap and a bit touristic, but still awesome!
- Eat at "Taco Taco": probably the coolest restaurant in Santa Elena. It has a hippie atmosphere and you sit on old car tyres. It's a hostel as well and you can have great burritos and tacos.
- Go ziplining with "100 % adventures". I'm not a big fan of "adrenalinthings". But after I tried it, I was very happy! The perfect opportunity to slide above the cloudforest in "superman style" and feel like a bird!
- Cloud forest tour: explore the cloud forest with a guide and learn about the local flora and fauna. Don't forget to bring your rain jacket, it's wet there!! :-) For 30 dollars, you can visit the hummingbird-garden and do a tour over 7 hanging bridges. Amazing view!
... in Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
- Visit the National Park: it's rather small and very touristic, but still worth a visit! The entrance fee is about 16 dollars and a guide shows you the park. You can see monkeys, sloths, spiders... and you will learn a lot of interesting things. At the end you will reach a wonderful, quiet beach and you can cool down in the Pacific ocean.
- Trip with a catamaran: With „Manuel Antonio Catamaran Adventures“ you can do a woooonderful trip on a catamaran. The tour costs 75 Dollar and starts before sunset. Some drinks are included, so catch a deck chair and enjoy the view. If you're lucky you can see dolphins. You also have the chance to go snorkeling. It was one of the top-highlights of our trip!
- Eat at "Las Gemelas" and the main beach. Yummy salads, quesadillas, famous for it's Crabshake. Where the surfers and hippies meet.
- Eat at "El Lagarto" (--> Link). A very cool restaurant with a fantastic view over the Pacific ocean (especially at sunset!!). The highlight: The grill! From your table you can observe your meal being prepared. Very cool and a good insider-tip!
- Eat at "El Avion" (--> Link), a very cool restaurant. The highlight: an old airplane that was converted in a bar. It's integrated in the restaurant which makes it very special. Great food - also for vegetarians! Try the sandwiches and taste the tiramisu for dessert!
- Party at bar "Byblos": a bar where the locals meet. Here you can go dancing or play giant jenga. Perfect if you want to meet other globetrotters and just spend a great evening!