COSTA RICA

Costa Rica, what can I say apart from this is paradise for flora and fauna lovers, I guess this is due to the fact that Costa Rica has the most varied fauna on the planet. Its not a place where you have to go and sit for hours waiting, patiently holding your breath for that picture perfect moment of seeing something amazing. Instead you see it all whilst out walking or eating breakfast as most of the hotels are surrounded by great jungle vegetation. This was my second visit to Costa Rica, the first time was as a backpacker. This time it was made all the more amazing and easy with the private transfers and guides and dare I say more enjoyable.

Selva Bananito was our first stop and was amazing for that ‘out there’ experience. The lodge is so Eco friendly it has no electricity which means darkness from 7pm onwards, this is great to sit in your hammock on your private balcony listening to the sound of wildlife also settling down for the night. The road back to civilisation took us through five rivers, lines of chocolate trees and cashew nut trees, all this still on the grounds of Selva Bananito.

Next stop, Tortueguero National Park famous for its important breeding ground for the Green Sea Turtle. There are 8 species of marine turtles; 6 nest in Costa Rica and 4 of these in Tortueguro. If you are here outside of the turtle-breeding season, don’t let this put you off, because the rest of the wildlife is not to be sneered at. Four types of monkeys live in Costa Rica and we saw the 3 that live in this area. The fourth is the Central American Squirrel monkey locally known as the Mono Titi, which are in danger of extinction (the most recent study counted approximately 1500 individuals left). These monkeys only exist in isolated areas on the Pacific Coast such as Manuel Antonio and Corcovado National Parks. Whilst on our small tour boat of the canals at Tortugero I was amazed at how many Toucans we saw here, it still amazes me how they can fly with such a big, disproportional nose!

We hopped on and hopped off a short flight to San Jose, where our driver in his air con jeep was there waiting patiently to drive us to the town of La Fortuna and its main attraction, the bubbling, lava flowing Volcano Arenal, which stands at 1633m. I managed to see the lava flow for about 15 seconds through he storm clouds one evening whilst walking back to our hotel. For those of you who have seen this, it is an awesome sight. I have only seen it in its full glory on a postcard.

Time to hit the beach - Tamarindo was calling and Capitan Suizo was where we laid our heads that night. This is a nice coastal town to let your hair down, and have a go at surfing. I managed to kneel on the board before flying off the other side, but there is certainly fun to be had here and the water is warm enough to practise.

Manuel Antonio was the next stop, this is the place to see Sloths and this is where my eyes were peeled back in all directions hoping to see one. I saw 4. One I saw climbing down a tree and as you may know they only climb down to go to the toilet. They don’t really do much else.

My Costa Rican trip was coming to an end and we headed back to San Jose; had a meal in our favourite Asian restaurant in San Jose, to reflect on all the things we saw over the past 10 days (Tin Jo restaurant,at Calle 11, Avenida 6 & 8.

Costa Rica is certainly a great place for wildlife lovers and even if you are not one I think you will be on your return.