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Costa Rica

 


We flew into the capital of San Jose and then took a 3 hour bus ride to the town of Turrialba, so we could raft down the Pacuare river the following day.  This is a market day on the streets of Turrialba.

 

 

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The following day we rafted for 18 miles, led by a guide, down the Pacuare river which had class 3 and 4 rapids.

 

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We then traveled to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and visited a town called Puerto Viejo which is located on the southeastern side about 1 hour north of the Panamanian border.

 

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The next city we visited was called La Fortuna which was located towards the center of the country about 4 hours north by car from San Jose.  Here we visited the third most active volcano in the world, the Arenal Volcano.  When we stopped to take a picture we witnessed a small eruption which made a sound like thunder.  We also got to swim in the hot springs whose waters are heated from this volcano.

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While in La Fortuna, we decided to go zip-lining in the forest canopy.  To get there we had to ride horses into the rain forest.





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When we arrived at the rain forest, we got into harnesses that were attached to pulleys.  Then we climbed up stairs and metal ladders until we were on platforms at the top of the tree line.  Then we rode a series of cables (about 50-100 feet long each) until we were back on the ground.  You would travel so fast on these cables that you had to wear a leather glove on one hand to try to slow yourself down as I'm doing here.  However, the guides largely discouraged us from breaking.  If you lose your momentum, you have to pull yourself hand over hand along the length of the cable to get to the next platform.  Not fun when the temperature is in the high 90's and very humid.

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Next we headed to the Pacific side of the country on the western coast to the town of Tamarindo, largely known for its good surfing.


 

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In Tamarindo, my friends and I all took beginning surfing lessons from a Brazilian surfer who was on a 6-month surfing trip through Central America.

 

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Next we took a tiny 15 person plane further south down the Costa Rican Pacific coastline to the Corcovado Rain Forest Preserve.  Corcovado is a rain forest that accounts for 5% of Costa Rica's land mass but about 80% of its biodiversity.  This is a view from the plane window.  Costa Rica is covered in lush jungle that grows right up to the beach lines.





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Before we headed into the Corcovado rain forest, we went kayaking along a river in the nearby town of Puerto Jimenez.  We kayaked to a Mangrove preserve where we then went on foot because the river waters were full of crocodiles which swam up to the shore and we were able to feed bread and pineapple to from about 3-4 feet away.

 
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We hired a guide to take us into Corcovado so he could lead us as well as point out and name all the animals we were seeing.  This is a quati, which is a member of the raccoon family.  We also saw iguanas, 3 different types of monkeys, lizards, and tons of birds (red, yellow and blue macaws were a very common sight).  There are also jaguars and other large cats in the forest but luckily we didn't come across any of them.

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There were many termite nests such as this one hanging from trees throughout the rain forest.  Our guide told us that the Indians ate the termites as a source of protein and here he is having a taste.




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At the end of our hike through the rain forest where the air was very hot and damp, our guide showed us how to get a cooling snack.  He showed us how to take off a coconut husk and open a coconut just by using a rock.  After a little work, he got the husk off and opened the hard center by tapping around in a circle.  Then he cut out the fresh coconut meat for us to eat. 

 





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