Costa Rica It is a country defined in its own motto: Pure Life. A nation located in Central America that lacks an army, that remains open to visitors like few others, with half of its territory covered by forests and mountainsand 25% of it protected under the figure of reserve or natural park. It is logical, therefore, that it be considered as one of the best rated destinations by travelers from all over the world. The nickname of green paradise could be stamped on the Costa Rican flag, a country with an area similar to that of Extremadura or Aragon, but with one of the indices richest in biodiversity on the entire planet. A destination of adventurebut also relaxwhich allows you to walk on the trees of a cloudy forest listening to the cry of the howler monkeys and ending the day drinking some mojitos in hot springs under the slopes of a perfectly shaped volcano. That’s how it is Costa Rica and that is precisely what pure life consists of.
In Costa Rica can waking up on a Caribbean beach and watch the sun go down afternoon in the Pacific. All in one day! But for those of us who like to travel with enough time and absorb every moment, I am going to tell you which are my favorite places. what to see in Costa Rica and that you should not get lost for anything in the world.
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The moment I discovered Pura Vida in Costa Rica
A few years have passed since I traveled to Costa Rica and I decided to write a diary (which, by the way, I never finished) when this blog was only a few months old. I spent almost three weeks in the Central American country, combining it with a getaway to the Panamanian archipelago of Bocas del Toro (and its mythical Cayos Zapatillas, where the reality show Supervivientes was recorded for the first time). It was my first trip focused almost entirely on the most authentic nature, on looking for different species of animals in forests, mountains and reefs and learning a lot about this type of adventure (Inti, friend, I don’t know if you are reading me, but I will always thank you that you taught me so many things). There I would learn what it means to look nature directly in the eyes, I would photograph the little frog that is currently part of the El Rincón de Sele logo and I would realize that observing wild animals would become one of my greatest passions. Because destinations like Alaska, Botswana, the Galapagos, the Yacuma Pampas, Borneo, Kamchatka or Komodo would arrive much later.
Costa Rica was the first to provide me with many incredible experiences related to the environment. How to swim with sharks, learn to differentiate the many poisonous frogs of the genus dendrobates, observe the slowness with which a sloth climbs a tree, wake up to the shouting of howler monkeys, see a basilisk running above the water, witness several turtle nesting, admire the flight of macaws or toucans and sail on canoe passing by alligators that couldn’t take their eyes off us. Even hear the roar of an imposing volcano like Arenal.
Costa Rica, a country that during the pandemic became a model of global success in its reopening to international tourism, is one of Logitravel’s favorite destinations. Travelers opt, above all, for car routes (at their leisure) with which to explore the small Central American country.
What to see in Costa Rica for a trip of around 15 days?
After reviewing that adventure, I have prepared a summary with the eight essential to visit on a trip to Costa Rica lasting approximately two weeks in which we will get a good idea of how much this country has to offer:
Tortuguero National Park
Just the mere fact that it can be reached by boat (or the luckier ones by small plane or helicopter) and not by road, makes this a destination like few others. On the one hand, let yourself be carried away by the Caribbean rhythm and coconut milk seasoning the most typical dishes that are served in wooden cabins decorated with bright colors. But on the other hand, it allows you to take a look at the beaches where sea turtles come to lay their eggs at night. This is a spectacle that pays for the trip to this corner of the Costa Rican Caribbean, but not the only one, since inland there is a network of canals that can be explored by canoe and that will make you believe that you are sailing through the Amazon. . You can enjoy on board (if the route is by boat without a motor, much better so as not to scare or disturb the animals) an early morning in the company of the animals that can be seen and heard from the trees, and pass close to a alligator that doesn’t take its eye off you.
LET’S BE RESPONSIBLE
On a trip of this type we must be responsible so as not to affect the environment we visit in the slightest. And I don’t just mean not throwing papers on the floor. If you go out to observe turtles, it is advisable to pay attention to the guide assigned to us and not use flashlights or the flash of cameras. Turtles that see these lights are scared and may not lay their eggs on the beach where they were born, creating great harm to an already threatened species. On the other hand, it would be good if, on the boat routes through the canal area, ask that the motor not be used and avoid any disturbance to the animals as well as terrible noise pollution capable of breaking up that symphony of sounds that is capable of generating nature.
