Whereas the first week of our Costa Rica tour was fairly relaxed and
laid-back, the second week was anything but. There wasn’t much time for reading
inbetween all the hikes, walks in reserves, visits to various animal centres
and much more, but we loved the opportunity to get dirty and explore this
wonderful country to the max.
After toucan gazing over breakfast at Alex’s place in Sarapiqui, it was
time to move on to our next destination: La Fortuna. On the way we stopped at
an Iguana restaurant. A café and curio store started feeding iguanas from the
nearby river and now quite a number of them hang out on the porch for most of
the day. I guess that’s one way of attracting tourists to your store, environmentally
friendly or otherwise.
Getting up close at the 'Iguana Restaurant'
At La Fortuna we had the afternoon free and spent it wandering around
the Danaus Ecocentre. Danaus is a small local reserve on the outskirts of La
Fortuna with a focus on educational programs. They have a variety of plants
including many orchids, a frog pond, a butterfly garden, and a lake connected
by weaving trails. We opted for the guide-free tour and really enjoyed the few quiet
hours we spent wondering around Danaus at a nice slow photographers pace. We saw
loads of birds, many cool plants and fungi, many different butterflies in the
butterfly garden, a variegated squirrel, an agouti, blue jeans frogs, lizards,
and more. We enjoyed chilling at the bird feeder watching the birds squabble
over bits of fruit at the end of the walk. The highlight of Danaus was our
first opportunity to see an awake and moving sloth. We were fortunate to have a
good view of a three-toed sloth hanging in an open part of a tree and enjoyed
watching him munch on some leaves and have a good scratch.
In the butterfly garden at Danaus
Cheeky squirrel
Our first sighting of a moving three-toed sloth!
We were treated to a really spectacular sunset on this first day in La
Fortuna. There was just the right amount of cloud in the sky and we enjoyed
watching the blue turn various shades of orange, pink and purple as the sun
sank behind Arenal Volcano. It was a truly impressive and memorable sunset.
Sunset behind the mighty Arenal Volcano
The majestic Arenal Volcano and the many adrenaline inducing activities
in the area is what draws visitors to the small town of La Fortuna. We decided
to skip the white water rafting, rapelling, horse riding and other activities in
favour of a hike to the crater lake of Cerro Chato, the dormant volcano
adjacent to the mighty Arenal. Described as an extreme 5-6 hour hike in our
tour notes, we thought we were fit enough to tackle it and looked forward to a
day of physical activity. Extreme was not an over statement. Almost vertically
up, the rough path, with tree roots as stairs in many places, is hewn through
the forest and is a truly beautiful setting for a hike. Our guide set a
cracking pace and we reached the summit with incredible views of Arenal in just
less than two hours. While the hike itself was demanding but manageable, Bron
found the pace a bit punishing in the heat and Justin kindly stayed at the back
of the group with her even though he could easily have gone ahead with the
group. The crater lake is another short path down from the summit but due to
the rainy season it was more like a mud slide straight down; getting back up
was even more interesting! The lake itself is a tranquil oasis in the middle of
the forest. There is only a small sandbank where the trail ends so it’s not
really possible to walk any distance around the lake which is a pity. We were
pretty muddy and mucky after the hike and it was straight to the laundromat
conveniently located opposite the hotel when we got back. And needless to say
we had pretty sore legs for the next few days.
The Happy Indian to the left and Arenal shrouded in cloud to the right
(please don't make me explain why it is called the 'happy' Indian...)
The forehead of the Happy Indian on the left is Cerro Chato
Arenal from the summit of the Cerro Chato Hike
After the hike we were in need of refreshment and La Fortuna waterfall
was the perfect place to cool down. The entrance to the waterfall is easily
walkable from the start of the hike and then about 500 stairs down to the base
of the waterfall. Without further ado we jumped into the icy water and enjoyed
a well-earned swim. We were surprised by the force of the waterfall and enjoyed
being pushed around in the pool by the cascading water. This is exactly what we
needed after a morning of hiking. The 500 stairs back up to the top however were
not.
La Fortuna Waterfall
Boibs swimming at the waterfall
Owing to all the thermal activity in the area, the other main attraction
in La Fortuna is hot springs. A nice long soak in hot water is just what our
muscles needed after a day of hiking. We chose to skip the tourist hot spots in
favour of a naturally heated river recommended by our Intrepid guide who grew
up and still lives in the area. Just after dark was the perfect time to go. Chilling
in a bath water temperature river under the stars with trees hanging over you
and fire flies zipping about was definitely one of the highlights of the tour. After
all, the best things in life are free. Extra points to fellow Intrepid
traveller Toby for bringing along some cold beers.
The next day we had the whole morning free before departing to
Monteverde and chose for some chilled R&R time reading in the shade with
ice coffees in hand. Transport to Monteverde included a boat across Lake Arenal
with impressive views of Arenal Volcano and the incoming storm over the town,
followed by a bus ride on some rather rickety roads through the lovely rural
Costa Rican countryside.
Ice-coffee chill time
Crossing Arenal Lake by boat watching the rain come down over Arenal
Monteverde was settled in the 1950’s by eco-conscious Quakers looking to
escape being drafted into the US army during the Korean War. They chose Costa
Rica for its non-violent and army-free policies and this area on top of the
Continental Divide for the cooler climate suitable for dairy farming. They
established the 10 500 hectare Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve consisting
of 90% virgin forest and an extremely high biodiversity owing to the presence
of 6 ecological zones. Cloud forests differ from rain forests in that most of
the water needed to support a complex and far-reaching ecosystem comes from the
semi-permanent cloud cover. Today there are many other reserves in the
surrounding area adding to the conservation efforts of the Monteverde Reserve. We
were looking forward to our first visit to a cloud forest and to some relief
from the intense heat of the past week.
