clog blog: Morph goes to Costa Rica!

Hola Amigos!

Wowee Costa Rica, you really blew our socks off!

We were expecting a spectacular holiday and boy did you deliver.

Turtles, Tucans, monkeys, sloths, hummingbirds and frogs.

Canals, beaches, forest and lush vegetation.

Tree houses, thunderstorms and hammocks.

Coffee, fresh fruit juices, tacos, burritos and casado.

Friendly ticos and don't forget the beans and rice!

Costa Rica has it all!

The trip started with 2 days in the capital San Jose where we visited the Doka Coffee Farm,

Poas Volcano,

and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Rescue Center.

This was the first opportunity to get up close with a toucan. How beautiful is this guy??

There was some exploring around San Jose as well and when the rain came down we took cover under a gazebo in the park and played checkers!

The first of many cool down ice-creams! It was blistering hot and humid the country over.

After 2 days in San Jose it was time to get our 2 week Intrepid tour started. First stop: Tortuguero. Transport by public bus (not too shabby for a public bus!),

and canal boat!

We stayed at Miss Junie's Lodge (pronounced a lot like Miss Eunice) right on the beach.

The Caribbean coast where we would swim a number of times and see turtles lay their eggs later that night.

The day in Tortuguero started with an early canoe trip on the canals, an excellent opportunity for wildlife spotting. In the afternoon we took a walk in the National Park and back along the beach.

Towel art in San Jose,

and Tortuguero.

The next stop was Sarapiqui where we stayed at the wonderful Alex's place.

Some people stayed in a tree house but we stayed in the beautiful stand alone honeymoon suite =)

My travel buddy Justin in our beautiful room.

The perfect place to wait out an afternoon thunderstorm.

In Sarapiqui we enjoyed a really good guided walk through the La Selva Biological Station where we saw loads of cool animals, birds and plant life.

The iguana restuarant on the way to La Fortuna! Huge but friendly.

Amazing sunset over the Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna.

Good use of a free afternoon in La Fortuna, the Danaus Eco Centre.

This was the first time we saw a sloth moving and eating and what a good view of him hanging out his tree we had too.

We bravely tackled the extreme hike up Cerro Chato, or the Happy Indian, a smaller extinct volcano next to Arenal. Note to self: check with guide first what 'extreme' means before agreeing to the hike!

A much deserved cool down swim at the La Fortuna Waterfall after the hike,

followed by coffee time at the Rainforrest cafe.

Fig and coconut iced coffee chill time before leaving La Fortuna.

Rice pudding!

Many restaurants and 'Sodas' serve a small complimentary rice pudding after meals. This particular one was especially caramely and delicious!

We also enjoyed trying out the other kinds of tropical fruit along the way such as the interesting looking mamon chino. Once you work out how to eat it, the fruit is delicious and refreshing with a light litchi flavour.

The next stop was Monte Verde and first up, a walk in the Curi Cancha Reserve.

Followed by a treat at Stella's bakery nearby.

Bats are totally underrated but seriously cool creatures and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to The Bat Jungle; a highly informative talk by a very enthusiastic biologist-guide followed by the opportunity to see different species up close in the bat cave.

We bravely volunteered for a night walk on these canopy level hanging bridges in the rain and returned the next day to check it out in daylight. We didn't see that many animals in Monteverde in general but we enjoyed the experience of a cloud forest and the different very lush and green vegetation.

One of our favourite fresh fruit juices: a jar of pineapple and basil juice with hints of mint at the Orchid Cafe.

Cake o'clock!

Guinuess chocolate cake and chai tea, nom nom.

Frogs can be hard to spot in the forest, except perhaps the blue jeans frog, so we headed over to the frogarium for an insightful tour with live examples of many Costa Rican frog species and returned at night with a frog friendly flash light to see the nocturnal frogs too.

Shooting the breeze after a long day in Monteverde.

And then we were in Quepos, the last stop of the 2 week tour =(

We found Quepos itself to be filled with suspicious characters but we had a lovely day exploring the Manuel Antonio National Park.

Our Intrepid guide Edson marking out a route in the park.

Beautiful white sand, people-free beaches at Manuel Antonio.

We enjoyed many a swim in the warm Pacific Ocean.

Our tour ended back in San Jose where we rented a car and drove down to Peurto Viejo in the South near the Panama border for a further 5 nights on the Caribbean Coast at the beautiful Physis Caribbean BnB. Thank you Emily and Jeremy for a great week!

First on the must see list was the Sloth Sanctuary! Hola Buttercup!

We loved our visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center; no jaguars, but plenty of sloths, toucans and baby monkeys up close and willing to climb on you if you let them.