Pura Vida Caribbean Style

Our Intrepid tour officially ended on Saturday morning but we still had another week of holiday left. Those of us that were still around had breakfast together and then we collected our rental car and drove down to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean Coast. The distance is only about 200 km but it’s a good 4 hour drive on a narrow, windy road partly through the forest in the mountains.

Puerto Viejo is a small town on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica, about an hour drive from Limon in the North and about 30 minutes to the Panama border in the South. Puerto Viejo is an extremely laid back surfer town with mixed influences and a distinct Afro-Caribbean flavour. A popular surfing spot and with Cahuita National Park and Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge nearby, Puerto Viejo is a popular tourist spot with a growing expat population. We chose this area solely because we wanted to visit the Sloth Sanctuary but discovered a whole lot more and in the end 5 days wasn’t enough.  

We stayed at Physis Caribbean BnB just outside Puerto Viejo at Playa Cocles and by the time we arrived it was already late afternoon. Emily and Jeremy were the perfect hosts for our week in the area. Hailing from California in the States, they have been running this BnB for the past 3 years and the pura vida suits them well. After a long day on the road, the refreshing welcome drink upon arrival was very welcome indeed. There was enough time to squeeze in a quick swim in the Caribbean Sea before dark and then the rest of the evening was spent planning the week ahead after a delicious Italian dinner.  

Playa Cocles

Chewbacca, the resident two-toed sloth of the Physis Caribbean BnB parking area

First up on the agenda, what we came to the area to see, the Sloth Sanctuary, and the rain on Sunday morning was not going to put us off. We arrived at the Sloth Sanctuary in time for the 10:00 tour and were surprised when it was just the two of us. We enjoyed the hour boat trip on the creek with our guide Clyde who has been caretaker of the property for 30 years. He is very knowledgeable about the forest and has some interesting stories to tell in his soft Jamaican accent. We didn’t see any wild sloths but we did see some monkeys, resting bats, spiders, and some lovely water birds. After the boat ride, we joined up with a bigger group for a visit of the sanctuary itself. While the sanctuary has about 150 permanent residents, the tour only includes 6 of these and about 10 teenagers covered in blankets in their small cages. We felt like we didn’t really see that much of the sanctuary. Our guide was reasonably informative but we didn’t learn as much about sloths as we were hoping.  

We were actually really disappointed with our visit to the sloth sanctuary. We were so excited about finally visiting after knowing about it for years and were sad to be so disappointed in the end. In our experience the sanctuary has a very arrogant air about it, it really came across like they know the best for sloths and no one else knows anything, which is not the case as we were to discover later in the week. The people there were not that friendly and not that forthcoming with information about sloths. We saw the owners of the sanctuary and they didn’t even greet us. We appreciate that they have a lot of visitors every day and can’t listen to every person’s life story, but they can at least say hello. For us, the best part of the tour was chatting with Clyde. While we feel their hearts are in the right place and they are doing good work, they need to work on their attitude a bit, especially since it is visiting tourists who largely fund the place.

Chatting with Clyde on the creek

This three-toed sloth sadly lost an arm due to an accident with a power line and will remain a permanent resident at the Sloth Sanctuary.

Active two-toed sloth at the Sloth Sanctuary.

Our experience at the Jaguar Rescue Centre the following day couldn’t have been more different. Started and run by a husband and wife team of zoologists, the Jaguar Rescue Centre is committed to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured wild animals. Their approach is very hands on ensuring the animals receive lots of love and affection while they recover. The animals and birds have roomy enclosures but are allowed to roam freely on the property for most of the day (except the cats which are given free reign when the centre closes to the public in the afternoon). When the animals, or birds, are ready, they are taken to a protected area in the forest where they are given time to acclimatise to being back in the jungle with other animals. They are taken on a walk about in the forest and those that want to return to the protected area are allowed to come back and those that want to stay in the forest stay. Each animal is given the space to decide when it is ready to go back. Of course some animals will never be able to return to the forest and become permanent residents of the centre. The centre doesn’t receive any government funding, they rely solely on visitors and donations, yet the police regularly bring them injured animals.

Visits to the centre are by guided tour only since there are wild animals and birds around all the time. We were glad we joined the first tour of the morning since the animals were more awake and playful than by the time we left after the 90 minute tour. The number and type of animals at the centre is always in flux. During our visit we saw and were educated about various types of snakes and lizards, frogs, toucans, owls and other birds, caiman, a baby ant eater, baby and adult monkeys, adult and baby two-toed sloths, coati, racoon, a tennis ball-size baby porcupine, white tailed deer, an ocelot, and possibly others that I have forgotten.