Arenal Volcano
In a country with an immensity of volcanoes, and not a few that are active, there is an undisputed king who is part of any tour taken in Costa Rica. El Arenal is a real volcano, the kind that even a small child could draw, and that sometimes, if the clouds do not selfishly cling to it, it lets you see lava coming out of its crater and hear the tremors and explosions that happen in the inside of such a cauldron.
One can try to go around it from the town of La Fortuna through roads and paths that allow you to see an exhausted half that seeks to cover its frontal position, still very leafy. But it is really fun to watch (and listen to) it at night from the warmth of the hot springs that lie just below it while a bartender offers you a cocktail with which you will believe you are swimming inside the volcano.
Poas Volcano
Its conical silhouette is not as suggestive as that of Arenal, but the Poás volcano does not need it because it allows you to climb to the top of a vaporous crater (the largest in size in the country) that emanates sulfur in resounding fumaroles. Let you see it before the fog covers it completely, which happens sooner than we would like, which requires getting up early and praying to the spirit that lives in the Poás to have mercy on us and help us. Show off your volcanic beauty.
ADVICE: It is not the law, but it is usually advised that the visit to the Poás volcano be carried out first thing in the morning (the entrances open at 8:00) since throughout the day the clouds take over the crater and do not allow see absolutely nothing. But if it happens that we find it in fog, let’s not lose heart because in a matter of minutes the fog can give us a respite.
It is usually a visit for the first or last day of the trip, given its proximity to San José and the international airport in Alajuela.
Ostional
In the province of Guanacaste, and we move to the Pacific, turtles also come to nest. In protected places like Ostional there are nights in which not one or two, but hundreds of them come in one day to present our eyes with one of the greatest spectacles we can attend on a trip to Costa Rica. Always accompanied by a guide, without using lights that harm or scare away these marine animals, we can see how the beach becomes a nursery full of turtle eggs that will hatch the following month. It is a very Darwinian event because out of a hundred eggs perhaps a turtle will survive and, if it can (or rather, if they let it), it will return to the same beach where it was born to once again give meaning to the cycle of life.
Not long ago, images of hundreds of people in Ostional in an extremely disrespectful attitude and taking selfies while a very large number of turtles were laying their eggs went viral on the Internet. Once again we appeal to the responsibility, not only of travelers, but also of the authorities who must ensure that this type of thing does not happen.
Manuel Antonio National Park
It is the most touristy and popular town, by far, in Costa Rica. Perhaps what the city is, with hotels, lodges and apartments galore, is the most impersonal facet and what I like the least of the Central American country, but it has the advantage of the Manuel Antonio National Park, which is beautiful and offers very interesting tours through the beach. Few places in the world allow you to observe a greater number of marmosets up close and the sunsets on the beach are truly postcard-perfect. And it is not exactly a bad base to start exploring the Costa Rican Atlantic coast and go down, who knows, to Drake Bay and enter the Osa Peninsula. It is advisable to consider an excursion with an expert guide to get the most out of this area of Costa Rica.
Corcovado National Park
If you like hiking in the middle of nature and meeting practically no one on your way, Corcovado is the place in Costa Rica that you should try to get to, no matter how difficult it may be. There is no normal road, but a sandy road that floods in the rainy season and a ridiculous airport in Carate. That is the PARADISE that I was looking for on that trip, a corner with 3% of the biodiversity of the entire planet in which the macaws dress the sky in red, the whales show their tails very close to its many kilometers of beaches virgins and trekking through the jungle offer you a greater chance than anywhere else of being able to follow the tracks of the puma, the jaguar, the tapir or the ocelot.
Corcovado is a National Geographic documentary in itself, quite an adventure. A few lodges as well as some other campsites are the only accommodations before making the trek and exploring the park for several days from the south. I have to confess that this jewel of the Osa Peninsula, an appendix of Costa Rica very close to Panama, is my favorite. Because I have never felt loneliness in such a way, because behind that curtain of trees and waves I have lived the most “loud” nights of my life (you know, nights in the jungle are not exactly silent). And being woken up by howler monkeys at the beginning of the day is a wonderful thing…
The most common access by vehicle is through the north of the Osa Peninsula from Drake Bay (from which there are a lot of options and possible excursions to get around the park both by land and by sea), although I was lucky enough to visit it to the south after making the road route between Puerto Jiménez and Carate. I have never seen such a number of macaws in my life! An absolute spectacle.