Cloud settling in over Monteverde town.
This is Morphos restaurant where we had dinner on the last night in Monteverde.
Our cloud forest exploration began with a walk in the Curi Cancha reserve.
While we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife in this reserve, we enjoyed the
dense greenery and different trees and plant life to what we had seen before.
The trees here are full of epiphytes and fungi making the forest very dense and
green and animal spotting difficult. The highlight of this walk was the
hummingbird garden where sugar water-filled feeders had been hung up in trees
to attract these beautiful birds.
Bromeliad using a tree as support
Some of the awesome fungi we saw
In the afternoon we went to the Bat Jungle. There are many animal and
reptile centres in Monteverde one can visit, we chose the ones whose critters
we were less likely to see in the wild. Bats are one such example. We really
enjoyed the hour or so introduction to the world of bats, it was very informative
and our guide so enthusiastic and a clear bat lover. After the talk we entered
the ‘bat cave’ where 90 bats of 8 different species live in an altered
day/night cycle so that they are active during the day. We loved watching them
hang in groups, fly about, eat fruit and listen to them talk and echo-locate
using an ultrasonic microphone. Often overlooked, bats are an important link in
many ecosystems. The Bat Jungle was one of our favourite activities of the
holiday and we highly recommend this informative tour if you are in the area.
While people usually visit the forest during the day, most animals are
active at night under the cover of darkness from potential predators. A visit
to the forest is incomplete without a night tour and we took the opportunity to
join one at the Sky Trek Hanging Bridges. Hanging bridges are very popular
throughout Costa Rica and allow one to experience the forest at canopy level.
We were hoping to see lots of nocturnal animals, bats, owls and frogs but due
to the heavy rain all we saw were a couple of spiders. Our guide was very
enthusiastic and informative and we still enjoyed the tour and learnt a lot
despite the rain.
The next day we had free re-entry to the hanging bridges and set off
early in the morning with the hopes of faring better than the night before. However,
it was not to be and we only saw a few birds. We enjoyed spending the morning
in the forest at canopy level though and also the opportunity to appreciate the
giants of the forests, the trees that support so much other life. We enjoyed a
much slower pace than usual on other guided walks so far and thus the
opportunity for more photography. And we were lucky with the sunshine after the
downpour of the night before.
Looking hard but not seeing much at the hanging bridges
For our last activity in Monteverde, we visited The Ranario. While we
had already seen many blue jeans and red eye tree frogs, with 26 species of
frogs and toads the ranarium enabled us to see many different species we
wouldn’t otherwise have seen. Entrance includes a guided tour and the
possibility to return at night to see the nocturnal frogs when they are active.
We both really like frogs and enjoyed the afternoon frog spotting with our knowledgeable
guide and the return visit in the evening armed with a frog friendly flash
light.
And then suddenly we were heading for the last stop of the tour: Quepos
and Manuel Antonio National Park. Quepos is a small town on the Pacific Coast
of Costa Rica that has survived the transformation from premier banana growers
and port, to African Palm plantation, to the ecotourism and sport fishing hot
spot that it is today. Quepos is the gateway to Manuel Antonio National Park a short
15 minute bus ride away. The smallest national park in Costa Rica but
considered the best, Manuel Antonio offers stunning white sand beaches and an abundance
of wildlife right up to the high tide mark. With well-marked trails and new wooden
boardwalks in many parts, Manuel Antonio is easy to explore and the wildlife is
so abundant, a guide is not really necessary to help spot them.
After a long morning of travelling it was time to hit the beach! We took
the public bus with our group from Quepos to the beach just outside Manuel
Antonio. A chilled lunch and an afternoon of swimming in the Pacific Ocean and long
walks on the beach while the sun set and clouds slowly rolled in followed. That
evening we went to a vibey open sports bar to watch a national league football
game over dinner which was quite an interesting experience.
Sunset at Manuel Antonio
The next day we were back on the bus to Manuel Antonio bright and early
for a last full day of exploring the forest and animal spotting. We walked most
of the paths and on the beautiful beaches and swam in the warm Pacific Ocean. We
were lucky to see loads of cool animals including lots of cheeky racoons,
coatis, white faced capuchin monkeys, white tailed deer, iguana type lizards,
loots of birds and more. Unfortunately we didn’t see the squirrel monkey which only
lives in this part of Costa Rica (and other parts of Central America); there
was a brief sighting on the bus on the way back to Quepos but not enough for a
close up look. We really enjoyed our day exploring Manuel Antonio and highly recommend
it if you are in the area.
The beaches at Manuel Antonio
The carpenter making the boardwalk has this view from his 'office'
#lifeistough
Friday and our last full day of tour arrived. This was mostly a travel
day but we had a few hours in the morning before the bus back to San Jose. We
decided to go back to the beach at Manuel Antonio with fellow Intrepid
traveller Heiko. Justin and Heiko rented a kayak and paddled on the Pacific
Ocean for an hour or so while Bron read in the shade on the beach. We made it
back to the hotel and out to lunch just before a massive downpour. Even though
it was rainy season while we were in Costa Rica, the rain didn’t stop us from
doing what we wanted to do and was often a welcome relief from the heat. It rained
almost every day of our holiday but mostly in the afternoons so the mornings
were generally the best time of day for activities.
Justin and Heiko going out for a paddle
And then all too soon we were gathering our things and getting on a bus
back to San Jose. That evening was our last dinner as a group and in the
morning we all went our separate ways.
We were quite sad that the tour part of our holiday was over but we
still had another week in Costa Rica and more exciting things to look forward
to.
Read about our adventures in Puerto Viejo next time!
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