Our favourite were the baby monkeys, the sloths, and seeing a wild snake catch an hour glass frog. The sloths are put in the trees during the day in the ‘sloth garden’ and we enjoyed watching the antics of three adult and one baby two-toed sloth clamour for the best leaves and try to get into the hibiscus tree (hibiscus = sloth chocolate). These sloths were definitely not slow or clumsy, they can move with grace and determination when they want to. And they are not always sweet; they were biting each other in competition for the best spot. The baby monkeys have a playroom-type enclosure with a jungle-gym and toys which visitors are allowed into. We enjoyed getting up close to these tiny baby howler, spider and white face capuchin monkeys and letting them clamber on us. We were surprised at how agile and strong they are even at such a young age. They are amazingly human-like and we loved the little noises they make. We were privileged to watch nature in action when a wild green tree snake caught a yellow hour glass snake right in front of us. We were quite sad for the frog since he almost made it, one more hop and he would have been in the safety of the pond, but everything has to eat. It was quite amazing watching the snake move, it happened so fast and was mostly a blur of green with jumping yellow. The snake was very skinny and you could see the lump of frog moving down the snake’s neck after being swallowed whole.

We really enjoyed our tour of the Jaguar Rescue Centre. The people here are clearly passionate about animals and are dedicated to their rehabilitation and release. They also run an excellent volunteer programme if you have some spare time or are looking to fill a gap year. The atmosphere and feeling of this centre was so different to that of the sloth sanctuary. Our guide was super friendly and freely dispensed his vast knowledgeable of the animals, the centre and the forest. He clearly has a passion for animals and loves his job. We highly recommend a tour here if you are in the area.

Yellow eyelash pit viper

This keel-billed Toucan will be released when his tail feathers grow back allowing him to fly properly

Inquisitive collared Aracari toucan

This two-toed sloth was pretty chilled and happy to munch on leaves in the sloth garden

These two, however, were after the hibiscus tree and were happy to climb over each other to get there

One got there and left the other one hanging.

When he realised he wasn't going to make it that way, he did a neat shimmy down the tree,

and made a dash for it on the ground. A volunteer grabbed him and put him back in another tree.

This baby was happy to chill,

and have a good scratch.

The snake with his prize, a little hour glass frog

Red eyed tree frog.

Baby anteater.

Playful baby coatis.

Snuffling coati.

Baby white faced capuchin monkey. 

Sergei, the baby howler monkey.

In the afternoon it was time to get our adrenalin on with a zip-lining canopy tour. We did zip‑lining once before in the Knysna Forest on honeymoon and loved it so we were excited to have the opportunity to try it again. The difference was this time most of the zip-lines were made of carbon fibre giving a smoother and much quieter ride. The canopy tour consisted of 23 platforms with a total of 2760 metres of cable with some short hikes in the forest between some of the platforms. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife on this tour but were happy to see a yellow eyelash pit viper and a green and black poison dart frog. The highlight of this tour was the Tarzan swing. Jumping off a platform hanging onto a rope is a hard thing to convince your brain and body to do even though you know you are still hooked into a harness (the guide had to give Bron an encouraging push). But what a feeling! When you can stop screaming swinging between the trees is pretty amazing.

Yellow eyelash pit viper. 

These snakes are fast enough to catch a hummingbird!

Green and black poison dart frog.

Boibs zip-lining!

Strapped in and ready to go! 

We were keen to visit the two parks in the area, Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge and Cahuita National Park. Cahuita is well marked and it is possible to walk around by yourself but Manzanillo has unmarked trails and is easy to get lost in. Emily and Jeremy of Physis recommended a guided walk with their local friend Aquiles. The next day we met Aquiles at 07:00 ready for an adventure. What a rad guy! Aquiles grew up and still lives in the forest and has an endless knowledge of everything that lives there and cares deeply for the forest. He knows what is there without seeing it just by the sounds, such as the woodpecker that wouldn’t show himself, but it took us city slickers some time to tune our ears. We really enjoyed chatting with Aquiles and could listen to his wildlife stories all day. He took us to the house his father built and where he now lives; a beautiful well-thought out house in a large cleared plot deep in the forest. We thought how different, and scary, living in the forest with no electricity and other amenities must be. We thought of Aquiles walking back home at night in flip flops in the dark and were grateful for the rubber boots helping us to not get stuck in the mud and protecting us from snakes and other creepy crawlies. He took great joy and pride in teaching us about all the different plants in his garden and their uses. We really enjoyed the walk with Aquiles and learnt loads about the forest. We saw a cool frog we hadn’t seen before, an eagle, the woodpecker eventually, a huge leaf cutter ant colony and more. Gracias amigo

A rough-skinned rain frog of some kind.

