The day we crossed into Costa Rica from Panama was a tough
one. To get from A to B took us 10 hours and four different public buses, all
of which we had to wait long hours for in bus stations in dusty towns (not to
mention the slow border crossing process). Days like this are an adventure for
the first few hours but wear you down by the end. By the time we reached the
town of Quepos we were both exhausted and grumpy. 
We stayed in Quepos to give us good access to one of the most
popular national parks in Costa Rica, which itself has more national parks per
land area than any other country in the world. In Manuel Antonio National Park, a
short bus ride from Quepos, we saw a sloth (pictured), some monkeys, some raccoons
(stealing peoples stuff off the beach), a cool frog, a chameleon, some lizards,
and a snake. The wildlife is why a lot of people come here.
The national park had a nice beach to swim in, which was
filled with tourists, and only just around a small headland from another beach
which was closed and had big signs up saying ‘crocodile on beach.’ The was
itself was so warm that it wasn’t refreshing, especially because it was mid to
high thirties outside with extremely high humidity.
From there we travelled to the capital of Costa Rica, San
Jose (pronounced San Ho – Say), and we celebrated when we arrived because that
was the last bit of work we would have to do for a month. We joined a tour two
days later and the trip within the trip began. I haven’t been on a tour since I
arrived from Bulgaria into Turkey last June, and after some of my travel days
over last couple of months had been a real bitch, I was glad to hand over the
reins to a paid guide and not have to think for a while. Arriving in San Jose
felt like the last day of work before a holiday.
The other reason we joined the tour for a month up through
the remaining Central American countries was for ease of getting through all
the border crossings (7 to come), and also the security factor. We would be
visiting 3 out of the top 5 countries with the world highest murder rates.
San Jose itself was okay. We were mindful of the fact that
it wasn’t safe to explore the city outside the very central downtown area,
which had the most police patrolling one area that I have ever seen. One thing
that did impress us was the great little resturants (Soda’s they are called)
that pump out a selection of local dishes for dirt cheap. Most come with meat
and rice and beans plus some tortillas, and there is always hot sauce on the
table. This hot sauce, and the different varieties of it, has seeped down to
Costa Rica from Mexico, and was the highlight of a lot of my meals.
Some things about Costa Rica; they abolished their army in
the 1940’s, it is known for is progressive environmental polices (because their
rainforest environment makes them so much money), and has 5% of the world
biodiversity – amazing for such a relatively small country. Its like the hippie country, and would be appropriately laid back if not for abundance of American tourists everywhere. Also, Costa Rica reminded me a lot of
Thailand. 
We joined the tour and met our 14 travel companions, some of
who we will be with for the next 33 days. There were two other Aussies, one of
which would be our guide who had born in Canberra and had been in Central and
South America most of her adult life. She reminded me heaps of Emma, which made me like her immediately.
Our first stop as a group was a small town called La
Fortuna, which sits just below a perfectly conical volcano. This volcano is
only fifty years young, which is quite amazing. Ever since it started erupting
and building upon itself, people have come here to check it out and explore the
surrounding rainforest. 
It was here that I did canyoneering – basically abseiling
down a waterfall trail through the lush forest. It was great fun, and I owe the
experience to Fok, who bought me the ‘Costa Rica Adventure Package’ prior to
our trip so he wouldn’t have to do it by himself. We did canyoneering, white
water rafting and zip lining over a four day period. This sort of thing is
certainly not the reason I travel, but if it’s on offer for free, why not. 
It all made for a busy few days. We rafted down rapids that were surrounded by rainforest for
two hours, and had good opportunity to go swimming and jump off little cliffs
into the fresh river water. We did zip lining in Monte Verde, a town at the
foot of a cloud forest. It is the
longest zip line in Latin America, at 1,590 metres. We were put flat on our
stomachs and zipped above the canopy of the forest superman style. Here we also
did a big swing, with about 10 metres of free fall. Nothing life changing, but
most people are at work while I’m flying above the canopy or rafting down these
rapids…
Costa Rica has always been a favourite destination of
Americans who want rainforest, tropical beaches, wildlife and adventure
activities. This means it’s fairly touristy, and I was a little disappointed by
that. These later towns that we visited were built purely around these
adventure activities, so there wasn’t a whole heap of culture to feel.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed my time in Costa Rica, partly because
of Folk’s generosity and being able to do these things I wouldn’t normally do,
partly because I got to meet and hang out with some new travel companions, and
partly because of hot sauce.
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