Green Mount
Cold nights and hot, wet mornings in a cloudy or rainy forest located in this high altitude paradise. In Monteverde, where sloths cling to the trees and the lush landscape could not be greater, travelers can walk along hanging bridges and pass over a completely green tapestry to which the fog likes to cling. There I could listen to the hollow sound of the quetzals that flutter there between the months of March and July, or go out to look for reptiles and tarantulas that were hiding in the thickets. Monteverde is the main hall for nature lovers, but it is also the fun capital of Costa Rica, since it has places where you can practice the canopy, which is a zip line through which you can go from one tree to another with the ground more than 30 meters. Probably the best zip lines in the world are located there.
TIPS:
- If you can, try to take a guided tour at night and you will see how the cloud forest is full of life when the sun goes down.
- The thermal sensation varies radically between day and night. You can go from wearing short sleeves to wearing a jacket.
- Although it goes without saying, don’t travel to a rainforest without a raincoat.
Cahuite
And finally we return to the Caribbean, very close to the Panamanian border and the Bocas del Toro archipelago (an archipelago belonging to Panama that is very accessible from Costa Rica itself) which stand as one of the attractions of said country. But without leaving Costa Rica we are left with another Caribbean and quasi-Rastafarian face in which to know what the pure life that the Ticos boast about so much consists of. Also perfect for hiking and even diving. It is not difficult to find yourself among sharks just a few meters from a coastline full of palm trees.
SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION
Costa Rica is declared as a destination «Sustainable Tourist Sanctuary»: We are talking about around 5% of the world’s biodiversity and 26% of protected areas. With the progressive and continued implementation of sustainability measures. Only in this way can it become a leading tourist destination in the world in terms of ecotourism, sports and adventure, well-being, multiculturalism, traditions, gastronomy and sustainable luxury.
HOW TO GET
From Spain there is a direct flight with Iberia departing from Madrid. Sometimes you can make a previous stop to drop off or pick up passengers in Guatemala or Panama, just over an hour from the San José airport in Costa Rica. Likewise, since June 2021, weekly flights have been scheduled with Iberojet (Ávoris/Barceló Group).
TRAVEL SAFE AND WITH INSURANCE
When we travel abroad it is important for us to be protected against everything that can happen to us. It never hurts to carry a good policy that covers us at the destination, in this case Costa Rica, against possible accidents, illnesses or setbacks (theft, loss of luggage, etc.) that may entail an extra cost later on. In my case, to travel to the country I used IATI Travel Insurance because it seems to me that it has above-average coverage, they advance the money if a problem occurs and they offer personalized and immediate treatment in your language. Readers of this blog can contract the IATI Travel Insurance that best suits what they are looking for with a 5% discount (which is applied directly by entering this link or clicking on the image). In addition, they have stepped up to the plate by adding anti-covid coverage with which to travel with greater peace of mind and protection in times of pandemic.
SIM CARD WITH DATA (How to connect to the internet on your mobile anywhere in the country?)
It is possible to connect to the internet, forgetting about slow hotel Wi-Fi with poor signal. I usually use Holafly SIM cards for when I travel around the world and I don’t want complications and have a network all the time. For Costa Rica there is even an eSIM, so there is no need for a physical card and having data on your mobile. You can now buy it online and receive it whenever you want (use the code elrincondesele to apply the discount at the time of purchase).
I could continue talking about Costa Rica adding wonderful destinations such as Samara, Rincón de la Vieja, Gandoca-Manzanillo, Puerto Viejo, Isla del Coco, Braulio Carrillo National Park or another volcano like Tenorio. But we would find ourselves again with the eternal limitation of time, of having to choose, of looking at the sky and shouting that you don’t want to return home. Because life moves in Costa Rica. LIFE, with capital letters…