This frog is really difficult to spot on the forest floor! We only saw him because he moved. He sat perfectly still when we was being watched but made a quick getaway when we stepped back.

With Aquiles in Manzanillo 

Beautiful Caribbean beaches in Manzanillo.

Up to now we haven’t mentioned food much, what is there to say about beans and rice three times a day? On tour the popular meal was casado. Directly translated casado means married and is typically beans, rice, plantain in some form, usually a salad of some sort, and meat, chicken or fish. I can’t say we ate too many casados but some people loved them. While in Peurto Viejo we enjoyed some really lovely meals. Emily spoilt us with breakfast everyday: a big bowl of fresh fruit followed by French toast, blueberry pancakes or scrambled eggs and toast. Our favourite lunch time place was Bread and Chocolate. We loved their cold gazpacho soup and macadamia brownies. On the first night we had a delicious pasta dish and grilled tuna at a superb Italian place. The day with Aquiles we somehow managed to skip lunch between the long walk and chill beach time that followed. Which worked out well since then we were super hungry and that is the best time to go to Lazlo’s Catch of The Day. This restaurant is a real hole-in-the-wall place with not a single sign and without directions from a local you won’t find it. Lazlo didn’t even name it, someone on Trip Advisor did. But a better meal you won’t find. Freshly caught every day, be there early to get a seat and reserve your piece of fish. We shared a seared tuna fillet and whole red snapper both served with grilled veg and a generous portion of chips. Both were perfectly cooked and simply delicious.

And then suddenly our last full day in Costa Rica arrived =(

We had planned a snorkelling and hiking tour through Cahuita National Park but we cancelled at the last moment due to unfavourable conditions. October is usually to be one of the best months in this area weather and rain wise and the best time of year to go snorkelling. We certainly had lovely weather with only some rain but were thwarted by the unusually rough seas; even just swimming was rough and with lots of rip tides. Due to poor visibility owing to the rough surf, we skipped the snorkelling tour and went for a nice long walk in Cahuita on our own instead. The plan was to walk the length of the park from the free/donation only entrance to the pay entrance which should take about 3 hours, and then catch the bus back to the car. The path winds through the forest along the coast only a few metres from the ocean. We had a lovely walk and were lucky to see about 3 groups of monkeys, various birds, lots of lizards and loads of hermit crabs and we loved the stunning beaches waiting around every corner. After 2.5 hours we hadn’t reached the halfway mark yet, apparently we (read: Justin) were taking too many photos of hermit crabs. After another half hour or so we turned around and made our way back at a brisker pace this time. We enjoyed a last swim in the warm Caribbean Sea and then headed back for a slow afternoon at Bread & Chocolate writing postcards (which we are not sure will ever arrive due to the SA postal strike…) followed by the joyous task of repacking our bags after a 3 week holiday.

Beautiful white sand beaches in Cahuita National Park

Hidding hermit crab.

We had a really wonderful time in Puerto Viejo and were glad we came to this area. We saw and did loads but there was much more we wanted to see and do also. High up on the wish-we-had-more-time-for list was Bocas del Toro just across the border in Panama. Hopefully we can still make it there one day. We had been warned that Puerto Viejo was not a safe area but we found this not to be true. Although petty theft on the beach is reasonably common and we were offered weed 4 times on the main street one night, we found Puerto Viejo to be quite safe and thought Quepos much more dodgy and unsavoury.

And then the manic travel day arrived.

After a quick trip into town to post postcards, we left Peurto Viejo for San Jose. The journey was quite tough owing to the narrow single-carriage roads and the numerous heavy trucks on the road often reducing the speed to 40 kmph. We still made it to San Jose on time in 5 hours including an hour break for lunch at an Argentinian churrascaria. However, we had a GPS fail and at first couldn’t find the correct airport and then the rental car drop-off. In the end we were just on time for check-in but they were apparently also having some problems since it took an hour to check-in the 5 people in the queue in front of us. We landed up running to catch all 3 of our flights. It somehow turned into one of those manic travel days we were glad to be at the end of. The only good thing was that we were able to check-in for an earlier flight from Rio to Vitoria saving us wasting time in random Rio airport and getting us home 3 hours earlier than expected. We were home by 09:30 and were able to unpack, start on the mountain of laundry, and go grocery shopping before passing out for 13 hours between the sheets.

Just like that our 3 week Costa Rican adventure was over. We had a really lovely relaxing time, met some wonderful people and made many happy memories. We hope we can keep the Pura Vida feeling alive for a long time, at least until the next holiday.

And then it was back to work and the start of a much needed detox! 

Hikes, Hot Water, and Happy Indians

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!